The PGA Tour probably dreams of finishes to the Tour Championship like the one seen in 2018 when Tiger Woods had swathes of people following him on his triumphant journey to the 18th green at East Lake.
By that stage, it was apparent that Tiger Woods was indeed about to seal his first PGA Tour win in five years. A par on the final hole gave the 42-year-old a two-shot win over Billy Horschel.
Woods had dealt with all kinds of setbacks in the years since his previous victory – which came at the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational – and it had been a decade since his most recent major win.
But Woods’ performance in Atlanta hinted that he was indeed back.
The story of Tiger Woods’ win at the 2018 Tour Championship
Woods was actually making his first Tour Championship since 2013. But it looked as if he had never been away, as he found himself tied for the lead after posting a 65 in the opening round.
Woods made a bogey on his first hole before recovering to leave himself tied with Rickie Fowler. And Fowler admitted that he could not help but be delighted to see his countryman make such a fast start.
“It’s awesome. I got to play a decent amount with him last fall and watch him kind of get back to where he was healthy and able to go play for fun. I remember there was a day we were up at Medalist and we played 18, and I was going to go home and work out, and he went out to go play another nine. It’s been a while since we’ve been able to see him just go play for fun. He wanted to keep playing, so he kept playing,” he said.
“In my eyes, looking at it, the biggest win for him is just staying healthy and being out here all year consistently. Definitely happy for him. It’s obviously great for our sport. It’s great to have him as part of the team next week. We hope he continues to play well. I just want to play a little bit better and beat him.”
Fowler would fall away over Friday and Saturday. Woods however, would remain in the lead at the halfway stage, with world number one Justin Rose joining him.
Friday’s round was a lot more chaotic for Woods. He made a double bogey on the 16th hole before making a birdie on the 18th.
Rose – who went on to win that year’s FedEx Cup – was a little more reluctant to focus as much attention on Woods’ performance as Fowler had done.
“I can’t really think that way,” Rose replied, as reported by the Guardian, when asked what Woods winning would mean for the sport. “Obviously people are excited about watching Tiger play again. He’s obviously right on form and feeling very comfortable out there, it looks like he’s driving it well, irons have been great all year, looks comfortable with the blade.
“So it’s exciting for people to get a look at him back at his best and it will be fun to be play with him. I played with him earlier this year in Bay Hill and enjoyed playing with him there. But there’s more on my mind than just playing with Tiger tomorrow for sure.”
By Saturday evening, Woods appeared to have one hand on the trophy. He posted a 65 for the lowest round of the day, having been six under par in his first seven holes at East Lake.
The round left him three shots clear of Rose and Rory McIlroy. The two Europeans required something which had never happened before, with Woods never throwing away a three-shot lead with 18 holes to play in his career.
And that run would remain intact after the 2018 Tour Championship. Woods failed to break par for the first time all week, but it was still enough to win by two.
It was the third time that Woods had won the Tour Championship.
The victory provided one of the most iconic moments in PGA Tour history, with Woods being accompanied up the final fairway by what appeared to be thousands of fans.
Unsurprisingly, Woods admitted that he really struggled to keep his emotions in check as the winning moment loomed.
“I’m having a hard time not crying the last hole. I said, hey, you know what, I can still blade this thing out of bounds. Just suck it up and let’s hit some shots. Here, and once I got the ball on the green, I gave Joey a high five because it was done. I could handle that from there,” he said.
The 2018 Tour Championship set the stage for Tiger Woods’ 15th major title the following year
The 2018 Ryder Cup the following week proved to be a much more humbling event for Woods. What had gone on at East Lake appeared to take so much out of him and he went on to lose all four matches he played at Le Golf National.
But of course, the 81st PGA Tour win of his career was not too far away, with Woods winning The Masters for a fifth time the following April.
And it certainly seems that what happened at the Tour Championship gave Woods that extra bit of belief to help get him across the line at Augusta National.