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.
Justin Thomas has won an incredible 7 of his past 31 PGA Tour starts, a 23% clip. More incredible? Tiger has won 24% of his PGA Tour starts for his CAREER.
— Alex Myers (@AlexMyers3) February 25, 2018
So, can Tiger return to these heights?
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.
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Off the tee, he has got a lot of his ball speed back shown by this tweet:
PGA Tour average club head speed leaders this season, updated after Honda Classic:
1. Brandon Hagy
2. Keith Mitchell
3. Tony Finau
4. Tiger Woods
5. Dustin Johnson
6. Rory McIlroy— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGC) February 26, 2018
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:
70-71-69-70.
Ranks this week …
• Proximity: 1st
• Driving distance: 2nd
• Scrambling: T11
• SG: Putting: 18th
• Driving accuracy: T45@TigerWoods' week is complete. pic.twitter.com/Uy34UuLHwx— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 25, 2018
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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