Zozo Championship Recap: Woods Makes History

Tiger Woods has accomplished almost everything there is to accomplish as a golfer. Really, there were only two mountains left to climb, albeit the two biggest mountains there are, at least statistically: the most major wins and the most PGA Tour wins.

One down, one to go.

Woods equaled the record of 82 career PGA Tour wins set by the legendary Sam Snead when he closed out the inaugural Zozo Championship in Chiba, Japan, on Monday morning. Woods came back to complete the final seven holes of the rain-delayed maiden PGA Tour event in Japan and, while there were some nerve-wracking moments, he closed it out by fending off native son Hideki Matsuyama by three strokes.

It all played out in a surreal way, not in April, June, July or any traditional tournament month, but in October and half a world away. Golf fans were watching at night, or even overnight, as Woods jumped out of the gate with a 64 on Thursday to ignite a five-day watch party to 82.

This latest win also comes with its own remarkable accomplishments within the larger accomplishment: It came just two months after Woods' fifth surgery on his left knee; he hadn't played since the BMW Championship in August. After torrential rain washed out play entirely on Friday at Narashino Country Club, Woods and his 43-year-old body had to play 29 holes on Sunday, and did so in 6-under. And the entire week came amid the backdrop of the Presidents Cup, and whether he should choose himself as a playing captain. That now seems like a no-brainer with the announcement scheduled for Nov. 4.

"I think the player definitely got the captain's attention," Woods said with a wide grin in his greenside interview with Golf Channel, right after sinking a final, clinching birdie.
 

When you're talking about a golfer approaching his mid-40s and whose next surgery will move him to double digits (five knee, four back), you never know when a career will suddenly end. But Woods' swing seemed more effortless than it had in years, so much simpler with fewer moving parts. And he did not look at all tired on his marathon Sunday, when one or two wayward shots could've completely rewritten history.

His "distance control was ridiculous," said Gary Woodland, who played with Woods over the final 36 holes.

Woods really hadn't done much of anything since capturing his 15th major at the Masters in April, and he was on the verge of falling from the top-10 in the world rankings. But he's now safely inside at No. 6, and will resume his crusade on the biggest mountain of all: Jack Nicklaus' 18 majors.

Of course, winning one major, much less three, is light years from this Japan win. But don't for a minute dismiss the Zozo field. It was no fall-season pushover. It had a strength-of-field of 526, according to the OWGR website. That would put it very close to Riviera and Bay Hill, which are annually two of the strongest fields in a "regular" PGA Tour event.

What came to prominence in the past week is the fact that Woods really should've had this record long ago. You see, Snead, unquestionably one of the greats in PGA Tour history, has had some dubious victories among his 82, which date to the mid-1930s. There was one tournament that lasted only 18 holes, three others that went only 36. One tournament had only four players (really!) and five others had no more than 16. Five tournaments were team events. And then there was the 1950 Bing Crosby Pro-Am at Pebble Beach in which – get this! – four golfers were tied at the end and instead of a playoff ALL OF THEM WERE DECLARED WINNERS.

(It also took Snead 425 starts to get to 82; Woods did it in 359.)

There is certainly no shame in Snead's career. He's a seven-time major winner and, even if we take away all those questionable victories, he would still rank third all-time. Nicklaus has 73 and deserves to be second.

It's truly remarkable that every time we think Woods is just about done, he once again plays at such a high level. He now has wins in each of the past three seasons, all in this latest comeback, the one that followed the last-gasp fourth back surgery. No golfer has more PGA Tour wins in that span.

Snead played until 52, and Woods will turn 44 by years end. He was asked in his postmatch news conference about playing that long.

"If you would have asked me a few years ago I don't know," he said, "but the future looks brighter now."

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Hideki Matsuyama
There is no shame in Matsuyama finishing second, even though he had a chance to win. The pressure for Japan's greatest golfer ever to win the country's first PGA Tour event must've been enormous. We saw what happened to Rory McIlroy when the Open Championship came to Northern Ireland. But Matsuyama pushed Woods all the way to the final hole. Even when he found a fairway bunker off the tee at the par-5 18th, he took dead aim at the pin. Matsuyama has returned to the top-25 in the world rankings, and now will climb to 22nd in the world, his highest standing in a year.

Rory McIlroy
We can joke about another backdoor top-10 for McIlroy, who found himself eight shots behind Woods after a first-round 72 (and why not – it's fun to make those jokes!). But the reality is, he delivered another top-five after closing 65-63-67 to tie for third. That makes it six top-10s in his past eight starts. No. 2 McIlroy moves closer to injured world No. 1 Brooks Koepka, with next week's WGC in China and the European Tour's finale in Dubai still to come in the next month. McIlroy is virtually a must-play these days, no matter his DFS price.

Gary Woodland
Woodland had the good fortune to be paired with Woods over the final 36 holes, giving the Presidents Cup captain a front-row seat at what the prospective captain's pick has to offer. Woodland graciously didn't beat the boss. He shot a so-so 68-70 to end up solo fifth, his sixth career top-five on the Asian Swing. Woodland will move back to 15th in the world and continues to be an excellent DFS option when accuracy off the tee is important. But as for the Presidents Cup …

Tony Finau/Patrick Reed/Presidents Cup
Finau tied for 59th and Reed tied for 17th in advance of the four President Cup captain's picks. Both are in the field this week in Shanghai. Finau finished ninth in the point standings, just missing one of the eight automatic qualifying spots. The order of the standings after the top-eight was Finau, Woodland, Rickie Fowler, Reed and Woods. One of those five will be left off, and it's not going to be Woods. The wild card in this is Brooks Koepka's knee injury, which forced him to withdraw two weeks ago in South Korea. If he can't play, then all five of those names should make it. But we don't know when or if Koepka would bow out, and it likely would be premature to hear before Nov. 4.

Ian Poulter
Poulter was never in the mix after opening 71-71. But he closed 64-66 to climb the leaderboard and finish tied for 13th. What was especially encouraging was the 66th, because the past couple years Poulter has had a terrible final-round scoring average. He ranked 155th on the PGA Tour last year and 107th the year before. Three years ago, Poulter ranked 23rd, which is more characteristic of him. This was only one tournament, but it's a start.

Dylan Frittelli
The South African, who did little last season both before and after winning the John Deere, is putting together a nice little fall season. He fashioned twin 67s on the weekend to tie for 22nd at Narashino, adding to two previous top-10s earlier in the season. Frittelli ranked T13 in the field in greens in regulation, a position that will put you in the top portion of the leaderboard most weeks.

Jordan Spieth
Two tournaments into the new season, after Spieth took time off to regroup or work on some things or whatever, he's still a mess. As with last season, a course that puts an emphasis on hitting fairways will cause him trouble. Spieth finished tied for 66th in what amounted to a 76-player field (two players withdrew). He ranked T65 in driving accuracy and T66 greens in regulation. And on top of that, his putting failed him, as he ranked 65th in putting average. If Spieth can't putt, he has no shot. Spieth is now ranked 40th in the world, his lowest standing in more than six years.

Phil Mickelson
Mickelson entered the week at No. 50 in the world and, miraculously, that's where he still stands today. He sat out Narashino and needed just about everything to break right for him to stay in the top-50, where he has resided every day for the past 26 years. For sure, Mickelson is perilously close to falling out, but this week his fate rests at least somewhat in his own control, as he heads to China for the WGC-HSBC Champions, a tournament he has won twice before, albeit lastly in 2009.