PGA
second with 15 wins behind Jack
Nicklaus’ 18 wins on the majors’
role of honour. Will it be a case
of so close, yet so far? It will all
depend on how Woods will manage
appearances. He first went under
the knife in 2002 to remove fluid
from around the anterior cruciate
ligament (ACL) of his left knee. His
latest surgery came in August 2019,
an arthroscopic surgery to repair
minor ligament damage in his left
knee. He is expected to recover
fully before making his season
debut in late October. There’s much
optimism in the air granted that
Woods played in 18 PGA Tour and
official worldwide events in 2018, by
far the most he’s played in a single
season since 2013. In 2018-19,
Woods has two options; go for an
aggressive game to rewrite history or
remain conservative to maximize on
appearances.
won one major, the U.S. Open in
2016, since he started playing on
the Tour 12 years ago. DJ has a
dubious record of near misses; he
now has nine top-fives in major
championships and has completed
the career Grand Slam of second-
place finishes. He has 10 top-10s in
his past 16 major starts.DJ can be
quite frustrating to watch. He has
imploded several times at crucial
moments narrowly losing the battle
for PGA Championship (2019), US
Open (2015) and The Open (2011).
In the 2018-19 season, DJ managed
just one win and seven top 10s
out of 19 events. His consistency,
though, earned him one of the eight
American automatic qualifiers for
the U.S. Presidents Cup team that
will take on the International Team in
December.
DJ will be counting on raw power
and athleticism, to recapture the
world No.1 position in the new
season. He is optimistic that the
routine arthroscopic surgery he
underwent in September to repair
cartilage damage in his left knee
will not slow him down. DJ is highly
motivated to rake in several wins
in the new season as he charges
towards the magical 40 wins
threshold to receive the Tour lifetime
membership.
Dustin Johnson
Dustin Hunter Johnson had a
relatively poor season. Having
started the season on top of the
world, a lot was expected of DJ. As
he has demonstrated over the last
two seasons, DJ is a solid golfer
capable of dominating the sport
over a long period of time. He first
became the world number 1-ranked
golfer in February 2017 and
remained there for 64 consecutive
weeks, the 5th longest run as
number one. He is renowned for his
long-hitting, superb accuracy off the
tees and fairly decent putting.
This has seen him register 20 PGA
Tour title wins, the last coming in
February this year when he won the
World Golf Championships-Mexico
Championship becoming just the
38th player to achieve the feat on
Tour, and the first since Davis Love
III in 2008. Curiously, he has only
40
Dustin Johnson