Chapter 81

White House Rose Garden

Washington, DC

May 6, 2019

President Donald Trump tweets: Spoke to @TigerWoods to congratulate him on the great victory he had in yesterday’s @TheMasters, the 2018 Masters champion, Patrick Reed; and the 2019 U.S. Open champion, Gary Woodland.

The United States has a dominant record, but the one place they’ve lost before is the Royal Melbourne Golf Club, where they’ll play again this year. Tiger was part of that 1998 team, too.

The Internationals put up a tough fight, but the United States pulls off a win on December 15, largely courtesy of Tiger’s match-play victories.

“It was an honor for me as a player and even more of an honor to be their captain,” Tiger says. “This cup wasn’t going to be given to us. We had to go earn it, and we did.”

“We were kind of against the odds, but we are very inspired to play for Tiger, with Tiger, and it’s so satisfying to win this cup because of that,” says Finau.

It’s been a remarkable comeback year as Tiger’s forty-fourth birthday approaches. “I’m enjoying this opportunity again because… there was a time when that was not a reality,” he says. “I don’t know how long it’s going to be. How long am I going to do it for? And so however long that is, I’m going to keep giving my best. And when it’s time to quit, then it’s time to call it a day and I would have said that I would have had a good career.”

That said, when asked if it’s still a possibility that he could reach or surpass Jack Nicklaus’s record of eighteen major titles, Tiger answers, “I think it is. I think it is.” After all, as he’s said before, “Who knows what the future holds?”