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Masters 2019: 15 stats that put Tiger Woods' fifth Masters win into historical context
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AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods already owns a pretty good portion of the Masters record book. His win at the 83rd Masters, however, will not only add a few lines to next year’s media guide, but has ramifications outside the world of the Masters and in golf history in general. Whether it be the Masters, the World Ranking, the Presidents Cup team or the list of oldest golfers ever to win a major championship, Woods’ victory—like many of his before—has wide-reaching implications. Here’s a statistical look at what this win means for Woods … and golf.
1: By starting Sunday two strokes back of 54-hole leader Francesco Molinari, Woods bagged his first final-round come-from-behind win in a major championship.
2: Woods becomes the second-oldest Masters champion at 43 years, three months and 15 days, edging Ben Crenshaw, who was 43 years, two months and 29 days when he won in 1995. Jack Nicklaus remains the oldest champion of the Masters at 46 years, two months and 23 days in 1986.
5: Woods collected his fifth green jacket with this win, breaking a tie with Arnold Palmer for the second-most Masters titles. He is the only player with five, trailing only Jack Nicklaus’ six victories at Augusta National.
5: The number of times Woods has been double-digits under par to win. Starting with his win in 1997, Woods has been 18, 14, 12, 12 and 13 under par, respectively, in his wins. Only two other players have ever won twice at double-digits under par: Jack Nicklaus in 1965 (17 under) and 1975 (12 under) and Ben Crenshaw in 1984 (11 under) and 1995 (14 under).
6: With the win, Woods moves to sixth in the World Ranking, a remarkable climb from 1,199th in December 2017.
7: Woods becomes just the seventh Masters winner in his 40s, joining Nicklaus, Crenshaw, Player, Sam Snead, Mark O’Meara and Ben Hogan.
10: If you kick out Old Tom Morris (who was 46 years, 99 days when he won the 1867 Open Championship), Woods cracks the top 10 in the list of oldest golfers to win a men’s major. Julius Boros was 48 years, four months and 18 days when he won the 1968 PGA to become the oldest. Others on the list in order with only their age in years are Nicklaus (46, 1986 Masters), Jerry Barber (45, 1961 PGA), Hale Irwin (45, 1990 U.S. Open), Lee Trevino (44, 1984 PGA), Roberto De Vicenzo (44, 1967 Open Championship), Harry Vardon (44, 1914 Open Championship), Raymond Floyd (43, 1986 U.S. Open) and Ted Ray, who was about a month older than Woods when he won the 1920 U.S. Open.
11: Woods won what could easily be argued as the most competitive Masters in tournament history as there were 11 players who finished at 10 under par or better. The next closest Masters to have that many players at 10 under or better was in 2011, Charl Schwartzel’s win, when six players accomplished the feat (including Woods).
12: Woods becomes the 12th Masters champion to have won without ever leading the event after any of the first three rounds. Incredibly, six of those have now come in the last decade.
14: Woods last Masters title came in 2005, 14 years ago. That is the largest spread between Masters titles, surpassing the 13-year gap between Player’s victories in 1961 and 1974.
15: Woods’ Masters title is the 15th professional major championship of his career, edging him closer to Nicklaus’ all-time mark of 18 and further separating him from Walter Hagen, who sits in third place with 11. Put another way, Woods has more majors than Arnold Palmer and Snead combined.
20: Woods’ fifth Masters win comes in his 20th Augusta start as a pro. Nicklaus won his sixth Masters in his 25th start as a pro, giving Woods five more chances to match the Golden Bear for most Masters in that time frame.
70: Woods’ final-round 70 is the third time he has won the Masters with a round of 70 or higher (he shot 71 in both 2002 and 2005’s final round). It is the 45th time a Masters has been won with a final round in the 70s.
275: Woods’ winning total of 275 would have been good enough to win all but 10 Masters. He would have tied in two others.
9,494,136: Woods’ all-time career earnings at the Masters now tops the $9 million mark, passing Phil Mickelson as the all-time money winner at Augusta.