AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods blazing to victory at the Masters, a scene once so familiar, was never more stunning than on Sunday.

Just two years ago he was unsure he would ever play another round of golf. He had a fourth back surgery with hopes of simply playing with his two children, not chasing Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships.

And now it’s all pieced back together – his life, his back, even golf.

A fallen hero, a crippled star, Woods is a Masters champion again.

He won his fifth green jacket and his 15th major, but never with this much raw emotion. The most ferocious fist pump was when he walked off the 18th green, scooped up 10-year-old son Charlie, and embraced his mother and 11-year-old daughter Sam.

“For them to see what it’s like to have their dad win a major championship, I hope that’s something they will never forget,” Woods said.

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The comeback goes beyond the two-shot deficit he erased before a delirious audience at Augusta National Golf Club.

It had been 14 years since he last won the Masters – no one had ever gone that long between green jackets. He had gone nearly 11 years since his last major title, the 2008 U.S. Open on a shattered left leg.

This was bigger.

Woods finished at 13-under 275 and became, at 43, the oldest Masters champion since Nicklaus won his sixth green jacket at 46 in 1986. That has stood as Augusta’s defining moment for years.

This one is sure to at least rival it.

“This is definitely, probably, one of the greatest comebacks I think anybody’s ever seen,” said Brooks Koepka, one of three golfers who tied for second, a stroke behind Woods.

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Woods never missed a shot that mattered over the final seven holes, taking the lead with a 5-iron to the fat of the green on the par-5 15th for a two-putt birdie, then delivering the knockout with an 8-iron that rode down the ridge by the cup and settled 2 feet away for birdie on the par-3 16th.

He tapped in for bogey on 18 for a 2-under 70, and the celebration was on.

“WOOOOOOO!!!” Woods screamed as he headed for the scoring room with chants of “Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!” He never hugged more people, everyone in his camp who stood by him through a public divorce, an embarrassing mug shot from his DUI arrest when he took a bad mix of painkillers, and the four back surgeries, the most recent to fuse his lower spine

“I had serious doubts after what transpired a couple of years ago,” Woods said. “I could barely walk. I couldn’t sit. Couldn’t lay down. I really couldn’t do much of anything. … To have the opportunity to come back like this, it’s probably one of the biggest wins I’ve ever had, for sure, because of it.”

President Trump, who has played with Woods at his Florida course, had two tweets of congratulations. Fenway Park posted the news on the scoreboard during the Red Sox game.

A comeback for the ages?

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It rates among the best because Woods has meant so much to so many in a sport he ruled for so long. Whether he can dominate it again is still to be determined. Woods needed some help to win this Masters. Six players had a share of the lead at some point on the back nine, and there was five-way tie at the top when the final group was still on the 15th fairway.

“You couldn’t have had more drama than we all had out there. And now I know why I’m balding,” Woods said. “This stuff is hard.”

It didn’t use to look that way when he was younger, healthier and the most popular sporting figure in the world.

Woods lost his impeccable image to a sex scandal, one of the swiftest and most shocking downfalls in sport. He lost his health to back problems. He went two years without even playing a major.

Now the comeback is truly complete. And the race is on.

“A big ‘well done’ from me to Tiger,” Nicklaus tweeted. “I am so happy for him and for the game of golf. This is just fantastic!!!”

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Woods now is three short of the gold standard of 18 majors set by Nicklaus.

“I think 18 is a whole lot closer than people think,” Koepka said.

It was the first time Woods won a major when trailing going into the final round. He was tied atop the leaderboard with four other golfers on the chaotic back nine before pulling away from the pack with birdies on the 15th and 16th holes.

“You want to play against the best to ever play,” said Koepka. “You want to go toe-to-toe with them. I can leave saying I gave it my all. He’s just good, man.”

The final round started early in threesomes from both tees to finish ahead of a storm system. Rain fell briefly, but it stayed away long enough for Woods to be presented his green jacket on the practice green, just like old times.

He looked like a new man, making new memories.

“Now I’m able to play golf again, and do it at an elite level again, which is something I’m just very blessed to be able to have that opportunity again,” Woods said.

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