It's one thing to be amazed by a singular feat of athleticism. It defines a moment, sometimes a career. But Tiger Woods amazes us with multiple feats of athleticism, often several times during a tournament, and it's almost as if his last unbelievable shot outshines all the unbelievable shots that preceded it. It's a rare quality. So rare, in fact, that I can't think of anyone -- in any sport -- who comes close to matching his success. Woods is the favorite at every major championship, no matter the state of his game. That won't change in two weeks at the British Open. In fact, yesterday's result -- a win at the AT&T National -- bodes well for Tiger at Turnberry, historically speaking, anyhow.
Golf Digest's John Antonini writes that, "Tiger Woods' victory at the AT&T National marks the 14th time he has won in his last PGA Tour start prior to a major championship. Twelve of those wins occurred two weeks prior to the major. Two victories, the 2002 Buick Open and the 2007 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, were one week before the major. Woods has won the ensuing major championship four times. The list below shows his victories and his result in the major."
More impressive than that? In 12 of the 14 majors, Tiger finished in the top 10 (he T24 at the 1997 British Open, and T12 at the 2001 U.S. Open). Put differently: when a professional golfer says he's struggling with his game that's one thing, but it takes on an entirely different meaning when we're talking about Woods.
For Tiger, "struggling" means having to grind his way around the course because his putter, or his driver, or his short irons aren't working -- but never at the same time. It will almost certainly be ugly, but he will almost certainly sign for a 71 when anybody else would have taken 75 strokes to get around the course. Four shots might not seem like much, but that's 16 shots over four days, and that's the difference between sixth place and last place on tour.
That's what separates Tiger from everybody else. I know, hardly earth-shattering -- we have all become used to the heroics at this point -- but it's still worth mentioning. And worth keeping in mind during Open week.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
By now I have come to expect the unexpected from Tiger; he excels! Sometimes that "annoys" those of us of lesser talent. That's tough but its also true. I marvel at his ability to focus and maintain his perspective even when his "A" game has soured to "d". I am very thankful to have witnessed his abilities. His like will not be seen in my lifetime or several lifetimes! Thank you....Tiger!
Maybe I'm missing something about the title of this article. Tiger is currently 3/11 in majors when winning two weeks before a major. Overall, he is 4/13 when winning the tourny before a major (1/2 when winning one week in advance). So, taking only the majors since turning pro (48 total), he is 10/35 in the majors where he doesn't win in the tourny before the major. So, by those numbers, he is actually worse when he wins 2 weeks in advance. No?
kmgolf,
Here are the numbers I came up with: Since 1996, Tiger has played in 52 majors as a professional. As you mentioned he was 4 of 13 in majors when he won the tournament before. That means he's 10 of 39 in the majors where he doesn't win the tournament before.
4/13 = ~31%
10/39 = ~26%
(Again, my math could be wrong.) It's also worth noting that these differences probably are statistically significant from one another, but that wasn't the thrust of my post (although maybe it should have been).
I'm only seeing 48 majors since turning professional (1997 was first year with pro majors, two missed majors last year and two played this year...that makes 12 years of majors currently). Also, the title states that winning two weeks before hand gives him an increase. When he wins two weeks ahead of the major, he is only 3/11 (since two of the 13 occurred one week before, according to the article).