5 Reasons Why Tiger Woods Will Win a Major in 2013

These Are the Reasons Tiger Woods Will Win a Major in 2013

For the better part of a decade, whenever anyone talked about golf, Tiger Woods was part of the conversation. He was able to string together one of the most remarkable, and longest lasting, runs of success that the golf world had seen in quite some time.

Every time he entered a tournament, Woods was favored to win. He knew it. The rest of the field knew it. It was like they were beaten even before they stepped on the course. As long as Woods was anywhere near the top of the leaderboard, it was likely he would pull out a victory. And forget about going head to head in the final group with him. His intensity and skill were too much to overcome.

He currently has 14 major championships under his belt, and is still very much in the running to at least take aim at Jack Nicklaus’ record 18 major victories. Despite the fact that he has failed to win a major since the 2008 U.S. Open, things are looking up for Woods.

He was able put together a string of very solid performances in 2012 and that is something that his competitors should be keep an eye on. If Tiger is able to get back to playing anywhere near the level he was at when he ruled the world of golf, then he may very well end his career with over 20 majors to his name.

Before he can get to 20, he has to win number 15. Following are the top five reasons that 15th major championship victory will come in 2013.

5 Health

Before the 2012 season began, it had been quite a while since Tiger was actually healthy for an extended period of time. In 2002, he had surgery to remove fluid from around his ACL, but no more problems really presented themselves until 2007.

2007 is when things started going downhill for Woods, when he ruptured his ACL in his left leg. From there it seemed like a never ending barrage of issues. These included surgery to remove scar tissue in April 2008, stress fractures in his left tibia and reconstructive surgery on his left ACL, both in June 2008. Oh yeah, then he ruptured his right ACL that December.

The stress that Woods puts on his body during his golf swing is immense, which is likely the cause of these continued leg problems. Now that he has gone some time without sustaining any serious injuries, he can settle into his swing and not worry that he is going to tear or rupture something.

4 Comfort With Swing Changes

For a while, it seemed like Woods was changing his swing as often as some people change their underwear. Golfers, as with most professional athletes, are creatures of habit and the swing is the most important habit a pro golfer has. Guys work for their entire career to perfect their swing, and Tiger thought he can change his multiple times with no negative repercussions.

It’s not easy to compete and be successful when you are constantly thinking about the mechanics of your swing. It is impossible to strike the ball consistently unless your golf swing is second nature. That seems to have finally happened for Woods. Let’s just hope he doesn’t decide to go and change it again.

3 Putting

I can’t say for sure what the reason, but it is clear that Tiger’s putter may be rounding back into form. I’m not sure what the problem was, but for a while putts within five or 10 feet were a roller coaster for Woods. You never knew if he was going to sink the putt or blow it four feet past the hole.

Whether he is seeing the lines better now or he just has more confidence in the short stick, Woods has been vastly improved on the greens as of late. For any golfer to have a chance at winning a major championship, their putter must be in top form. It looks like Woods finally the mojo going on the greens again.

2 Remembering How to Win

For a long time, Tiger made it seem like winning on the PGA Tour was an easy feat. From 1999 to 2007, with the exception of the 2004 season, it seemed like he won every other tournament and was in contention or won every major that was played. To be fair, he actually won 12 majors during that stretch, which included taking three of the four during the 2000 season.

It may sound cliché, but sometimes an athlete that has experienced a great deal of success followed by a slump needs to remember how to win again, and how to do that on a consistent basis. Well, 2012 seems to have been the year that Tiger remembered how to win, as he was victorious three times last year.

1 Confidence

Personal problems, endless injuries and myriad swing changes are not kind to the psyche of a golfer. It is understandable that the combination of all of these things threw Woods off of his game for a while. However, it appears as if things are looking up for Tiger. The family problems seem to be behind him (as far as the public knows, at least), he has been healthy for some time and he’s actually stuck with the same swing for more than a week.

There were times in 2012 where we finally saw glimpses of the Tiger of old. The look of determination and focus was apparent on many occasions. It seems that Woods has finally found the confidence in his game that was lacking for a few years.