Steve Sands On Expectations for Tiger Woods in 2024
This week on The Ball Washer Podcast, I had one of the greatest voices in golf on the show. Steve Sands from NBC Sports and the Golf Channel joined me to talk about a varitiy of things, including his expectations for Tiger in the 2024 season.
I have been wanting Steve Sands on the podcast for a while now and I got him right at the perfect moment. The season is just kicking off, with only one event in the books and it is already shaping up to be a massive year out on tour. Before I get to Steve’s thoughts on what Tiger can accomplish this season, let me give you my thoughts.
MY EXPECTATIONS FOR TIGER
First off, my stance on Tiger Woods is a little bias, I grew up in the era that was Tiger Woods. Every kid my age began golfing because of that man and even to this day, a lot of the reason I continue to play golf is because of Tiger Woods. Going into this year I have seen a lot of good things from Tiger, his health seems to be at it’s best in the last ten years. Another thing I have noticed is his attitude on the golf course, it seems to me that he is really enjoying himself out there. All of the above are positives heading into the 2024 season. As some predictions go, I think Tiger will win a tournament or two again this year, compete in the majors and maybe sneak in a win at the Masters.
When talking with Steve there were a few things to take away from the conversation in regards to Tiger.
“He told us in December at the Hero World Challenge after the PNC Championship that he was hoping to play once a month and the calendar kind of lines up for that. If he remains healthy and he looks very good, it’s great to see him as aggressive and competing. But he also looked very good, which was promising for him and his golf game. And I think the calendar lines up for his goal of trying to play once a month. If he remains healthy, that’s a big if. But if he does so, you know, let’s take away January one. Let’s start in February at the Genesis, his tournament out at Riviera, which benefits the TGR Foundation. Then in March, you had two players, maybe Bay Hill with that, but I doubt he would go back to back. The calendar this year is back to back Bay Hills and the players. So you’ve got to take one or the other. I would assume you would pick the players, but he has had a lot of success at Bay Hill. So one of those two in March of the Masters in April, you have the PGA, in May, you have the memorial, perhaps, perhaps. But more than likely, the U.S. Open at Pinehurst will be his June event in July, Royal Troon and the Open Championship. And there you have it. It makes you play all the way through to the middle part of the summer with what a must if he stays healthy. Right. And if all goes well, he would love to probably keep that schedule”
Tiger was not all Steve and I talked about in our conversation. I also asked Steve about the golf ball rollback and what his thoughts are on it when it comes to the everyday golfer. We also agreed that rolling the balls back for the professionals may make the game more exciting. Check out the entire conversation with Steve from the Ball Washer Podcast.
One of the things we didn’t touch on was Tigers decision to split from Nike, here is some more information on that.
