Tiger Woods made an immaculate shot on the 16th hole at The Masters on Sunday, and the cameras picked up his priceless reaction.
Woods came within inches of a hole in one on Sunday near the end of the Masters Tournament. The golf legend won his fifth Major championship, and that birdie might have been the highlight of the day. At first, it looked like Woods might have kept a stoic expression after the shot, though another camera angle later revealed his excitement.
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Woods watched with wide eyes as his ball circled the hole, no more than a couple of feet away. He squinted down the course, his jaw visibly flexing as he hoped for the best. The ball rolled to stop just past the hole.
When you have Tiger Woods and the 16th hole at the Masters, special things happen. pic.twitter.com/b95cA3p7bn
โ CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 14, 2019
Woods kept his cool, and a few minutes later he knocked the ball in with his putter. The golf pro finished off the tournament in stellar form, but he kept his cool until the very last moment, at which point he erupted with emotion.
After his victory, Woods, cheered and screamed with emotion. This was Woods’ fifth Majors victory, but his first one in a decade. His last win was at the U.S. Open in 2008, and since then he has been plagued with highly-publicized personal issues.
Fans saw symmetry in Woods’ win on Sunday. He ran over and hugged his son after his final stroke, in a scene not unlike his hug with his own father after his first Masters win years ago. The victory lent a certain narrative completion that sports fans crave, and for those that have followed him from the beginning it was as emotional as it was for Woods himself.
All you can do is smile when you see Tiger Woods celebrating the win with his kids and family at Augusta. Wow. What an emotional moment. #TheMasterspic.twitter.com/R8M2M1Qaou
โ Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) April 14, 2019
“All you can do is smile when you see Tiger Woods celebrating the win with his kids and family at Augusta,” one person wrote. “Wow. What an emotional moment.”
“I always felt Tiger was so famous so young he could never show the world how he was really feeling,” another fan tweeted. “In 25 years covering him, this is the first time I’ve seen him show pure joy.”
“Tiger’s reaction of joy, surprise and vindication all rolled into one is why we love sports,” a third viewer put in. “I thought he would never win another major. Incredible.”
Woods’ victory temporarily took over social media, with fans creating countless memes and reactions to the historic moment. Even President Trump and former President Barack Obama weighed in on the game in tweets of their own.