Tiger Woods sprint to 60 wins amazing with or without FedEx Cup

Just six days after Phil Mickelson gave the FedEx Cup some short-lived thrills by taming Tiger Woods, the greatest golfer in history reminded everyone just how wide the margin really is. With his final round 63 Sunday in Chicago, Tiger wrapped his arms around career win No. 60.

Think about that number for a moment.

Sixty wins in only 11 years on Tour. That’s a number that easily transcends any of the FedEx Cup furor. It should drown out both those who realize the Cup’s done some good and the dimwits who act like sheep following some cynical sports writer manual in criticizing it because … well, that’s what everyone else is doing. Sixty lords over all that.

Only four golfers in history - four of the greatest golfers of all time - have more PGA Tour wins than Tiger now. Arnold Palmer, who will be passed quicker than an 88-year-old grandmother on the freeway, sits at 62. Then there’s Ben Hogan (64), Jack Nicklaus (73) and Sam Snead (82). Sure Snead gets hurt by the era he played in and the fact that it wasn’t all about the PGA Tour then (he has at least 70 other career wins in non Tour events). But Tiger’s feat is no less remarkable.

He’s making golf’s greatest players look like speed bumps on the road.

Nicklaus in particular looks a little less remarkable by the day. This is not Jack’s fault. And it shouldn’t diminish him (his whines about Tiger’s advantages does that enough). It’s just that Woods is redefining the rules of golf greatness.

In a side note, WorldGolf.com’s Brandon Tucker deserves credit for being the rare person who made a tournament winner prediction on this site that actually came true. While BTuck openly wondered how anyone could think Tiger would not win before the weekend, our supposed betting genius PGA Punter still picked Steve Stricker after the third round when Tiger had already put himself in clear position for 60. Maybe, you’d be better off investing your cash with our resident sandbagger Tuck. I hear that he’s looking to open up a trinket stand in Cancun.

Either way, you need to appreciate 60.