Tiger Woods is already arguably one of the greatest golfers of all-time but he hasn’t won a major championship since 2008 and his career total of 14 major wins is still four behind the all-time leader in that department Jack Nicklaus. Woods has struggled to find his form in any tournaments over the past couple of years and on top of that, he’s battled a laundry list of injuries. As we look ahead to 2016, there is plenty of reason to believe he will not be able to regain his winning form. There was a period in time where he was the clear-cut favorite to win every single tournament that he participated in. That’s no longer the case. Here is a look at the four biggest reasons why Tiger will not win a PGA tournament event in 2016.
He’s No Longer In His Prime
Tiger turned 40-years-old on Wednesday and while once upon a time that wouldn’t have been considered too old to contend the game has changed dramatically over the past decade. The elder statesmen of the game don’t dominate the way that they used to and the older that Tiger gets the further he continues to get from his prime form. Tiger has also talked about how he would like to spend more time with his children and family so the fact that his most important concern is something other than game adds to the argument that age will continue to be a detriment to his game.
Injuries Have Taken Their Toll
Tiger might be 40 but when you consider the injuries he has been forced to deal with over the past couple of years he might as well be 70 at this point. Woods has had back surgery, knee surgery, arm and neck problems as well as an Achilles injury that nagged him for quite a long time. Injuries are a common issue in sports but Tiger’s problems more closely resemble what a hockey player might deal with than a golfer and with many nagging injury issues it will be very hard for him to bounce back following another disappointing year looking forward to 2016.
2015 Set The Precedent
Woods didn’t win a single event in 2015 and the fact that when he did play, it looked like he shouldn’t be playing, means that he will enter 2016 with several unresolved issues surrounding his game. Tiger’s incredible list of accomplishments has led to spectators expecting more of him at his advanced age than he is capable of delivering and when you look at this past year’s winners there certainly weren’t many multiple winners. Looking at Tiger’s 2015 year summary, he had just one Top 10 result with three Top 25’s while only making the cut six times. He actually missed the cut four times, which was actually the most he has ever been cut in one season. That’s remarkable since he only played in 11 events. His previous most was three times in 1994. Between 1995 and 2013, he missed only 10 cuts. In the last two seasons (18 events played), Woods has missed the cut six times – one out of every three times. The fact that Woods didn’t win in 2015 (and missed a career-high cuts) doesn’t mean he is overdue for a victory, it means he is done as one of the world’s truly elite golfers right now.
The Rise Of The Young Stars
There is no denying that Tiger absolutely dominated in his prime but the reality is that his competition at that time wasn’t nearly as good as some of the golfers he will match up against in 2016. Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy have each played at an elite level over the past couple of years and all three of those golfers are below the age of 30. Spieth, Day and McIlroy represent the new class of superstar golfers and as long as all three are healthy and play at an elite level it’s hard to imagine Woods contending with them for PGA tour wins in 2016.
