Tiger Woods turns 50. It is the one time golf’s greats can relate to him

[ad_1] Discuss to any golfer who performed towards Tiger Woods and there's certain to be at the very least one story about one shot so elegant they have been sure it couldn't be hit by them or anybody else.

He was simply totally different. Higher.

The two-iron Woods hit into the par-5 tenth gap on the TPC Sugarloaf led Stewart Cink to say, "This can be a ability set I haven't got." Padraig Harrington as soon as noticed Woods hit an 8-iron so majestic at Firestone that it bought in his head and led to the Irishman making triple bogey.

Nick Value performed the opening two rounds with Woods at St. Andrews within the 2000 British Open and felt the match already was over. Mark O'Meara performed a observe spherical with him at Pebble Seaside earlier than the 2000 U.S. Open and informed his spouse earlier than the championship began, "Tiger goes to win. And never solely is he going to win, he will blow away the sector." Woods received by 15.

For all these years, so many greats within the sport may by no means relate to Woods. And now, lastly, they'll.

Not even Woods can beat time. He turns 50 on Tuesday.

It is a milestone for anybody, but it surely's totally different in golf as a result of the game may be performed nicely after the age when athletes have lengthy retired in different sports activities. Phil Mickelson received a serious at 50. Jack Nicklaus made an early Sunday cost on the Masters when he was 58.

With Woods, it is difficult.

<img loading="lazy" alt="A golfer celebrates." srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/3381e131-e5d8-4fec-b500-e7cdb0fab577,1767037854103/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C3404%2C2031%29%3BResize%3D805 805w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/3381e131-e5d8-4fec-b500-e7cdb0fab577,1767037854103/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C3404%2C2031%29%3BResize%3D1104 1104w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/3381e131-e5d8-4fec-b500-e7cdb0fab577,1767037854103/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C3404%2C2031%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) 93.6vw,730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/3381e131-e5d8-4fec-b500-e7cdb0fab577,1767037854103/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C3404%2C2031%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.6760216642048251" data-cy="image-img"/> Woods celebrates his Masters victory in 2019, the fifth of his profession. (Getty Photographs) He now could be eligible for the 50-and-older PGA Tour Champions. He additionally has had extra surgical procedures than the 15 majors he received. That is the primary 12 months he did not play a single match, the results of a ruptured Achilles tendon in March and a seventh again surgical procedure in September.

"I am most likely going to play 25 occasions on each excursions and I believe that ought to cowl a lot of the 12 months, proper?" Woods quipped within the Bahamas when requested about turning 50.

He received the U.S. Open simply eight days earlier than reconstructive surgical procedure on his left knee. He received the Masters two years after surgical procedure to fuse his decrease again. However he hasn't been the identical since that 2021 automobile crash in Los Angeles. Woods has performed 11 instances the final 5 seasons, completed solely 4 of these tournaments and hasn't been nearer than 16 photographs to the winner.

"Come again to what level?" Woods mentioned. "I would like to come back again to only taking part in golf once more."

And so this celebration is extra about wanting again than ahead.

Ernie Els was most prescient in 2000 at Kapalua when he was on the dropping finish once more — nobody completed second to Woods greater than the Large Simple. They matched eagles on the 18th in regulation, birdies on the 18th in a playoff and Woods bought him with a 40-foot birdie putt on the second further gap. Classic Tiger.

I believe he is a legend within the making. - Ernie Els on Tiger Woods in 2000 "I believe he is a legend within the making," Els mentioned that day. "He is 24. He is most likely going to be greater than Elvis when he will get into his 40s."

That is up for debate, after all. Simple is the impression Woods has left on golf.

<img loading="lazy" alt="Two golfers talk." srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/ac43b296-1ee9-4ed8-a821-39b2691c68c5,1767038108613/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C2167%2C1647%29%3BResize%3D805 805w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/ac43b296-1ee9-4ed8-a821-39b2691c68c5,1767038108613/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C2167%2C1647%29%3BResize%3D1104 1104w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/ac43b296-1ee9-4ed8-a821-39b2691c68c5,1767038108613/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C2167%2C1647%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) 93.6vw,730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/ac43b296-1ee9-4ed8-a821-39b2691c68c5,1767038108613/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C2167%2C1647%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.315725561627201" data-cy="image-img"/> Woods with Jack Nicklaus on the 1996 U.S. Open, one 12 months earlier than Woods turned professional. (Getty Photographs) Reputation soared and prize cash skyrocketed. Woods made golf look totally different and he made it cool. And maybe his biggest legacy is he unwittingly skilled a technology of gamers who needed to be like him. Scottie Scheffler mentioned nothing impressed him greater than watching the depth of Woods when he was out of rivalry on the 2020 Masters. Woods made a ten on the twelfth gap and adopted with 5 birdies over his final six holes. He tied for thirty eighth.

