You could fill a book on Tiger Woods’ record achievements.
Before he’d even turned pro he’d won three straight US Junior and Amateur titles but nobody was fully prepared for what came next…
READ: When Tiger Woods explained how Charlie’s golf world differs from his
1. Most consecutive cuts made
This is pretty much unbreakable, as long as the PGA Tour remain having cuts. Following his withdrawal at Pebble Beach in 1998 up to the Byron Nelson in the May of 2005, he played the weekend every time he teed it up.
The total of 142 is well clear of the next best – Byron Nelson (113) and Jack Nicklaus (105) and no other player has reached double figures. Interestingly Xander Schauffele (72) and Scottie Scheffler (64) are going well in the modern game but they would have to throw in another four seasons of no cuts, so basically no early 75s, to threaten Tiger.
Woods eventually missed out when he came up one shot shy in Texas.
“I fight all the way in. That’s how I am,” he said. “I think that’s indicative to the longevity of the streak. You’ve got to give it everything you’ve got.”
2. Winning all the Majors by 5+ strokes
We’ve heard a lot about the career Grand Slam this year but less so about the ease in which Woods has won each of the four big ones. We all know and remember well his first Major win, by 12 at Augusta in 1997, and the 15-shot massacre at Pebble Beach in 2000.
He’s actually won two Opens by five or more shots, both at the Old Course which is a lovely addition to his CV, and his big PGA victory came in 2006 at Medinah. There he ground everyone into the dirt with four rounds in the 60s, with Shaun Michael a distant second.
3. The World No. 1 spot
This is another that is hard to get your head round. For Scottie Scheffler to eclipse Woods’ record he will need to hold down his top spot until 2035, by which time he will be 39. So that is very unlikely to happen.
Woods’ longest stretches were 264 weeks from 1999-2004 and 281 (2005-2010) and the last time he held the No. 1 spot was in 2013-14. In total he was officially the best player in the world for 683 weeks.
Imagine what this number might be had he not suffered so many injuries.
4. Winning the US Open by 15 shots
They should make a film about this one day. You’d like to think we enjoyed it enough at the time but it gets better with every passing season.
There was the Stevie Williams cock-up with only one ball left in the bag, imagine if Woods had tweaked one left at Pebble Beach’s 18th, but this was a genuine destruction on one of the game’s biggest stages. There was even a treble bogey in there.
The cut fell on +7, which gives us a good indication of how tricky it was, and Woods finished on -12.
Think of how Scottie Scheffler has taken control of the Majors in recent years, his highest winning margin to date is five.
5. His number of PGA Tour wins
This stands at 82, which is level with none other than Sam Snead who played in a very different era. Woods’ ability to close out tournaments is maybe his greatest strength, give him a sniff and his mentality is genuinely ridiculous.
The key shot at a key time, the fear factor and his utter dominance at certain courses was incredible. Eight times he prevailed at Bay Hill and Firestone, Muirfield Village was another favourite.
For reference Rory McIlroy has 29 PGA Tour wins, Phil Mickelson 45 so he has comfortably more than the two of them together.
