3 Reasons Tiger Woods Won The Masters

A game plan was in place, as Tiger Woods reported after his long-awaited Masters win, and the follow-through was extraordinary as throngs of fans stood by to see the reawakening of their long-lost hero.

As Masters.com stated, it was Tiger Woods' "Return to Glory".

The 2019 Masters with Tiger Woods as a frontrunner reminded fans of days gone by, with steadfastness and purpose of action, shot-after-shot was placed almost effortlessly into scoring position.

As Woods gained strength and momentum during the Masters, golfer upon golfer laid a path to his eventual win. Even with a bogey on 18, Woods could not be caught, and the triumph was both sweet and spectacular to watch.

How did Tiger do it? He mentioned he had a game plan like all professionals do before they play in tournaments, but the average golfer rarely puts a plan into practice. In this blog, Golf for Beginners takes a look at the three reasons Tiger Woods won The Masters and what we, as amateurs, can do to improve our own golf games.

When interviewed after The Masters, TW said he, "kept control of my emotions, my shot placement...I still stayed present and focused on what I had to do today." How can these actions apply to us?

1. GAME FACE ON! Keep control over your emotions.

As you could see from Tiger Woods, as well as from every golfer at Augusta National, there were no outbursts, and you could not tell whether or not they hit decent shots from the looks on their faces - keep your game face on throughout the round in spite of difficulties.

2. SHOT PLACEMENT: Know where you are going to place each golf shot. Tiger Woods took a controlled, aggressive approach - he looked at each hole, acknowledged the trouble areas and was safe yet aggressive when hitting each shot.

Don't just hit the ball, think your way around the golf course and visualize each shot.

3. FOCUS: Remain focused on your intended goal. Where Tiger kept relentless focus, Molinari mentioned after his round that one reason for his loss is that he lost focus.

Tiger Woods won The Masters through focus, sheer will, and determination - if you follow his lessons, you may be able to lower your score around the course and stop any real blow-up holes.

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Photos: NBC Sports after the round taken from my TV!

Olazabal With a Chance to Win The Masters? You Bet!

Online betting is hot and heavy with odds for whom will win The Masters in 2019 - projections from advanced simulations can go by the numbers but the fun comes from waiting for the unexpected to occur.

There are the familiar favorites that you regularly see on the front page of the leaderboard - Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose, and Tiger Woods - and there are also the 5,000 to 1 "long shots" which should also be considered as they were all major champions.

Ian Woosnam, Larry Mize, Sandy Lyle, and Jose Maria Olazabal; these four former champions still have a chance at winning The Masters...even at odds upwards of 3,000-1, according to the Action Network.

Woosnam won The Masters in 1991, Mize won thirty years ago in 1987, Lyle had his moment in the sun in 1988 and Jose Maria Olazabal donned the green jacket twice, once in 1994 and again in 1999.

The chances of a sixty-something professional golfer are unheard of, putting Woosnam, Mize, and Lyle at a distinct disadvantage but, with strength training and better eating habits, a tour winner from the senior set is bound to happen.

Bernhard Langer won the Senior PGA Championship at fifty-nine years of age but, on the PGA Tour, the oldest winner in a PGA Tour tournament is said to be Slammin' Sammy Snead (52 years old, 1965 Greater Greensboro Open)

So, at fifty-three years of age, it stands to reason that Olazabal could win a third Masters - he has been playing against top pros like Langer and Singh on the Champions Tour and has been placing in the middle of the pack - he knows the Augusta golf course well and has eight top-10s there...

Olazabal could be the "comeback kid" from the list of former Masters champions!

Just because a golfer is considered a longshot, don't count him out - in 1999, Olazabal had 3000 to 1 odds. Time may not be on his side, or with the older set but experience often wins out over long hitters on Augusta National as long as the short game (and putting skills) are exceptional.

Enjoy watching The Masters this week and may the best golfer win!

Who is your choice to win The Masters? Let us know in the comments section of our Golf for Beginners blog and tag us on Twitter @Golf4Beginners with your pick!

Photo: Wikipedia