Tiger Woods finished T2 at the Valspar Championship Sunday, and his late surge injected an incredible amount of excitement into the Florida event.
Starting the day one shot off the lead, Woods grabbed the co-lead on the first hole but dropped back with a bogey on the 4th. Hours later, with Paul Casey in the clubhouse at 10 under, Woods needed a birdie-birdie finish to force a playoff.
Woods drained a 44-foot birdie putt on 17 to get within one — and put the crowd (and social media) in a frenzy — and he gave himself a shot to tie with another long birdie try on 18, but he missed from 39 feet.
Still, his T2 finish was his best since 2013, and Twitter took note of the 14-time major winner’s form. Pros and celebrities alike chimed in. You can check out some of the chatter below.
Are you kidding me @TigerWoods ?!?
— Justin Verlander (@JustinVerlander) March 11, 2018
@TigerWoods you are ridiculous that putt on 17 wow!
— Derek Carr (@derekcarrqb) March 11, 2018
.@TigerWoods from deep! What a putt. So great to see him competing like this on a Sunday.
— Scottie Pippen (@ScottiePippen) March 11, 2018
This dude! Wow….. Lets go @TigerWoods pic.twitter.com/GPH62ZgqGy
— Michael Strahan (@michaelstrahan) March 11, 2018
— Michelle Wie (@themichellewie) March 11, 2018
TIGER!!!!!!! https://t.co/7uJaHSgVIN
— Patrick Peterson /P2 (@P2) March 11, 2018
TIGER!!!
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) March 11, 2018
Tiger woods , I love you
— Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) March 11, 2018
40 the new 20-something?! Phil Mickelson, 47, ends drought of 4+ yrs & now well done, hearty congrats @Paul_Casey, 40, on 1st @PGATOUR win since 2009. Fantastic 65 w/ just 21 putts at @ValsparChamp! And well done @TigerWoods! You’re getting there my friend. Sure it won’t be long!
— Jack Nicklaus (@jacknicklaus) March 11, 2018
Has any one athlete ever moved the needle for an entire sport like Tiger for golf?! Maybe MJ, Serena… idk. Man that’s crazy.
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) March 11, 2018
