Who dominated in 2018? Hint: It wasn’t Justin Rose
By Bill Felber
7. Tiger Woods (2), -0.56
Woods ranked second in the final Fed Ex Cup standings, but he falls to seventh on this list largely due to his failures in two tournaments. In his latest comeback effort, Woods’ 18 starts included missed cuts at the Genesis and U.S. Open. The FedEx Cup acts as if those performances didn’t occur, but the Margin of Dominance system imposes penalties totaling +9.38. Without just those two penalties, Woods would rank third.
Still, Woods had some excellent performances, and they tended to come at the most opportune times. Following his U.S. Open failure, he finished among the top 10 in five of the final eight tournaments he played in, winning the Tour Championship and placing second at the PGA. All but one of those eight tournaments – the Quicken – were weighted, further engorging the benefit Woods derived from them.
In fact, if the PGA Tour season had started after the conclusion of the U.S. Open, Woods would have been the runaway series champion
Woods’ problems largely came as he rounded himself back into shape. In his first 10 appearances through the U.S. Open, he did have two top 10 finishes – the Valspar and the Palmer. But he also had that missed cut at the Genesis, and he posted scores higher than the field average at the Masters and Wells Fargo.