40 Observations on Tiger Woods

Bob Weeks

TSN Senior Reporter

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As Tiger Woods turns 40 today, here are 40 observations about his career, my interactions with him, some of his amazing records and his personal struggles. Regardless of whether you think he will ever return to form, he has been the most dominant golfer of his era and arguably one of the greatest athletes in sports.

1. Tiger may have just turned 40 but his body is probably more like 65. He’s suffered with back surgery, knee surgery, Achilles injury, non-firing glutes, wrist bones that he’s popped back in as well as arm, shoulder and neck problems. You’d think he was an NFL lineman, not a professional golfer.

2.The most impressive win I’ve witnessed was Tiger at the 2000 U.S. Open. Capturing that tournament by 15 shots is an achievement that may never be matched. To be that good against that field in a major championship is simply jaw-dropping. Even his peers realized the enormity of the win. “Before we went out, I knew I had no chance,” said Ernie Els, who sat 10 shots back and in second place after 54 holes.

3.That chip at 16 at Augusta . . . you couldn’t make a Nike commercial that good if you tried. It may not be the best shot he’s ever played (he has a pretty long list), but it’s very likely the most famous. And, having played that green, I can attest that it’s absolutely mind-boggling to think he holed it.

4. In 2002, Tiger came to Toronto to help launch a Tiger Woods American Express card. As part of the promotion, he put on a clinic on a specially constructed driving range on the Toronto Island. I served as the emcee for the event. With the grandstands full, I pumped up the crowd as a helicopter delivered Tiger to the grounds. With the fans in a frenzy, he stepped out of the chopper, came over shook my hand and then whispered in my ear, “I forgot my golf shoes.” I looked down to see him wearing a pair of black loafers. Still, he managed to put on a pretty decent exhibition.

5. One of the sidebars to that story was that while Tiger was shuttled back and forth by helicopter, his then-girlfriend Elin Nordegren and I traveled in a small launch. On the way back, we got stuck in the water outside the harbor because a large ferry was moored where we were supposed to land. We sat there for about an hour and chatted and I came to learn she was a very intelligent and engaging person. I’ve never had the chance to chat with her again.

6. Another memory of that American Express event: After a morning press conference, Tiger and I and the organizers met in a big boardroom to go over the proceedings for the range event. As we were discussing it, then-Mayor Mel Lastman and two handlers burst through the doors unannounced and said they wanted to present the key to the city to Woods. He looked a bit stunned but agreed to pose for a picture with the mayor and his entourage. As soon as Lastman left, Woods fell back into a nearby couch and yelled out: “Oh man, that guy had the worst B.O. ever.”

7. One last memory of that exhibition was that Tiger said he never swings at 100 per cent. He said if he did, he’d be out of control so he never swings a club full out. Interesting.

8. One of just many outstanding records for Tiger: He has won 79 of 327 PGA Tour events he’s played. That’s works out to 24 per cent. In a sport where players can go their entire careers winning once or twice, he has won, on average, every four times he tees it up.

9. No golfer has ever closed out tournaments as well as Woods. He is a remarkable 54-4 when holding at least a share of the lead after 54 holes. Of course in majors he’s 14-1, with only Y.E. Yang able to beat him on Sunday.

10. I was standing behind the 18th green at Glen Abbey in 2000 when Tiger’s tee shot found the bunker. I fully expected him to lay up with his second shot but as I saw him take his stance in the sand, it was pretty clear he was aiming at the green. I was gobsmacked. He played it right at the flag, pushed it slightly (he admitted later) and the rest is Canadian Open history. For the record, he told me once it was the second-best shot he’s ever hit – the first being his shot to the 18th green at Hazeltine in the 2002 PGA Championship.

11. The only player ever to beat Tiger Woods in a playoff in his PGA Tour career is Billy Mayfair, who defeated him at the 1998 Nissan Open. Woods is 11-1, in playoffs including majors.

