The OtherArena

[jdw]

Regardless of what he does today, it will be interesting to see how much Tiger plays in the balance of the schedule this year as he either looks for the "first" or continues to chase Snead's record.

Here is the schedule:

28–30 Sep Ryder Cup
Oct 7 Safeway Open (California)
Oct 14 CIMB Classic (Malaysia)
Oct 21 CJ Cup (South Korea)
Oct 28 WGC-HSBC Champions (China)
Oct 28 Sanderson Farms Championship (Mississippi)
Nov 4 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (Nevada)
Nov 11 Mayakoba Golf Classic (Mexico)
Nov 18 RSM Classic (Georgia)

Clearly he is playing the Ryder Cup.

He has also qualified for the WGC. The event the same week in Miss is for folks who don't qualify. Seem like a lock he will play the WGC. He loves those, winning 18 of them while the #2 on the list (Dustin Johnson) has only won 5, while only Phil (3) and Ogilvy (3) have won more than 2. This is the only WGC that Tiger hasn't won, so that's what makes it feel like a lock.

He has the match play with Phil on Thanksgiving weekend.

It will be interesting to see if he adds the RSM. Not far from his Florida home, and maybe a tune up before playing Phil on 11/23.

[jdw]

Tiger last won on August 4, 2013. These are the "young guns" who got to #1 in the World Golf Rankings since then:

Rory McIlroy (29)
Jordan Spieth (25)
Jason Day (30)
Justin Thomas (25)

I don't count Adam Scott (38) and Dustin Johnson (34) as they had been around for quite some time before Tiger last won.

Rory had gotten to #1 as early as March 2012, which was the same month that Tiger started his last run of exceptional golf.

What those four have done since Tiger last won:

Rory McIlroy (29)
8 PGA
2 Majors
2 WGC

Jordan Spieth (25)
10 PGA
3 Majors
0 WGC

Jason Day (30)
11 PGA
1 Major
2 WGC

Justin Thomas (25)
9 PGA
1 Major
1 WGC

Combined in those just over 5 years, 1869 days:

38 PGA
7 Major
5 WGC

Tiger's best 1869 day run?

He had a 1841 day run from 2/14/99 to 2/29/04 where he won 33 PGA titles, 7 Majors and 8 WGC.

He didn't win for a year, then ran off a 1694 day run from 1/23/05 to 9/13/09 where he won another 31 PGA titles, 6 majors and 8 WGCs.

So basically what the four Young Guns have done since the last time Tiger won is match what Tiger did individually in his best run... *twice*. They did win more PGA Titles, but you kind of expect that when it's four different #1 golfers vs just one #1 golfer.

Those are great golfers, likely all going to be Hall of Famers. It just remains numbing what Tiger did at his peak... and it was *multiple* peaks.

[jdw]

Those were an amazing four rounds.

[jdw]

I'll post the links to the pictures as they are large and mess up the board formatting. Just amazing gallery on the last hole, which these two pics capture:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dnz4TaeX0AAJW4Y.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dnz5sjvXgAERXKw.jpg

[guren]

This was tweeted out by The Golf Channel. My goodness. Congrats to Tiger. Next year will be super compelling if he can stay healthy.

[Steve Yohe]

Great. Very happy for him.--Yohe

[jdw]

Yowza!

[jdw]

Haven't done this since 2013, but with him one back of Snead it seems about the right time:

Jack's season that he's chasing:

Jack's 43 Season (1983)
0 - Majors (charge at the PGA on Sunday - 65 to cut 5 shots off the lead and finish 2nd & a shot back of Hal Sutton)
0 - PGA Wins
0 - Ryder Cup

Tiger's 43 Season (2019 to date)
1 - Majors
1 - PGA Wins
0 - President's Cup (to be played)

Tiger Career through 43 (current year)
15 - Majors
3 - Amateur Majors
81 - PGA Wins
1 - Ryder Cup
6 - President Cups

Chasing:

Jack Career through 43
17 - Majors
2 - Amateur Majors
71 - PGA Wins
5 - Ryder Cups

All-Time PGA Wins List:

82 Sam Snead
81 Tiger Woods
73 Jack Nicklaus
64 Ben Hogan
62 Arnold Palmer
52 Byron Nelson
51 Billy Casper
45 Walter Hagen (adjusted up by the PGA from 41 the last time I did this in 2013)
44 Phil Mickelson

[jdw]

Going backwards, this is the run Tiger was on when he won his last major:

1-1-2-1-1-1-1-1-1-5-2-1

That's 9 wins in 12 starts, and two runner ups.

The last 2nd was at the Masters on a bad knee that would get cut on the week after the Masters. He would come back to win the famous "final Major" on with a torn ACL and a broken tiba. Despite the bum knee through most of that, it's probably as good of golf as anyone has played.

If that was the end of "prime" Tiger winning Majors and events left and right, he's had three comeback since then:

2009: 6 PGA + 1 Euro wins / World #1

Then the marital issues and leg injuries that left him winless in 2010-2011.

2012-2013: 8 PGA wins / World #1

Then the series of back injuries that thrashed 2014-2015, before knocking him out of almost all of 2016-2017.

2018-2019: 2 PGA wins / 1 Major / up to World #6 with "free roll" in terms of adding points the rest of the year

I don't think it's a stretch to say "post-prime" Tiger has had a career that would end up in the HOF if it was someone else:

16 PGA wins
1 Euro win
1 Major
2-time World #1

That wouldn't have been a a fluky week or two at World #1. It was 60 straight weeks in 2013-14. It would have been 30-40+ weeks in 2009-2010 if 2008 and earlier had not happened.

Yeah, that's a HOF career.

[jdw]

All-Time PGA Wins List:

82 Sam Snead
82 Tiger Woods
73 Jack Nicklaus
64 Ben Hogan
62 Arnold Palmer
52 Byron Nelson
51 Billy Casper
45 Walter Hagen
44 Phil Mickelson
43 Cary Middlecoff

Other active players with 10+ for some perspective:

20 Dustin Johnson (35 years old)
17 Jim Furyk (49)
17 Rory McIlroy (30)
13 David Duval (47)
13 Adam Scott (39)
12 Jason Day (31)
12 Zach Johnson (43)
12 Justin Leonard (47)
12 Bubba Watson (40)
11 Jordan Spieth (26)
11 Justin Thomas (26)
10 Sergio Garcia (39)
10 Justin Rose (39)

The two golfers who have dominated World Number 1 spot since February 19, 2017 have 20 career wins at the age of 20 (Dustin Johnson) and 9 career wins at the age of 29 (Brooks Koepka). Put it this way - if Koepka has 29 wins at the age of 29, you wouldn't think he has a shot in hell of getting 82 career wins. Tiger has 46 wins at the age of 29.

Just a remarkable career.