This week in golf — The Zozo Championship, LIV Jeddah and more

The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP was Tiger Woods’ first tournament in two months. It was his first start since knee surgery. He bogeyed the first three holes. It didn’t matter. Woods still earned his record-tying 82nd win. The ShotLink team broke down Woods’ 82 wins here. Today’s Stats Insider will focus on last week’s performance in the first PGA TOUR event in Japan. 1. BOUNCE BACK: Woods became the first player in the ShotLink era (since 2003) to win after making bogey on his first three holes of a tournament. Woods is the fifth player since 2003 to win after playing his first three holes in +3 or worse. Highest score to par on first three holes to start event among PGA TOUR winners since 2003 2. IRON IT OUT: Woods’ impressive iron play was on full display in Japan. He was in full control of his ball, finishing third in greens hit (55 of 72, 76.4%). This shouldn’t be a surprise. Among players with at least 300 measured rounds, Woods has the highest career Strokes Gained: Approach per round, and it’s not even close. He’s averaged +1.1 strokes gained per round. Jim Furyk is second with +0.74, while ZOZO runner-up Hideki Matsuyama is third with +0.72. 3. HAPPENS IN THREES: Here’s further proof of Woods’ stellar iron play last week: he played the par-3s last week in 9-under-par. It marked his career-best performance on par-3s (in relation to par). He is one of six players since 1983 to play the par-3s in 9 under or better en route to victory. Best Par-3 performance among PGA TOUR winners since 1983 4. GOING LOW: Woods finished three shots ahead of Matsuyama. Third-place finishers Rory McIlroy and Sungjae Im finished six shots back. The 10th-place finishers were 10 shots back. Woods’ 36-, 54- and 72-hole scores this week were among the best of his career. Yes, one of the par-4s was shortened to a par-3 for one round, but it was still an incredibly impressive performance. This was the 25th consecutive time that Woods converted a 54-hole lead of 3+ shots into a victory. He’s never lost in that scenario. 36 HOLES: 64-64—128 (5th-best of his career) 54 HOLES: 64-64-66—194 (3rd-best) 72 HOLES: 64-64-66-67—261 (3rd-best) 5. TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER: Woods led the field in birdies (27) and putts per green in regulation (1.62). The latter is proof of strong ball-striking and strong putting. It means you’re hitting it close enough to one-putt, and rolling it well enough to convert. There was no ShotLink in Japan, but wasn’t necessary to show us that Woods was the cream of the crop.

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