12. At the 2008 U.S Open, it was hard to imagine that Tiger was going to finish 72 holes, let alone another 18 in a Monday playoff. He was wincing and almost collapsing on many shots. We all knew something was wrong but Tiger wouldn’t let on just what the circumstances were. However I can remember being alongside a few scribes when Steve Williams foreshadowed that when we found out the details, we’d be shocked. And yup, when it came out that he had a stress fracture, we were. However we probably shouldn’t have been. This was, after all, Tiger Woods.

13. I have been asked many times if I knew anything about Tiger’s infidelities that led to his downfall and the end of his marriage and the answer is no. In fact, I have not talked to any golf media member who knew anything about what was going on in the golfer’s life outside his marriage at that time.

14. At the peak of his run, around 2000, I believe Woods had a tremendous mental advantage over every other golfer in the game. I think he was so deep inside other players’ heads that any time his name appeared on the leaderboard they would tremble. None, of course, would ever admit to that but it seemed to be the case to me. It was later shown statistically that most golfers at the time played one shot worse when Woods was in the field than when he wasn’t.

15. At the 1999 PGA Championship, Mike Weir played in the final group with Woods. Weir was basically a raw rookie when it came to final groups, especially in major championships and he says that the experience of that day was unlike anything he ever imagined. As soon as Woods putted out, the crowd began to noisily run to the next hole. When Woods left the green to go to the next tee, a huge mob of media, cops, volunteers and more followed him down the roped-off path, making it next to impossible for Weir to get through. In a few cases, Woods had already teed off before Weir managed to get to the tee. Weir became one of just many players who had to learn about playing with Woods and how to handle it. By the way, Woods and Weir are good friends.

16. When you see him in person, Tiger is taller than you expect. He’s 6-1.

17. Tiger had an eye-opening round with Prime Minister Jean Chretien in 2001 at the Canadian Open, then sponsored by Bell, at Royal Montreal. As the world’s best golfer looked on, Chretien hit some half-decent shots in the pro-am. However once on the green, the PM proceeded to walk across Woods’ line numerous times during the round. Woods was graceful after the round, laughing about the etiquette infraction and saying it was an honour to play with the leader.

18. Woods has successfully defended a title 24 times. To put that in perspective, only 26 golfers in the history of the PGA Tour have even won 24 or more tournaments.

19. Tiger’s course design business didn’t get off to a very good start. His first design, for which he was reportedly paid $50 million, was a course in Dubai. However the economic collapse in that country along with Tiger’s personal problems seemed to combine to end the project. The strangest part of it was photography of the course – only eight holes were completed -- gradually being reclaimed by the desert.

20. I have played one Tiger Woods’ designed golf course, El Cardonal in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It is a very well-designed and very playable course. It’s a solid layout. If he builds more like that he’ll do very well.

21. One of my favourite memories of Tiger was seeing him shake hands with the legendary Moe Norman at the 1996 Canadian Open. They were both on the putting green at Glen Abbey, Woods putting and Norman standing beside Dave Barr at the other end. Woods spotted Norman and walked over, shook his hand and the two had a brief conversation before Tiger left to hit balls on the range. I wish I could have been within earshot to hear the exchange. Woods has said that only Norman and Ben Hogan truly owned their swings.

22. Woods was atop the Official World Golf Rankings for an incredible 281 consecutive weeks. In total, he’s held top spot for 683 weeks. Right now, he’s ranked 416th.

23. While playing a made-for-tv exhibition at Fox Harb’r in Nova Scotia at which I was providing on-course commentary, Woods called me over while he was waiting to play a shot. He pointed out in the water at a massive luxury yacht that belonged to course owner Ron Joyce, the man behind Tim Hortons. “Is that owned by the guy who owns this course?” Woods asked me. When I confirmed that it was, he asked me how the guy made all his money. I told him: “Donuts.” “Donuts? Really?” came the response. “That’s a lot of donuts.”

24. Just before the 2008 U.S. Open, Tiger made a comment, half-joking, that no one watches hockey any more. A few days later, I asked him if he had received any blowback from his hockey pals and Canadian golfers for it. “Oh, yeah,” he told me with a wide smile. “I've gotten a lot of grief over that. I love the sport. I love watching it, but I don't like watching it on TV. In person, it's absolutely incredible, what they're able to do and what they can do. TV doesn't do justice to that. But then, neither does -- a lot of sports are the same way.”

