Tiger Woods will flip 50 on December 30. As issues stand he has 82 PGA Tour wins and 15 Majors however the discuss now could be extra of whether or not he’ll play on the Champions Tour.
His first Main win came to visit 28 years in the past, which ages all of us, and 13 of them got here between the ultimate massive one in all 1999 and the US Open in 2008.
Right here we glance again at 5 of his Main wins, all mighty performances from the modern-day GOAT.
1) 2008 US Open
The straightforward details are that Tiger was taking part in with a double stress fracture of his left tibia and he would have anterior cruciate ligament surgical procedure shortly after Torrey Pines.
He wouldn’t play once more all 12 months.
And he needed to play 91 holes, ending bizarrely on the seventh gap the place Rocco Mediate bogeyed.
Robert Karlsson performed with Tiger in spherical three and heard a repeated clicking noise coming from his leg, at different instances Woods was doubled up and it appeared like he must depart the course in an ambulance. In some way he would make two eagles on the again 9 and chip in at 17.
Come Sunday he doubled the first, bogeyed the following however got here to the final needing a birdie to drive an 18-hole play-off with Mediate. After varied bumps and breaks it in some way dropped. We neglect that he additionally birdied 18 within the play-off to maintain issues going.
2) 2019 Masters
This wasn’t essentially the most dramatic, it was truly fairly boring in locations because of the climate and early begin, however Woods was now 43 and hadn’t received a Main since that 2008 victory.
He had a fused again and didn’t even tee it up in a Main within the 2016 and 2017 seasons. However 2018 promised a lot, he got here shut at Carnoustie and the PGA after which captured the Tour Championship.
So it wasn’t an enormous shock on the week however, for the earlier six years, it had been one lengthy battle along with his physique. There have been numerous surgical procedures and procedures and, for a couple of months, he had even forgotten how you can chip.
On the Masters Sunday he needed to stand up in the midst of the night time simply to get his physique able to tackle a moist and lengthy course and a subject filled with the easiest. In the long run he floor all of them down and we obtained one final probability to see how his identify affected these round him.
3) 2000 US Open
It’s a slight shock wanting again that this was simply his third Main win however, inside two extra seasons, he was quickly as much as eight. The week of Pebble Seashore was the last word masterclass and the one probability of something upsetting issues was when caddy Steve Williams solely had one ball within the bag when Woods got here again to finish his second spherical.
He led by one after day one and 6 after the second spherical. The reduce fell on +7, Woods was properly clear on -8. By Sunday he had a 10-shot lead and he then added a 67 to win by 15, the most important ever Main victory. There have been 21 birdies and there was even a treble-bogey on the Saturday.
No different participant bettered par, Woods was -12. To that time no performed had ever completed a US Open in double digits underneath par.
A fantastic quiz query is which gamers completed second? The solutions: Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez.
“No matter I say goes to be an understatement. He’s only a nice participant. He’s solely 24 years previous. It looks like we’re not taking part in in the identical ball park proper now. When he’s on, you don’t have a lot of an opportunity,” stated Els.
“If I performed out of my thoughts, I most likely nonetheless would have misplaced by 5, 6, 7. He’s an outstanding participant. That’s an understatement, most likely.”
4) 1997 Masters
The wonder, in amongst the whole lot else, was that Woods started his week by going out in 40 photographs taking part in alongside the defending champion, Nick Faldo. He then made 4 birdies and an eagle – he had a wedge for his strategy to fifteen! – to return again in 30.
Woods then shot the perfect rounds of the day on Friday and Saturday, 66-65, and he made a par on the 72nd gap realizing full properly that his 18-under effort could be a brand new Masters document.
And all this in his first Main as a professional and at 21 years of age. The ’Tiger Proofing’ of Augusta would comply with although he added three extra Inexperienced Jackets within the subsequent eight years.
For the document this was his fourth win on the PGA Tour within the area of six months after turning professional. Tom Kite is the reply to this quiz query.
5) 2000 Open
You’d have to incorporate one in all his three Open wins and this was the one the place he in some way averted each single bunker across the Previous Course. This got here only a few weeks after the Pebble Seashore bloodbath and this time he would win by eight.
You may wish to go for the Royal Liverpool effort six years later, the place he hit one driver all week (primarily as a result of he couldn’t), however this was the consummate all-round show.
All 4 rounds within the 60s, he completed the week on -19. There have been no dropped photographs within the first two days and three all week, two of which got here on the Highway Gap. David Duval might need diminished Woods’ result in two with eight to play however everyone knows the script – he holes, they miss – and the remaining was a procession.
Thomas Bjorn and Els once more had been the runners-up.
“It actually appears to be like like anyone out there’s taking part in golf on a unique planet than the remainder of us,” stated Bjorn. “When he brings his A-game, he’s simply completely different class.”
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