FedEx Cup Playoffs Turn 18: Tiger Woods’s Most Iconic Moments Ranked

With the Wyndham Championship done and dusted, the focus now shifts to the FedEx Cup Playoffs. The first event, the FedEx St. Jude Championship, kicks off on August 15. While Tiger Woods has never played the season-ending playoffs in its current format, the former world no. 1 has multiple records under his belt. 

Woods, a four-time winner of FedEx Cup playoff tournaments, trails only Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson on the list. Moreover, no one but Jordan Spieth has ever entered as the No. 1 seed and emerged as the FedEx Cup champion. As the post-regular-season playoffs roll into their 18th year, here are the top five most memorable Tiger Woods moments.

Tiger Woods wins the inaugural FedEx Cup playoff

Woods’s double hall in 2007 was perhaps inevitable. Before coming to the Tour Championship, Woods’s results looked like this: 1, 1, T2, 1. The Hall of Famer skipped the first playoff event but won the 2007 BMW Championship, the second one of the trio. Then, at the Tour Championship, Woods built an insurmountable three-shot lead. We say insurmountable because Zach Johnson carded a 60 and still couldn’t catch the former world no. 1, who piled another five shots on top of it. Woods cupped 54 birdies combined in the two events.

Tiger Woods masterclass at the 2009 BMW Championship

The 2009 BMW Championship was a mere formality when it rolled into Sunday. Tiger Woods had already built a whopping seven-stroke lead by the end of the day, which came courtesy of a course-record 62. The only curious factor was how big of a victory it would be. It turned out to be an eight-stroke victory. Current LIV Golf Pro, Marc Leishman, tied for second with Jim Furyk. It was Woods’s 71st career victory and sixth that season.

Woods vs. Mickelson at the 2009 Tour Championship

After thrashing the BMW Championship field so brutally, there was no doubt who the top dog was at the 2019 Tour Championship. But it wasn’t Tiger Woods’s week. Phil Mickelson, who rose to world no. 2 again, closed the Sunday with a 5-under 65 at East Lake. Enough to stop Woods, who finished three shots back. 

But Mickelson had to finish second, a whopping 1020 points behind Tiger Woods in the FedEx Cup standings. It was a rare instance when both Mickelson and Woods made a podium finish. His season ended with a $10.5 million victory but without his goal of holding both the FedEx Cup and the Tour Championship trophy together. Per Forbes, Woods’s $10 million bonus from the FedEx Cup catapulted him to over $1 billion in career earnings.

The comeback before the actual comeback 

Tiger Woods started looking like Tiger Woods again in 2018. He had six top-10s and two runner-ups coming to the Tour Championship. Perhaps the five-year title drought was nearing an end. In a field of 30, with many favorites, Woods started an early charge with a first-round 65. Holding on to his overnight lead, the 15-time major winner carded a final-round 71 pairing with Rory McIlroy.

“I had a hard time not crying coming up the last hole,” Woods said after the round. He was congratulated by Bryson DeChambeau, Rickie Fowler, and McIlroy. The gallery erupted as Woods walked off with a standing ovation. The crowd would erupt, and Woods would cry again a few months later at Augusta, as the golfer would clinch his fifth Masters title.

Tiger Woods’s last FedEx Cup playoff

It’s been four years since Woods teed off in any FedEx Cup playoff tournaments. Since his near-fatal car crash, Woods has played only a limited number of rounds, and that too in a limited number of tournaments. His last FedEx Cup appearance came in the 2020 BMW Championship, where he tied for 51st. Woods showed signs of trouble; it was the first time in ten years that Woods failed to break par in a tournament. 

Woods’s 11-over wasn’t as appalling, however, considering the average score was 7-over. Nevertheless, the 15-time major winner finishing some ten strokes behind the winner was also a sign that age has caught up with even Tiger Woods, something he has been hinting at lately. 

Woods’s schedule looks empty for the rest of the season. The 48-year-old hopes to appear at the PNC Championship with his son, Charlie Woods, by his side. Then a customary show-up at the Hero World Challenge. The PGA Tour has offered him exemptions to all the Signature events next year. However, everything depends on whether his body permits him enough chances to earn his way to the next year’s playoffs.