Tiger Woods - Remembering What He Did for the Game of Golf

02/10/2012

I am guilty of watching golf these days only when Tiger Woods plays. I am also guilty of being in the minority of believing that Tiger will once again dominate his sport of golf. Of course, I do not look for him to capture his remarkable year of 2000, but, I never say never.

Let us not, however, forget what this man has done for the sport that so many of us love. It has been awhile, but, let me remind you of the remarkable feats this golfer extraordinaire accomplished before so many of us got sidetracked by his inappropriate behavior. Sometimes, these things cloud over the feats that made this man so remarkable.

Let us start with a feat never accomplished before, or, since....the U.S. Junior Amateur which he won 3 straight years. No man has ever won three U.S. Junior Amateur titles, much less 3 in a row. Only one man ever won twice.

Follow that with 3 straight U.S. Amateur titles. That feat has never been matched, either. Throw in a NCAA Championship his final year at Stanford.

Now, we come to the Major Championships. In his first Major as a professional Tiger won the Masters going away by 12 strokes. This is the largest margin ever and his total of 18 under par is the all-time scoring record. Did I mention that he is the youngest ever to win the Masters.

In the greatest performance in Major Championship history, Tiger won the 100th U.S. Open in 2000 by 15 strokes and was the only player under par at minus 12.

At age 24, Tiger became the youngest player in history to win the Career Grand Slam i.e. winner during his career of all four Majors.

In 2001, Tiger became the only player in history to win all four Majors in a row stretching over two calendar years.

Tiger is 3rd all-time in PGA wins with 72. He is only 1 behind Jack Nicklaus and 10 behind leader Sam Snead with 82. However, those 72 wins came over a period of just 14 years compared to Jack's wins covering a period of 25 years.

And, finally....he won his 14th Major at the age of 32 needing only 4 more majors to tie Jack Nicklaus for most Majors ever.

Many of us assume that without the trouble that came in 2009 Tiger could have won those 4 Majors by now. Of course, there is still plenty of time.

Let the games begin.....