When people talk about the dominant years of Tiger Woods, naturally the multiple major winning years will get highlighted—from the three major win 2000, followed by the 2001 Masters to complete the Tiger Slam, to his double major winning seasons in 2005 and 2006.

When you have years such as those in a decade-plus era of utter domination, there will always be seasons that don’t get the recognition they deserve. 

Here are three years in particular from Woods’ catalogue of greatness that I feel get overlooked.

2013

To this day, you will find golf fans who believe Tiger’s last years of domination came prior the infamous crash on Thanksgiving 2009. Wrong. Woods was head and shoulders above his peers in 2013.

Tiger kicked off the year winning three of his first five tournaments, claiming victories at Torrey Pines, Bay Hill and The Blue Monster.

The cruelest twist of fate prevented Woods from slipping on the green jacket at Augusta that April, but in typical Woods fashion, he put that disappointment behind him winning the Players Championship in his very next tournament.

Four wins from seven, and the highest peak of the year was still to come.

At the 2013 Bridgestone Invitational Woods won by 7 in a tournament that was effectively over by Friday afternoon with Woods firing an electric 61 which included a signature Tiger save on 18 to cap off the day.

Along with the awful luck Woods endured at the Masters in 2013, The Barclays at Liberty National played an infamous role in Tiger’s year.

Despite struggling with a bad back which Tiger attributed to hotel beds at the time, the 15-time major champ looked poised to make it win number six in New Jersey. Instead, Woods was struck down by a vicious back spasm on Sunday which ultimately cost him the tournament and changed the course of his career forever.

To cap off the year, however, Woods dominated at the Presidents Cup, claiming four points for his country. It remains the last time Woods featured in all five matches at the Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup. 

A five win year, including two WGC’s and ‘The 5th Major’, despite the bad luck and severe back issues that were beginning to tell.

The Year In Numbers

• Wins: 5
• Win Percentage: 31.25%
• Scoring Avg.: 68.94

2008

In terms of overlooked seasons, 2008 fits the bill in that it should always be in the conversation when discussing Woods’ best years ever – and too often it’s not. In 2008, Woods had a ruptured ACL and still managed a 66.66% win percentage. Not bad, eh?

Dominant triumphs at the Buick Invitational and WGC-Match Play to start 2008 were followed by a thrilling victory at Bay Hill with Tiger sinking a long birdie effort on 18 to claim his third straight win of the year.

“The perfect season still alive” said the announcer. That’s how dominant Woods was in 2008. Anything seemed possible.

That ambition ended with a T5 at the WGC-Cadillac which was followed by a runner-up finish at the Masters, but after a two-month break, then came Tiger’s final involvement of the year and for my money, still his finest major moment.

Playing the 2008 U.S. Open on a leg most mortals wouldn’t be able even to walk on, Woods double-bogeyed the opening hole three out of four days and still managed to win, while also holing arguably the most clutch putt in the history of the game on the 72nd hole.

There will simply never be another major win quite like the 2008 U.S. Open.

The Year In Numbers

• Wins: 4
• Win Percentage: 66.66%
• Scoring Avg.: 68.9

2009

After a lengthy break recovering from knee surgery, nobody was sure what to expect from Woods in 2009. What followed was another year of utter brilliance and domination.

It all started at that place again, Bay Hill, where Woods holed a memorable birdie effort in the dark to notch his first victory from his comeback – overturning the four-shot deficit he had begun the final day with.

Wins at the Memorial, A&T National and the Buick followed before another date with destiny arrived at the Bridgestone Invitational.

Trailing by three strokes starting Sunday against Padraig Harrington (who took advantage of Woods’ absence at the end of 2008 by winning both remaining majors), Tiger erased the deficit with a birdie-eagle start and then put the Irishman to the sword on 16 with a perfect 8-iron from 176 yards.

The year rightly or wrongly is often tagged as the year Woods finally blinked in the final round of a major, losing out to Y.E. Yang at the PGA Championship. But Woods’ magic that season was far from over – going on to savage the field at the BMW Championship at Cog Hill which included a round of 62 on Saturday and the most ridiculous of birdies on Sunday from behind a tree.

Having secured the FedEx Cup, Woods then put on a show at the Presidents Cup, teaming up with Steve Stricker and displaying devastating golf all week to win five points.

Tiger eviscerated his PGA Championship nemesis Yang 6&5 in Sunday’s singles, but it was his 4-iron approach to the par-5 18th on Saturday and subsequent extravagant club twirl that amplified exactly how much better Woods was than the rest in 2009.

The Year In Numbers

• Wins: 6
• Win Percentage: 35.3%
• Scoring Avg: 68.052