Once the number one golfer in the world, Tiger Woods has been beset by personal drama and professional issues since his life imploded in late 2009, following a flurry of revelations of his scandalous extramarital affairs. After a self-imposed exile, Woods returned to the PGA tour at the 2010 Masters, and proceeded to struggle on golf course after golf course. The tarnished golden boy, plagued by injuries, hasn't won a tournament in almost two years. On Thursday, Woods teed off at the W.G.C.-Bridgestone Invitational, his first tournament since a three-month layoff due to knee and Achilles tendon injuries. Can Tiger finally get his career back on track? Here, a brief guide, by the numbers, to his return:
628
Number of days since Tiger Woods has won a golf tournament. "We're not talking about major golf tournaments, either, the events like the Masters and the U.S. Open that define a player's career," says Steve Politi at CNN. "We're talking about any golf tournament, be it a run-of-the-mill PGA Tour event or, as far as we know, even a country-club scramble."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
71
Number of PGA Tour victories Woods has under his belt, the third most of any golfer in history
14
Number of major tournaments that he has won
18
Record number of majors won, a mark held by Jack Nicklaus. Wood was once viewed as a near-certain lock to surpass Nicklaus.
28th
Woods' current world ranking
26
Number of slots he has fallen in those rankings since January
12
Number of weeks Woods has been out due to knee and Achilles injuries
$5 million
Average amount of money on the line every week of the PGA tour
4
Number of knee surgeries Woods has had. "His body has gone under the knife so often... that his medical history more closely resembles an NFL linebacker than a professional golfer," says Politi.
35
Woods' age. He's "still in a golfer's prime, but his body hasn't been right in a long time," says Politi.
3
Number of players in golf history who have won more than five majors — what Woods would need to do surpass Nicklaus — after turning 35. They include Nicklaus himself, Ben Hogan, and Sam Snead.
13
Number of years Woods had worked with his longtime caddie Steve Williams before Woods fired him earlier this summer
6
Number of years Woods was married to model Elin Nordegren before news of his numerous affairs led to their divorce, which was finalized in August of 2010
68
What Woods shot in the first round of the Bridgestone Invitational on Thursday. That's an "impressive 2-under-par," says Mark Cannizzaro in the New York Post. But, it's still too early "to deem Tiger Woods as 'back.'"
71
What Woods shot in the second round on Friday. His "hopes of a dramatic comeback victory were seriously damaged," says ESPN. He's currently one under par.
8
Number of strokes under par that the two current leaders in the tournament, Ryan Moore and Adam Scott, are. Scott just happens to be working with Woods' former caddie, Steve Williams. That must make his position at the top of the leaderboard "particularly galling for Woods," says ESPN.
7
Number of times Woods has won this tournament in the past
Sources: CNN, ESPN, New York Times, People
Magazine solutions - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
Magazine printables - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
Why ghost guns are so easy to make — and so dangerous
