& # 039; I had serious doubts that I could compete again & # 039; – Woods says that winning equals & # 039; & # 039; with the best

Story of the day: Tiger Woods wins 2019 Masters

Tiger Woods says that his Masters triumph is "over there" with his greatest achievements, after seeing "serious doubts" he would ever resist.

Woods, 43, won a fifth Green Jacket at Augusta National on Sunday, his first major win in 11 years and a first since he has four operations on his back.

The 15-fold big winner said he "could barely walk" before the operation and that his children had seen golf stories "pain."

"We create new memories for them and it's just very special," he said.

"I was very lucky to get another chance to do something that I love. I seriously doubted what happened a few years ago.

" I couldn't lie down, I couldn't do anything. I had the procedure that gave me the chance to live a normal life.

"Suddenly I realized that I could swing a club again, I felt that if I could somehow put this together I would still have my hands on it. The body is not the same, but I had still good hands

"To get the chance to come back this way, you know it's probably one of the biggest wins I've ever had. It must be there, with all the things I have fought through. "

& # 39; A complete circle victory & # 39;

Masters 2019: Tiger Woods 2005 v 2019 – find the difference

Woods one-stroke victory of fellow Americans Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka will take him to number six in the world – he was only 1,199 in November 2017.

Since his last big win, he had taken an "infinite break" from golf in 2009 after shooting infidelity and the breakdown of his marriage. In 2017, he was again in the spotlight when he fell asleep at the wheel of his car and later argued guilty of reckless driving.

Those controversies, not to mention his limitation to just 24 tournaments starting in four years from 2014, he saw him written off by some observers and he told 18-fold big winner Jack Nicklaus that he was "ready" during the Masters Champions Dinner in 2017.

Instead, when he tapped to confirm the win on Sunday, he moved in three major victories from Nicklaus & record.

"I think the children are beginning to understand how much the game means to me," Woods added.

"Before the comeback, they only knew that golf caused a lot of pain. If I tried to swing a club, I would be on the ground with pain, so that's basically all they remember

"To come back here and play as well as I did, meant so much to me and my family – this tournament, and having everyone here is something I will never forget.

"It is overwhelming because of what happened. Last year I was lucky enough to be able to play again, the previous dinner that I really struggled, missed a few years of this great tournament and now the champion. .. it is unreal for me to experience this.

"I could not be happy and excited anymore, I am quite a word loss. To have my children there, the circle is complete. My father was here in & # 39; 97 and now I am the father with two children there. "

Nicklaus & # 39; shakes & # 39; over record

Watch the moment that Tiger Woods wins the 2019 Masters

Players from all over the sport offered the champion congratulations on social media, including Nicklaus, who said the win was "fantastic for the golf game".

Nicklaus added: "I have long felt he would win again and, you know, the next two majors are at Bethpage, where he has won [2002 US Open]and Pebble Beach where he has won [2000 US Open].

"So, you know, he shakes me in my boots, boys. "

Nick Faldo, triple Masters winner, said Sunday's victory" yielded "the greatest scene in golf forever", while 1993 American PGA winner Paul Azinger BBC Sport won many of the elite names of games would now get their desire to compete against Woods.

"These other guys kept saying they wanted to be against Tiger, but you better be careful what you ask because you get a real dose of Tiger now , "said Azinger.

" The worst emotion anyone can feel is shame and he had a good dose of it. From elite athlete to the target of the TV joke at the end of the night. He has turned it around everywhere. "