In what was one of the greatest scenes in the history of sports, Tiger Woods returned to major prominence on Sunday when he won the 2019 Masters Tournament. It was an incredible moment highlighted by a final round on Sunday in which Tiger would simply not waiver, and as he captured the fifth green jacket of his career, Woods added some notable stats to his Hall of Fame resume.
For starters, the victory gives Tiger Woods 81 career PGA Tour wins. He now sits just one win behind Sam Snead's record of 82, and given what we've seen from Woods in the last calendar year -- high finishes at The Open and PGA Championship, a victory at the Tour Championship and now this epic Masters win -- it can be assumed that record is serious jeopardy moving forward. Woods needs a lot more success at the highest level to be able to catch Jack Nicklaus' major championships record, but this green jacket does get him moving in the right direction.
Let's take a look at some more of the history that was made on Sunday, and be sure to listen and subscribe to The First Cut with Kyle Porter for our instant reaction to Tiger's historic win.
Tiger vs. Jack
- Tiger's 15th major championship brings him within three of Jack Nicklaus' record of 18.
- Tiger's fifth Masters win also brings him within one of Nicklaus' record of six green jackets.
- Tiger and Jack are the only players in history to win professional majors 20+ years apart and the only players in history to win the Masters in three different decades.
- Tiger is the oldest Masters winner since Jack's last Masters win in 1986.
Tiger at The Masters
- The 14 years between Masters wins is the longest gap between wins in tournament history.
- This is the first time since 2005 that the Masters champion was outside the top 10 after Round 1. Woods rallied from a 74 to win his fourth green jacket 14 years ago.
- Tiger led the field in strokes gained on approach shots. That stat, maybe more than any other, has proven to be an indicator of success at Augusta National.
Tiger at major championships
- The 2019 Masters is Tiger's first major win when trailing after 54 holes.
- Woods remains undefeated at majors when 11-under or better through 54 holes
- Tiger was denied a 15th major championship at last year's Open by Francesco Molinari, then again by Brooks Koepka at the PGA Championship despite Woods' final-round 64. On Sunday, he had to beat them both in order to finally break through with his first major win in 11 years.
Wink of the CBS eye to Justin Ray for many of the aforementioned notes.