Celebrate Tiger’s birthday with some insane stats from his career.
Golf is a game that revolves around numbers. Lots of numbers.
There’s par and yardage, irons, woods and wedges, golf balls and holes, strokes and strokes gained. The list goes on. When it comes to impressive lists of numbers and stats related to golf, nobody’s compiled a better one over a career than Tiger Woods. Even with all his injuries, he still isn’t done.
In fact, he’s adding another number today: 48. As in, years old.
From his record PGA Tour earnings to his record-tying 82 Tour wins and 15 major championships, here are 48 facts and stats to celebrate Tiger’s 48th birthday.
A handful of events ranging from the PGA Tour to the LPGA featured in the Tournament of the Year discussion.
As the month of December winds down and January approaches, it’s time to look back on 2023 and reward some of the best moments the game of golf provided fans over the last year.
The discussion among the Golfweek staff for “Tournament of the Year” was a rather lively one, so much so that our group of reporters and editors could not come to a consensus pick for the best week of the year.
This year in golf was a busy one off the course, but the players stepped up and provided some memorable events all season long. From major championships to team events to late comebacks and stellar pro debuts, here are Golfweek’s best Tournaments of the Year in 2023.
Don’t be surprised if a handful of rising stars command the spotlight in 2024.
Four of the five major champions on the women’s side in 2023 were first-time winners. As for the men? Two of four.
As the golf world moves on from 2023 and looks ahead to 2024, we got to thinking, who is most likely to add a major championship to their resume for the first time in the new year? Several writers on Golfweek‘s staff have made their picks, some surprising, some not so much.
Men’s 2024 major venues: Augusta National Golf Club (Masters), Valhalla Golf Club (PGA Championship), Pinehurst No. 2 (U.S. Open) and Royal Troon (Open Championship).
Women’s 2024 major venues: The Club at Carlton Woods (Chevron Championship), Lancaster Country Club (U.S. Women’s Open), Sahalee Country Club (KPMG Women’s PGA Championship), Evian Resort Golf Club (Amundi Evian Championship), The Old Course at St. Andrews (AIG Women’s Open).
“We really hope for a firm and fast U.S. Open come June.”
PINEHURST, N.C. — They say there’s never a bad day at Pinehurst, especially if you’re walking around course No. 2, the famed masterpiece of renowned architect Donald Ross.
The gem in the sandhills of North Carolina will play host to its fourth U.S. Open next summer (1999, 2005, 2014), and the folks at the United States Golf Association recently held an early preview for its flagship championship.
“We are comfortable that Pinehurst will provide the test of golf that has always provided,” said course setup lead Jeff Hall. “If Martin Kaymer hadn’t entered in 2014 we’d have had a really competitive championship, but he played brilliantly.”
“We’re not trying to play defense with the players,” he added. “This golf course, when it’s firm and fast, you can have some scary wedge shots. Even if it was shorter, there’s still some pretty scary wedge shots here.”
From fairways and tricky greens to new grass and hospitality venues, here’s what players and fans should expect to see when they step on the property for the 2024 U.S. Open, June 13-16, at Pinehurst No. 2.
No. 2 will look and play as it was designed
When Pinehurst worked with Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw to restore the course in 2010 and 2011, the team removed 35 acres of Bermuda rough and replaced it with nearly 250,000 wire grass plants so the course would look and play the way Ross originally intended. To get it as close as possible, images from 1948-1962 were used.
Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina (Courtesy of Pinehurst Resort)
No. 2 is a unique test of golf for a U.S. Open due to its sandy areas in lieu of ankle-deep rough. If players miss the short green grass, they’ll have to deal with the elements. Fairway widths are 34-45 yards at No. 2, which differs from, say, Winged Foot or The Country Club where 24-32 yards is the norm. The diabolical turtleback putting greens make fairway placement all the more important.
“Thinking back to 2014, this was a really difficult U.S. Open to play,” said former Tour pro and current USGA Senior Director of Player Relations Scott Langley. “I say that as a guy who finished in 63rd place, wasn’t as difficult for Martin Kaymer. The thing that’s difficult about Pinehurst No. 2 is the putting greens and surrounds. The greens are very difficult to hit, so you’re often faced with a variety of shots around the greens to recover.”
When you think of a missed green at a U.S. Open, tall, lush rough comes to mind. At Pinehurst, you can play any number of clubs to get up and down to save par. Bump-and-run with an iron. A perfectly nipped wedge. Maybe a hybrid instead of a putter. The course allows for a certain level of creativity that most championship venues lack. It introduces uncertainty for players, which is when things get interesting.
