Justin Rose’s Top 5 finish at this weekends “Tiger Woods Invitational” AKA The PGA Tour Championship captured him the prestigious FedEx Cup for his strong, consistent play as the No. 1-ranked player in the world.
National Club Golfer on Twitter
Major champion * Olympic champion * World No. 1 * FedEx Cup champion .@JustinRose99’s resum keeps improving. https://t.co/NGYxy319X4
The problem is, nobody cared about anything other than Tiger Woods first PGA Tour victory in five years.
Tiger Woods on Twitter
Congratulations to our boss on winning the Tour Championship today, marking it his 80th PGA Tour victory and a comeback for the ages. – TGR #TW80
The sight of Tiger fiercely walking to the 18th hole with thousands of admirers behind him, desperately seeking to immerse themselves in history, is the image that will be remembered from this weekend’s final leg of the FedEx Cup.
Less than a year ago, Tiger was ranked 1,199 in the world after spinal fusion surgery – the latest of four back operations.
“I was having a hard time not crying on that last hole,” Woods said. “I just can’t believe I’ve pulled this off.”
The thousands of fans spilling onto the final fairway to follow Woods to the green resoundingly chanted “U-S-A” and “Tiger, Tiger” after his approach found a bunker on the edge of the green. The chanting drowned out any importance that the other golfers may have had in the situation.
Everyone was rooting for Tiger, no longer the captivating villain, but a sympathetic figure that as Pierce Morgan puts it, “showed every whining snowflake how to win when life gets tough.”
CNN on Twitter
It’s been unbelievable, to get to this level again, I didn’t know if that would happen again and lo and behold, here we are.” Tiger Woods won a PGA tournament for the first time in five years following a long and painful recovery from a back injury. https://t.co/QFWWEbkdwO https://t.co/aKt90DVOiT
Rose was making history as well, but it paled in comparison to Tiger finally snatching that elusive PGA Tour victory and officially asserting himself as an elite golfer again.
ESPN on Twitter
Welcome back, @TigerWoods. https://t.co/qeMHOmpmEG
Rose not only lost the shine he would have received in Tigers absence, but he also lost his world number one ranking as a result of finishing tied fourth, but it was enough to secure the overall FedEx Cup which determines the season-long PGA Tour champion.
Rose was the first Englishman to achieve this honor.
Unfortunately, he did it on a day when Tiger Woods flexed his rebirth as the biggest attraction in sports. A day where Tigers play spoke for itself and let everyone know that Jack Nicklaus 18 majors — a mark that appeared safe as Tigers career sank into the abyss — is fair game again. Tiger needs four more majors to tie Nicklaus. Public sentiment is far more favorable towards the idea of Woods accomplishing the feat than it was just a few months ago.
Ladbrokes on Twitter
Major Championship wins: Jack Nicklaus – 18 Tiger Woods – 14 We make Tiger 8/1 to pass Jack Nicklaus’ record https://t.co/QQouwASbII
If 2018 was Tigers Redemption Tour, then 2019 will be the year The Tiger Roars Again. A monumental day in golf history and a pivotal period in the life and trials of Tiger Woods overshadowed a career-defining moment for 38-year-old Justin Rose, who has been playing in the shadow of Woods since joining the PGA Tour in 2003.
Tiger was already golfs brand name by then and Rose was considered one of the young stars that could possibly challenge Tigers supremacy. Fifteen years later and Roses only major victory came in 2013 at the U.S. Open, as Tigers legend started to fade.
“Yeah, it was awkward out there, really, today,” Rose said. “It was a situation that I’d never really been in before.”
Reaching the pinnacle of your career and having it mean absolutely nothing in the larger scheme of things has got to be a bit depressing for Rose, but the multi-million dollar payout should ease the pain a bit. Besides, there are worse things than being a sideshow of the greatest sports attraction on earth and an answer to a trivia question that will be asked throughout history.
Duncan McKenzie-McHarg on Twitter
13.7 million dollars That’s the astonishing bonus that Justin Rose picked up today after being crowned FedEx Cup champion It came down to the final hole at the Tour Championship in Atlanta, GA The world number 1 takes us through it on @FOXSportsNews
Who won the FedEx Cup on the day Tiger Woods won his 80th major? The answer will forever be Justin Rose, the greatest nobody collecting hardware on the green in what is now the second phase of PGAs Tiger Woods Era.
