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Tiger Woods Comeback

Seeing how his last 'comeback' was a disaster, I'm of the opinion that he's on track. As far as the stats go, particularly the driving stat, he's never been a super accurate driver of the ball so I'm not all that surprised. I think the iron-related stats are a bit surprising since iron play is typically one of his areas of strength. Unfortunately for him, the expectation is that he wins or contends in every tournament he enters, but as we've all seen the 'new' Tiger isn't quite as dangerous as he used to be. On top of that, the competition has gotten tougher so I seriously doubt he'll be stomping the field again. With that said though, I do think he'll win again, and I believe the intent this season was to make it through the year healthy. If a win or two happened during that process, fantastic, but it seems like the intent was primarily to get used to the tournament grind again.
 
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It's been said numerous times but add me to the group that says he has lost that "killer instinct". I remember back in the day there were three types of crowd roars: everyone else in the field, a Phil roar, and then there was a Tiger roar which would echo throughout the entire course. That can create a huge advantage to Tiger and those roars alone could intimidate the rest of the field that was within striking distance.

The game has changed now and it seems players are more buddy buddy with each other where it was Tiger and the rest of the "Big 5" just fighting each week and they weren't really friends like players like JT, Jordan, Rickie etc...
 
I seldom ever post anything about Tiger due to some extreme loyalty from his fans. One reason I am HERE is because people seem to have manners on this site vs other ones where anything goes. Anyway, Tiger is the only professional golfer that has returned to play in the PGA with a fused back AFAIK so just that accomplishment alone is something to be proud of doing. His experience has been a huge help. His short game is still very good but I agree he just does not putt with authority like he did at his peak. The reality is that he is also in his forties and the young players are not afraid of him at all. A great point is the camaraderie enjoyed by todays players vs. the past where intimidation was the norm. I like to see the players be friendly. That's more like the past golfers were. I think Tiger will do well but doubt he will win much. We'll see...
 
While the thought of a Tiger comeback and dominance is always exciting, at this point, I just like to see him out there and somewhat in contention. The timeframe since his last major win (2008 until now) is closing in on the span of all 14 of his major wins (97-08). 11 years of dominance, and currently 10 years without a major. I dont see Tiger ever being "back", and honestly, vs the field, dont see him winning more than one major (at most). Would love to see it happen, just think the time has run out.
 
MSB256 said:
So what are your feelings on him finishing tied for sixth at a major and finishing just 3 strokes off the lead. You think that was an anomaly or that he can't clean things up enough to make up that three strokes?
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Anomaly. It was the very unusual course where he almost never needed to hit driver.
 
I for one do not think there is too much media coverage of Tiger. I'd like to point out that the media does not cover things that don't bring them viewers and money, so blame the fans not the media.

If Tiger is anywhere near contention you bet your bottom dollar I wanna see every shot, especially in a major. It's like if Michael Jordan made another come back and was making a push in the finals, do you think people would want equal coverage of the other starting 4, or the opposing team? Laughable.
 
tequila4kapp said:
Anomaly. It was the very unusual course where he almost never needed to hit driver.
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By that measure, his 2006 Open win was an anomaly, too.
 
drinkinbeery said:
I for one do not think there is too much media coverage of Tiger. I'd like to point out that the media does not cover things that don't bring them viewers and money, so blame the fans not the media.

If Tiger is anywhere near contention you bet your bottom dollar I wanna see every shot, especially in a major. It's like if Michael Jordan made another come back and was making a push in the finals, do you think people would want equal coverage of the other starting 4, or the opposing team? Laughable.
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Here's my question, and I'm not trying to be condescending, but are you this hungry for Tiger Woods coverage because you genuinely want to see him play, whether he's really in contention or not, or do you want to see him as a byproduct of years of media saturation related to Tiger Woods? I find Sundays where Tiger made the cut to be frustrating beyond belief, because I don't really care about him above any other golfer, certainly not above the players in contention as the tournament draws to a close. But I also didn't really get into golf until 2007, and only started taking it seriously 5 years ago. I understand what he did, and how his rise contributed to the rise of golf in general, but I don't venerate him today because he was the best 10+ years ago.
 
