Age and health won’t be a factor
By Ryan Lane
Contributing Writer
Tiger Woods has not had a Masters Tournament win since 2005. In fact, the last time Tiger won a major golf title was in 2008 at the U.S. Open. Since then, he was on and off the next five years, coming up short at many tournaments due to injuries to his back, left knee, neck and his Achilles tendon.
Fast forward to Dec. 1, 2016, when he returned to golf after sitting out for an entire year due to back surgery. The debut was at the Hero World Challenge where Tiger started off well sitting at one over par after the first round. Tiger’s second round was outstanding. He was tied for 3rd place and finished the round seven under par. This put him at six under par overall.
Tiger’s third round started off just like the second round, but he made a crucial mistake at the 18th hole where he double bogeyed. He finished two under par and dropped to 10th place. When the fourth round started, Tiger was eight under par. He double bogeyed twice and realized a shot at the win was out of reach. He finished four over par and in 15th place.
Tiger Woods turned 41 in December. A lot of great golfers like Jack Nicklaus (46) have won major events at an older age. Age and health isn’t a factor for golfers when you are talking about the biggest golf tournament of the year.
Tiger has great and young competitors holding him back from a Masters win. These five golfers are ahead of Tiger in the odds of winning it all. Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, the 2016 Tour Champion Rory Mcllroy, the 2016 U.S. Open Champion Dustin Johnson and the man that stopped Tiger short of his comeback win at The Hero World Challenge, Hideki Matsuyama.
A lot of reporters may say that it’s too late for Tiger to win a championship because of his health and they may be right. Winning it all may be a stretch but finishing in the top five should be more realistic. He has more wins (79) than any of his competitors, he has more Masters Tournament wins (4) then his competitors and he is one of the greatest golfers to ever play the game.
This is why on April 6, 2017, Tiger Woods will be shooting five under par and will finish in the top five at Augusta.