2019 Masters: 14 years from the end, can Tiger Woods win another green jacket?



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What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Tiger Woods and the Masters? Is that his 1997 rout on Tom Kite and Co. in which the only question of day 2 was "how much?" Is it the chip in the 2005 Masters in which he continued to deceive the last two holes, but won in series anyway? Maybe it was the completion of the Tiger Slam in 2001 when he beat David Duval to two and Phil Mickelson to three?

Whatever time comes to your mind, it will inevitably lead to the question we are all thinking about when we think of Tiger Woods and the Masters: Can he ever do it again? It may be a forced narration because, if you are in the tournament, of course you can do it. Maybe the best question is: Will he never does again?

The evidence we have from Tiger's recent play, the 40-year-old's history at the majors and the reality of your chances of winning any major would suggest a single, simple answer: No.

But it's never so easy with Woods, and Augusta National is not late for finding magic where there seems to be only untapped land to find. So, with this question as a thesis, let's examine the profile of Tiger Masters and try to determine if Woods can ever exceed Arnold Palmer's four jackets and enter one of Jack Nicklaus's six Jackets.

Teacher Profile: Tiger Woods

Masters played: 21 | Cups made: 20 | Top 10 finishes: 13
Average score: 70.93
Better finish: Won in 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2005
2019 OWGR: N ° 14 | 2019 strokes won: N ° 6 | Odds 2019: 25-1

L & # 39; s history: Woods is either the best to play against Augusta, or the second best. His wins and average score speak for themselves. His average score is the only one in history to be under 71, and the only player in his stratosphere (minimum 25 rounds) is Phil Mickelson at 71.3. His average as a professional is 9.8 (his average!).

Current form: That probably does not seem to be the case because it has only one top-10 to finish its calendar year, but Tiger has been very strong – four top 30, and more importantly, it's the top 10 of the PGA Tour in number of wins. One of the consequences of being Tiger Woods and respecting a schedule similar to that of Tiger Woods is that all your events are against the top 30 or the top 50 players in the world, and you can not achieve results by playing in the Valspar Championship (as he did last year).

The best and the worst: That brings us back to the first question. It's up to the user to choose which of his four titles is the best, but I would probably roll with 1997. For the story. For the writing that followed. An interesting note here is that Tiger only directed or co-directed after five rounds in Masters history (without the final). He led after the second and third rounds in 1997 and after the third round in 2001, 2002 and 2005. He won them all. Only twice as a professional, Woods finished out of the top 25 of this tournament. One time, in 2012, he finished T40 and shot 293. The other, last year, when he finished T32 and 289. Shout at that stupid T17 in 2015 when he had not played for two months and finished in the top 20.

Statistics matter: Tiger is in the top 10 of the PGA Tour in shots ranging from tee to green and near leaders both near the hole at 150 and 200 yards and close to the hole. The weakest part of his game traditionally – with his pilot – was even a force this year as he wins shots on the tee. His work in match-play was not ideal, and I think it was more inconsistent than we had imagined, but the statistics are definitely there.

Moment (s) Masters: If we look at individual moments, you have to use the number 16 chip in 2005, is not it? When I played in class in 2017we have tried this chip at this place with this site. It is impossible. You can not do that. He did it. And he linked him with Arnold Palmer.

Why he will win: Institutional knowledge combined with an excellent game of approach until now in 2019. He is still one of the few purest ball strikers in the world, and he has the numbers to prove it. He knows all the failures in Augusta. He knows all the breaks and peaks and valleys. He has downloaded everything, ready to be consulted at any time.

Plus, and it's the most ethereal part of this story (and its story), Augusta is a memory maker. Captions should only apply. There will be a year – I promise you there will be a year (and help us if it's the even year) – over the next five years, when Woods and Mickelson will both be in the heat of the weekend action on a Sunday, and will have a real chance of winning. That's what happened with most of the captions that participated, although few people have capitalized. It will happen with them. I do not know if it will be this year, but we will have a real moment in the near future where we say, If Tiger achieves this putt or sticks that shot (or anything else), he will win the Masters.

Why he does not win: Because he has to beat Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas (among many others!) In the same week. This brings us to the general problem that Woods has in his time remaining in Augusta. Think about it: even at its absolute peak (let's call it 1997-2010), Woods had won less than 30% of his debut at Augusta. If we are realistic here and we say that he still has five very good chances, it would mean that even a Tiger among his best would only win, what, probably one of them? He adds that he has not won a major tournament for more than ten years and that he acknowledged that the room for maneuver at the top of the game has been reduced over the years and that it was not a recipe to win. a fifth green jacket.

"I think this equipment has made [the level of competition] Woods said recently. The margin is much smaller than it was before. Now look at these heads, 460 CC, you hit the ball anywhere on the face and make it go 300 meters. Previously, good attackers had to touch the ball in the center of the face each time. And there was a distinction between guys who could do that and those who could not. And this is no longer the case. "

Prediction: Woods will fight legitimately in the first two days and qualify for one of the last clashes Saturday before collapsing in the third round, but in the top 15. Think Rory McIlroy in 2016.

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