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22nd July 2018
06:56pm BST

Between 1997 and 2008, Eldrick Tiger Woods won 14 Majors and looked bloody unstoppable.
And then... life got in the way.
Woods was well on course to surpass Jack Nicklaus 18 Majors when, in 2008, he hounded poor Rocco Mediate to win the US Open on a sudden death playoff. A mixture of a serious knee injury, personal strife and debilitating back issues combined to halt his charge.
Woods ended up needing four operations on his back, including fusion surgery, and missed months upon months of action. His longest spell on the sidelines was 15 months, between summer 2015 and autumn 2016. As he prepared to return at the Hero Challenge, he said:
"I'm playing again after 15 months of not competing. It was that period of a month of two I just couldn't get out of bed. I needed help. It was a tough time."He came back before that back flared up again and operation number four was booked in. He dropped to world number 1,199 and looked on as a generation of players that grew up idolising him won the Majors that he still craved. As recently as September 2017, Woods told reporters:
"I don't know what my future holds for me."Behind the scenes, though, the 40-year-old was at work on his game and finding his body freeing up by the day. 2018 was back on the table and so were the Majors. There were signs of progress at The Masters and even in the difficult settings of the US Open but Woods thrilled us all at Carnoustie. He went from five shots back to co-leader and the standalone leader (at -7) but three dropped shots in two holes on the closing nine spoiled the party. The Californian finished back on -5 but gave us glimpses of his best and hope that Major No.15 could be out there yet.
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