Tiger Woods Expectations Entering the 2019 Season

Tiger Woods has to feel somewhat nostalgic entering the year with such heightened expectations compared to his past few seasons. After seeing his brilliant performance the last time he played in a PGA Tour event, it is no surprise that there are people anticipating him to light the golf world on fire once again this season.

It is hard to believe that it has been almost a full decade since Tiger Woods, the greatest golfer of his generation, entered a PGA Tour season with legitimate expectations for a successful season. Before last year, Tiger’s fans and critics alike were simply looking for him to finish a season healthy to show positive signs towards a victory somewhere in the future.

However his comeback last season almost resembled his rise to superstardom when he first burst on to the PGA Tour scene and came out of nowhere to end up near the top of the world rankings at seasons end. After his tremendous finish to 2018 where he won the Tour Championship, this season will obviously carry an entirely different level of expectations than any in the last decade, when Woods tees off at Torrey Pines this week.

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Even Tiger’s twitter account showed that his fans are not the only ones excited for his debut, He posted a picture of his new TaylorMade clubs and bag for the season, saying he is “excited and ready to get 2019 started.”

His odds to win the Farmers Insurance Open this week perfectly symbolize the different level of buzz surrounding Woods this season. Last year when he opened his season at this same event, he was a relative of a long shot to take home the trophy at (+2000) according to Oddshark/Bovada and his odds were only that high because of his grandfathered in legendary status. This season Bovada has him at (+1400) as a real contender, and there are only two golfers favored ahead of him to win the tournament, Jon Rahm at (+1000) and Rory McIlroy at (+1200).

His world ranking entering this season is also a telling sign that this year is different for Woods than the past few. Last season he entered the year as the 668th ranked golfer in the world with little to no expectations, and this year it is the exact opposite as he enters the Farmers Insurance Open as the 13th ranked golfer in the world.

When Tiger Woods addressed the media for the first time this week he admitted this year has a different feeling to it.

"“There’s a better understanding of what I can do,” Woods said. “It’s hard to describe. Going into this event last year, I really didn’t know. I hadn’t played out of the rough in years. That’s what’s weird, it’s hard to imagine, but I really hadn’t. That was a big uncertainty.“And the fact I was able to get through… I didn’t have any zinging down my leg like I did before, I didn’t have any problems at night recovering for the next day. Those are big accomplishments. Even though I finished tied for 23rd, those were big accomplishments for me. Now, this year it’s totally different. I know what I can do, I know what I’m feeling, so now it’s about finishing a little better and winning some events this year.”"

However, even if Tiger does win this weekend it will be a great start to the year, but it won’t mean much to him in terms of his big goals for the 2019 season. At this point in his career, Woods and all of his fans are solely focused on what he can do in the major tournaments, so he can reach what has always been his ultimate goal of beating Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 overall major championships.

Can he handle these expectations?

This question seems silly to ask of a legend that has won so many big tournaments like Woods, especially someone that is considered the most mentally tough golfer of all-time. Today’s Tiger Woods is not the same one that dealt with these same level of expectations almost a decade ago.

Before his downfall, Tiger’s brand was built upon him having a laser focus that was unparalleled by the rest of the field that faced him. Yet, this younger generation of golfers do not have the same fear of Woods that his competitors in his prime once did, but they might after he is done this season.

Basically since the very public collapse of his personal life in 2009, Woods has not been able to win a major and no has really anticipated him to. This season he will likely be the betting favorite to take home every major crown on the schedule, and it would be a surprise to see him not get at least close to one.

To ensure that success Tiger is going to have be better in two areas that he has struggled with in recent memory, his accuracy off the tee and his putting. He has always been a little bit erratic with the driver throughout his career and he is just not the putter that once sank any crucial putt he encountered.

Tiger proved with his victory at East Lake at the end of last season, that he can once again handle the pressures of the back nine on a Sunday at one of golf’s biggest events, with a star studded field. It would be a terrible idea to bet against Tiger this season at any point, and to say that he will not be able to handle the pressures of success is almost laughable.

What are realistic expectations for him this season?

Considering he is playing his best golf since his last major victory, it would not be a stretch to predict a multiple win season for Tiger Woods, including a major championship.

The courses that the four majors will be played at this year play right into Woods’ chances for success. He is always a threat to win at Augusta and the Masters, which he has won an astounding four times. This year’s U.S. Open will be played at Pebble Beach where Tiger won the same tournament in 2000 and finished in 4th place in 2010. The venue for this year’s PGA Chamionship is Bethpage Black and that is also a course where he has had success in the past. He famously won the U.S. Open in 2002 and finished tied for sixth in 2009.

Tiger also has a great shot to win this weekend in his opening tournament of the year because Torrey Pines is also a track he has been able to dominate in year’s past. It would not be a surprise at all to see Tiger take home the Farmers Insurance Open for the 8th time to secure his first win of the season in the same place where he also won his last major championship in 2008.

Depending on how this season goes, this could be one of the last ones where Tiger is considered to be one of the top golfers on tour. Yet, if he continues to improve his game at the same rate he did last season he will be around and in contention well into his fifties.

dark. Next. Tiger Woods: Torrey Pines and his Quest for a Ninth Win

If all goes to plan and he does come out of this season with a couple of victories and a major championship, then that might even be enough for him to become the world’s number one ranked golfer when this season is over. That would mean that his entire career has come full circle and he once again be at the top of the golf world, somewhere no one thought he would be at the start of 2018.

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