ESPN Names Tiger Woods as ‘Most Dominant’ Athlete of Last 20 Years

LeBron James, Peyton Manning, Floyd Mayweather, Serena Williams and Tom Brady also made the list.

Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods tees off on the 7th hole during the first round of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club on February 2, 2017 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)

It’s been nearly a decade since he won his last major (the 2008 U.S. Open), but Tiger Woods was named as the most dominant athletes of the past 20 years by ESPN nonetheless.

Compiled by ESPN The Magazine in honor of the publication’s 20th-anniversary issue, the list ranks “the most formidable, awe-inspiring and downright dominant athletes of the past two decades.” According to ESPN, “The Dominance Rankings” were established using a five-step process.

Despite his struggles over the past 10 years, Woods tops the list with a Dominance Ranking of 17.

Writer Ty Wenger explains the pick: “He was routinely magnitudes greater than the game’s next best: He won 13 of 35 majors from late 1999 to mid-2008, while no other golfer won more than three; three times he won five or more consecutive tournaments — the last man who won five in a row was Ben Hogan in 1953; Even the minutia is amazing: From 2002 through 2005, Woods faced 1,716 putts of 3 feet or less; he made all but four. Nobody’s perfect.”

Other big names on the list include LeBron James, Peyton Manning, Annika Sorenstam, Floyd Mayweather, Usain Bolt, Lionel Messi, Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Barry Bonds, Manny Pacquiao and Tom Brady.

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