Tiger Woods Breaks 5-Year Drought, Wins 80th PGA Tour

Tiger Woods won his 80th PGA tour at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta on Sunday night, where he gave thousands of delirious fans and millions around the world, what they wanted to see, and what they thought they might never see again.

Tiger Woods who struggled with career-threatening back injuries before his comeback has not won any title since 2013, but he parred the last hole to shoot 1-over-par 70 and beat Billy Horschel by two strokes at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta on Sunday night. The excited golfer said “I can’t believe I pulled this off,” during the trophy presentation at the PGA Tour Championship.

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.

“Just to be able to compete and play again this year, that’s a hell of a comeback,” he said.

The golfer who dropped as low as 1,199th late last year and is expected to go to No. 13 in the world after claiming his first victory in more than five years, also added

“This is going to be up there with one of the better accomplishments I have had.

“Just considering where I’ve been, what I’ve had to dig through and fight through, the amount of help I had to have to get to this point. My body was a wreck.

“Had to battle through it. Not knowing what was on the other side. Didn’t know if I’d be able to compete at this level. I was just hoping for a better lifestyle. It’s been a very evolving kind of feeling and journey.”

It was his 80th PGA Tour title, 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.