I think if Nicklaus started playing again and was finishing in the Top 10 often and climbing the world rankings as fast as Tiger did this year, the media would be all over that story, too.
 
OGputtnfool said:
By that measure, his 2006 Open win was an anomaly, too.
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He was a different player 12 years ago. The decision to not hit driver was strategic then and was more a defensive necessity now.

Also I think doing well every 12 years is kind of the definition of anomaly.
 
tequila4kapp said:
He was a different player 12 years ago. The decision to not hit driver was strategic then and was more a defensive necessity now.

Also I think doing well every 12 years is kind of the definition of anomaly.
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The definition of anomaly is ambiguous. It doesn't include a time frame. So, what you consider an anomaly might not be to everyone else.

Also, unless you've spoken to him personally or he's said it in an interview, I doubt you know why he didn't hit driver much this year. It's fun to guess, but we can never be sure. Personally, I think it was strategic. He realized he won one Open without leaning on his driver so why not use the same game plan?
 
The fact that Tiger is back playing is good, I won't argue that point, but the media frenzy now is just laughable at times and his die-hard fans can't accept that the glory days of old are just that, glory days of old

drinkinbeery said:
I for one do not think there is too much media coverage of Tiger. I'd like to point out that the media does not cover things that don't bring them viewers and money, so blame the fans not the media.

If Tiger is anywhere near contention you bet your bottom dollar I wanna see every shot, especially in a major. It's like if Michael Jordan made another come back and was making a push in the finals, do you think people would want equal coverage of the other starting 4, or the opposing team? Laughable.
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If he is in contention then fair enough, but if he is nowhere near the front of the pack then I am not interested in seeing Tiger on the range, Tiger walking to the 1st tee, Tiger walking down a fairway
 
It's fun watching the comeback, and he isn't going to dominate anymore, I doubt any Tiger fan has any problem admitting that. He's 42 coming off numerous back surgeries. So if he doesn't win this year or next year that's that? I recall some people saying Phil would never win again and his drought was for how long before WGC Mexico?

He's up and down, inconsistent, and has put himself in contention a couple of times to win, just couldn't close it out.

Numerous people from ESPN and Golf Channel said Tiger is finished and he will never play golf again. The comeback is successful to me. It's great having him back, competing, including a Major.

He may even make the Ryder Cup team, nobody could've fathomed that, and here he is.
 
JB said:
It is being painted as getting close to "being back", so I wanted to get THPers comments on the following statistics that might say otherwise.

Right now he is 175th in driving accuracy, despite taking less than driver quite often.
He is outside the top 100 in Greens in Regulation
Right around 120th in Total Putting
Right around 75th in Final Round scoring average.

He appears to have something really solid for 2-3 days per tournament and these are on courses he knows extremely well.

Are we at a point where its wait and see he is still just coming back? Or are we at a point where this is what to expect and getting hopes up for dominating fashion for 4 days is more likely to be seen on ESPN Classic than it is on the Golf Channel? Let's try to take the dislike and the pom poms out and have a conversation about the actual comeback. :D
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wow, it's pretty shocking to those stats laid out like this. as good as he looks - and i think his swing looks REALLY good - he's obviously nowhere near where he needs to be. and with time working against him, he better figure it out soon. regardless, i sure do love watching the big cat play.
 
I actually don't see him winning again. Especially a Major. Not sure why, but he doesn't look the same competitive self he once was. He used to be able to find that "second gear" within himself to put the pressure on. Right now I don't see it in him. He may say that he is OK physically but during later rounds, especially the final round, he seems uninterested, not the same look & drive to surge back into contention. Like he know's he's too far back to give it his all. I wonder if there is some underlying problem that he is not revealing to anyone, especially the media.
He can use these last few years to practice for the Senior Tour. Then he might win again.
 
