Last chance for Tiger Woods to avoid first winless season in 14 years
For Tiger Woods to have a chance at tying or surpassing the PGA Tour record of 17 consecutive seasons with a victory, held by Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, he will need to get something
done this week.
Woods, winless this season, is part of a strong field at the HSBC Champions event, being contested this week in Shanghai, China. Because the tournament, the final World Golf Championship
event of the season, is co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour, a win here by a PGA Tour member counts as an official victory on the American tour.
Woods has won at least one PGA Tour event every season for the past 14 years. In addition to keeping his streak alive, a win here would represent a clean sweep of the four WGC events,
this being the only one he has yet to win. His quest begins on Thursday 4 November at Sheshan International.
"I come to the event to win the event," he said. "I haven't won an event in about a year. I've gone through periods like this before in the past. In order to become No. 1 in the world,
I've won golf tournaments. It's something I haven't done, and it's a matter of going out there and competing and winning."
This past week, Woods dropped to number-two in the world as Englishman Lee Westwood took over the top spot in the World Golf Rankings. This week should provide a lot of drama, as four
players, including Woods, Westwood, Martin Kaymer, and Phil Mickelson, have a chance of becoming the best player in the world with some good play this week.
Woods’ two best tournaments this year have been fourth-place finishes at the Masters and the U.S. Open. Apart from these two, he has no other top-10s in 12 total events. After struggling
out of the gate, Woods hired a new swing coach, Sean Foley, to help retool his swing.
"I never would have foreseen when I returned to the game at the Masters that I would have a new coach and I would be here," he said. "So the game is certainly much different than it was
in April."
If Woods is looking for some positive vibes heading into the week, he doesn’t need to look any further than his competition in singles play at the Ryder Cup this past October. In his victory
over Francesco Molinari, Woods was nine-under through 15 holes.
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