Tiger is top, but challengers abound
19 Dec 2013 5:45 AM IST
Woods owes his return to top spot to his wins in five tournaments, but crucially he came up short once again in the four majors, failing to end a drought that dates back to June 2008 when he won hs 14th major title at the US Open.
Instead, four players shared the honours in the tournaments that are the crown jewels of golf.
Adam Scott finally smashed the Aussie jinx at the Masters, Justin Rose became the first Englishman to win the US Open in 43 years at Merion, Phil Mickelson took the British Open at his 20th attempt and Jason Dufner was a popular winner of the PGA Championship.
With his 38th birthday coming up on December 30, Woods can hardly be called a veteran just yet, but he admits that the golfing landscape around him is changing fast.
‘It’s a whole different generation of guys,’ he said. ‘I’ve played probably more head-to-head matches against Ernie (Els) than anybody because we played around the world; and Vijay (Singh) would probably be the second and Phil (Mickelson) would probably be third.
‘But along the way ... I had Goose (Retief Goosen) in there and (David) Duval in there as well for a number of years. ‘It’s a different crop of guys. All those guys are in their 40s and 50s. So we got a whole new crew, and I think the youngest probably being Rory (McIlroy).’
Instead, four players shared the honours in the tournaments that are the crown jewels of golf.
Adam Scott finally smashed the Aussie jinx at the Masters, Justin Rose became the first Englishman to win the US Open in 43 years at Merion, Phil Mickelson took the British Open at his 20th attempt and Jason Dufner was a popular winner of the PGA Championship.
With his 38th birthday coming up on December 30, Woods can hardly be called a veteran just yet, but he admits that the golfing landscape around him is changing fast.
‘It’s a whole different generation of guys,’ he said. ‘I’ve played probably more head-to-head matches against Ernie (Els) than anybody because we played around the world; and Vijay (Singh) would probably be the second and Phil (Mickelson) would probably be third.
‘But along the way ... I had Goose (Retief Goosen) in there and (David) Duval in there as well for a number of years. ‘It’s a different crop of guys. All those guys are in their 40s and 50s. So we got a whole new crew, and I think the youngest probably being Rory (McIlroy).’
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