Michael Jordan: Tiger Woods' Masters Win Was 'Greatest Comeback I've Ever Seen'

NBA legend Michael Jordan said Tiger Woods' triumph in the 2019 Masters Tournament completed the greatest comeback in sports history.

On Thursday, David Aldridge of The Athletic provided comments from Jordan, a longtime fan of Tiger who's also become his friend over the years.

"I took two years off to play baseball, but nothing like that," MJ said. "I'm pretty sure he questioned himself, whether he could get it back, and he had to put a lot of work in. But he took it head-on. He had to change his game; he had to change his perspective a little bit. To me, it was the greatest comeback I've ever seen."

Woods held off one of the most star-studded leaderboards in Masters history Sunday afternoon to capture his 15th major championship and fifth Green Jacket. His last major win was the 2008 U.S. Open, and he hadn't come out on top at Augusta since 2005.

In between, the 43-year-old fan favorite faced both a personal scandal that led to the end of his marriage with Elin Nordegren and a professional downfall that included numerous injuries, including four back surgeries, and a significant drop off in his overall level of play.

The combination of factors, paired with a major drought that continued to grow, led many analysts to doubt whether Tiger could reach the mountaintop on golf's biggest stages ever again.

Jordan told Aldridge that merely added to the comeback story:

"There were so many people that were doubting him. You can think about the physical. But he overcame a lot of mental things, too. Not just the physical aspects, but all the scandals, too. I was watching TV and they were congratulating him, but the first thing they bring up is the negative aspect. That's what he had to deal with. Granted, we all make mistakes. But for him to come back and be able to win again, it's far tougher than anything I think anybody's had to deal with."

Now that he's finally back in the win column at a major, the sky is seemingly the limit once again.

Along with the Masters, Woods won last year's Tour Championship featuring a field of the top 30 golfers from the 2018 season. So he's going up against the best players in the world and coming out on top on a consistent basis, which brings Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors back into play.

"[Woods' PGA Tour opponents] got problems. His confidence is only going to build from here," Jordan said. "The unknown is the biggest thing. You don't know what Tiger's capable of doing. He's won a tour event, he's won the Masters, he's won a major."

The 2019 major schedule resumes May 16 with the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black in Long Island, New York. Tiger won the 2002 U.S. Open on the same course.