Tiger Woods finished second in the Valspar Championship on Sunday, nearly forcing a playoff, leaving the golfer to say on social media, "Man, I've missed this."
It's been a long way back for the former No. 1 golfer in the world, from back injuries and personal problems to near the top of the leaderboard Sunday.
It was Woods best finish of the young 2018 PGA Tour season, going under-par for all four rounds, tying for second with Patrick Reed at 9 under par, one stroke behind Paul Casey, according to PGATour.com. Casey shot a 6-under 65 to finish 10 under for the tournament.
"Wow, what an amazing week...people, atmosphere, adrenaline, back nine on Sunday, man I’ve missed this," Woods wrote on Instagram. "Getting better. Thank you for all the support."
Woods energized the crowd following him by draining a dramatic 43-foot, 8-inch putt at the 17th hole to climb within one stroke of Casey with one hole to play, according to PGATour.com. Casey, who has played in a group nine twosomes ahead of Woods, could only watch from the clubhouse and Woods finished his round one stroke short.
USA Today wrote that the finish could bode well for Woods as he moves on this week to the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Bay Hill, Florida, and the Masters, April 5-8.
There is such an excitement about Woods' comeback that oddsmakers are now making him a 10-1 favorite to win the Masters, the first major tournament of the year, behind Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas at 8-1, according to CBS Sports. Woods was 16-1 before the Valspar, the network said.
Woods had missed the cut at the Genesis Open in California last month, then finished 12th at the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens a week later before the Valspar.
"My game was quite solid this entire week," Woods said after the tournament, per USA Today. "As a whole, I felt very good about what I did this week. I believe my game is progressing. As I was telling you guys yesterday, I had really some nice building blocks at Honda (where he tied for 12th two weeks ago) and I've had a few tweaks for this week and it paid off.
"I hit the ball well, made some putts this week and the thing that I was the most happy about is when I did miss, I missed on the correct side and that’s what we have to do out here," Woods added.
Woods is just 10 months removed from one of his most embarrassing incidents in Florida where he was arrested May 29 after he was found passed out on the road in his Mercedes with prescription drugs and marijuana in his system, The Associated Press said.
He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of reckless driving in October in a plea deal with Palm Beach County state prosecutors after entering a diversion program, the news service said.
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