The 2013 WGC Bridgestone Invitational was the last time Tiger Woods won a PGA tour event. After an emotional victory in Atlanta and coming in second in the FedExCup standings Woods looks to be returning to at least to the 2013 version of Woods who won five tournaments then.
After Woods win he said “It’s been tough,” Woods said immediately after the match. “I’ve had a not-so-easy last couple of years and I’ve worked my way back and … it’s just hard to believe I’ve won the Tour Championship.”
Moving forward Tiger’s next event is to be a participant for Team USA in the Ryder Cup. This is only a prelude into Woods’ big match against Phil Mickelson for a grand prize of $10 million.
Woods could not have envisioned going into the one-on-one match up any better than with this victory. In a season that saw Woods place second twice in tournaments and have seven top 10 finishes, he finally got over the hump after many injury riddled seasons and scandals Woods is starting to peak.
The impact Woods has on sports is phenomenal and only makes the golfers around him better as well as helping expose golf to more than just the die-hard PGA fans. Per USA Today, the British Open received a 37 percent ratings spike on Sunday afternoon due to Woods being in contention. After the first round of the PGA Championship per 101sports.com the defending champion Justin Thomas admitted that he just now stopped getting butterflies playing alongside Woods.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to where I’ve played with him enough now that I don’t — I don’t want to say get wrapped up in it, but the first couple times I maybe played a little bit more attention to what he’s doing, but now this is a PGA Championship, and I’m trying to play the best that I can. So I’m focusing on what I’m doing,” said Thomas.
The most important thing is that this brings eyes to the game of golf and other golfers. For years the ratings have been on a downslide with Woods’ absence from the winner’s circle. Back injuries is what has limited Woods the past few years along with incidents such as DUI. Before this it was his sex scandal from back in 2009. Woods still has not won a major championship since 2008 but 2019 looks promising. According to getmoresports.com Woods ranks second in betting odds behind Jordan Spieth to win the 2019 Masters.
Woods is undoubtedly one of the greatest athletes of the 21st century and to see him make this push has to excite even the average fan. A second consecutive Ryder cup win for the United States as well as a $10 million win versus Mickelson is likely to be the storybook ending for Woods’ 2018 season. With the Tour Championship victory Woods recorded his 80th win of his career only two wins away from the all time tour record of 82 held by Sam Snead.
Things are looking up for Tiger and not only is the golf world excited for it even the non-golf fans are excited about it and that is what makes us love Tiger.
