Tiger Woods - © Wikimedia Commons

With the win, Tiger Woods moved closer to TOUR leader Sam Snead (82) and made one of the most unlikely returns in the sport.

He hugged his caddy and left in the arms of his girlfriend, Erica Herman, and was congratulated by a group of players including Billy Horschel, Bryson DeChambeau, Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas.

"The people who are close to me have seen my struggles and what I was going through, and some of the players I am very close to have really helped me through this process."said Tiger Woods. “Their support and some of the things they said coming off the last green meant a lot. "

Justin Rose spent the day in the trees, but a birdie in the 18th hole, where he hit the green in two strokes, gave him the FedExCup victory as he signed a 73 card to finish T4.

Rory McIlroy, who played with Woods, also struggled to complete the round with a score of 74 to finish T7.

Tiger Woods took the win after leading the solo competition over 54 holes, and has now won all 24 tournaments he led by three or more strokes in the final round. He had already scored six top 10s this season when it all came together at East Lake.

"The last two months, he played a phenomenal role", said his LaCava caddy. “He hasn't finished playing in tournaments. I can come back three or four tournaments that he could have won, that he should have won. We talked about this last week. I told him two things: you have to work on your bunker game and you still have a shot. Let's try. "

Tiger Woods was third in driver accuracy, which is crucial given the thickness of the surface at East Lake; was the first in scrambling (17/24); and was second in putting.

Paul Casey spoke for many when asked if he thinks Woods could ever return: "I was hoping he would get there"said Casey, "But there were times when I thought he probably wouldn't make it." "

The numbers had been frozen in time - 79 PGA Tour wins, including 14 majors - but there was now anticipation. Jack Nicklaus won the Masters and Johnny Miller won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am at 46. Okay, they hadn't had such a drastic operation, but Peyton Manning hadn't won a Super Bowl at age 39 after a cervical fusion?

Woods was going to do it, and he finally managed to win with a lead, like in the good old days.

"Yeah, come on, the 80's is a lot", did he declare. “Sam is always in front of me. I still have, I think, a chance to play golf a little more and maybe I will continue to reduce that number and maybe exceed it. But I just think that with all that I've been through and all that I've achieved, I've been lucky, to be honest with you. I have been very lucky. "