Happy Birthday, Tiger! Woods celebrates after a momentous year on and off the course

There are a lot of big dates in December that cement themselves in people’s minds. December 7 is the solemn anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor. December 8 marks the day John Lennon was shot and killed outside his home in New York City. Some children tend to remember the 25th as well.

For those of us who spend most of our time breathing in the golf world, another December date is marked annually on our calendars. That day is today, December 30, a.k.a., Tiger Woods’ birthday.

Tiger first said “Hello, World” 44 years ago on this date in 1975. And this year, the legendary golfer has more to celebrate than usual. This time last year, Woods was also riding high, having just captured the first win of his most recent comeback at the 2018 Tour Championship.

Two years ago, it was a much different story. In the final days of 2017, Woods was coming off his first competitive event in years at his Hero World Challenge exhibition. With the winner’s circle was far from his mind, Tiger was just happy to be walking and swinging a club again, let alone re-starting his professional golf career. Just months earlier, he openly wondered whether he would ever play golf again. At the very least, expectations for his comeback were as low as they could be.

Two years later, and everything has changed. With two victories in the 2019 calendar year, Woods tied Sam Snead’s all-time record for the most PGA Tour wins in a career, 82: almost double his age. He also captained his first U.S. team to victory at the Presidents Cup in Australia, going 3-0 in his own matches. More importantly, he did the unthinkable in April, coming-from-behind to win his fifth Masters and 15th major title.

Tiger’s latest major victory, his first in 11 years, brought him one step closer to matching Jack Nicklaus’ all-time record of 18. Early in his career, Woods regularly surpassed Nicklaus’ career accomplishments at a much younger age. But after a decade of struggles, time is catching up. Jack’s final major win at the 1986 Masters came when he was 46 years old. If Tiger wants to beat his record, and do so at a younger age, he only has two more years to make it happen.

But for now, as he enjoys his latest birthday, Woods can look back at 2019 and his 43rd year with a firm sense of satisfaction, and no regrets.

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