Woods could make history at Augusta
With a win this week at a unique Masters Tournament, Tiger Woods would add to his résumé of golf greatness.
Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS
Defending champion Tiger Woods tees off in the rain on the par-3 4th hole during his practice round for the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on Wednesday, Nov 11, 2020, in Augusta.
November 11, 2020
This week at the Masters Tournament, Tiger Woods will be chasing history, just as he has done seemingly throughout his career.
Woods will be attempting to earn his 83rd career PGA Tour victory – a mark that would break Sam Snead’s 82-win record.
If Woods were to win at Augusta National Golf Club this week, he would also claim his 16th major title.
Woods has won the same major championship two times in a row on four separate occasions in his career. Having won the 2019 Masters, Woods will have the opportunity to improve that number to five. Woods won back-to-back Masters in 2001 and 2002.
Woods is also pursuing professional golf’s most glamorous record – major championship victories. The record is held by Jack Nicklaus, who won 18 majors in his professional golf career.
The 44-year-old Woods is running out of time to catch Nicklaus. Only four majors are played each year – the Masters, the Open Championship, the U.S. Open, and the PGA Championship – and the prime years of Woods’ golf career are dwindling. Woods will reach Senior Tour eligibility at age 50.
Julius Boros was 48 in 1968 when he became the oldest winner of major championship in history. Nicklaus was 46 in 1986 when he won his last major tournament at the Masters.
Woods is a long shot to win this week. Following his ZOZO Championship win last fall, Woods has only played in eight PGA Tour events. Woods made the cut at seven of those tournaments, but he only placed in the top ten one time when he finished in a tie for ninth at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course.
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Woods’ last major appearance came in September at the U.S. Open, and he missed the cut.
Woods enters this year’s Masters Tournament with 45-1 odds to win according to The Action Network. The co-favorites to win the event are Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson.
DeChambeau has two wins in his last nine starts and is golf’s most recent major winner, capturing the first major title of his career at this year’s U.S. Open. DeChambeau lapped the field, posting a final score six shots clear of second place.
Johnson finished sixth at the 2020 U.S. Open, but then tested positive for COVID-19, forcing him to miss subsequent tournaments. Johnson returned last week at the Vivint Houston Open and finished second, two shots behind the winner, Carlos Ortiz.
Another player to watch is Jon Rahm — who was golf’s world No. 1 before Johnson regained that title following his second-place finish last week.
This Masters will be unlike any played before. For the first time ever, the tournament will be played in November.
The Masters is traditionally played during the first full week in April. That tradition has been in place since 1948. The tournament was first played in 1934, and Augusta National Golf Club was founded by renowned amateur golfer Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts – an investment banker from New York.
This year’s Masters begins with opening round play today, and concludes with final round action Nov. 15.