25. Ever wonder why Tiger wears a red shirt on Sundays? His mother told him to. She felt that it was a powerful colour for the golfer. For years, no other player would dare wear a red shirt on Sunday, but that’s changed now. He no longer owns Sunday red.

26. Tiger has had a reputation for not saying much or trotting out the same old lines (“it’s a process”) in his press conferences, but I will give him credit for showing up. Every Tuesday of a major championship, he dutifully sat in front of the assembled ink-stained wretches and answered questions, good and bad. And, with only a few exceptions, he answered more questions after each round. It’s a huge commitment and one that Woods has accepted, mostly with grace.

27. What is the greatest achievement of Tiger’s career? There are many from which to choose, but to me it’s holding all four major titles at the same time. So what if it didn’t come all in the same year. As he said, having all four trophies on his mantle at the same time gives him the ability to say he has won the Slam, whether you define that as the Grand Slam or the Tiger Slam.

28. Winning four consecutive majors wasn’t the only stunning achievement for Woods during that stretch of the 2000 and 2001 seasons: Tiger played 52 consecutive rounds at or under par. Think about that.

29. While most fans know that Tiger Woods has won 14 major championships, less known is his record in World Golf Championship events. He has captured 18 of those, including two in 2013. No one else has won more than three.

30. While Tiger has hit many great shots in his time, he has just three hole-in-ones during his PGA Tour career. I find that rather amazing. In his life, however, he’s recorded 18.

31. I don’t believe that Tiger will catch Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major titles. His dry spell since 2008 and his mediocre play, albeit with injuries as the main cause, of late has made it just too high a mountain to climb.

32. For the record, Nicklaus won three majors after turning 40, including two at age 40. At this point, we don’t even know if Tiger will play two majors in 2016.

33. I think Sean Foley may have been a more effective coach if he’d had the chance to work with a healthy Woods. During the period that the two spent together, Woods was at his worst physically, with lots of ailments and injuries. The two did manage to win eight times during their partnership, a pretty good career for most players. It is a sign of respect from Woods that he and the Canadian instructor remain good friends.

34. Tiger has played the PGA Tour for 20 years, which is stunning to me. It makes me realize how old he is – and me too! As he pointed out in his recent blog, when he won his first tournament, the 1996 Las Vegas Invitational, his closest challenger was Davis Love III, who was still using a persimmon wood driver.

35. The most recent item about Tiger that floored me? He had Star Wars wallpaper in his room growing up. In so many ways, it’s clear that Tiger was a bit of a nerd as a kid.

36. While Tiger has been knocked for not getting involved in social causes or speaking out on political issues, he probably doesn’t get enough credit for his foundation, which has helped at-need kids get a leg up on a college education. He’s worked hard at it and the results are impressive.

37. I’m in agreement with Frank Nobilo that Tiger got an advantage in that 2000-era run by using a solid-core golf ball. He was one of the first to do so. Only a few players switched away from the wound ball of the day; the mass change-over didn’t happen until a couple of years later. By using the new Nike ball, Woods added to his advantage over the rest of the field. He probably didn’t need it but it likely helped.

38. An official at Nike once told me that Tiger had to have his pants custom-made for him. Why? Because the size of his thin waist in proportion to his massive thighs was so drastic that no off-the-rack style would fit him.

39. Since he’s been injured for much of the last three years, Tiger has never really had a chance to take on the new wave of young stars – McIlroy, Spieth, Day – as a healthy golfer. I don’t know how he’d stack up against them, to be honest, but I sure would love to see a fit and firing-on-all-cylinders Woods playing at some point this year or next, just to see how he’d fare.

40. If someone asked me today who is the greatest golfer of all time, I would say Jack Nicklaus. But I don’t think the final chapter on Tiger Woods has been written just yet. If there is one thing I’ve learned covering Woods over the last 20 years, it’s that you never underestimate him. Just when you think he can’t do it, he does it. Just when you think he’s out of it, he comes back. Just when you think he’s done, he gets up off the mat. I believe there is more left in his tank but I don’t know how much. I suspect Tiger doesn’t know that either.