By Matt Ferris
After a )ve-year drought, Tiger Woods is finally back on top of the golfing world.
On Sunday, Sept. 23, Tiger closed out the Tour Championship and won by two shots over fellow American Billy Horschel.
This was Woods’ first win since the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Woods was close to winning several tournaments in 2018, but was never able to seal the deal. In 2018, Woods had seven top 10 finishes, including two in major tournaments.
But his win at the Tour Championship in Atlanta solidi)ed his place back atop the golf world.
Woods’ re-emergence isn’t just a good thing for Woods himself, but it is also terrific news for the PGA as well as golf fans everywhere.
Without Woods playing well on the tour, the PGA struggles to get viewers to watch tournaments on TV, as well as to get fans to come to the events and watch live.
But it’s different story when Woods tops the leaderboards.
At the 2018 Tour Championship, ticket sales were up 170 percent from the previous year when Woods was not in the tournament. And not only are more people buying tickets, but the PGA is charging more money for the tickets, according to Vivid Seats.
And if the PGA was happy with the ticket sales increase, then they must have been ecstatic with the TV ratings. Television ratings were up 206 percent on Sunday compared to last year – challenging the NFL for viewers on Sunday evening, according to NBC.
With Woods playing so well of late, the PGA is reaping the benefits and pro)ting a lot.
Woods is closing in on the all-time wins list, and his win on Sunday now makes 80 career victories.
Sam Snead’s 82 career victories, which is good for number 1 all-time, has looked pretty safe for the last 5 years, when Woods struggled to even swing a golf club, but now Snead is in considerable danger of being passed.
Woods is playing some of the best golf of his career and at this rate, Snead’s record could be broken by early 2019.
Woods is also closing in on the most major tournament wins of all time on the PGA tour as well.
Jack Nicklaus has the most career major victories with 20. Woods is just behind him with 17 and with the way Tiger is playing, this feat seems incredibly doable.
Woods is only 42 years old, so playing on the tour for another 8-10 years is extremely likely if he can stay healthy.
Just four major wins in that time period is not outrageous, and in fact, it seems extremely likely if Woods can maintain the level of play he has displayed in 2018
But regardless of the all-time wins record or the all-time major record, Woods will go down as the greatest golfer in the history of the game, and it is exciting to see him back on top of the golf world.