Tiger Woods congratulates Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama on historic Masters victory as he recovers at home in Florida after controversially being given a pass by LA County Sheriff following 87mph crash

• Days after being given a pass by California cops for his February car crash, Tiger Woods congratulated Hideki Matsuyama on winning the green jacket Sunday
• The five-time Masters champ wrote: ‘Making Japan proud Hideki. Congratulations on such a huge accomplishment for you and your country’ 
• Becoming the first Japanese winner at Augusta, Matsuyama finished on 10 under
• Woods, 45, is currently recovering in Florida after crashing his Genesis SUV in Los Angeles County on February 23 and shattering his right leg 
• Police have estimated that Woods was driving as fast as 87mph in the 45mph zone that day. But despite his speed, Woods wasn’t charged with reckless driving

Days after being given a pass by California police for his horrific February car crash, five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods congratulated Hideki Matsuyama on becoming the first Japanese golfer to win the coveted green jacket on Sunday in Augusta, Georgia.

‘Making Japan proud Hideki,’ Woods tweeted. ‘Congratulations on such a huge accomplishment for you and your country. This historical @TheMasters win will impact the entire golf world.’ 

Woods is currently recovering in Florida after crashing an SUV in Los Angeles County on February 23 and shattering his right leg. No other vehicles were involved in the crash although Woods allegedly did swerve across several lanes of oncoming traffic before rolling the SUV down a hill. 

Days after being given a pass by California police for his horrific February car crash, five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods congratulated Hideki Matsuyama on becoming the first Japanese golfer to win the coveted green jacket in Georgia on Sunday

Tiger Woods praised Hideki Matsuyama on his ‘historical’ victory in a Tweet on Sunday

Tiger Woods (right) and Hideki Matsuyama of Japan (L) prepare at the first hole tee at a ‘Japan Skins’ pre-match ahead of the ZOZO Championship golf tournament at the Narashino Country Club in Inzai, Chiba prefecture on October 21, 2019

Law enforcement officers look over a damaged vehicle following a rollover accident involving golfer Tiger Woods on February 23 in the Rancho Palos Verdes suburb of Los Angeles

Police estimate that the 45-year-old Woods was driving as fast as 87mph in the 45mph zone that day. But despite his speed, and the fact that he struck a raised median, Woods is not being charged for reckless driving.

According to police, there was not enough evidence to charge Woods, who did not undergo sobriety testing, but is not believed to have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

‘Reckless driving, you have to have multiple violations in conjunction with one another,’ Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Captain James Powers told the media on April 7. ‘That did not exist here … and the speeding, there’s no independent witnesses regarding the speeding.’ 

Woods’s tweet received mixed responses. 

‘I will say it,’ wrote on of Woods’s Twitter followers. ‘Why was tiger driving so fast?’

Another wrote that he missed Woods at Augusta, Georgia this year: ‘Masters isn’t the same without Tiger.’ 

Woods’s misuse of the word ‘historical’ went unnoticed by his followers, but he appears to have meant Matsuyama’s ‘historic’ victory, meaning the win is historically significant. A ‘historical’ win would be any past victory, and not one that is necessarily important.  

The response to Tiger Woods’s tweet was mixed, with some choosing to focus on his crash

Others reacted to Woods’s tweet by lamenting his absence from the Masters Tournament 

According to police, there was not enough evidence to charge Woods, who did not undergo sobriety testing, but is not believed to have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol

WOODS THOUGHT HE WAS IN FLORIDA – NOT CALIFORNIA – AFTER HIS LA COUNTY WRECK 

Tiger Woods wasn’t sure where he was when a sheriff’s deputy interviewed him after his one-car crash in February, according to a 22-page report obtained by USA Today.

Woods was in Los Angeles for The Genesis Invitational and promotional appearances but told the deputy that he thought he was in Florida, where he makes his permanent residence.

The report details the conversation between deputy Kyle Sullivan and Woods, which took place at the hospital as Woods was receiving stitches for an injury to his face.

‘I then asked (Woods) if he is able to tell me about what happened regarding the traffic collision,’ Sullivan wrote. Woods ‘told me he did not remember being involved in a traffic collision. (Woods) thought he was currently in the state of Florida.’

In this file photo a tow truck recovers the vehicle driven by golfer Tiger Woods in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, on February 23, 2021, after a rollover accident

Police say Woods was travelling at high speed when he hit a raised central reservation, smashed through a wooden road sign, splintered a tree and then rolled his SUV off the wrong side of the road where it came to rest at the bottom of an embankment

One of the pages of the 22-page police report describes how police found an empty pill bottle in a backpack in his car 

The report also revealed that Woods’ blood pressure had fallen ‘too low to administer any type of pain medication’ in the immediate aftermath of the crash, which left the 82-time PGA Tour winner with serious injuries to his right leg.

It also confirmed that Woods was driving in a straight line when he should have attempted to navigate a curve while speeding on the morning of Feb. 23.

Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Wednesday at a press conference in downtown Los Angeles that there were no signs of impairment for Woods, who will not face any citations or charges for the crash on Feb. 23.

‘The primary cause or factor for this traffic collision was driving at a speed unsafe for the road conditions and inability to negotiate the curve of the roadway,’ Villanueva said.

Villanueva said Woods’ Genesis SUV was traveling an estimated 84 to 87 mph on a stretch of road that has a speed limit of 45 mph.

Woods, 45, struck a raised median, crossed through two oncoming lanes and uprooted a tree before rolling over in Rolling Hills Estates, just outside of Los Angeles.

