Tiger's comeback

[duke4ever19]

He will not catch Jack. His body will not hold up long enough for him and I'm not sure he wins another major tournament. And you can't count out a female pounding him with a 3 iron. Now back to Duke sports/GoDuke!

He's baaaaack. I'm sticking with my prediction: He will not stop till he catches Jack.

[killerleft]

Amazing. Amazing. Who woulda thunk it?

[HereBeforeCoachK]

[/B]

He's baaaaack. I'm sticking with my prediction: He will not stop till he catches Jack.

I don't know if he can do that, but winning this tournament proves he can win a Major...heck, some players look at this, and at the Players Championship, as more important than the fourth major, the PGA Tournament, anyway. At any rate, it will be fascinating to watch. For years we thought he'd steam by Jack easy. Then we thought he'd never catch him, ever...now it is in play. Fat Jack won The Masters at 46...Tom Watson almost won the British when he was in his upper 50s...Tiger is 42.

And 80 wins, two short of Slammin' Sammy Snead...amazing.

[CDu]

Amazing. Amazing. Who woulda thunk it?

Many people, actually. This didn’t shock me at all. Once he came back and showed he could hit it long for four straight days earlier this year, I felt pretty sure he would win another tournament. And I still feel he has a strong shot to win another major so long as his body holds up. Maybe not quite even odds, but probably pretty close to that.

Golf is just not a sport where one should make “he will never” statements about players. So much can happen, and while it helps to be physically prime, it isn’t critical like other sports. A 60-year-old Tom Watson should have won a major.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

If he remains healthy, Tiger will be the odds on favorite at all four majors next year.

Congrats to Tiger on a fabulous week! LGD GTHc!

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Many people, actually. This didn’t shock me at all. Once he came back and showed he could hit it long for four straight days earlier this year, I felt pretty sure he would win another tournament. And I still feel he has a strong shot to win another major so long as his body holds up. Maybe not quite even odds, but probably pretty close to that.

Golf is just not a sport where one should make “he will never” statements about players. So much can happen, and while it helps to be physically prime, it isn’t critical like other sports. A 60-year-old Tom Watson should have won a major.

I was shocked to read today that a couple years ago, Tiger thought he'd never play golf again. I don't mean competitive golf, I mean ANY golf. Apparently in 2017 early he couldn't even walk or sit comfortably. I never knew he was that bad off. This all turned around, apparently, with that spinal fusion surgery, which was called a "hail Mary" surgery decision. That was April 2017, and Woods said the relief was dramatic and instant.

And since he's started being competitive in the past few months, this is not a surprise.

[killerleft]

Many people, actually. This didn’t shock me at all. Once he came back and showed he could hit it long for four straight days earlier this year, I felt pretty sure he would win another tournament. And I still feel he has a strong shot to win another major so long as his body holds up. Maybe not quite even odds, but probably pretty close to that.

Golf is just not a sport where one should make “he will never” statements about players. So much can happen, and while it helps to be physically prime, it isn’t critical like other sports. A 60-year-old Tom Watson should have won a major.

Yeah, you got me. I was talking about the entire journey back, but five words certainly didn't convey that. I put him on my team because I thought that, at worst, he was good to earn me some money. I figured he would win again if the back held up, but not necessarily today.

Before this season, though, I didn't think his back would allow him to win again. I wasn't even sure he could seriously compete at all.

[CDu]

Yeah, you got me. I was talking about the entire journey back, but five words certainly didn't convey that. I put him on my team because I thought that, at worst, he was good to earn me some money. I figured he would win again if the back held up, but not necessarily today.

Before this season, though, I didn't think his back would allow him to win again. I wasn't even sure he could seriously compete at all.

My bad. Yeah, a couple of years ago, my answer was probably much different. I probably thought it possible (in the same sense that Watson should have won the Open several years ago), but getting to be highly unlikely. My confidence didn’t really rise until I saw him finish a tourney this Spring.

[sagegrouse]

Tiger has 80 tour wins vs. 82 for the Slammer and 14 majors vs. 18 for Jack.

In all previous seasons, if he has won a major, he has won at least four tournaments; the year he won three (part of the Tiger slam), he won nine tournaments. Realistically, were he to win four more majors, he would probably end up having won 15-20 more tournaments. Perhaps, perhaps, his focus on the majors -- being in first place in the last round at the Open and being second at the PGA -- may lead to better results in the majors than other tournaments, but I don't think so.

