Tiger Woods turned back the clock at Augusta National with a vintage performance to claim his fifth green jacket at the 2019 Masters. The win was his first major title since signing a ball deal with Bridgestone in 2016 and club deal with TaylorMade in 2017.
The 43-year-old’s 15thmajor title, which came 11 years after his 14th, following well documented personal and physical battles, shifted the news agenda like no other sports story in recent years, putting golf, and arguably its great ever player, in the media spotlight.
Among the brands to bask in Woods’s reflected glory was TaylorMade, whose clubs he switched to playing just over two years ago, following Nike’s departure from the club-making business.
Victory at Augusta marked Woods’ first win since he switched to TaylorMade’s P7TW irons earlier this year. The blades were made with the 15-time major winner’s direct feedback and underwent a two-year process before they were completed. Woods was clinical with his irons all week, leading the field in greens in regulation percentage (80%), while ranking 7th in proximity to the hole (36 feet).
Woods also praised the performance of his driver after the final round and highlighted his ability to work the ball both ways as the impetus behind a strong week off the tee. Woods altered the setup of his TaylorMade M5 driver in the run-up to the Masters by adding a lighter Mitsubishi Diamana D+ White Board shaft to the club (73g to 64g) along with the M3 3-wood (83g to 73g).
“It’s the best I’ve felt with a driver in years,” Woods said. “I was able to hit the golf ball both ways this week, and some of the shots I hit down 13, turn it around the corner, a couple of drives down 2, some of the bombs I hit down 3; and then to hit little squeezers out there down 7, 15 and 17, and even on 18. I was able to hit low cuts and high draws. That’s not easy to do, so I just really felt that I had that much control in my long game and it paid off.”
Thirteen of Woods’s 14 clubs were provided by TaylorMade, including an M5 driver, M5 3-wood, M3 5-wood, P•7TW irons, and two Milled Grind wedges. His putter is a Scotty Cameron Newport 2 by Titleist, while his golf ball is a Bridgestone TourB XS.