"Tiger was simply totally different in the way in which he approached every shot. It was just like the final shot he was ever going to hit," Scheffler mentioned. It was the one time they performed collectively. Scheffler now could be arising on three years at No. 1 on the planet, the longest stretch since Woods.

However it began with that ability set in contrast to some other.

"He is the one man I've ever recognized who regularly exceeded expectations," Tom Lehman mentioned. "Regardless of how a lot you heaped on him, he discovered a technique to exceed them."

Solely two issues can cease Tiger — harm or a nasty marriage. - Dan Jenkins Lehman recollects one second on the Memorial on the seventeenth gap, a inexperienced so rock-hard it felt unattainable to get it shut. Lehman hit 5-iron as excessive and much as he may and was happy to see it roll out 25 ft from the cup.

"He hits this shot method up within the air and it was coming down like a parachute," Lehman mentioned. "Lands by the cup and bounces 2 ft and stops. I determine he will need to have hit a 7-iron. I mentioned, `Tiger, what membership was that?' He mentioned, `That was somewhat, three-finger 5-iron.' He simply filleted it in there.

"Once I consider him, that is what I consider. Just one man may hit that shot. And he did it usually."

Woods had the profession Grand Slam at age 24, the youngest of anybody. He had 50 wins worldwide and 10 majors earlier than he turned 30.

<img loading="lazy" alt="A golfer hits a drive." srcset="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/5a217f07-c228-4acb-bc17-6ea83c64daa0,1767038317427/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C2513%2C1363%29%3BResize%3D805 805w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/5a217f07-c228-4acb-bc17-6ea83c64daa0,1767038317427/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C2513%2C1363%29%3BResize%3D1104 1104w,https://i.cbc.ca/ais/5a217f07-c228-4acb-bc17-6ea83c64daa0,1767038317427/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C2513%2C1363%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 762px) 93.6vw,730px" src="https://i.cbc.ca/ais/5a217f07-c228-4acb-bc17-6ea83c64daa0,1767038317427/full/max/0/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C2513%2C1363%29%3B" style="aspect-ratio:1.843727072633896" data-cy="image-img"/> Woods tees off on the 18th gap at St. Andrews in Scotland on his technique to victory on the 2000 British Open. (Getty Photographs) It wasn't as simple as he may make it look. The late Dan Jenkins as soon as mentioned when Woods was in peak kind, "Solely two issues can cease Tiger — harm or a nasty marriage." Seems it was each. His path was derailed on the finish of 2009 by revelations of a number of extramarital affairs, and the accidents saved piling up. He nonetheless made it again to No. 1 on the planet in 2013 and he ran his PGA Tour victory rely to 82, tied with Sam Snead.

"If he by no means bought injured, he'd have 25 majors and 125 wins," Fred {Couples} mentioned.

Matt Kuchar noticed it in a different way. He felt the accidents contributed to the legend of Woods, significantly that 2008 U.S. Open win at Torrey Pines.

Woods was taking part in that week on shredded ligaments in his left knee and two stress fractures in his left leg. Typically missed is that Woods had not walked 18 holes for the reason that Masters till the opening spherical at Torrey Pines.

"The legacy is larger due to the accidents," Kuchar mentioned. "What he did at Torrey Pines, what he did on the (2019) Masters is form of Hoganesque. Sooner or later I, like most everyone, counted him out. After which he wins once more."

Woods is conserving loads busy exterior the ropes. He was appointed to the PGA Tour coverage board and not using a time period restrict in 2023 because the tour was within the midst of its battle with Saudi-funded LIV Golf. He now heads up the Future Competitors Committee charged with reshaping the tour mannequin.

The following query is when — and the place — he performs. Woods is the one participant to have received the U.S. Junior Beginner, U.S. Beginner and U.S. Open. The U.S. Senior Open is at Scioto, the Ohio course the place Jack Nicklaus realized to play.

April at Augusta is not the identical with out Woods. He set the Masters report in 2024 by making the minimize for the twenty fourth consecutive time. How way more? How for much longer?