1. Tiger Wasn't Finished
The easiest mistake to make with Tiger Woods is to treat 2008 as the end of his prime. It wasn't. The Tiger who entered his late thirties was different from the player who had overpowered Augusta National in 1997 or dismantled Pebble Beach in 2000, but he was still capable of controlling tournaments. In 2013, Woods won five times on the PGA Tour. He won at Torrey Pines, Doral, Bay Hill, THE PLAYERS and Firestone. The victory at Firestone was the 79th of his career, leaving him only three short of Sam Snead's long-standing Tour record. He was 37 years old and still capable of shooting 61 against an elite field. He did not win a major that season. Jack Nicklaus remained the man he had chased for most of his professional life. Nicklaus had 18. Woods had 14. Four majors did not feel unreachable. Then Tiger's lower back started dictating his schedule. The warning appeared late in 2013 when back spasms dropped him to his knees during the FedEx Cup playoffs. By March 2014, the problem had become severe enough to require his first back operation. More procedures followed, culminating in spinal fusion in 2017. Woods later described periods when he struggled simply to get out of bed. Yet even after all of that, he came back. He won the 2018 Tour Championship. He briefly held the lead during the final round of the Open Championship at Carnoustie. He shot 64 on Sunday to finish second at the PGA Championship. Then, in 2019, with a fused back and a carefully managed schedule, he won the Masters for major championship No. 15. Now remove the years spent fighting his back. Everything through 2013 stays. The knee surgeries stay. The personal problems stay. The younger generation still arrives. Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson still become great players. Tiger's back simply holds up. And the February 2021 automobile accident never happens. Jack's record is still four majors away. Tiger finally gets the uninterrupted years to chase it.
2. 2014: Back to Hoylake
Tiger arrives at the 2014 Masters healthy. He contends but does not win. Bubba Watson still plays Augusta well enough to take the green jacket, while Tiger finishes somewhere inside the top ten. The summer is different. The Open Championship returns to Royal Liverpool at Hoylake. Tiger knows the place. He won there in 2006 by hitting driver only once all week, relying on stingers, long irons and controlled tee shots to keep the ball out of the baked fairway bunkers. At 38, that version of golf suits him even better. He no longer needs to carry bunkers at every opportunity. His iron play remains strong enough to attack from the fairway, and instead of spending the spring rehabilitating, he arrives with months of competitive golf behind him. Rory McIlroy is still brilliant. The championship reaches Sunday with Tiger chasing rather than leading. Woods keeps the ball below the wind, takes par when the hole demands it and attacks the reachable par-5s. He gets within one on the back nine, then draws even with a birdie at 16. Another birdie at 18 wins it. Major No. 15. The drought that had lasted since Torrey Pines in 2008 is over five years earlier. There is no comeback attached to it. Tiger had never gone anywhere. **Nicklaus 18. Woods 15.**
3. St AndrewsPREMIUM
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View Membership4. The Young Guys Aren't WaitingPREMIUM
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5. BellerivePREMIUM
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6. Augusta Ties ItPREMIUM
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7. No CrashPREMIUM
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8. TwentyPREMIUM
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9. The Record Book Changes Around HimPREMIUM
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10. When Does Tiger Stop?PREMIUM
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11. Everyone Else Is Chasing HimPREMIUM
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THE DISCUSSION
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