Tiger Woods. Whether a golf fan or not, if you asked someone if they knew who he was, they could probably tell you. Most famous for his 80 wins on the PGA tour, dominating and intimidating aura, and tiger-like attitude on the course, his recent struggles in regards to his personal life and his physical health have in a way, overshadowed his past accomplishments. He went from #1 player in the world to being caught in scandals and hitting a kind of "point of no return". Ever since the start of his scandal in 2009 up until just about this last year, golf fans have been aching to see Woods back on the course and would constantly wonder when he would be "back". If you look at 2016 and 2017 especially, Woods had one start over the two years and did not place in the top 25. Then, 2018 came around and everything changed.

In 2018, Woods was able to make 18 starts and 16 cuts thanks to a successful amount of recovery time from his spinal fusion surgery. In March of 2018 at the Valspar Championship, the whole world was watching Tiger play and a win was right in his grasp. Unfortunately, he ended up tied for second place. With this finish, people began talking, a lot. Was he back? Will he be back? Can he come back? The #1 talking point in golf in 2018 had to be Tiger without a doubt. He followed up his T-2 at the Valspar with a total 10-under-par, T-5 finish and people were getting excited. These glimpses of hope got everyone hyped up and flooding back to the courses to watch Tiger play in the flesh. Like a lot of tour pros say, there's a normal crowd, and then there's a Tiger crowd. They're louder, more excited, and the whole vibe of the place gets much more intense. That is the kind of impact that Tiger can make. In September of 2018 at the TOUR Championship, Tiger finally gave the fans what they wanted. Four rounds under par for an 11-under total, a long-awaited first place finish, and confirmation that he was absolutely back. In 2018, golf fans around the world were left with a happy, healthy Tiger Woods and hungry for more to come in 2019.

Now that the PGA Tour 2019 season has begun, people are wondering, now that Tiger has won a tournament, will he win his first major since 2008 this year? In my opinion, I think it's definitely possible, and not just because I'm a Tiger fan.

To best support my argument, let's analyze his statistics. First off, he's already played two tournaments this year, the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego, CA and the Genesis Open, in Los Angeles, CA. He finished -10 and -6 respectively and both were tied for 20th or better. As these two tournaments were hosted at courses that Tiger is fairly comfortable playing in due to it being in close proximity to where he grew up in Southern California, they were decent starts to the season.

What best gives us an idea of how he may play this season is a look at his stats from the 2018 season. He had an average drive of 303.6 yards and finished the season ranked 32nd in driving distance. 32nd isn't great, but hitting 306 off the tee won't hinder him from scoring. His scoring average was a 69.35 placing him at seventh for the end of the season. I think that consistent rounds under par are going to be vital for Tiger's success this season. Not only will it keep his tournament totals in the red numbers, but it'll help keep his momentum going. Two rounds in the 60s and then a round of 74 isn't going to do any good and as a player, would be tough on confidence. Consistency helps keep the mind at ease.

In addition to driving distance and scoring average, he finished the 2018 season ranked third in strokes gained from approach to the green, fourth in scrambling, and eighth in one-putt percentage. But if we're going to see a major win this year, there needs to be an improvement in his greens in regulation percentage (67.4% and ranked 82nd), driving accuracy percentage (59.35% and ranked 127th), and his putting from 7, 8, and 9 feet (ranked 113th, 172nd, and 120th respectively). These are the critical distances for not only scoring but saving strokes when they matter.

To decide whether 2019 is Tiger's year, there's one more thing we've got to look at: this year's host sites for our 4 major tournaments. The first one of the year which gets every golf fan hyped up for the year is The Masters, always hosted at Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia. With not the best showing last year for Tiger with a T-32 finish at one-over-par, Augusta is still Augusta and Tiger loves that course. His worst finish was a T-60 way back in 1996, only his second start at the Masters. Ever since then, he's won four green jackets, 13 out of 19 finishes with a tournament finish under par, and has averaged a ninth-place finish every time he steps on that first tee box at Augusta. There's just something about this tournament that makes it the perfect place for Tiger to make things roar.

Next up, the U.S. Open, which is hosted at Pebble Beach in Northern California this year. In 2000, he shot a solid 15-under tournament total to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and in the same year came back to Pebble to shoot 12-under total and win his first U.S. Open. He's had his ups and downs there, but it's in his home state of California, and it's at the same event and same course where he won at in 2000.

This year's Open Championship will be returning to Northern Ireland to be held at the Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush. The last time The Open was hosted at Royal Portrush was in 1951 so this will be a new challenge for Tiger. Tough to say how he'll play, but his low stinger will definitely come in handy for this links course.

Last but not least, we've got Bethpage Black hosting the PGA Championship. Tiger's history at this course in New York includes his second U.S. Open win in 2002, a T-6 finish at the 2009 U.S. Open, and a T-38 finish at the 2012 Barclays. He didn't leave Bethpage with the best round (a 76 at the 2012 Barclays) but that was years ago and before his spinal fusion surgery. In the end, I think his best chances are at the upcoming Masters and U.S. Open.

Glimpses of greatness are what we saw last season and with that win at the Valspar—it was a shining beacon of hope for Tiger fans and just golf fans in general for him to win his 15th career major this year. In the end, Tiger is still Tiger. With 107 professional wins, 80 wins on the PGA tour, 14 major championship wins, and countless records under his belt, there's a reason he's this good and no reason why he can't give us another.