Tiger Woods is 42, and hasn’t won a major for a decade, nor any tournament in the last five years, but his fan-base outstrips that of the rest of a very talented field.
Yesterday those fans lifted the former world number one for 683 weeks to his seventh second in 80 majors, to go with his 14 successes.
He started the year ranked 656 in the world.
Today he’s number 25, and rising – while his FedExCup ranking has shot up from 49 to 21.
If there were 30,000 fans on course yesterday, 25,000 were following Tiger Woods every inch of the way.
As playing partner Gary Woodland noted – “There’s nothing like it – the energy in that place was unbelievable”.
That’s what Tigermania is all about – the fans love him, the sponsors love him, and CBS love him for dramatically lifting their ratings every time he plays.
There is a downside, and it’s the CBS commentators fawning over Tiger as though he’s the only one playing in the tournament.
The station kept replaying his birdies, and showing those he was chasing like the eventual winner Brooks Koepka, and Adam Scott, missing their putts.
In the end the totally biased commentary gets under the skin, not that CBS gives a rats.
Yesterday Tiger – damn it, I’m slipping into CBS-speak – Woods came home with a 64, the best final day score in his majors career.
At 42, that was something special, not only for him, but for golf.
As he tweeted later in the day – “I can’t thank the fans at St Louis enough for packing the course all week, and for their enthusiasm and support. It meant so much to me”.
In the end there were only three in it to win the last major of the year – Koepka, Woods and Scott.
Koepka shot 66 to finish 16-under, Woods 64 for 14-under and Scott 67 for 13 under.
Woods in action.
It’s interesting to compare their vital stats:
Driving distance average – Koepka 319 yards, Woods 314, Scptt 302.5.
Driving accuracy – Koepka 64.29 per cent, Woods 35.71, Scott 42.86.
Greens in regulation – Koepka 77.78 per cent, Woods 66.67, Scott 72.22
Strokes gained – putting – Koepka 0.159, Woods 2.216, Scott 1.130.
Woods’ flat stick kept him in contention, while Koepka’s putting very nearly cost him the Wanamaker Trophy, his third major in 14 months to go with back-to-back US Opens
The other interesting stat were the tournament breakdowns:
Koepka sunk 22 birdies, just four bogeys, and a double.
Woods – 23 birdies, seven bogeys, and a double.
Scott – 20 birdies, and seven bogeys.
Mighty impressive figures on the demanding Bellerive course.
The burning question is will Woods be able to maintain his newly-found momentum through the Ryder Cup and FedExCup, following multiple back surgeries?
His fans, and the sport, will have their fingers crossed.
An “unshakeable” Scottie Scheffler has claimed his second Masters green jacket in three years, carding a four-under-par 68 to finish four shots clear of…
A day after setting a tournament record in the Masters, Tiger Woods has suffered an unwanted milestone at Augusta National. Woods insisted he could…
Tiger Woods is on the prowl for a sixth green jacket after penning another glorious chapter in his storied career with a record-breaking 24th…
Bryson DeChambeau has laid some demons to rest with a stunning back-nine birdie barrage to seize the first-round lead at the weather-hit Masters. The…
A year after being persona non grata at Augusta National, Australian golf legend Greg Norman is back at the Masters, declaring "the boss is…
Australian golf star Min Woo Lee has revealed he will play the Masters with a broken finger after suffering the freak injury in the…
