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Then and now: How Tiger Woods and golf have changed in the 22 years since his first Tour title

Tiger Woods is back in the winners' circle - but how much has changed since he 
Tiger Woods is back in the winners' circle - but how much has changed since he

Two decades, 14 major championships, 78 PGA Tour victories, $115,504,853 in prize money, four knee surgeries, four back operations and a healthy dose of scandal and public humiliation separate Tiger Woods's first and latest tour wins.

A redemptive triumph at the Tour Championship, with fans swarming a red-shirted Woods on a Sunday procession, teleported golf fans back to an era many feared was long gone. 

The first Woods win came at the 1996 Las Vegas Invitational, as a wiry 20-year-old in a baggy Nike polo shirt with a curious lack of red on display for a championship Sunday. 

The prodigy beat established tour winner Davis Love III in only his fifth professional start, on his way to securing his card with ease. 

What has changed for Woods and golf in the 22 years since? 

His attitude

When Woods was producing consistent excellence without silverware in early summer, some theorised that his warmer demeanour came at the expense of older, ruthless instincts. 

That armchair psychology was revealed as hogwash after Woods gave his rivals little encouragement in a strategic display of relentless ball-striking in Atlanta. 

Nevertheless, the scars of adversity have granted Woods greater perspective. "20 years ago, hell, I thought I was going to play for another 30 years," was how Woods reflected, unashamedly savouring his achievement. "I appreciate it a little bit more than I did because I don't take it for granted that I'm going to have another decade, two decades in my future of playing golf at this level."

Compare and contrast with the youthful insouciance with which he greeted that 1996 win in Vegas: "I really can't say what it means until I think about it more."

Tiger Woods - Credit: Getty Images
Tiger Woods's relationship with fans is at its warmest Credit: Getty Images

Woods has taken a flamethrower to F. Scott Fitzgerald's aphorism that there are no second acts in American lives, and the passing years have also changed the public's attitude to him. 

A simmering resentment of his dominance brewed in certain quarters, duly followed by barely contained glee at the personal turmoil that sent Woods's life and career into free-fall. 

Awe and gratitude are the two overwhelming emotions from the galleries nowadays. 

His swing and changing technology 

Before the Butch Harmon swing rebuild that laid the foundations for his imperious 2000 season, the young Woods swing was willowy and whippy. 

Blessed with natural elasticity and athleticism, Woods hit the ball prodigious distances with a steel-shafted, small-headed driver by unwinding his body and hips at awesome speed. 

With a fused spine, Woods cannot rotate at the same speed. Despite this deficiency, according to PGA Tour statistics state he averages more than a yard further off the tee in 2018 than 1996. 

The reason? Technological change. Lighter shafts, clubfaces like trampolines and juiced-up balls are helping players in their 40s hit the ball the same length as they did 20 years ago. 

Woods was actually a late convert to the new-style of driver, around 2003, and until now he has never looked particularly comfortable with them. 

With the old steel driver in 1996, Woods found 69.2% of fairways which was an exceptional ratio considering the length advantage he held over his competitors. 

Woods is back at 58.98% this season, while his average driving distance of 303.4 yards ranks him 34th on Tour.

A late summer change to an old Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Whiteboard shaft dramatically improved his driving however - Woods found 64.29% of fairways at the Tour Championship and 76.79% at the preceding BMW Championship. 

Woods seemed to have an epiphany after the USPGA, realising that he could not reel in the likes of Brooks Koepka without putting his ball in play. 

By accepting a 10 to 20 yard deficit on the younger generation, Woods's accuracy has improved. He will be in contention at all four majors next year should he maintain this. 

Fan behaviour

The sight of fans pouring onto the sculpted fairways of East Lake was a glimpse of how golf tournaments used to look before stringent security but with one notable difference - the ubiquity of mobile phones. 

It did not go unnoticed by Woods who said: "This was different. I guess it's different now because the art of clapping is gone, right? You can't clap when you've got a cell phone in your hand! So people yell, and they were yelling; they're going to be hoarse."

Once, fans would have rushed to their hero in the hope of grabbing a piece of his shirt or to collect a bead of his sweat, now a selfie seems the desired souvenir. 

Tiger Woods - Credit: Getty Images
Taking pictures on mobile phones is common place at sporting events in 2018 Credit: Getty Images

Prize money 

Granted, the Las Vegas Invitational was not one of the tour's blue-chip events but Woods's first winners cheque was $297,000.  His prize money at the Tour Championship by contrast was $1.62 million. 

'Tiger doesn't move the needle, he is the needle', is a well-worn phrase in the boardrooms of American's big broadcasters, and the interest created by Woods has seen money flood into the sport. 

Lee Westwood's former caddy Billy Foster once said every top-professional golfer should have a Woods shrine in their house so that they can thank him for making them very rich indeed. So we hereby give Woods permission to thank himself.