Tiger Woods came within 2 feet of forcing a playoff for his best finish in nearly 5 years
- Tiger Woods brought back a little bit of the magic on Sunday at the Valspar Championship but came two feet short of forcing a playoff.
- Woods was tied for the lead early in the final round, and later sank a 44-foot putt on the 17th hole to pull back within one.
- Woods' 34-foot putt on 18 to force a playoff with Paul Casey came up just short.
- Woods' second-place finish was his best finish on the PGA Tour in nearly five years.
Tiger Woods brought back some of the Tiger magic this weekend at the Valspar Championship and for a little while it looked like he was going to do something he hasn't done since 2013 - win a PGA Tour event.
Woods started the final round one shot back and briefly tied for the lead when he birdied the first hole. But that would be his only birdie until the 17th hole when Tiger's flair for the dramatic had fans downright giddy.
With Woods two shots behind Paul Casey with two holes to go, he needed to finish birdie-birdie to force a playoff. Woods took care of business on the 17th when he sank a 44-foot putt for birdie. Even the normally all-business Woods managed to crack a smile after the putt went in.
Woods still had work to do. He needed another birdie on 18 and faced another long putt, this one a tricky winding putt from the edge of a slope and 34 feet away.
Woods gave it a good run, but came about two feet short of forcing the playoff.
Still, for Tiger fans, this weekend was their best sign yet that some semblance of the old Tiger is nearly back.
Woods' second-place finish was his best on the PGA Tour since he tied for second at the Barclays in August of 2013, nearly five years ago.
On Friday, Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee called Woods a "magician" and noted that he had reinvented his game.But maybe most importantly, Woods appears to be 100% healthy, something he hasn't been in years.
If he wasn't healthy, he wouldn't have been able to unleash the fastest club-head speed recorded all year on the Tour.
Now imagine how good Woods will be when he manages to overcome the rust.