Tiger Woods holds the Masters Trophy after claiming his fifth Green Jacket at Augusta National. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

TIGER Woods completed one of the most incredible comebacks in sporting history to win an emotional 15th Major Championship by one shot at the Masters Tournament.

The American’s last Major title came at the U.S. Open 11 years ago and since then he has undergone numerous back surgeries, falling to 1,199th in the Official World Golf Ranking just 17 months ago.

Tiger, who finished on 13-under with a bogey five at the last, said: “It’s just unreal. The whole tournament has meant so much to me over the years.

“Coming here in ’95 for the first time and being able to play as an amateur, winning in ’97, and then coming full circle, 22 years later, to be able to do it again, and just the way it all transpired today.

“There were so many different scenarios that could have transpired on that back nine.  There were so many guys that had a chance to win.

“The leaderboard was absolutely packed and everyone was playing well.  You couldn’t have had more drama than we all had out there, and now I know why I’m balding.  This stuff is hard.

“Just to come back here and play as well as I did.  This has meant so much to me and my family, this tournament, and to have everyone here, it’s something I’ll never, ever forget.”

A return to fitness and form in 2018 hinted at what was to come, and a closing 70 at Augusta National Golf Club secured a fifth Green Jacket at the scene where he burst onto the world stage in 1997.

Woods’ record 12-shot victory 22 years ago set in motion a remarkable run of dominance at the top of the game, and the 43-year-old will now once again have his sights set on Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 Major Championships,

He has followed Nicklaus to become just the second player to win the Masters in three different decades, and to win Major Championships 20 or more years apart.

Woods had been two shots clear standing on the 18^th tee, but despite a bogey on the last, wild celebrations followed his final putt, which took him to 13-under and one ahead of countrymen Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Xander Schauffele, who was making just his second appearance at The Masters.

Schauffle, who won the 2017 Tour Championship at East Lake, in Georgia, as a rookie and then claimed the HSBC World Championship in Shanghai last  year, said: “It was an awesome experience, first off.

“What I witnessed – I know it’s what everyone is going to talk about. It’s hard to really feel bad about how I played, because I just witnessed history.

“It was really cool coming down the stretch, all the historic holes, Amen Corner, 15, 16, Tiger making the roars.

“I was trying to push myself, but I feel like I got a very full Masters experience here in my second year. I’m not one bit sad. I told my caddie on the last hole that we just proved to ourselves that we can win on this property.”

Overnight leader Francesco Molinari had been right in the mix before finding water twice on the back nine, and the Race to Dubai Champion finished at 11-under alongside Australian Jason Day and Americans Tony Finau and Webb Simpson.

Italy’s European No. 1 put the disappointment around Amen Corner down to the challenging swirling wind which the par three 12th is renowned for, and where he put the ball in the water, before finding the aqua again on the par five 15th.

Molinari said: “It was just a bad execution. We picked the right shot and just didn’t hit it hard enough, simple as that. It was tough today with the wind gusting.

“I managed to scramble well on the front nine. Just had a couple of mental lapses on the back nine, which were costly.

“It’s great to see Tiger doing well. The way he was playing last year, I think we all knew it was coming sooner or later.

“Maybe next time would have been better for me, but it was nice to be out with him, he played well, hit the right shots at the right time and he deserved to win.

“It doesn’t change what I do, I don’t change the way I prepare for Majors. I believe the way I prepare for tournaments is the best way. I’ll just keep doing the same and hopefully I get a bit more luck next time.”

Spain’s Jon Rahm was a shot further back in a tie for ninth place alongside Americans Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler and Bubba Watson.

The next Majors are both at venue’s where Woods has already claimed a Major – May sees the USPGA switch from its August date and will head to New York’s Bethpage Park’s Black course, the scene of his 2002 US Open victory.

And in June, Tiger will head back to Pebble Beach, where he famously was the only player under par when winning the US Open by a record 15 shots in 2000 the first leg of his famous Tiger Slam where he won four Majors in a row, culminating at the 2001 Augusta Masters.

Earlier this year Tiger was a 25/1 shot to win two Majors in 2019.

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Matt Wallace playing in the Hampshire Hog at North Hants GC, in 2012

MATT Wallace claimed the glory and risked the curse of claiming the Par Three competition at Augusta – beating Sandy Lyle in a play-off on Wednesday.

