ZOZO! Tiger Wins 82nd PGA Tour Title Over A Surging Matsuyama
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The Monday finish went much faster than the ensuing trophy ceremony, but even though he came out looking a tad tight, Tiger Woods finished off the 2019 ZOZO Championship for his 82nd PGA Tour win. He is now tied with Sam Snead for the all-time tour victory total and did it nine years before Snead recorded his final win.
Steve DiMeglio with the Golfweek game story on Woods holding off Hideki Matsuyama.
Bob Harig noted how a week that seemed about checking off come corporate boxes ended up checking off a big feat box.
The journey to Japan was ostensibly about fulfilling corporate obligations, participating in a made-for-TV exhibition and getting in some reps following knee surgery and physical challenges that dogged Tiger Woods' throughout the summer.
Nobody -- including Woods, if he is honest -- was thinking about a victory, or a record-tying one at that.
Love this from ESPN.com’s Ian O’Connor:
In his healthy prime, Tiger Woods was Mike Tyson in a red shirt and slacks. He arrived at the tee box as if he were stepping through the ropes and into the ring, where cowering, wide-eyed opponents all but prepped themselves for the knockout.
Woods is no longer that heavyweight champ who rules through intimidation. He still has muscles, yes, but they don't look as forbidding on a balding man made vulnerable by age, gravity, surgery and the disclosure of his own personal failings. And yet a diminished Woods can still win golf tournaments.
Michael Bamberger writing for Golf.com:
Tiger rolled in his 10-footer for a closing birdie, the three-shot win, his 82nd title, a closing 67. It was subdued, but it was big. This has been, in ways, one of the most remarkable years of his career. The Masters win, followed by a lot of futility. The win in Japan. The Presidents Cup coming up. The baby steps to a reconfigured life. Amazing. “I know what it’s like to have this game taken away from you,” Woods told Todd Lewis of Golf Channel. Yes, he does.
You know it’s a big win when the big names pop up on Twitter to congratulate Woods, and that was the case after win 82. And Tiger posted this Tweet:
It was a great week for the PGA Tour’s first official stop in Japan, and I noted that along with other winners and losers for this Golfweek column. I had to file before the trophy ceremony ended, otherwise it would have been included. Then again, the column would not have been posted until Tuesday if I waited.
Rachel Bleier with a roundup of Tweets about the trophy ceremony that almost never ended. Nothing like some good Twitter snark!
Harig impressively details all 82 wins here for ESPN.com, if you have the time and need the recap.
GC Digital posts Tiger’s 82 vs. Snead’s 82 and actually calls them by the name of the tournament at the time (so no Snead Sentry TOC wins on this list).
David Dusek with Tiger’s clubs for the week.
For his effort, Tiger received this Dyson fan to remember win No. 82:
PGA Tour Entertainment’s highlights:
