Tiger Woods' victory in the Masters is the 15th major tournament championship of his career, three short of tying Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors.
Yet it's his first since the 2008 US Open, which is an eternity in golf. As that lengthy drought went on, it seemed more and more likely that Woods' late father, Earl Woods, had made a prescient prediction earlier in Tiger's career.
Earl Woods, who died in 2006, was Tiger's best friend and confidante. He knew his son's game better than anyone. Fox Sports recounted a tale a few years ago of how someone once asked Earl Woods how many majors his son would end up winning.
Earl Woods could have answered 18, 19, 20 … or any number. Frankly, a number in the 20s would not have seemed outlandish the way Tiger was dominating the golf world at the time. He thought the conversation was off the record, so he could presumably be frank.
Earl Woods predicted Tiger would win 14 majors.
Tiger now has won 15 majors. His father would undoubtedly be delighted to see his once seemingly prescient prediction proven wrong.