‘Had (Woods) applied his brakes to reduce his speed or steered to correct the direction of travel, he would not have collided with the center median and the collision would not have occurred,’ said Sgt. Michael Downing, per the report.

– Reuters

Matsuyama kept his composure to close with a 73 and was afforded another bogey at the last

The long wait for an Asian winner of the Masters came to a nerve-filled end on Sunday when Matsuyama delivered the victory that will send golf-obsessed Japan into rapture.

‘He’ll be lighting the Olympic flame after this,’ said Sir Nick Faldo on US television, and a starring role at the Tokyo Games this summer will surely prove the least of it.

Matsuyama caused palpitations back home, mind, before sealing an historic one stroke success.  

The 29-year-old from Ehime, at the other end of the country to the capital, looked as if he was cruising to victory when he stepped on to the 15th tee with a four-shot lead.

A terrible approach into the water behind the green, however, introduced some unexpected late drama, as his playing partner Xander Schauffele notched his fifth birdie in nine holes to close within two shots.

Just as an unlikely victory must have crossed Schauffele’s mind, the 27-year-old choked his tee shot into the water at the 16th. What a time to deliver your first triple bogey in 1,040 holes in majors.

Despite missing his target wildly on his opening drive, Matsuyama kept his lead out in front

Matsuyama, who had his second straight bogey at the 16th, could even afford another at the last and still claim the win that will change his life completely. He closed with a 73.

The fully-deserved triumph brought to an end a run of 11 straight wins in American majors for the host nation, stretching back to Sergio Garcia’s Masters win in 2017. The huge consolation was the emergence of another likely superstar in 24-year-old Will Zalatoris, who turned in a marvellous Augusta debut, delivering four rounds under par to finish a worthy runner-up.

Matsuyama emerged a decade ago as the man likely to be the first Japanese male to win a major when he finished leading amateur at the Masters. Now he’s joined a select group including the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Garcia who have gone on to claim the jacket itself. 

His win completed a remarkable double for Japanese golf, following victory for Tsubasa Kajitani in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship that prefaced Masters week.

Dustin Johnson is pictured putting the hallowed Green Jacket on Matsuyama in the setting sun

For the third day running, Justin Rose couldn’t replicate the excitement generated by his opening 65, as he finished in 7th place. 

In the context of this being his first event for a month following a back injury, and a lean couple of years that has seen him fall from Np 1 in the world to 41st, this was a huge improvement. But time is marching on for the 40 year old, and this goes down as another chance to claim the jacket that was not taken.

Rose had started the final round as one of four players tied for second, courtesy of some short game heroics on Saturday evening. It was clear from his opening holes on Sunday that he had used his quota, as he missed two short putts early on. He closed with a 74.

Nothing illustrated the enormous expectation heaped on the shoulders of Matsuyama quite like the opening drive to begin his final round with destiny. 

A four-shot lead with 18 holes to go sounds so comfortable until you step on to the first tee in the full knowledge that back home a golf-obsessed nation has woken early and is holding its breath.

Fearless rookie Will Zalatoris finished second after birdying the 17th and saving par on the last

Justin Rose couldn’t repeat the excitement generated by an opening 65 and finished seventh

Up ahead, Zalatoris had opened with two straight birdies to instantly halve the deficit. Matsuyama, who had nailed every shot over an unbelievable stretch on the back nine on Saturday to take command, missed his target by so far to the right he was decidedly fortunate to have any avenue of recovery at all.

A bogey at the difficult opening hole, though, was as tough as it got on the front nine. A birdie at the second settled him down and thereafter it was virtually faultless for the rest of the outward half. Perhaps it was all too easy, with his late mistakes offering hope to others, before he regained his composure.

Masters rookie Zalatoris was the only member of the second-placed foursome who started well. 

The last debutant to win the Masters also happened to be the last top golfer whose surname began with the final letter of the alphabet – Fuzzy Zoeller, in 1979. Zalatoris, with the golden locks appearance of a young Bernhard Langer, showed off his ferocious ball striking to considerable effect. 

Like Langer back then, if he has a weakness it is on the greens but it’s not much of one.

The hype train surrounding Bryson DeChambeau derailed after several final round mistakes

Jon Rahm finished as the leading European but never looked set to threaten the pacemaker

Spaniard Jon Rahm shot a final round 66 after all the pent-up frustration of three successive level par rounds to finish as leading European. It was a good effort from the 26-year-old but he was never threatening the pacemaker.

Further down the pecking order, there are plenty of shrewd judges who believe Tyrrell Hatton will win majors in the future and perhaps the 68 he shot on Sunday will prove the day he finally took a step in the right direction.

Will there be any more Sundays at the Masters for Ian Poulter? If this was his last round, it wasn’t a bad way to leave the stage as he closed with a 70.

At 17, playing off a handicap of five, Poulter was perhaps the only person on the planet who ever thought he’d make it to Augusta so much as once. This was his 16th appearance, and he’s finished in the top 35 in 13 of them, missing the halfway cut only once.

Outside the world’s top 60 at present, he needs to get back into the top 50 by season’s end for another Augusta waltz. 

Poulter has got the appetite and the game and has been in worse scrapes and fought back. But he’s 45 now and there are clearly no certainties.

As for the winner, when Chako Higuchi became the first major champion from Japan in 1977, they gave her a ticker-tape parade. 

Now they have a Masters champion, and there might not be enough ticker-tape to go round to match the joy that will simply be unconfined.  

Matsuyama caused palpitations back in Japan before sealing an historic one stroke success

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