“It provides a mental challenge as much as a physical one,” added Langley. “No matter what club you end up choosing or what shot you decide to play, you always have a little bit of doubt in your mind if it’s the right one because of the presence of so many options.”
As if golf wasn’t hard enough already. But that’s why it’s the U.S. Open, known as the toughest test in golf.
Key corner of the course
If you’ve been to No. 2, you’ll know the area on the front nine that features No. 3 green, No. 4 tee, No. 5 green and No. 6 tee. Come next summer, the section of the course will be a fan-favorite to watch a lot of golf, especially if No. 3 is drivable.
The short par-4 3rd hole is gettable no matter where the tee is, but the challenge increases with the sloping fairway of the par-4 4th. Players will get a breather with the par-5 5th before they’re faced with arguably the toughest test of the front nine, the tricky par-3 6th hole.
The fifth hole on Pinehurst No. 2. (Photo: Tracy Wilcox/Golfweek)
In 2014, Martin Kaymer played No. 3 and No. 5 at 6 under par and finished the championship at 9 under. He drove the green on No. 3 on both days the tee was up and two-putted for birdie. He played No. 5 at 4 under thanks to a pair of birdies and an eagle.
“You could hear some roars in this part of the world,” Hall predicted.
When it comes to set up and yardage tee to green, the course will be very similar to what fans and players saw in 2014. The real difference is the surface of the putting greens. The 2014 championship and all the previous championships (as far as the USGA knows) were played on bentgrass. The 2024 championship will be played on Bermuda grass.
The change from Creeping Bentgrass to Ultradwarf Bermuda grass provides a different perspective for the tournament crew when preparing for a U.S. Open.
“It gives us a lot more flexibility because the temperatures are ramping up, nighttime, daytime, sunlight, everything that works against the cool season grasses that time of year are in our favor for the Ultradwarf Bermuda grass,” said Pinehurst superintendent John Jeffreys.
“It allows us more options for managing firmness,” added Darin Bevard, Senior Director of Championship Agronomy. “I just hope that Mother Nature cooperates in June that we’re having this conversation about firmness and not about fixing wash outs and bunkers. We really hope for a firm and fast U.S. Open come June.”
Outside the ropes
The course is a masterpiece inside the ropes, but the USGA believes the same to be true outside the ropes. The resort is an ideal venue logistically, and the staff has a proven plan for what works and what doesn’t.
In order to improve on past successes, the USGA is keying in on two aspects: getting fans closer to the action and elevating the overall fan experience. The answer is different product offerings from the gallery ticket all the way up to the most premium hospitality stand.
A grandstand left of the 18 green with the clubhouse in the background has been a staple for U.S. Opens at Pinehurst. Next year, the grandstand will be integrated with a premium hospitality experience called the 1895 Club, the highest-end experience on-site. The club comes with valet parking, shuttles, and the best food and beverage offerings with the 18th green as entertainment.
“That’s certainly going to be something we’re excited about and something that’s going to feel and look very different,” said Leighton Schwob, the USGA’s Senior Director of Operations.
Pinehurst is going through a full renovation of the lower floor of the resort building, which is where a lot of player facilities will be. A tunnel from the locker room up to the first tee for players is also being built and should be completed by the end of the year. The resort’s driving range will be more of a fan area next summer, as the USGA anticipates more than 250,000 fans will be in attendance for the week.
The course will shut down near Memorial Day, but facilities will be built beginning in March. So don’t fret, there’s still plenty of time to go play before the pros.
Players like Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau have discussed a new exemption category for players who made the jump to the upstart circuit led by Greg Norman and financially backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
But what would a major championship exemption category for LIV players even look like? A LIV official said an exemption for the top 12 players on the points list at the end of the season would make sense in their eyes. Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley already shot down the idea. Chief executive of the R&A Keith Pelly agreed. But let’s not let that get in the way of a fun exercise.
After all, it’s never too early to start thinking about the majors right? With the Masters a little more than 150 days away, here’s how exemption categories would pan out for LIV players at the 2024 majors.
The 2045 U.S. Women’s Open will be the first ever held at The Country Club.
The slate of USGA championships headed to The Country Club just about has something for everyone. On Thursday, the game’s governing body announced that the historic club in Brookline, Massachusetts, will host four upcoming championships: 2030 U.S. Girls’ Junior, 2034 U.S. Amateur, 2038 U.S. Open and 2045 U.S. Women’s Open.
The Country Club has previously hosted 17 USGA championships, second only to Merion with 18. Last year, England’s Matt Fitzpatrick won the U.S. Open at The Country Club nine years after winning the U.S. Amateur there.
When the U.S. Open returns in 2038, it will mark the 125th anniversary of Francis Ouimet’s celebrated win. Ouimet became the first amateur to win the U.S. Open in 1913.
