Over the weekend and into Monday, Tiger Woods won the Zozo Championship tournament in Chiba, Japan. While holding off challenging opponent Hideki Matsuyama, this becomes Woods’ 82nd PGA Tour win. Now, why is that important in terms of a milestone?
Notably, the win ties Woods with Sam Snead with most wins in PGA Tour history. Also, Woods now has twice as many wire-to-wire wins as any other player in PGA Tour history with 14 total of the sort.
Tiger Woods is the first player since at least 1983 to win a PGA TOUR event after bogeying each of his first three holes.
He ties Sam Snead for most wins in PGA TOUR history (82) and has twice as many wire-to-wire wins as any other player in PGA TOUR history (14). (@EliasSports) pic.twitter.com/Ybhv3fnpkH
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 28, 2019
Following the win, Woods gave his thoughts on the mammoth figure of 82 wins on the PGA Tour. Did he ever think he would reach Snead atop the mountain?
“Well, it’s a big number,” Woods said. “It’s about consistency and doing it for a long period of time. Sam did it into his 50s, and I’m in my early to mid-40s. So it’s about being consistent and doing it for a very long period of time. I’ve been very fortunate to have had the career I’ve had so far.”
Without question, Woods has been doing it a long time. For a moment, think about what you were doing when Woods won his first event in 1996. Now, I feel old. So how does Woods sum things up some 80-plus wins later?
“I probably thought about [the record] when I got north of 50, but then unfortunately I went through some rough patches with my back and didn’t play for a number of years, so that record seemed like it was out of reach,” Woods said. “Having had my fourth back procedure and being able to come back and play at a decently high level again, it put the number back in the conversation again.”
Finally, taking into account the comments of his colleagues who finished the tournament with Woods; they’re talking like he’s the best player in the world again. Which means we will be gracing these pages with Tiger Woods material a lot more often. Furthermore, it’s great for the sport.
No one will ever move the meter in the sport of golf like the man who sports red on Sunday.
