Amid Concerns Over His Form, Tiger Woods’ “Unexplainable Brilliance” Revives Faith for a Comeback

Tiger Woods will grace the greens after seven months. While that’s good news for the veteran golfer’s fans, the fact that more than three years have passed since his last victory has caused some concern. In fact, in the last three years, Woods has played in only eight tournaments. The former World No. 1’s best performance was at the 2023 Genesis Invitational, where he wound up in the 45th spot.

Amidst his much-anticipated comeback, old data shows Woods’ Tour de Force performance for the majority of the 2000s. Possibly in sports history, there has not been another example of the singular dominance that Woods wielded in the 2000s. To give just one example, Woods’ 82 PGA Tour wins in 372 events that he played come with a winning percentage of 22%. But that’s just one, and not even the most impressive one.

The astounding decade of Tiger Woods

Brandon Chamblee, a famous Golf Channel analyst, showcased some stats that prove the superiority Woods enjoyed in his dominant years. In 2000, when he recorded nine wins in a single calendar year, his scoring average was 67.794, 0.74 strokes better than David Duval, the next best, and 3.028 better than the Tour average that year.

1999-2000 was also the time when the 15x Major winner raked in six consecutive PGA Tour victories. Notably, his actual scoring average of 68.17 was a PGA Tour record at the time. In the next two years, Woods recorded five PGAT victories each season with two majors. His scoring averages of 68.80 and 68.56 were 0.252 and 0.91 better than those of Davis Love III and Vijay Singh, respectively.

In 2006, Woods dug deep with eight wins in the year, hauling in two more majors. With a scoring average of 68.115, he was 3.206 ahead of the tour average. Next year, once again, the Hall of Famer raked in seven wins with a scoring average of 67.794. That was also 1.5 strokes better than the next best, Ernie Els. Truly, “Stupefying, unexplainable brilliance,” as the veteran analyst states.

Chamblee further revealed that between 1999 and 2002, the former World No. 1 recorded a 34% win percentage. If that seems staggering, consider that Tiger Woods won 25 of 54 PGAT events in 2006–2009, posing a 46% winning percentage. While Woods gears up to make his grand return on the Hero World Challenge, these stats are sure to assuage his fans.

A grand comeback at the Hero World Challenge 

In April, the veteran golfer limped out of the Masters and went through surgery. The recovery took longer than expected. While his fans were jovial about his comeback, they were also worried about whether Woods would be able to measure up to the players.

Read More: 2023 Hero World Challenge Tee Times and Pairings: When Will Tiger Woods Make His Long-Expected Return?

The 82-time PGA Tour winner last played in a Hero World Challenge in 2019, where he netted a sixth-place finish. This year’s field has sixteen players from the OWGR Top 25, including current World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. Interestingly, Woods’ 2009 scoring average of 68.052 still surpasses Scheffler’s 68.629 scoring average this season. Tiger Woods fans have a lot to cherish about their favorite star, and perhaps after this week they will have even more!

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