Tiger Woods Closes 2018 Masters with 3-Under Final Round, Finishes 1-Over

Tiger Woods finished the 2018 Masters Tournament with a three-under 69 in Sunday's final round at picturesque Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.

Though Woods—who completed the season's first major at one-over—struggled with his irons all week and was never in contention, a sense of normalcy returned to Augusta National on Sunday afternoon as the four-time Masters winner walked the course in his trademark red and black.

His improved form in recent months created exponentially more hype ahead of this year's contest for the green jacket. He didn't reach the renewed sky-high expectations, carding an eagle, five birdies and four bogeys in Round 4, but the fans gave him a hero's welcome in his return to the marquee stage.

How Woods' Masters performance is judged will depend on perspective.

On one hand, the 14-time major champion provided reason for the uptick in optimism with his strong play in his final warm-up tournaments. He tied for second in the Valspar Championship and fifth in the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month.

His play at Augusta never reached the same level, though. Control with his irons was the biggest issue, but he also struggled to find the fairway consistently off the tee, and his putter never got hot enough to make up for his lack of close-range looks on the tricky greens.

Still, Tiger put together some highlight-reel moments. One of those came Sunday at No. 4, as he nearly aced the par three, as Masters Highlights showcased:

He also posted an eagle on the par-five 15th with perfect execution from tee to green:

Alas, those types of shots were few and far between. That's why he took to the course for the final round three-and-a-half hours before the leaders.

It's important to remember how far he's come in such a short time, though.

Woods is less than seven months removed from saying he wasn't sure he'd play competitive golf again because of lingering back problems.

The 42-year-old legend reminded people about that during the Arnold Palmer Invitational, telling reporters:

"You guys are asking different questions than you did when I first came back, and that wasn't that long ago—that's two months ago. The narrative has completely flipped, and I just wanted to remind you guys that it wasn't that long ago that you were asking a different set of questions and that you need to enjoy it. I enjoy just playing again after what I've been through. Playing feels good."

His Masters could be viewed as a massive success through that lens.

Tiger played 72 holes on one of the most challenging courses in the world, and he didn't grimace or grab for his back after shots—a hallmark of his previous comeback attempts.

Golf Channel's Tiger Tracker summed up the week:

During the prior four years, it felt unreasonable to expect Woods to raise trophies.

That's not the case anymore. He didn't come close to winning the Masters, but his play since he finished 12th in February's Honda Classic suggests his 80th career PGA Tour victory is finally on the horizon. Sam Snead holds the all-time wins record with 82.

It also wouldn't be a surprise if Woods contends in at least one of the season's remaining majors as he resumes his chase of Jack Nicklaus, who won on the sport's biggest stages a record 18 times.