One of the biggest questions heading in to the 2019 PGA Tour season was whether we would see Tiger Woods return to his dominant form and capture that elusive 15th major championship victory. Remember, he finished the 2018 season very strong and was actually the early favorite for the 2019 Masters when the odds were posted. Tiger has played in 81 major championships to this point in his career with 14 wins. Is he poised to add to his all-time wins mark?
How Many Majors Will Tiger Woods Win In 2019?
0 -335
1 +200
2 +1200
3 +2500
4 +8000
Current Form
Optimism surrounding the former world No. 1 took a hit when it was announced that he would pull out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational due to issues with his neck. However, just this week Tiger confirmed he is good to go for THE PLAYERS Championship.
With the Masters just over a month away, there is hope that Tiger will be able to put his injury issues behind him and compete at the highest level in this year’s majors. So far this season, he hasn’t finished better than 10th at any of his five events. That’s in stark contrast to how he ended the season, finishing with a win (Tour Championship) and placing in the top six five times in his final eight starts.
The Masters
If Tiger is going to win another major championship in his career, it appears as though the Masters would be the most likely tournament for him to get it done at. Tiger has won the Masters four times in his career, which are as many wins as he has posted at any major in his career. Tiger knows Augusta National inside and out. His first ever major victory came at Augusta at the age of 21, which is one of several records he owns for this tournament. Perhaps the fact that the tournament is scheduled so early in the year could be a benefit to Tiger since he should be fresh starting off a new year.
PGA Championship
Tiger has won the PGA Championship four times as well, which matches his record for most major championship victories. In fact, two of Tiger’s last three major wins came at the PGA Championship in 2006 and 2007, so recency bias states that this tournament could be where he gets it done again. This year’s PGA Championship will be held at Bethpage Black, which is another venue where Tiger has won before.
U.S. Open
The change in the PGA Tour season schedule this year moves the U.S. Open to third ahead of The Open Championship, which is of note. Tiger failed to make the cut at the U.S. Open a year ago, but he has won this event three times before. Tiger has struggled to make the cut at the U.S. Open in recent years so whether it has to do with venue or the timing on the schedule it will be interesting to see how he performs at this year’s edition of the tournament. Of the four major championship events, this might be the most unlikely for Tiger to win again.
The Open Championship
The final major championship stop on the updated schedule is The Open Championship, which is a tournament that Tiger excelled in last year when he placed T-6th. Tiger has won The Open three times in his career, including back-to-back victories in 2005 and 2006. One of the most important factors in his pursuit to win here again will be his health, especially considering this is now the final major championship stop on the schedule. Tiger has the talent to win another major, but he will need to prove he can stay healthy throughout an entire season and peak at the right time if he is going to have another shot to win The Open. He came close a year ago, so it’s clear he can at least contend for the outright win here once again if he is in form this year.
Prediction
While the young studs on the PGA Tour continue to display their incredible talent week in and week out, there is still a massive portion of the golf audience waiting to see what Tiger can do. Will he ever capture that elusive 15th major title? It seems likely at this point. So how many will he win? It’s hard to look too far in the future for a veteran golfer that has struggled to stay healthy over the years. However, there is no denying that he has what it takes to contend if he is in form. Tiger should win his 15th major championship in time. At the same time, it’s hard to imagine him winning three or four more. All things considered, 17 seems like a safe number when it comes to predicting the number of major championship victories that Tiger will end up with. Only time will tell, but it’s certainly worth watching closely to see where Tiger ends up when it comes to the all-time major wins board.
