Tiger Woods is having a rough time of it… again. He has problems to sort out, and I hope he does so and is able to come back to contribute positively to golf again.
He is the most iconic figure the game has ever produced, and I believe he has more to give, either on or off the golf course.
There – that’s out of the way.
Now, let’s consider something more fun – how far Tiger hits the ball.
I’ve written articles in the past about the distances that players of different eras have driven the ball. It’s generally conjecture, but it’s interesting to think how far Arnold Palmer or Gary Player, for instance, would hit the ball with modern equipment.
There’s always a bit of guesswork involved in those hypothetical pieces, but there’s generally enough anecdotal (and the odd bit of actual) evidence to give us a good idea.
When it comes to thinking about Tiger Woods 2000 in a modern setting, we have a good deal more to go on.
We know how far he hit it then, we know what equipment he was using, and we even have a pretty good idea of his ball speed at the turn of the century. That should allow us to paint a convincing picture of how far 2000 Tiger Woods would hit the ball in 2026.
A historic year
The year 2000 was Tiger’s ‘annus mirabilis.’ He won three Majors that year, including the US Open by a record 15 shots, and he won nine PGA Tour events, including six in a row. He was streets ahead of the rest.
At the time, onlookers marvelled at the power and speed of Tiger’s swing. Nobody had hit it like that before at the very pinnacle of professional golf.
In 2000, Tiger averaged 298 yards from the tee on the PGA Tour. That was second only to John Daly, who managed three yards more.
What is incredible to note is that, after Tiger, Davis Love III was the third longest hitter on the 2000 PGA Tour and he averaged 288 yards – a full 10 behind Woods. Tiger was phenomenally long from the tee.
Tiger made a change from a Titleist Professional to a Nike Tour Accuracy following the Byron Nelson Classic of 2000. That was a move from a liquid core, wound ball to a solid core, three-piece ball – a similar construction to golf balls of today.
Reports suggest Tiger gained an extra 2-3mph ball speed with the Nike ball. He was averaging just over 180mph ball speed through the 2000 season, up to the mid 180s.
During his epic 2000 season, Tiger used a Titleist 975D driver. The driver featured a 7.5-degree loft, a 43.5-inch True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 steel shaft, and a compact 260cc head.
The 975D is considered a conforming driver so Tiger was not gaining a benefit from increased “spring effect” that was restricted from 1998.
He was, however, losing distance with a shorter club than those the top players use today, less efficient (smaller) head and a shaft that wouldn’t have helped generate power to the extent a top-end modern graphite shaft would.
So Tiger was producing over 180mph of ball speed with a driver that didn’t perform to the level of a 2026 driver.
'No Slouch'
It should be remembered that, when fit, Tiger is still no slouch when it comes to generating speed.
Before he temporarily (hopefully) left the golfing scene earlier this year, he made an appearance at the TGL match between Jupiter Links and Los Angeles Golf Club.
The 50-year-old clocked a fastest ball speed of 177mph with a driver. He hit a drive that carried 285mph and one that ended 312 yards. He’s still long.
Tiger is renowned as one of the best ball strikers of all time. In terms of the driver, let’s say he was comparable in quality of strike with today’s best drivers. Perhaps similar to Rory McIlroy.
If you have thoughts on how far 2000 Tiger would be hitting today and if you agree or disagree with any of my points in this piece, please do share those thoughts in the comment box below.
Rory averages between 182 and 186mph ball speed with the driver. The Northern Irishman averages 320 yards from the tee this year on the PGA Tour and was just over that last season.
Rory was second on the PGA Tour driving distance average ranking in 2025, just as Tiger was in 2000. Only massive hitting Aldrich Potgieter outdid him (just like only massive hitting John Daly outdid Tiger in 2000.)
If we say that Tiger’s average ball speed in 2000 was slightly below Rory’s in 2026 but that Tiger was limited by his driver, a fair summation would be that 2000 Tiger would be very similar to 2026 Rory in terms of ball speed, if both were using the same equipment.
With that being the (presumed) case, I think that Tiger Woods of 2000 would hit the ball an average of 320-325 yards in 2026 – some 20-25 yards further than in 2000. That increase would be because of improved driver technology.
Tiger from 2000 would be near the top of the driving rankings in 2026, just as he was 26 years ago.
