Following several major surgeries and a bizarre traffic mishap in Florida last year, 42-year-old Tiger Woods has returned to the PGA Tour in a most surprising fashion. Since March, Woods has recorded a second-place tie at the Valspar Championship, has finished in a tie for fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and just last weekend worked his way up the leader board at the Players Championship until faltering at the end, dropping from a tie for second to a tournament-concluding tie for 11th place.
From my distant perspective, this seems extremely impressive in light of the surgeries, in light of the absurd amount of painkillers that were in his system during the traffic incident, and more importantly, because of his age. While one of the benefits of playing professional golf is the ability to compete well past the prime of athletes in basketball, football and baseball, there seems to be an imaginary line most golfers cross when they reach age 40 and their skills start to diminish. If you think of some of Tiger’s successful peers such as Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington and Phil Mickelson, they can still hang in there on occasion, but they are nonetheless far removed from their prime. There’s a reason Justin Leonard works for the Golf Channel.
However, there has been a lot of chirping about Tiger’s return from the talking heads with lots of pronouncements and estimated guesses that usually fall into the range of the irrational. All one needs to do is to watch the PGA Tour on television or listen to it on PGA Tour Radio where you’ll hear prognostications about when Tiger will win on tour, when Tiger will win a major on tour, and when Tiger will eclipse Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 career major victories. Tiger might win another tournament. Tiger most probably will not win a major. Tiger has zero chance of collecting five more grand slam championships to pass Nicklaus on the all-time list of major winners.
How can I be so sure? Well, regardless of how dynamic Tiger was in his prime, those days are long gone. While there was a period of time when Tiger was virtually unbeatable, the one entity that continues to remain unbeaten is Father Time. Not even Tiger Woods can stare down Father Time and pull off a handful of major championship victories.
The oldest golfer to win a major was 48-year-old Julius Boros, who won the 1968 PGA Championship. Boros’ victory kept Arnold Palmer from winning the career grand slam. Jack Nicklaus had a major walk down memory lane in 1986 when he captured his sixth Masters green jacket as well as his 18th and final career major. Nicklaus was 46 years old. While it was a magic moment for the greatest golfer of all time, it was his first major triumph in six years. Golfers in their 40s just don’t win a bunch of major titles.
Old Tom Morris won the 1867 British Open at Prestwick on Scotland’s western coast when he was a 46-year-old. I’m having a hard time locating video footage of Old Tom’s final Open Championship victory and to be quite honest, golf was a much different game in those days for a man who made his living as a builder of golf clubs and an early golf course designer.
There are five other golfers who won majors in their mid-40s during the past 104 years. Harry Vardon won the 1914 British Open when he was 44 years old. Roberto de Vicenzo also won the British Open as a 44-year-old when he won the Claret Jug in 1967. Putting genius Jerry Barber made a bunch of bomb putts over the final nine holes to win the 1961 PGA when he was a 45 year old. Hale Irwin was also 45 years old when he dunked a 5-foot putt on the 18th hole at Medinah, ran around the green high-fiving the gallery, and captured the 1990 U.S. Open the following day in a playoff over Mike Donald. Lee Trevino was 44 years old when he won the 1984 PGA at Shoal Creek for his sixth and final major.
Ben Hogan won three majors when he was a 40-year-old, but never won again. Gary Player won his last major at age 42 while Sam Snead was 41. Both won Masters to conclude their major careers. In the world of close calls, Tom Watson almost set jaw-dropping history with his overtime loss at the 2009 British Open at Turnberry. Watson was 59 years young. Vardon lost the 1920 U.S. Open as a 50-year-old, and Raymond Floyd lost in overtime to Nick Faldo in the Masters when he was 49 years old.
We are 10 years removed from Tiger Woods last major triumph at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. He came close the following season when he finished second to Y.E. Yang at the PGA Championship at Hazeltine. That means that the last time Tiger won his last major title, he was 32 years old. At that time everyone thought that he would easily eclipse the Nicklaus total and perhaps put the career majors record out of reach. It was presumed that Tiger would finish with 20-plus grand slam victories. Those days are long gone.
Tiger Woods is not alone. Arnold Palmer won his seventh and final major title at the 1964 Masters. He was 34 years old. The aforementioned Tom Watson was a 33-year-old when he won his eighth and last major at the 1983 British Open. So too was Byron Nelson although perhaps Nelson doesn’t necessarily fit into this category because five years of his career were derailed because of the cancellation of major golfing events during World War II. Seve Ballesteros was 31 years old when he won his fifth and final major.
From the professional golf perspective, the last two months have shown a rejuvenated Tiger Woods returning to the PGA Tour following major surgeries and serious driving mishaps. However, it’s a new world order that features the likes of Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy, none of whom has yet to celebrate a 30th birthday. When he was younger, Tiger’s daily practice routine included hitting 600 range balls, playing 18 holes, dedicating two hours of his time working on his short game, and an equal amount of time in the gym. Now he’s the father of two active kids, has a thriving golf course design business, and most importantly, has played a worldwide golf schedule for the past 25 years. The calendar says he’s 42, he’s closer to 52 in golf years, and the most obvious fact is that Father Time doesn’t intend to give Tiger a mulligan. Time moves on, a new generation has taken over the game, and Tiger Woods is the second- or third-greatest golfer of all time. That’s all folks.
