Dec 10, 2013
Thousand Oaks, Calif. – It has been a wild ride for Tiger Woods in 2013. Despite not winning a major this year, Woods still was voted player of the year with 5 wins, most on tour. Tiger lost his own tournament Sunday, Northwestern Mutual World Challenge, in devastating fashion.
Following a course record round on Friday, 62 (-10), Woods took a 2-shot lead over Zach Johnson into Sunday’s final round. Johnson and Woods were tied at (-13) for the tournament heading into the final hole when Johnson mishit his approach shot into the water.
All odds pointed toward Woods’ favor, as Johnson would be required to take a penalty shot and drop. Johnson went on to hole-out and save par. Tiger then pared the hole as well as the two would go on to a playoff hole. Woods would be left with a downhill 4-footer with break for par and missed it. Johnson went onto win by one in dramatic style.
Respectfully, Tiger would smile and congratulate his buddy Zach. Later, when Tiger was asked about his year, he said, “Pretty damn good year.” The missed four-footer costs Woods $600,000 as that was the difference in 1st and 2nd place in prize money for the tournament.
In all aspects, Woods had a pretty solid 2013. Anytime you win PGA Tour POY, you’re doing something right.
However, even though he may not state it, Tiger’s main goal for the rest of his career is to beat Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major-wins. Tiger trails Nicklaus by 4 and is second all-time. Tiger will turn 40 in December 2014 and time is starting to fade. With other solid players such as Adam Scott and Phil Mickelson in the field, the task at hand will be difficult for Woods.
I predict Tiger to finally win a major next year, ending in what will be a 5-year major drought. Once Tiger gets his next major, look for him to get back toward his old, dominant self, as he will regain confidence. Nicklaus’ record will be gone by the time Tiger turns 43.
