Tiger By The Numbers

art by Steven Anthony Salerno  visit sasgolf.com

(author's note: since the original posting date on 3/27/13, Tiger won again on the PGA Tour, upping his tournament victory stat from 77 to 78.... so the art image will have to be modified yet again to indicate 01-14-78)

This weeks victory at the Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Invitational Tournament by Tiger Woods marks the player's astounding 77th PGA Tour win, his recapturing of the World Golf Ranking's number 1 position... and has elicited renewed buzz that he may very well be firmly back on track to win more major championships again (he currently has 14 titles) and may either tie or surpass Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major championship victories.

Posted here is a painting I did a few years ago for the PGA Tour web site's "Player Spotlight" feature section... and at the time the numbers graphic within the art image (I think) was set at  1 -  14  -  71.  So, now I modified the numbers graphics within the art image to be:  1  -  14  -  77.

Of course, the 1 in the artwork is Tiger's world golf ranking, the 14 is how many major titles he owns, and the 77 is how many PGA Tour wins he has. Relative to his golf skills, the man in red has talent, experience far beyond but a few other players in history, a strong work ethic, and clear goals. I personally think Tiger will indeed either tie or surpass Nicklaus' record. And in so doing I think he will win a major at 50 years of age! 

When Tiger's life became a tabloid feast a handful of years ago, and his personal and public world was crumbling... it seemed his golden train in golf had been permanently derailed. No one can avoid catastrophic periods in their life, whether they come from illness, outside forces, or are even self created.... but sometimes one can truly heal, can learn, can become stronger than before. Second chances are available but must be earned. Maybe Tiger indeed is becoming better both on and off the course. And his new prowess on the course suddenly has everyone thinking his golden train is on a very fast track once again.