As Tiger Woods hits 50 we'll all be reflecting on his monumental impact on the game of golf and his astonishing career - but it's also hard not to think about what might have been had he not had all his many injury problems.
The GOAT debate that rages between Woods and Jack Nicklaus is often settled by the fact the Golden Bear has those 18 Majors tucked away to Tiger's 15 - but if Woods had a slightly better injury record I've no doubt he'd have eclipsed that.
Even with all the knee surgeries and the back surgeries Woods still managed to win 15 Majors, along with tying Sam Snead's 82 PGA Tour wins, and given how dominant he was more would surely have followed.
Looking back at Woods' timeline of injuries puts into perspective just how much of prime Tiger the golfing world missed out on, so the question's not whether he would've won more Majors without all his injury problems.
The question is simply how many?
Tiger Woods' Major record
The utter dominance he showed during his Tiger Slam year was unlike anything we've ever seen before - or since - as he won all four Majors in a row in 2000-01.
Starting with the 1999 PGA Championship Woods actually won five Majors out of six, then won the opening two of the season in 2002 to make it seven trophies in just 11 Majors.
Knee surgery at the back end of 2002 saw him miss the start of the 2003 season - the first of two without a Major title before finding his dominant best again to rattle off six Majors in the next four years.
The final one was the most incredible as he claimed the 2008 US Open basically on one leg - but that 14th Major success would signal the start of the decline as knee surgery ruled him out of the rest of the season.
Knee surgeries, back surgeries, personal problems and of course his infamous car crash wreaked havoc on Woods' Major chances, and hindered him from just playing competitive golf again after that.
Woods managed double-digit tournaments in just seven of the next 15 seasons and had multiple withdrawals with perhaps his only real consistent stretch coming in 2018 and 2019 - the year of his epic 15th Major at The Masters of course.
How many Majors would Tiger have won?
Tiger won his 15 Majors from 95 starts but there's no doubt he'd have bagged a few more without all the injuries - he managed 11 top 10s even with all his issues.
It's obviously impossible to know for sure, but with his first 14 Majors coming from just 46 starts he was winning roughly about one in every three Majors and averaging over one a season.
He won at least one Major in nine of 12 seasons, with multiple victories in four seasons and going winless in just three - and even accounting for some decline due to age and some improved competition from emerging talents like Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka - Tiger would certainly have won a few more.
Woods would have struggled to win one in three or even pick up one a season, but even if we halve his hit rate to one in six over the next decade that'd be an extra six Majors in the bank.
Had that 2008 knee injury not struck, Woods could well have cleaned up over the next three to four years, but averaging it out and even being a bit on the conservative side, on his stats then five Majors would be the minimum you'd expect.
It's not like Woods aged like regular golfers, and he was only 33 when that first big knee injury hit - so if Jack Nicklaus could win six Majors after turning 35 then why not Tiger?
It's been an incredible career for Tiger, one that's redefined the entire sport, but it's one that could have yielded even greater results, and without injuries one I'm sure would have led to 20 Majors.
Prime Tiger vs Injured Tiger
97-08 |
08-25 |
|
|---|---|---|
Majors |
46 |
49 |
Wins |
14 |
1 |
Runner-Up |
5 |
2 |
Top 10 |
10 |
9 |
Missed Cut |
1 |
14 |
Withdrawn |
0 |
2 |
DNP |
2 |
24 |
Tiger Woods injury & surgery timeline
- December 2002: Has surgery on left knee to remove fluid and benign cysts, so misses start of 2003 season.
- August 2007: Ruptured ACL in left knee, but plays on and wins five of his last six tournaments, including a 13th Major at the PGA Championship.
- April 2008: Has arthroscopic surgery on left knee to repair cartilage damage just fater The Masters.
- May 2008: Told just before the US Open he has two stress fractures of the left tibia and should rest for six weeks, the first three weeks on crutches.
- June 2008: Goes on to win The US Open, but needs surgery straight after to repair the ACL in his left knee. Out for the rest of the season.
- December 2008: Picks up Achilles tendon injury during rehab.
- November 2009: Admitted to hospital with a sore neck and need stitches on a cut lip after driving his SUV over a fire hydrant and into a tree.
- May 2010: Withdraws from The Players Championship final round with a bulging disk in his back.
- April 2011: Injures left Achilles tendon hitting from an awkward stance below Eisenhower’s Tree on the 17th at Augusta during The Masters.
- May 2011: Withdraws from The Players Championship with an MCL sprain in his left knee and a left Achilles tendon strain. Out for two months missing two Majors.
- March 2014: Withdraws during the final round at The Honda Classic because of lower back spasms.
- March 2014: Has back surgery on a pinched nerve just after withdrawing from the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Misses The Masters and US Open.
- September 2015: Has a second back operation to remove a disc fragment that was pinching his nerve.
- October 2015: Has a third back surgery described as a follow-up.
- April 2017: Has yet more surgery to fuse his lower back.
- August 2019: Has arthroscopic surgery to repair minor ligament damage in his left knee.
- January 2021: Undergoes a fifth microdiscectomy procedure on his back to remove disc fragment.
- February 2021: Crashes an SUV and suffers comminuted open fractures to the upper and lower sections of his right leg and trauma to his right ankle.
- April 2023: Withdraws from the Masters due to plantar fasciitis.
- April 2023: Has right ankle fusion surgery to help with post-traumatic arthritis.
- September 2024: Has a sixth back surgery to repair a nerve.
- March 2025: Has surgery on a ruptured Achilles tendon.
- October 2025: Has a seventh back surgery - a lumbar disc replacement.