Tiger's winning of 15 to 20 more tournaments seems almost impossible, given his age and physical history, but -- heck -- it's Tiger. Here's a rundown of wins and major wins by year from Wikipedia:

Season	Starts	Wins	Majors
			
1992	1	0	0
1993	3	0	0
1994	3	0	0
1995	4	0	0
1996	11	2	0
1997	21	4	1
1998	20	1	0
1999	21	8	1
2000	20	9	3
2001	19	5	1
2002	18	5	2
2003	18	5	0
2004	19	1	0
2005	21	6	2
2006	15	8	2
2007	16	7	1
2008	6	4	1
2009	17	6	0
2010	12	0	0
2011	9	0	0
2012	19	3	0
2013	16	5	0
2014	7	0	0
2015	11	0	0
2016	0	0	0
2017	1	0	0
2018	18	1	0
Career*	346	80	14

In data on just majors, Tiger has played in 78 events (going back to 1995) and won 14 times -- 18 percent. At that rate, it would take 22-30 more tournaments to reach or exceed Nicklaus's record.

[PackMan97]

Tiger's biggest challenge is that he changed a lot of the physical aspect of professional golf. Players are stronger and in better shape now than they were 22 years ago. I think Tiger could get it done if this stage of his career were 25 years ago, I'm not sure if he can now.

You can never say never, after all who would have thought Peyton Manning would come back and win a Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos?

[CameronBornAndBred]

Tiger's biggest challenge is that he changed a lot of the physical aspect of professional golf. Players are stronger and in better shape now than they were 22 years ago. I think Tiger could get it done if this stage of his career were 25 years ago, I'm not sure if he can now.

You can never say never, after all who would have thought Peyton Manning would come back and win a Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos?

RefsHackWheezegaveittohimCough

[YmoBeThere]

As one of the naysayers, I figured I ought to bump this thread.

[duke4ever19]

As one of the naysayers, I figured I ought to bump this thread.

Even if he manages to choke this win away (and he doesn't do much choking), I still think he'll catch Jack.

The wind is picking up here, so we shall see if it manages to combat the last couple groups.

[CDu]

Golf is simply one of those sports where you shouldn’t say “never.”

[Native]

Let’s party like it’s 2005!

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Let’s party like it’s 2005!

Yay Tiger! Well done sir. I for one never doubted you would come back to win a major again! LGD GTHc!

[Mabdul Doobakus]

I'm already looking forward to the 8 hour 30-for-30 on Tiger.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

I've never pulled for / nor against Tiger specifically, but always found it more interesting when he was in the mix, in the hunt, late on Sunday. Until today. This afternoon I kinda was pulling for him, I have to admit. Maybe more than kinda pulling for him.

Afterwards, it was one of the most remarkable scenes I've ever seen...the unanimous jubilation by everybody...the raw emotion, and Tiger more pumped up and happy than we've ever seen him...by far.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I've never pulled for / nor against Tiger specifically, but always found it more interesting when he was in the mix, in the hunt, late on Sunday. Until today. This afternoon I kinda was pulling for him, I have to admit. Maybe more than kinda pulling for him.

Afterwards, it was one of the most remarkable scenes I've ever seen...the unanimous jubilation by everybody...the raw emotion, and Tiger more pumped up and happy than we've ever seen him...by far.

It was kind of interesting watching the clubhouse interviews as the last two holes unfolded. Of course those guys were hoping he tanked, but at the same time I got the impression that they were pulling for him not to.
A very cool day.

[left_hook_lacey]

Something happened to me today I thought would never happen. I actually teared up when he hugged his son coming off 18. All I could think about was him hugging his dad back in the day in the exact same spot. I'm not a Tiger apologist or a Tiger hater, but there was just something nastalgic about that moment. Tiger and I are roughly the same age, and I thought about how I looked at life back when he won the first green jacket, and how I look at life now with my kids that watch everything I do. To see life come full circle for him right in front of our eyes, it just got me. A very poignant moment in golf and pop culture history. It made me think about how short life is and that we're all mortals. Watching those old clips of him seemed like it was just yesterday.