ATLANTA: Tiger Woods, in his Sunday red shirt, both arms raised in victory on the 18th green.

For so many years, the scene was familiar.

This time, it was surreal.

“I can’t believe I pulled this off,” Woods said on Sunday during the trophy presentation at the Tour Championship, where he gave thousands of delirious fans at East Lake, and millions more around the world, what they wanted to see, and what they thought they might never see again.

And at that moment, Woods was overcome with emotion and paused.

After two back surgeries six weeks apart, he couldn’t lie down, sit or walk without pain. Golf was the least of his concerns, so much that he once said anything else he achieved would be “gravy”.

One year ago, while recovering from a fourth back surgery, he still had no idea if he could come back to the highest level of golf.

Woods delivered the perfect ending to his amazing return from back surgeries with a performance out of the past.

The 42-year-old, 14-time major winner reasserted his status as the best frontrunner in the history of the sport, leading throughout the final round for a 1-over 71 to finish at 11-under-par 269 for a two-shot victory over Billy Horschel.

It was the 80th victory of his PGA Tour, two short of the career record held by Sam Snead that is now very much in play. And it was his first victory in more than five years, dating to the 2013 Bridgestone Invitational.

Woods admitted he had nearly been overcome with emotion as he walked up the 18th fairway.

“I was having a hard time not crying coming up the last hole,” he said. “All of a sudden it started hitting me I was going to win the tournament.

“I kept saying ‘Hey, I could still play this out of bounds.’ But once I got the ball on the green I gave [caddie] Joey [LaCava] a high five because I knew it was done.

“I’ve been sitting on 79 [wins] for five years now. To get 80 is a pretty damn good feeling.”

Woods walked off to a big kiss from girlfriend Erica Herman and a hug from agent Mark Steinberg as security tried to keep the frenzied fans at bay.

The victory capped off a season that started with questions over whether Woods, now 10 years removed from his last major title, would even be able to play a full schedule after undergoing spinal fusion surgery in April 2017.

“My body was a wreck,” recalled Woods, who hoped the operation would alleviate debilitating back and leg pain.

“The low point was not knowing whether I would be able to live pain-free again. I was beyond playing. I couldn’t sit, I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t lay down without feeling the pain in my back and leg.”

Woods held a three-shot advantage over Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose heading into the final round.

A birdie on his opening hole extended Woods’ lead to four shots to give the former world number one a dream start.

With the remainder of the 30-man field struggling to make any inroads, Woods then played solid if unspectacular golf to keep a stranglehold on the lead.

A bogey on the 10th was a mere blip, with Woods re-establishing a five-shot cushion at 13 under after rolling in a 13-foot birdie putt on the par-four 13th.

Horschel closed the gap to four shots after after a four-under-par final round 66, but Woods looked to be in control.

Woods, however, gave his army of fans roaring him on a scare though when back-to-back bogeys on the 15th and 16th holes cut his lead to two with two to play.

But he steadied the ship with a dogged par on the 17th and then closed out the win with a par on 18.

McIlroy faded early and dropped out of contention with an error-strewn driving performance that ultimately ended with a 74.

Rose faded late but received a $10 million consolation prize in the form of the FedExCup, which is awarded to the winner of the tour’s season-long points race, after a birdie at the 18th gave him a 73 for a share of fourth.

Rose’s four bogeys over the last 10 holes cost him the No 1 ranking back to Dustin Johnson, who shot 67 and finished third.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2018