Tiger Woods is back on the train to Jack’s 18.
Once thought automatic, then impossible, winning 18 major golf championships is now back in the discussion after Woods stunned the sports world by winning the 2019 Masters at Augusta, Ga.
What a comeback! Woods was 1,199th in the world in December of 2017. Now he’s officially No. 6. In the hearts of legions of golf fans, he’s No. 1.
It was in late January of 2015 and the tentative comeback attempt by Woods from injury, scandal and public humiliation was in its infancy. It was sad. He was at the Phoenix Open, having not played a regular PGA Tour schedule for most of 2014, finishing only three tournaments. Back injuries had him wondering whether he would ever play again.
So here he was in Phoenix in 2015, trying to start another comeback. He shot 73 in the first round and skulled and chunked chips in the second round en route to an embarrassing 82. The critics were quick to declare his storied career finished. When he withdrew prior to the first round the next week at San Diego, the critics’ claims seemed validated.
Not so fast.
He hobbled his way to 10 more tournaments in 2015, making the cut in six, but managing only one top 10. He didn't play at all in 2016 and Woods made a momentous decision following a missed cut at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego in January of 2017 — to have back fusion surgery in April, costing him the entire 2017 season. Later in 2017, he was arrested for DUI with a concoction of pain-killing drugs in his system, creating an unforgettable mug shot. The low point had been reached. “He’ll never be back,” was a common refrain.
You know the rest. He returned for the 2018 campaign, rising to as high as 12th in the world rankings, racking up seven top 10s and winning the Tour Championship.
But would he ever win a major again? Could he possibly resume his chase for Jack Nicklaus’s storied record of 18 major titles? A major had eluded Woods since winning No. 14 in 2008. “No. 15 will be the hardest,” said Tour rival and Florida buddy Rickie Fowler, leaving unsaid that if Woods were to win his 15th major, others could quickly follow.
So the golf world’s eyes will be on Woods, now 43, at mid-May’s PGA at Bethpage Black in New York, at June’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in California and at the Open Championship in July at Northern Ireland’s Royal Portrush. “The best thing for the game would be for him to win a couple of majors and get closer to 18 and things will go really crazy,” another fellow pro, Marc Leishman, told SI.com’s Alan Shipnuck. “They’re going crazy now. Can you imagine?”
- Headline at SportsPickle.com: “So it turned out that Tiger Woods was the next Tiger Woods.”
- Patti Dawn Swansson in the River City Renegade on NHL playoff officiating: “ The skunk shirts are making more mistakes than your local meteorologist.”
- Headline in theonion.com: “Steve Kerr Reminds Warriors To Seem Sad DeMarcus Cousins Injured”
- TC in BC: “Baltimore Orioles’ Chris Davis ended his record hitless streak this week at 54 at bats. The most embarrassing part was when his hitting coach pitched him beach balls in batting practice and he still struck out four times.”
- RJ Currie of sportsdeke.com: “With the Lightning suffering a Round 1 sweep, I'll spare them electrical puns, like lacking a spark, feeling re-volted or the Jackets being amped up. I’ll only say this: Watt happened?”
- One more from Currie: “Phillies star Bryce Harper and his wife are expecting their first baby. They've set aside part of his $330 million salary to bribe the kid’s way into the best kindergarten possible.”
- Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “Tiger Woods’ redemptive win at the Masters was nearly undone in the third round when a security guard slipped and slid into Woods’ ankle, but it all worked out in the end. Tiger got his green jacket, and the guard got a yellow card.”
- Janice Hough of leftcoastsportsbabe.com, on Robert Kraft and karma: “How perfect that the Patriots finally are on other side of being unknowingly videotaped.”
- Jack Finarelli of SportsCurmudgeon.com, on Magic Johnson’s ill-fated front-office tenure: “You might say that the Lakers hired ‘Magic’ Johnson as their team president, but they got ‘Earvin’ Johnson in terms of performance.”
- TC in B.C. again, on Donald Trump announcing he would award his buddy Tiger Woods with The Medal of Freedom for his comeback to win the Masters: “Tiger said he would reciprocate by giving Trump an autographed copy of the Nine Commandments.”
Care to comment? Email [email protected]
