When Will Tiger Woods Retire?

JackWESQ

Of course, the only golf worth taking about is that which relates to Tiger Woods. So with Sorenstam announcing her retirement (at the end of the season), my thoughts quickly went to Tiger Woods. Woods is currently 32 and for the longest time, I thought it was a foregone conclusion that I might see Tiger on the Senior PGA Tour. Now, I'm not so sure. Heck, I'll say that he never plays of the Senior PGA Tour.

Granted golf is unique in that an athlete's playing career is conceivably from 15 to 60, e.g. 45 years. Wow. That's a long time. I think it is a safe conclusion that Tiger doesn't retire until he wins 19 majors. He's currently at 13 and needs 6 more. I'll go ultra-conservative and say he gets to 19 by the end of the 2011. In which case, he'll need to win 6 of the next 15 majors. Definitely not out of the question. At the end of 2011, Tiger will be 36. Too early to call it quits? Who knows. But when he retires, golf will take a beating. Unless another Tiger Woods comes along. Yeah right.

/s/ JackWESQ

Michigan

He has dropped a hint in the past that he might not be involved with golf for as long as people think. Of course, he may have just
been playing games with the interviewer, who knows?

There will be many good golfers in the future but someone like Tiger is probably once in a lifetime.

joeknowscards

I think Tiger is also going to shoot for the wins record so he may not stop after he wins his 19th or 20th major, and it's going to take longer for him to get to that number than the majors record. maybe he'll play into his very early 40's (41 or 42) possibly.

stevek

He's hard-wired to play the game. He won't stop until pain or injuries stop him - it won't be anything else.

Barndog

found this with a google search...I remembered that Tiger's dad thought golf was not his son's true calling:


Several years ago, Sports Illustrated sent one of its writers to interview Earl Woods, the father of Tiger, in order to get some background for their Sportsman of the Year story on the famous golfer. What happened is related by John Feinstein in his book on Tiger Woods, The First Coming:

In talking to Earl Woods, Smith got quotes in which the father insisted that his son had been sent by God and that he would be the most important human ever – not the most important golfer or the most important athlete, but the most important human. "Tiger will do more than any other man in history to change the course of humanity," Earl Woods said. When Smith asked Earl Woods if he honestly thought his son – a golfer – would have more impact than Nelson Mandela, more than Gandhi, more than the Buddha, Earl Woods didn’t blink. "Yes, because he has a larger forum than any of them. Because he’s playing a sport that’s international. Because he’s qualified through his ethnicity to achieve miracles. . . . There is no limit because he has the guidance. I don’t know exactly what form this will take, but he is the Chosen One. He’ll have the power to impact nations. Not people. Nations. The world is just getting a taste of his power."

Wondo

I thought Tiger had retired - he hasn't won in weeks!