Tiger Woods completed one of sport’s greatest ever comebacks by winning his 15th major title at the Masters in April, before ending the year as a winning Presidents Cup captain.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry won the first British Open to be held in Northern Ireland since 1951, while a potential rivalry between Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy started to emerge.
Here, AFP Sport looks at five talking points from 2019 in golf:
Tiger roars again
— The most memorable moment of the year came back in April at Augusta National when Woods tapped in to seal his first major championship victory since the 2008 US Open. The now-43-year-old has since had to battle personal problems, injury woes and a shocking loss of form.
He surprised the golfing world by returning to the top events in 2018, winning the PGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship, before capping his comeback this year in incredible fashion by winning a fifth Masters green jacket.
Woods went on to lift a record-equalling 82nd PGA Tour title in Japan in October, before leading the United States to victory in the Presidents Cup in Melbourne as a playing captain.
Now, the talk of him chasing down Jack Nicklaus’ long-standing record of 18 major wins has been reignited.
Lowry delights Portrush
— Irishman Lowry provided an enthralling finale in a party atmosphere as Royal Portrush staged the British Open for the first time in 68 years.
The 32-year-old won his maiden major title with a dominant six-shot victory over England’s Tommy Fleetwood in difficult conditions on the final day.
“I let myself enjoy it and it was incredible walking down 18, they were singing and going mad. I could not believe it was happening to me,” said Lowry after becoming only the second player from the Republic of Ireland, after Padraig Harrington, to lift the Claret Jug…….read more
Source: AFP
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News Screamers 24th Feb, 2021
