When a one-time favourite becomes the underdog and storms to victory, it says a lot about human resilience

In 2017, when Tiger Woods decided to have a revolutionary ‘spinal fusion’ surgery to help with his chronic back pain, the one-time shining star of the golfing world knew he had hit rock bottom. Unable to even sit down or walk for too long, he wondered if he could ever swing a golf club again. This, of course, was after the well-publicised meltdown in his personal life, his infidelity making international headlines. Back in the late-1990s, as his star burnt bright, every sports commentator fully expected him to break the legendary Jack Nicklaus’ record of winning 18 of golf’s major titles but as in the interstellar world, the brightest stars only shine for a short time. And Woods was believed to have been done shining as his back pain and personal issues coupled to make him almost irrelevant in the game, now dominated by a whole host of players like Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson who grew up adoring Woods.

But there was not a single person without a moist eye as Woods somehow brought back that champion of old and won his fifth Masters championships in Augusta. His play, which undoubtedly has improved dramatically over the past year and led him to be competitive again after his surgery, is nothing short of miraculous. Nobody  expected a 43-year-old to be able to challenge the rash of young champions, almost all of whom raise their game during the major tournaments. Yet, Tiger persisted and while he might have lost the dominating play that crushed opponents during the turn of the millennium, he proved to the world that he could still win.

Many are describing this as one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history, as someone who had been written off came back roaring, a rare feat in a highly competitive sport. Few others have achieved the pinnacle of the sport after a massive fall, the American tennis player Andre Agassi being one of very few. Tiger Woods remains the youngest man to ever have won the Masters and while he has some years to go if he is also to become the oldest to win this tournament, he is back and back to stay at the very top. Years of frustration and pain, not just for Tiger but for his legions of fans, have suddenly melted away. To borrow the title of a Salman Khan movie, “Tiger Zinda Hai.”