Tiger shocks the world with win
Tiger Woods recently won the Tour Championship, making it his first PGA Tour victory since 2013. Many thought they would never get the chance to see Woods in the winners’ circle again, but I guess he proved them wrong.
Woods had been gradually improving his performances all year, so you could see this win coming a mile away. Back in August, he finished second at the PGA Championship. I wrote a column stating it was only a matter of time before Tiger put it all together and won a tournament and guess what, I was right.
This victory is even more amazing when you factor in he had his fourth back surgery only 17 months ago. Needless to say, this reporter was as excited for Tiger winning as I have been for any athlete in many years.
I was happy for Tiger, not because he is my favorite golfer, but because he faced so much adversity and overcame it all. He was invited to participate in the Ryder Cup to represent the United States this year.
I knew it was going to be a short time before Woods put all the elements of his game together for an entire tournament. Once he overcame his health issues, all that was left was for him to regain the swing that took him to such tremendous heights.
Tiger at his peak was so much better than everyone else on the tour. The way I figured it, once he became healthy, all he needed to be was 85 percent of his former self and that would still be good enough to beat the best the PGA Tour has to offer.
Another part of what made Tiger so dominant was his intimidating presence on the course. Woods seemed to have that swagger in full display the entire tournament, especially Sunday.
Woods seems primed to have a very successful 2019 season. According to Westgate Las Vegas Superbook, he is the betting favorite for the Masters Tournament. If Tiger can capture a major title next year, that will put him back on pace to possibly catch Jack Nicklaus for most Major titles in the history of the game.
The scene that Sunday, Sept. 23, as Tiger was walking up to the 18th green was awe inspiring. The crowd that followed Woods was reminiscent of when he was in his prime during the early part of the century.
I don’t think Woods is done improving. There are a couple of things he can improve upon during the off-season that will bode well for him come next year. That should be very scary for the rest of the players on the tour.
With Woods trending back to the top, 2019 should be a great year for the PGA Tour.
