T-OFF (ISSUE15) OCT - DEC 2019 | Page 39

PGA one golfer. He is widely tipped to continue with the march towards the career grand slam. However, he will have to contend with a charging McIlroy and a resurgent Dustin Johnson. Tiger Woods Brooks Koepka reach this season. That would earn him a seat on the table of greats which is currently the reserve of only five men- Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. McIlroy turned professional in 2007 and won his first major, the U.S. Open 2011. At 30, he stands a great chance to add on to his 17 PGA Tour career wins and probably achieve the coveted career grand slam. This is definitely his year! Brooks Koepka 2018-19 was the most successful season for Brooks Koepka. He won the PGA Championship for a second time and finished in the top five in all four majors. He joined the likes of Tiger Woods, Fred Couples and Tom Watson as some of the golfers to have won the award two consecutive years. He is billed as a big stage player due to his dominant performances in majors. He was third in the FedEx Cup and fourth in Scoring Average, with a top 10 percentage of 45 percent. Last season, he won three events- PGA Championship, World Golf Championship and The CJ Cup@ Nine Bridges. Having registered nine top 10 finishes a feat that saw him pocket $9.68 million in prize money. Koepka wound up the season with impressive stats; 10th in driving distance, ninth in strokes gained, eighth in birdie average, fourth in scoring average, and third in eagles! Koepka has won four majors in under two years, winning three of the last five. His real breakthrough came in 2017 when he won the US open. Last season, he successfully defended the US Open title and won the PGA Championship. Brooks Koepka is currently enjoying his longest spell as the world number Tiger Woods started the 2018-19 season ranked 13 th but broke into the top 10 to end the season at number 8. Woods brought back life to the Tour when against all odds, he bagged a 15th major title winning the 2019 Masters. The unexpected success saw him get to 81 PGA TOUR wins. The buzz generated by this win cannot be gainsaid. Written off by pundits due to his advancing age and injury record, Woods is back on the radar. He managed one win and four top 10 finishes. Though the performance is a pale shadow compared to the nine wins he registered in 2000, Woods will be highly motivated in the 2019- 20 season to rewrite history books. Several records are within sight and this should push him hard enough to play well; with81 official PGA Tour wins, he is second only to Sam Snead (82), and eight ahead of Jack Nicklaus’s 73 wins. He is ranked Tiger Woods