golfinnut said:
I actually don't see him winning again. Especially a Major. Not sure why, but he doesn't look the same competitive self he once was. He used to be able to find that "second gear" within himself to put the pressure on. Right now I don't see it in him. He may say that he is OK physically but during later rounds, especially the final round, he seems uninterested, not the same look & drive to surge back into contention. Like he know's he's too far back to give it his all. I wonder if there is some underlying problem that he is not revealing to anyone, especially the media.
He can use these last few years to practice for the Senior Tour. Then he might win again.
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I'm a Tiger the golfer fan. I've looked at this year as his chance to reacclimate himself mentally and physically to the grind of competitive golf. I think next year will tell the tale. He'll have a year of competitive experience with the post-fusion swing with a better understanding of what he can and can't do. He's already exceeded what I thought he would do this year. I didn't think he'd come close to sniffing the Ryder Cup or the playoffs. If he doesn't win next year, I'll be shocked to see him slogging around a few more years putting up top 5s, 10s or what have you to compete for the FedEx playoffs or the team events. I don't think he'll do much, if anything, on the senior tour in 10 years, even if he does have some wins down the road.

I do share in your thought that he may have experienced some physical problem.
 
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I love tiger and am a huge fan but I honestly don’t see any dominance in him anymore, he has glimmers of greatness periodically but that sharpness he had has been rounded with time.

I wish he’d just kick some butt but the reruns on the golf channel will be my reminders of what greatness in my lifetime looked like and how great of a time it was for golf itself.
 
Two things going on variable expectations and variable stats.

If you are expecting the Tiger of 10-20 years ago that isn't realistic. Tiger is 42 years old and hasn't played much in 5 years. He's been on and off the course for 9 years. When he has played, he physically hasn't been right until this year. So in 7 months, he's risen to top 50 in the WGR, which looks back 2 years for its rankings. That is pretty remarkable to me.

As for the stats, not all stats are equal. Fairways hit has proven to be a poor predictor of the overall performance of a player. GIR ranking has some validity. Strokes Gained off the tee, approach shots, and on the green--none of which were mentioned are known to be strong predictors.
 
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The little faces tell me all I need to know. Dads that watched him in his hay day now get to share him with their sons.
 
I think it is a process. He shows the ability at times but he still has a ways to go. Commitment will be his biggest factor. I don't think he will ever be the same as his great days and considering how strong the fields are now, I don't know if he ever wins again but he might. I still like watching him play though. Whether you think Nicklaus or Tiger is the best player ever, you still get to see one of the all time greats play the game which is a treat for me!!
 
The Golf Channel did a very interesting segment on him during the Live at the PGA telecast.

David Duval flat out said he's tired. When he started the season, his swing speed was at 123, and now it's at 118. He was hitting 60% of Fairways, and now he's only hitting 40%. Then they were comparing this with other, younger Golfers and they were saying that DJ's swing speed was either consistent or went UP as the season progress. Also not such a dramatic drop off on Fairways hit.
 
NewGlfr said:
The Golf Channel did a very interesting segment on him during the Live at the PGA telecast.

David Duval flat out said he's tired. When he started the season, his swing speed was at 123, and now it's at 118. He was hitting 60% of Fairways, and now he's only hitting 40%. Then they were comparing this with other, younger Golfers and they were saying that DJ's swing speed was either consistent or went UP as the season progress. Also not such a dramatic drop off on Fairways hit.
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but couldn’t that be a confidence issue? maybe he’s trying to steer the ball into play, and we all know that never works but we still do it.


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c.a.eleric said:
but couldn’t that be a confidence issue? maybe he’s trying to steer the ball into play, and we all know that never works but we still do it.


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It's also possible that he's not used to playing a full season. I think it's been 5 years since he's played a full season and I would imagine that he might need a season or two to get back into full season shape mentally and physically.
 
c.a.eleric said:
but couldn’t that be a confidence issue? maybe he’s trying to steer the ball into play, and we all know that never works but we still do it.


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I guess it could be, but other golfers struggle with confidence at times as well. That was the point of bringing up other golfers and that their swing speeds don't waver nearly as much.

I am by no means an expert on this. I found the segment interesting, though.
 
c.a.eleric said:
but couldn’t that be a confidence issue? maybe he’s trying to steer the ball into play, and we all know that never works but we still do it.

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I agree. I think there is a trust issue on a lot of things. Back, conditioning, instincts, post-fusion swing, new putter, and who knows how many other things. As I posted above, the grind of a competitive season can't be ignored, as evidenced by Duval's comments, especially with all the new in TW's game.
 
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