The Scot was, of course, the first Brit to win the Masters back in 1988 – but in 57 years since it was introduced and won by legendary Sam Snead, none of the Par Three winners have gone on to wear the Green Jacket four days later.

Wallace’s dream start to his Masters debut began with Sky Sports driving him down the famous Magnolia Lane on Sunday, amid grey skies and showers that reminded the 28-year-old from Hertfordshire of home.

And the little boy who started out playing at Batchworth Park, who grew into one of Europe’s most ferocious closers with three wins on the European Tour in a year in 2018, has been tapping into those Hertfordshire connections as he prepares for today’s tee time with 1985 winner Bernhard Langer and Latin American Amateur Champion Alvaro Ortiz, at 5.10pm UK time.

You cannot get a better boost in your preparations to help cope with the lightning fast, sloping greens than three-time Masters winner Sir Nick Faldo, who was raised at Welywn Garden City, having only taken the game up himself as a teenager.

Faldo has always said it was watching the Masters on TV in 1971 that inspired him to taking up golf after his parents bought a new colour TV.

Wallace, who was a member at Moor Park playing for Hertfordshire a decade ago before heading off to Alabama where he spent four years at Jacksonsville State University, shortly after a certain Danny Willett had been a member of the Gamecocks team.

And it was Willett, as well as Faldo that Wallace turned to for an inside track on Augusta’s hallowed holes.

Matt said: “I’ve spent the past few days tapping into the knowledge of those who have won at Augusta, from practice rounds with Sir Nick Faldo, to playing the Par Three event with Danny Willett.

“When Danny won the Masters in 2016, not many people fancied him to do it but he was in the top 10 of strokes gained in approach play, so statistically he should have been among the favourites.

“I chatted to Danny about it and we talked again yesterday as I tried to get as much information as I can.

“It clearly worked as I won the Par Three thanks to that hole-in-one on the eighth. The event is such a cool tradition but it’s done now and my mind’s on round one.

“Being at Augusta is what you dream about. I remember trying to get tickets in the ballot with my dad, we missed out and I always thought that was my chance gone of being here in any capacity.

“But driving up Magnolia Lane for the first time in the rain on Sunday, I was just speechless.

“It was so much better than I could ever have imagined and, by Amen Corner, I was playing in pure sunshine, and this place is beautiful.

“It’s crazy for me. I’m just Matt Wallace from Pinner and here I am, and the mad thing is that I deserve to be here.”

Wallace, who was playing in the Selborne Salver and Hampshire Hog as an amateur just seven years ago this month, admitted that even playing with a hero like Sir Nick Faldo, he found it hard not to play very intensely.

But the kind of bubble the top players need to be immersed in shone through from some wise words from “The Master.”

Matt revealed his hero explained what happened when the defending champion – after his famous head-to-head with Greg Norman, who lost a six-shot lead to Faldo in 1996 – played with Tiger Woods in 1997.

The future World No. 1 eventually won the tournament by 12 shots and started his domination of the game of golf for the next decade.

Faldo said he never watched the young Tiger who opened with 40 on the front nine, on the Thursday, hit a shot until the 12^th hole when he played a chip shot on his way to shooting 30 on the back nine before finally ending up on 18-under before having Sir Nick hang that famous jacket around his shoulders.

Matt, who won six times on the Alps Tour in 2016, realises he needs to be equally solely focused on his own game for his Masters debut.

The winner of last year’s Made in Denmark when he was trying to force Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn to consider giving Wallace a wildcard, said: “You have to think that whoever you play with, however big the name, they don’t care about me so I can’t care about them. As bad as it might sound, that’s the reality.”

The other major lesson learned from Faldo is approach play will be key around Augusta National Golf Club.

Matt added: “The first port of call is to get the ball in the middle of the fairway, and that suits my game.

“Drive the ball well and you have chances to hit the positions you want to.”

Wallace also has one of Faldo’s old caddies on the bag – Belfast’s Dave McNeily, who also caddied for Nick Price, Retief Goosen and Padraig Harrington.

Matt, who has been relaxing in the evenings with his favourite foods at a big house in the company of his manager Chubby Chandler, said: “The key is to feel relaxed and I’ve got my team with me and my girlfriend, Chelsie, who caddied for me in the Par Three event.

“I’m 36th in the world, I’m here by right, and I believe I have as good a chance as anyone.

“This is the one I want to win, growing up it was always the Green Jacket and The Open.”

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