By DAVID MEISTER
Sports Editor
Some thought the day would never come, others thought it was only a matter of time, but two weekends ago, Tiger Woods electrified Atlanta with his two shot victory over Billy Horschel in the season ending Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. Woods, who hadn’t won since 2013, finished the season second in the FedEx Cup standings and rode a wave of momentum into this past weekend’s Ryder Cup in France.
Although Woods won the Tour Championship, England’s Justin Rose walked away with the FedEx Cup title and the ten million prize that goes along with winning the season long race.
Woods had a remarkable 2018 season with seven top-10 finishes and then capping it off in Atlanta with the win. But it didn’t all come easy. Woods has gone through many medical procedures and surgeries, particularly on his back, which forced a long road to recovery and Woods spending a lot of time off the course rehabbing. Plus there was the infamous mug shot that arose from his May 2017 arrest for DUI which caused speculation as to whether he would make a strong comeback. Woods had competed in tournaments between his last win at the 2013 Bridgestone Invitational, but he rarely finished up near the top of the leaderboard, there were a few tournaments in which he made a weekend charge but it was not consistent.
2018 brought the most promising results. In the majors, Woods got better as the year went on, he finished in a tie for 32nd at The Masters, missed the cut at the U.S. Open, finished in a tie for sixth at the British Open, and finished in solo 2nd at the PGA Championship. And in the final four events of the season, which are the FedEx Cup Playoffs, Woods also experienced gradual improvement as they progressed. T-40th at the Northern Trust, T-24th at the Dell Technologies Championship, T-6th at the BMW Championship, and then the win at the Tour Championship.
So now where does this leave Woods? Well, he’s been making history ever since he broke onto the golf scene back in October 1996 when he won his first PGA Tour event. But these are two of the records Woods is close to breaking. In terms of career PGA Tour victories, Woods now is up to 80 after Atlanta and is two away from tying the record set by Sam Snead back in 1965. The other record, which Woods has eyed since turning pro, is in all-time major victories which is currently at 18, set in 1986 by Jack Nicklaus. Woods currently sits at 14, so he needs four to tie and five to break it.
The odds of him achieving this? Well, Woods is 42 and will turn 43 in December but in most sports, where if you’re in your 40’s you’re at the end of your career, but in golf, it’s still the tail end, but he’ll still have a shot to win a few more events before he retires. The oldest person to ever win a PGA Tour event was Snead, when he won the 1965 Greater Greensboro Open at 52-years-old, so if that is an indicator, Woods has ten more years.
The competition is getting better and younger though, young stars like Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, and Rory McIlroy to name a few are making their own legacies on the tour and are giving Woods a run for his money. But if this season is any indicator, Woods has proven he can hang with the young guys and finish events towards the top of the leaderboard.
The 2018 season may be in the books, but one of the unique things about the PGA Tour is that there isn’t a long offseason, in fact, there really isn’t one. This past weekend saw the Ryder Cup which is a team event versus the United States and Europe but the 2019 season will kick off on October 4th with the Safeway Open in Napa, California. Although Woods, won’t be competing, it shows that there will be plenty of opportunities for him in 2019 to break back into the winner’s circle and continue his pursuit of history. Â
