Can Tiger Woods Dominate Golf Again?
After a strong performance in Florida, we ask whether Tiger can return to his best and dominate again.
After a strong performance in Florida, we ask whether Tiger can return to his best and dominate again
Can Tiger Woods Dominate Golf Again?
Tiger Woods is arguably the most dominant golfer of all time with Jack Nicklaus being the only male player who could contend with him.
But for a period of time Tiger went on a run that not even the Golden Bear could touch.
In 2000, Tiger won the US Open at Pebble beach by an astounding 15 shots, he then won The Open at St Andrews by eight shots, and finally won the US PGA after a playoff with Bob May. Tiger then collected the fourth Major at the Masters in 2001 to possess all four.
Impressive, but it gets more amazing when you look at Woods' career statistics. This tweet from Alex Myers, talking about Justin Thomas after his win at the Honda Classic, is particularly revealing.
So, can Tiger return to these heights?
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Well he has only just returned from another back surgery and his performance in Florida at The Honda Classic was just his third tournament back. But there was a lot to get excited about if you are a Tiger fan.
Continues Below
Expand When Is Tiger Woods Next Playing?
When Is Tiger Woods Next Playing?
We take a look at Tiger Woods' 2020
Expand Tiger Woods What’s In The Bag?
Tiger Woods What’s In The Bag?
Check out the equipment Tiger Woods uses
Expand Justin Thomas beats Luke List in playoff for Honda Classic
Justin Thomas beats Luke List in playoff for Honda Classic
Thomas came out on top, Alex Noren and…
Off the tee, he has got a lot of his ball speed back shown by this tweet:
A big part of his dominance in the early 2000's was down to his distance too and this appears to be in good shape as he ranked second in driving distance for the week.
A good snapshot of what Tiger's game looks like at the moment was summed up well by the official PGA Tour Twitter account with this:
This is a telling tweet. His iron play appears to be as good as ever, but if Tiger is to return to the level of dominance we know he can achieve, then his driving accuracy has to improve.
If, and this is a big if, he was to start hitting fairways then he is going to contend in tournaments.
But whether he is going to be dominant again is a tough question because his level in the 2000's was something previously unseen in golf. It was a historic run of wins and we should probably temper any predictions until he has won his first tournament after coming back.
No question though, it is good to have Tiger back in golf.
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Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!
Elliott is currently playing:
Driver: Titleist TSR4
3 wood: Titleist TSi2
Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1
Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
Ball: Srixon Z Star XV
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