Questions and Candles

Tiger Woods' 50th birthday is a milestone without a map

Rare is the 50-year-old golfer without uncertainty, whether the doubt involves body, nerves, motivation or a combination of those factors. As Tiger Woods turns 50 today, there seem to be almost as many questions as candles.

Woods was the ultimate sure thing. Laden with expectations, he climbed the ladder as if there were going to be no rungs left. He wowed with power and finesse, dogged to the core, caring about every shot like it was his last, until the victories and the highlights added up to a legendary mountain of achievements before he had touched middle age.

But foregone conclusion gave way to career confusion, his trajectory slowed by scandal then threatened by injuries. That he came back from spinal fusion in 2017 to win three more tournaments, including his 15^th major title, the 2019 Masters at age 43, was remarkable.

The glow of that unlikely achievement didn’t last long, though. When he crashed a car in 2021, his lower right leg, ankle and foot were so badly damaged that amputation had been discussed. Against long odds, Woods recovered enough to return to very limited competition, but in eight majors from 2022 through 2024 he didn’t factor in any. Those results weren’t surprising given the discomfort he often appeared to be in.

Any prospect of playing in 2025 went away when he ruptured his left Achilles tendon in March. Then, in October, he announced that he had undergone a lumbar disk replacement, yet another back surgery, in hopes of relieving pain and increasing mobility.

Whether competing is even a possibility after healing from the latest operation, it would seem to be a long way off. There had been anticipation for limited appearances on PGA Tour Champions, with understandable speculation that Woods had the U.S. Senior Open in his sights. A victory in that event would give him a record 10 USGA championships—breaking him out of a tie with Bobby Jones at nine—and complete an unprecedented sweep of U.S. Junior, U.S. Amateur, U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open.

If the combination of the surgeon’s skill and the athlete’s grit permit Woods to get back to doing what he loves most, the record of other stars as seniors is a mixed bag. Harry Vardon squandered a five-stroke lead in the final round to lose the 1920 U.S. Open when he was 50; Phil Mickelson held on down the stretch in the 2021 PGA Championship at 50 to become golf’s oldest major champion, breaking the long-held record of Julius Boros at age 48.

Sam Snead didn’t win a major after turning 50, but he was on the leaderboard more than anyone as an elder, with nine major top-10s, three of them after his 60^th birthday. Tom Watson had a rousing round at the 2003 U.S. Open when he was 53 but put together his unforgettable encore in the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry, victory his at age 59 until a bogey at the 72^nd hole left him in a playoff with Stewart Cink.

Jack Nicklaus, too, had teased a major victory when he was in his late 50s, putting together a Sunday charge at the 1998 Masters when he was 58, the roars and his rally ultimately subsiding to a tie for sixth behind winner Mark O’Meara.

Snead, Watson and Nicklaus, among others, were spared the kind of physical problems which have burdened Tiger. It’s hard to fathom even a cameo by Woods at the advanced ages when those three stirred echoes of what had been. Given what Woods’ body has been through, his window is but a porthole.

There was much anticipation when Nicklaus— the golfer to whom Woods is most often compared—was about to celebrate his 50^th birthday, on Jan. 21, 1990. Leading up to that milestone, I got some time with Nicklaus in Florida for a magazine feature. The interview was lengthy and went well. A photo session also had been arranged, and the photographer Dan Helms was with me to take the pictures after the interview.

For reasons unknown, Nicklaus had shown up that day in a short-sleeve dress shirt and tie. He looked like an engineer at NASA Mission Control, not the best golfer of his time, if not of all time. Dan and I pleaded with Jack to change into something more suitable for the photo session, but he refused. If I didn’t believe stubbornness was a trait of the greats, I sure did after that day.

Major titles aren’t the only thing Nicklaus and Woods have in common. Tiger’s mind will be willing in this next chapter, but his body will provide the answers.