Tiger Woods already recognised Lionel Messi as the greatest football player ever before he inspired Argentina to remarkable World Cup glory against France.
Messi emulated his hero Diego Maradona by leading his country to the one trophy that had eluded him to cement himself in the football pantheon on Sunday.
It was a fairytale ending to perhaps the greatest football story ever told as Messi finally had his hands on its greatest honour. The 35-year-old, so irrepressible throughout the tournament in Qatar, delivered for his nation with the world watching at the Lusail Stadium.
Messi scored twice against a France team galvanised by Kylian Mbappe's hat-trick and netted in the penalty shootout in the greatest World Cup final of all. Fifteen-time major champion Woods transformed golf and his historic Masters triumph in 2019 is billed as one of the greatest sporting comebacks ever.
And the 46-year-old hailed Messi as the best to ever grace the football pitch, because the legendary Argentina captain can do 'stupid' things with the ball at his feet.
"He's the greatest soccer player I've ever seen," Woods said. "You say Pele, Maradona, but I just still think that what Messi does with the ball - it's stupid! It's stuck to his foot, what he makes people miss, and I mean that left foot of his is... it's made many goalkeepers look bad."
Messi became the first player to be crowned the World Cup's player of the tournament twice after the dramatic penalty shootout triumph. Like Woods, he transcends his sport, and his heroics in Qatar will never be forgotten.
But while he has now achieved everything and more, Messi will not bow out on the most extraordinary of World Cup triumphs.
"No, I’m not going to retire from the national team," he confirmed. "I want to keep playing as World Cup champions with Argentina shirt. It’s crazy that it happened this way. I knew God was going to give it to me, I had a feeling it was going to be like this.
"Now I’m going to enjoy. It was long awaited but here it is. Look how this cup is it, it’s beautiful. We can’t wait to be in Argentina to see how crazy it’s going to be."
Meanwhile, on Messi's day of destiny in Qatar, Woods was back playing alongside his 13-year-old son Charlie at the PNC Championship in his first competition since missing the cut at The Open in July.
The father-son duo finished an underwhelming tied-eighth in the 36-hole scramble event after a promising start on Saturday, six shots behind winners Vijay Singh and son Qass.
