'The return to glory': A look back at Tiger's greatest triumph

It's tough to call any victory by an 82-time champion on the PGA Tour as improbable, but given the circumstances, the label fits Tiger Woods' win at the 2019 Masters.

After years of battling endless injuries, a fused back gave Woods new life heading to the venue that hosted his legendary career's first major championship win.

What unfolded in the second week of April last year will forever be etched in history as one of sports' greatest comebacks.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, it's been over 18 months since the PGA Tour last graced Augusta National. With the adapted fall event taking place this week, let's look back at Tiger's greatest triumph.

The buildup

While a Masters win may not have been entirely expected, Woods entered the week at Augusta in solid form. After returning to the winner's circle with the incredible victory at the 2018 Tour Championship, Woods played in five full-field events with four top-20 finishes. He was forced to withdraw from the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a neck strain earlier in the year, but a strong showing at The Players and WGC-Match Play eased most fans' minds about his health. The oddsmakers had him fourth on the betting board at 16-1.

Perhaps the first sign it was going to be a memorable week for Woods was his decision to rock a Nike mock neck. He famously wore that look at the 2005 Masters, simultaneously grabbing his fourth green jacket and becoming the first golfer to make a mock neck look cool.

Never shy on confidence, Woods felt his game was in a strong place heading into the week.

“I’m right there where I need to be,” Woods told Augusta.com before the event. “I’ve gotten a little bit more consistent with my play, and I think that everything is headed on track.”

The event

Paired with Jon Rahm and Haotong Li for the opening two rounds, Woods got after it early with a birdie on his second hole. He posted four birdies against two bogeys and finished with an opening round of 2-under 70, the same first-round score he shot in three of his previous four wins at Augusta. He sat four strokes behind first-round co-leaders Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, an incredible pair considering all that's unfolded between them since.

After making the turn at 3-under for the championship on Friday, Woods made a charge on the famed second-nine at Augusta. After birdieing the difficult par-4 11th, Woods found the trees off the tee on 14. He somehow carved an iron onto the green before magically avoiding injury by an overzealous security guard who slipped on the wet turf.

After pouring in the putt on the green, Woods added another birdie on the par-5 15th and moved up the leaderboard to 6-under-par. That was good enough to sit one back of a five-way tie for the lead.

Woods sputtered out of the gate Saturday, bogeying the fifth hole to drop to 5-under for the tournament, but reminded everyone what he's capable of for the rest of the round. Starting with a birdie on the 6th, Woods played the final 13 holes in 6-under to post a 67 and sit tied for second with Tony Finau, two shots back of the red-hot Francesco Molinari.

In an incredibly rare decision, Augusta National opted to move final round tee times to the morning and play off split tees to avoid forecasted afternoon thunderstorms. That meant it would be threesomes off the tees instead of the traditional twosomes. The change put Woods in the final group with Finau and Molinari.

Molinari looked like his usual unflappable self through the first 11 holes Sunday and likely to claim his second major in the last three events. And then Rae's Creek made an appearance. The Italian hit a tee shot into the water and posted a double-bogey on the hole. Finau joined him in the water and also carded a double-bogey. Koepka and Ian Poulter suffered the same fate in the second-to-last group. However, the steady veteran Woods avoided the flag and found the center of the green for a comfortable par. His reward? A walk to the 13th tee as the co-leader.

As expected, Woods picked up birdies on both the second-nine par-5s to take a one-shot lead to the 16th hole. It was then, with one crisp iron shot to the undulating green, the same one showcasing his incredible chip-in during the 2005 Masters, that Woods supplied the signature moment of his final round.

The short birdie putt pushed the lead to two, allowing a comfortable bogey on the final hole to secure his fifth green jacket and cement one of the greatest triumphs in sports history.

Aftermath

There's an argument to be made that the scene immediately after Woods tapped in the final putt on the 72nd hole is the best in golf history.

The image of Woods hugging his young son Charlie in almost the exact same spot he hugged his father, Earl, 22 years prior is one of the best moments Augusta National has ever produced.

With the victory, the career major count for Tiger is now at 15, just three back of Jack Nicklaus' mark. While the win was certainly satisfying on many levels, how he pulled it off made Woods rank this one among his best.

“My first 14 wins in majors were always - I had the lead in every one of them, or tied for the lead," Woods said, as per Jessica Marksbury of Golf.com. "To have the opportunity to come back like this, you know, it is probably one of the biggest wins I’ve ever had for sure because of it.”