Jun 19, 2022; Brookline, Massachusetts, USA; Matthew Fitzpatrick poses with the US Open Championship Trophy after the final round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports
Founded in 1882, The Country Club was one of five founding member clubs of the USGA. The 1902 U.S. Women’s Amateur was its first national championship. Other USGA championships played at the club include six U.S. Amateurs (1910, 1922, 1934, 1957,1982 and 2013) as well as the 1941 and 1995 U.S. Women’s Amateurs, the 1932 and 1973 Walker Cup Matches, the 1953 U.S. Girls’ Junior and the 1968 U.S. Junior Amateur. Additionally, the club was the site of the 1999 Ryder Cup.
The 2045 U.S. Women’s Open will be the first ever held at The Country Club. Earlier this year, Allisen Corpuz won the first USWO ever held at Pebble Beach.
Coco Gauff’s mom was so, so excited for her daughter’s big U.S. Open win.
There’s nothing stronger than a parent’s love for their children, and there’s nothing more joyous than watching your kid achieve something in front of the entire world.
That’s the feeling that Candi Gauff had on Saturday as she watched her daughter Coco Gauff win the 2023 U.S. Open and complete her first career Grand Slam.
The second that Coco Gauff earned the historic victory, Candi Gauff became jubilant and celebrated her daughter’s major accomplishment. Seeing her be overcome with joy as her daughter stuns the world is just the absolute best.
The family love is clearly strong in the Gauff family, and now Coco Gauff will get to bring home the trophy and celebrate it with the rest of her family and all of her friends.
It’s a special moment for the Gauffs, one that further defines Coco Gauff as one of the world’s best tennis players.
Plenty of notable figures shared their congratulations with Gauff for her victory, including former President Barack Obama and tennis legend Billie Jean King.
Coco Gauff thanked her doubters after she won the U.S. Open.
Tennis phenom Coco Gauff won the U.S. Open on Saturday over Aryna Sabalenka in a stunner, and she had the perfect message after her victory.
As she was being interviewed for her historic U.S. Open win, Gauff made sure to thank the people that didn’t believe in her and doubted that she’d be able to win such a major tournament as a 19-year-old.
Doubting someone as talented as Gauff might seem like a strange thing to do, but such is the world we live in. However, Gauff made sure to explain how the skeptics who hadn’t been in her corner fueled her amazing U.S. Open.
“Honestly, thank you to the people who didn’t believe in me,” Gauff said after the match. “A month ago, I won a 500 title and people said I would stop at that. Two weeks ago, I won a 1000 title, and people were saying that was the biggest it was going to get. So, three weeks later, I’m here with this trophy right now.
“I tried my best to carry this with grace, and I’ve been doing my best… To those who thought [they] were putting water in my fire, you were really adding gas to it, and now I’m really burning so bright right now.”
Coco Gauff has a message to nonbelievers after winning US Open:
“Thank you to the people who didn’t believe in me. A month ago I won a 500 title & people said I’d stop at that. 2 weeks ago I won a 1000 title & people said that was as big as it’d get. 3 weeks later, I’m here”❤️ pic.twitter.com/79eLav7WZi
What a show of well-deserved confidence for one of the world’s best tennis players, one who will now hoist an elite accomplishment to go with her decorated career thus far.
Jimmy Butler has truly helped inspire tennis star Coco Gauff.
While competing at the US Open this year, Coco Gauff has had the support of Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler.
Gauff, who is ranked No. 6 in the official women’s tennis rankings, has won both of her matches during the opening rounds of the US Open tournament in New York. The 19-year-old Gauff won her most recent match against Mirra Andreeva in straight sets.
She is already off to a much better start at the US Open than she had at Wimbledon in London earlier this summer when she was eliminated in the first round by Sofia Kenin.
According to Gauff, recently crowned champion at both the Washington Open and the Western & Southern Open, it is mostly a mentality change that has contributed to her winning ways. Gauff said that so much of that mindset was actually inspired by Butler (via NY Daily News):
“That switch I had in the last couple weeks. people think some incredible thing happened,” the sixth-seeded Gauff said. “But realistically, the two weeks between Wimbledon and the next tournament I played, nothing could have really changed that much. It was really just the mental thing. I think that’s what I learned from watching Jimmy compete over the years.”
Butler is celebrated for his wildly competitive approach on the court, so he is a perfect person to help Gauff channel her mental tenacity.
While attending the US Open this week, Butler was asked about his friendship with Gauff (via ESPN):
“She is so emotional, in a good way, and she is a champion and I love that she is from the city that I work in and I love to be here and support her and I want her to win every single time.”
