Tiger Woods’ 2022 Masters Tournament may not have ended with him donning another green jacket. However, it was still a win for the 46-year-old, who hadn’t competed in an official tournament since suffering from multiple leg injuries sustained from a single-car crash in the Los Angeles area on Feb. 23, 2021.

Woods, who already has five green jackets in his closet, finished in 47^th place at the 2022 Masters. Not an impressive finish by any means, but it’s not where he finished that matters. What matters is that he was able to go out there just 13 months removed from a car wreck that very much could have ended his career.

He suffered multiple injuries to his right leg in the car accident, including fractures to his tibia and fibula and an injury to his ankle. Injuries stopped Woods from being able to practice his golf game and immobilized him entirely, and left him unable to walk for some time after surgery. At the time of the wreck, it was “unclear” to many whether woods would be able to golf again or not.

A hobbled woods opened the first round of the 2022 Masters with an impressive 1-under 71 that had him somewhat in contention after 18-holes. A surprise to many considering Woods hadn’t even decided to compete in the Masters until a few days before the tournament began.

Woods had an up and down second round, with more downs than ups. Although that did not discourage the 15-time major champion, he battled throughout the game and finished with a respectable 2-over 74 to put him at 1-over through 36-holes.  After two rounds, Woods was well in position to cut the Masters for an astonishing 22 straight times as a professional.

Woods was nine strokes behind eventual winner Scottie Scheffler in the third round and just four strokes behind second place. Somewhere no one thought he would be before the tournament started.

Woods’ 6-over 78 in the third round was his worst round ever at Augusta National Golf Course and pushed him out of contention. His surgically repaired right leg, combined with the rust of not competing in over a year, began to catch up with Woods. He appeared to be limping on that leg in the late rounds but continued to gut it out.

After a rough third round, Woods opened his final round somewhat optimistically, sinking a par putt on the first hole and birdieing the second. He then bogeyed his next three holes and eventually would match his round three scores of 6-over 78.

The vital thing to take away from Woods’ 2022 Masters is not the poor finish in the final two rounds, and it is the fact that his surgically repaired leg was able to hold up for 72-holes of one of the most demanding courses the PGA Tour.

After his final round of the 2022 Masters, Woods told a Sky Sports report that he was committed to playing in the Open Championship at St. Andrews in Scotland on July 14. He also said he is unsure if he will play in May’s PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

“It’ll be just the big events,” Woods said. “I don’t know if it’ll be Southern Hills or not. But I am looking forward to St. Andrews. That is near and dear to my heart. I’ve won two Opens there. It’s the home of golf. It’s my favorite golf course in the world, so I will be there for that one. But anything in between that, I don’t know.”