Xbox 360 Review: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09

Can the 09 version of Tiger hit a birdie or 5 over par?

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 brings unprecedented levels of customisation and control, allowing seasoned vets and first time players ‘inside the ropes’ of Tour golf!

Looking to drive the ball long and straight? Trying to nail the pin with the approach shot? An all-new addition to this year’s game, Haney will assist gamers as they hit the links and try to advance their career to win the FedEx Cup. In Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09, a player’s skill level is dynamic, constantly adjusting throughout the round just as it would during a real afternoon out on the links. Following each round, Haney will deliver customized feedback on a player’s performance. This feedback system allows all gamers, rookies or PGA Tour pros, to compete and enjoy the game at any level.

Tiger Woods for Xbox 360 Features:

  • Performance Coach-Tiger’s coach Hank Haney is now your coach – helping you to improve your performance throughout your career.
  • Club Tuner-Tune your clubs to maximize your swing.
  • Dynamic Skill-No longer do you have to build your character up from scratch. Skill are set at the beginning of your career based on your skill level and will go up and down based on your play just like real golf.
  • Performance Feedback-After every round your coach Hank Haney will provide feedback and customized training drills to help you improve your game.
  • Enhanced EA SPORTS GamerNet-Longest drive challenges, closest to the pin and more are all delivered directly to you with the all new Instant GamerNet Challenges available in all game modes. Post your own greatest moments with ease directly from the fairway and search recommend clips based on your personal play pattern.
  • All-New Online Simultaneous Play-Play an entire 4-person round in the same time it takes to play single player. With the all-new Simultaneous Play you’ll tee off at the same time as your opponents and see their ball flight in line with yours.
    With the great improvement with Madden 09, it’s almost too much to expect Tiger 09 to make as much of a change and while it lacks things entirely new, it does dramatically improve its handling and overall feel.

    This time around, Tiger’s coach joins in to give you a helping hand with your swinging technique and other things. You can even tune your club to coach standards or make it your own to compensate those who can’t swing straight. You can even put extra power on your swing by tapping A as you prepare to swing back with the analog stick, and you can put some extra spin on it by tapping A and using the analog stick as the ball is flying towards its destination. All of this helps to make the game easier to play and more accessible to the average gamer.


    The GamerNet challenges can pop up at anytime during any mode, essentially it’s a case of trying to break someone’s record for longest fore, putt and so on. It’s an interesting addition and adds another element to the game, plus it can help you gain some achievements if you are good enough.

    During online play, you no longer have to wait your turn to take your swing. Tiger 09 lets each player do their own game simultaneously, making games faster and smoother to play. There’s also the usual mini-games like T.I.G.E.R which is the golf equivalent of basketball’s H.O.R.S.E. There are a few other new ones that are fun, but not the main heart of the game.

    Looking at the game as a whole, Tiger PGA Tour 09 is an impressive package with some lovely improvements to gameplay and some new modes and changes that add new dynamics to Tiger’s latest. The visuals aren’t exactly jaw-dropping, but they still are very quite good to look at in HD. The courses look amazing and character models are great, although some appear to have a few jaggy lines around their faces.


    GameFace returns and I got a much better looking character than in 08, of course it takes a while to process and then you have to add a whole bunch of features to make it your own. The level of customization in your character is just as strong as ever, it’s good to see the quality hasn’t dropped in this either.

    The Verdict

    Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 is an excellent golf game and the best next-gen version to date. It doesn’t drop in quality from last year and makes some much needed improvements to the game. Tiger still has a lot to do to become a must-have title, but this year’s version is the greatest so far.