Tiger Woods turns 45 in December. To think that he has remained the No. 1 attraction in golf ever since his first Master’s win in 1997 is incredible. His 82 tournament wins are tied for first with Sam Snead all-time and he’s still 3 wins shy of Jack Nicklaus’s 18 major wins — which at one time seemed insurmountable.
Over the last two decades, Woods has remained newsworthy even when the subject matter sadly involved his personal life unraveling in real time for all to see.
At one point, he had lost his magnificence on the links, but his celebrity appeal didn’t falter. The only difference between then and now is that his fans got his back again. Tiger’s no longer a cautionary tale or the star of a disaster film with people waiting to see his final mishap.
His redemption Tour of 2018 had a bunch of near misses, but the fact that he was competing at an elite level again was enough to rally the entire sports world behind him. Everyone loves a great comeback story.
The two wins in 2019 at The Masters and Zozo Championship, fully cemented his return to glory and his position as golf’s GOAT.
We hoped to see even more of Tiger Woods in 2020, but the Masters and all PGA events have been canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. To be honest, Woods’ Redemption Tour was a season that would amount to a career’s worth of achievement for most pro golfers.
For Tiger, already considered golf’s GOAT, it was the most important year of his life. It proved that he was on another level.
Here are Tiger Woods’ Top 5 Moments of 2019
Tiger Woods Remains Golf’s Cash Cow
Tiger Woods has a net worth of $800 Million and he has made $615 million of that in the last decade as he placed 6th overall in Forbes’ richest athletes of the decade list.
This year, Woods cut back on tournaments, promotions and commercials, but the 11-time PGA Player of the Year, still earned a “light bag” of $63.9 million, putting him a bit lower on the yearly list as he’s accustomed to. No big deal. Tiger’s been No. 1 on the list 12 times in the past.
Tiger Woods’ Unfathomable Redmption Song
Tiger won the Masters, 11 years after winning his last major. It was his fifth green jacket and 15th major title. There was a large majority of informed golf observers who predicted that he’d never win another tournament. To win the most prestigious major of them all was the final chapter to a script that Hollywood couldn’t write, but will surely try to duplicate one day.
15th Major win, 5th Masters win. Both 2nd of all time.
14 years after his last green jacket, and after 3 back surgeries over the last 5 years, Tiger Woods has won #TheMasters
? @TheMasterspic.twitter.com/jPeaqrVVPS— The Shadow League (@ShadowLeague) April 14, 2019
The Double Up
While most golfers would call it a season after winning a Masters jacket, Tiger followed up with the Zozo Championship in October in Japan for his 82nd career PGA Tour victory. It tied him with legendary Sam Snead for tops on the Tour’s win list. Tiger accomplished the win while fighting injury. A week earlier we were wondering if he was going to be able to even walk for 72 holes. Amazing.
Tiger Woods came back, won the Masters. He wins the Zozo to tie the all time golf win record, then is a playing captain for the winning President's Cup team with a perfect record. But yeah I guess whatever that bball guy did was cool. SMH.
— Chase Ross (@Rossie3) December 27, 2019
Tiger’s 2019 Trifecta
Tiger led the charge as a player and captain as the United States won the Presidents Cup in Australia. Tiger was vintage in his precision and dominance, giving his team an early lead. If the event was stroke-play he’d have won by at least five shots.
One of President Trump’s Few Good Men
Was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor by President Trump.
