Tiger Woods Notches First PGA Tour Win Since 2013

Tiger Woods has won a PGA tournament for the first time since 2013.

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tiger woods pga

An insane crowd mobbed golf legend Tiger Woods after he won his first PGA tournament in over five years on Sunday (September 23). The 43-year-old golfer finished the day at 11-under, good for a two-stroke lead over his next closest competitor, Billy Horschel.

The huge crowd that gathered around the 18th hole to watch Woods snag his first win since August 2013 fazed the formerly unflappable golfer, who has had several down years after undergoing multiple back surgeries.Ā 

ā€œI was having a hard time not crying on that last hole,ā€ he explained in an interview with NBC. ā€œI said, ā€˜Hey, I could still hit this thing out of bounds. Letā€™s just suck it up and hit some shots here.ā€™ā€

His nerves hadn't settled by the time Woods made it to the trophy ceremony. A clearly overcome Woods accepted his first major win in quite a while barely holding it together.Ā 

ā€œI just canā€™t believe I pulled this off after what. . . .ā€ he said, before taking a moment to collect himself. ā€œItā€™s been tough. Itā€™s been not so easy the last couple of years.ā€

Since 2013, Woods has been more known for scandal than the incredible victories that made him almost unquestionably the greatest golfer of his generation. After a few very public dissolved relationships and a DUI arrest that became a meme, it looked like Woods might never again see his name at the top of a leaderboard.Ā 

On Saturday, however,Ā  Woods entered the third round of the tournamentĀ in a tie withĀ Justin Rose. However, the 14-time champion finishedĀ the first seven holes at 6-under par,Ā which included five birdies in a row.Ā  Then, the entire world started to take notice that Tiger might take one home.

Woods hadn't led at the halfway point of a tournament since 2015, which made many viewers call this appearance the comeback tour. Before Saturday's streak, Woods said, "A lot of pars are going to be made out here. That's basically what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to make a bunch of pars and sprinkle in a few birdies here and there."Ā 

Golden State's Steph Curry was one of the celebrities who gave Tiger a shout-out as he was cleaning up shop. "@TigerWoods I want whatever you had for breakfast this morning! This is insane," Curry's tweet read.Ā 

Ā Other professional athletes also had some words of encouragement.

Woods didn't let them down. He showed that he still has some of what made him unstoppable left in the tank, powering through nerves, the effects of age and multiple surgeries to take home an impressive win.

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