Milestones still in play for Tiger Woods

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The first stop is Sam Snead and his 82 career PGA Tour victories.

The ultimate stop is Jack Nicklaus and his 18 majors, the gold standard in golf.

Both milestones are now in play for Tiger Woods, which is not to suggest they are within reach. That they are at least a topic of conversation is a victory in itself considering it took four back surgeries — the last one to fuse his lower spine — for Woods to even compete again.

And then he took hopes to another level by winning the Tour Championship for his 80th career tour victory.

"I know I can win tournaments again," Woods said Tuesday.

His next chance is at the Hero World Challenge this week, an unofficial event that counts only in the world ranking, his bank account and his confidence. More curious is what Woods will do in 2019 and for how much longer.

He turns 43 at the end of the year, and with age comes a dose of practical thinking.

His expectations are high by his standards. He was asked if he was close to having the same expectations he did 15 years ago.

"It's not the same. It never will be. I'll never feel that again," he said.

And now he knows he can win again, a process that took two weeks short of a full year.

He was No. 1,199 in the world ranking when he played his holiday event in the Bahamas last year. He twice had a chance to win on the back nine in Florida.

He had the lead on Sunday in a major at Carnoustie, and he challenged Brooks Koepka to the finish at Bellerive in the PGA Championship. He went from being a vice captain to a captain's pick in the Ryder Cup.

Woods returns to the Bahamas at No. 13 in the world, which on paper sounds more amazing than it really is because he was so low in the ranking from having played so little that he essentially was starting from scratch. There was no way to go but up.

Woods can't call this his best year because he had 11 years of at least five victories and nine years with at least one major through 2008, when he won his 14th major at Torrey Pines on a left leg that required season-ending surgery after the U.S. Open.

But it was special, measured beyond victories.

It culminated at East Lake, when he beat Justin Rose and then Rory McIlroy in the final group over the last two days to win the Tour Championship.