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Posted on 05/12/2011 8:47:44 AM PDT by rawhide
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla . -- Tiger Woods stood behind the ninth green on Thursday and wondered aloud at what had just transpired.
On a day in which good shots were few and far between, not to mention few and far afield, he has just bombed his second shot on the par-5 hole over the green on the fly and into an oak tree behind the green. It was a towering shot that was seemingly in the air forever.
He handed the club back to caddie Steve Williams and said, "I just hit it 290 with a 5-wood?"
Even the rare good shots turned out porrly for the fading, former world No. 1 in the first round of the Players Championship, and he finished with a bogey before withdrawing for the second consecutive year.
A moment latrer, he handed his golf glove to Williams and his scorecard to playing partner Martin Kaymer and told them he was punching out after nine holes.
"I am having a hard time walking," Woods said.
Not to mention a difficult time scoring. He shot 6-over 42 on the front nine and was tied for last when he decided to head to the TPC Sawgrass locker room, visibly limping.
It was downhill from the start for Woods...
(Excerpt) Read more at steveelling.blogs.cbssports.com ...
Tiger will never be as dominant as he was because of rule changes. Hitting v groove clubs out of rough with spin and accuracy is a lost art - a skill no longer needed after 1977. That is why you are seeing players who hit a high percentage of fairways off the tee succede.
Woods was nnever an accurate driver. Boxed grooves, however, let him rip many shots out of poor lies with enough accuracy to bring his phenomenal putting game into play. That type of game is gone. Good riddance as far as I am concerned. Boxed grooves changed the game to favor brutes rather than skill.
I would be surprised if Tiger makes it the US Open next month. At this point he should take the rest of the season off and do what ever he needs to do to fix his knee. If and when he does come back, I doubt if he will ever win another tourney. The younger guys are way too good these days and they are many of them.
Yeah, what a hedonistic ego-maniacal dum-dum. Used to love Tiger, but no sympathy here. Goodbye and good riddance.
Considering his third leg is most important to him, it seems to me he still has two left.
You don’t often see someone in the public eye like Tiger fall from such tremendous heights so quickly. He was probably the most known athelete in the world. He was on Michael Jordan levels before the “incident”. Now, he’s just another schlub on the PGA tour....
Rumor has it he never used to pull out.
Changes to groove rules and equipment changes are hardly the issue, and every golfer has to play with those changes, not just Tiger. I've also read about tests against these groove changes, and though measurably, it seems to have little overall impact on professional golfers.
The scandal and subsequent divorce has mentally affected Tiger Woods, and his recent injuries, whatever their cause, have compounded his downfall. As one who has demonstrated remarkable mental strength in the past, clearly his mental and physical abilities are out of synch. The game of golf is littered with numerous examples, but none have been as dramatic as Tiger Woods.
Well if you talk about scramblig percentage, the statistics back you up. So far in the 2011 PGA Tour season, the scrambling average is 57.46%. In 2009, the last year the pros played aggressive-grooves, scrambling was virtually the same at 57.52%. So with short shots, the statistics show the difference is not so great.
But the statistics do not talk about who benefits and who does not. The is no doubt that longer shots from poor lies or even shorter shots wet grass is a different story. Even on short grass the new grooves change the ball flight - it launches higher. So you are going to see a resurgance of blades as opposed to cavity backs.
So even though the rules apply equally to all, they favor some players over others. The new grooves favor driving accuracy (not Woods) and players that have the finesse to better control launches (not Woods). These players tend not to be brutes (Like Woods), who can use a larger sweet spot and sharper grooves to rip shots from anywhere with spin and accuracy.
I don't like golf being a game where brutes get the rewards. I prefer to reward finesse and intelligence.
Completely agree. "Bomb and gouge," the term used to describe the act of hitting it long with the driver, and "gouging" it from whatever rough or hazard onto the green, was indeed made popular during Tiger's reign. Probably since my drives are nowhere as long as I'd like them to be, do I agree with the finesse approach.
I will give Tiger credit though--he when he was able to play bomb and gouge, his short game was phenomenal, and he was clutch at putting.
I noticed that a few years ago he had to shorten his swing, and go 80% to stay in control. He could still follow through, but it would be a pull hook. That’s around the time he was buffing up too. He could hit it farther and straighter as a skinny college kid. His putting ability kept him around for a while, now it’s gone too.
The affairs weren’t the real story though, it was the ‘roids. The Golf media really kept away from that. He was their bread and butter.
Paging Dr. Galea...
I can't help but think about the possibilities Tiger had. Actually, I ceased being a fan long ago (couldn't get past the arrogant, in-your-face crap this young man spewed out to the masses..but that being said and put aside...) ... Tiger had such potential to be an influence, a force for good; and on that note, he has failed so miserably, so disappointingly.
How anyone could consider him a hero is beyond me. His total lack of morals, class, character, integrity...is so obvious, and so real, and so such a let-down. Redemption? Yes, absolutely. He...like each and everyone of us has an opportunity for redemtpion. But, only if we humble ourselves and acknowledge the wickedness of our ways. Sad to say, the blinders of Tiger's eyes...still remain.
I agree - it was steroids and HGH that he ended when PGA began drug testing after 2008 Open at Torry Pines. He simply is not as bulky as before...and his cheating did not help either.
Got a source or quote for the so-called “in your face crap” you’re talking about?
According to Shot Link he flew his 5 wood 279 yards, after a drive of 327. Those are not the numbers of someone who is injured. He withdrew because of his bad score.
In his last tournament before his wife beat the crap out of him, he hit someone in the gallery with a club he had just slammed on the ground. He still swears and slams clubs on the course, so sit there smugly while you’re waiting for your source.
Oh please. Stop lying. Don’t like black folks, eh Moonie?
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