The questions about Tiger's physical transformation are legitimate for two reasons; he chose Anthony Galea as one of his doctors, and his injuries over the last 10 or 12 years are apparently consistent with the effects performance enhancing drugs can have downstream.
This is not an accusation, just a statement to those suggesting it's inappropriate.
As far as the faith some had in his pending resurgence over these 10 years, good on you. With no ill will, I considered him finished as an elite level player for several years simply due to the number injuries, the loss of motivation and the difficult road back. Once he was found asleep at the wheel a couple years ago, I simply hoped he would survive for his children's sake. I figured he was in a really deep abyss. To win the Masters 2 years later, AND be the best player in the field in doing so is astonishing.
Hogan won how many majors after his injuries?
Someone please make the case for him not winning three more majors. When Jack won in '86 he was (appeared) 15 years older than Tiger this past weekend...
The argument against Tiger winning three more majors is pretty simple: very few majors have been won at his age, or older.
Background: Only a dozen majors -- including going all the way back to limited field Open Championships held a century-and-a-half ago -- have been won by golfers age 43 or older. Since 1986, when both Jack (age 46 at the Masters) and Floyd (age 43 at the U.S Open at Shinnecock) won in their 40s, only three golfers age 43 or older have won majors: Crenshaw at the Masters (43 in 1995); Mickelson at the Open Championship at the Honourable Company (43 in 2013); and Tiger at the Masters. So in the past 30+ years (in an era of what many here on GCA argue is better, fitter and deeper fields of golfers), it's been done all of three times.
That would suggest the odds are against him.
Of course, he's Tiger, and many would suggest the normal bounds of golfing history don't apply to him, and there is some (a lot, in candor) truth in that. His scoring records in majors, his front-running success at winning majors, and his overall record suggest he's the one guy who can overcome the history of mid-40-ish golfers not winning majors all that often.
And -- a theory I agree with -- if you believe in horses for courses, he has several favorable ones coming up: Bethpage Black next month; Pebble Beach in June; Torrey Pines and TOC in two years; Hoylake the year after that; Valhalla and Southern Hills when he'd be nearing 50. Plus Augusta National for...however long he wants to play there. All places he's won majors.
But, the odds are against him, I'd argue. Winning majors is difficult -- a lot has to go right for you to do so (mostly, with your game; sometimes, also, with the other guys' lack of game). Tiger lost a lot of opportunities in his prime or near-prime to win majors (he missed entirely 14 majors between 2008 and 2017 -- a period of time when Jack's equivalent majors record included seven wins).
Ten years ago, I thought (and believe I said so here
) that he'd catch and surpass Jack's record (professional) of 18 majors. Now, I'm not so sure.