I love hearing Lee's thoughts. He is one of the old guys who doesn't come off as bitter, or constantly reminding us how hard his generation was compared to todays. What he says is pretty spot on - the modern short games are generally much better.

I wouldn't have figured Lee to have a dog like that.

Lee Trevino is a national treasure. Wonder if Tiger will listen to him? Rhetorical question.

Great crack about the Goydos comment! Paul could be the next Lee Trevino. He just has win 27 more TOUR events with 6 Majors sprinkled in there now and again.

Tiger's driver is off because of his most recent swing changes. In 2000, he did not hit it into one sand trap at St. Andrews, he was deftly on plane, and his ball striking has never been matched in the history of the sport. I agree with Lee when he speaks about Tiger's desire to knock the cover off the ball. He is right, he doesn't need to. However, Tiger has always been the guy that has hit it the longest. Even in his first U.S. Junior Championship, he was known for his length. If he "concedes" his length for the sake of consistency, it would be a completely different mindset. The time will come but he is still too young to do that. He doesn't have the grizzled vet outlook, but when he does recognize that hitting it the farthest isn't about pride, which I really do believe it still is for him, then his most dominant days will arrive. Scary!

The "distance limit" was the best observation of Lee's. Tiger always strives to hit each shot (apart from the driver) a desired distance, and his accuracy is uncanny. With the driver, there is no such distance number.

Tighthead--I agree on the dog thing..who knew? a Papillon?

It's a dog, is it?

This is a good read. I remember his excitement when Tiger won everything in a row. In an interview he said how lucky he was to be alive at this time and able to witness it. His genuine excitement was disarming, all the more so given his own professional record.

Here's some analysis I did about two years ago (11.13.07 to be exact). I was certainly wrong about Tiger winning an Open under Haney!

But I think much of the data supports the case that Mr. Trevnio has put forth even though my personal conclusion was that the driving troubles were more swing related (as opposed to equipment).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here’s some info to digest which I think supports a case that Tiger drove it meaningfully better when he was with Harmon vs. Haney…

(note: this info was as of late May, have updated in certain places)

Tiger's fairways hit stats back to '97:
-- "Harmon Years" ('98-'02), 65.5% was the worst in that period, ‘99 and '00 he hit over 71% of the fairways.
-- "Haney Era" ('04-'07) 60.7% was the best, 3 of 4 years he was in the 50%'s and in May '07 was hitting a career low 53.6%, ultimately hit 59%+ of the fairways for ’07 so things really picked up – about the time Haney was less visible?? (I considered 2003 a “transition” year and did not attribute it to anyone.)

Vijay comp’s…

These comments to counter “Tiger’s using longer driver/graphite” shaft case:
--from '97 to '07 Vijay Singh's fairway's hit % varied 8.4% from the best-to-worst year...and I suspect he made the same equipment change in that time frame.
-- from '97 to '07 Tiger's fairway's hit % varied 17.7% from best-to-worst year...that is a MASSIVE difference.

More Vjay comp’s…

This to counter the “Tiger hits it through fairways now with longer driver” case:
'98-to-'02....vs....'04-to-'07
-- Tiger picked up 8.7yds of distance, hit 12.4% fewer fairways.
-- Vijay picked up 12yds of distance, hit 7.0% fewer fairways.

More Vijay comp’s…

This to counter the “Vijay plays so much it normalizes his results" argument:
-- 2006 TW hit 728 tee-shots, VJ hit 1400…in 2000 TW hit 1011, VJ hit 1235.
-- I suspect that if Tiger hit another 700 tee-shots in '06 his percentage prob would not have changed much...and also that if VJ hit 700 less his % would be about the same too. (Example: in '07 Tiger hit 844 tee-shots and ~60% of fairways, to get to 71%+, as he did in his best years, with 1400 tee-shots, he'd have had to hit ~88% of the fairways in the next 556 tee shots - ain't happening. The point I'm doing a poor job of making is that after about 600 tee-shots the %'s probably aren't going to change a whole lot.)

Propostion to Tiger: we'll give you 12.4% points on your fairways hit rate (would take him from mid-50%'s to high 60%'s)...but you have to play from the distance VJ plays from.

Would this be a good proposition?

I think it would.

I would be shocked if anyone thinks Vijay Singh is in any way deficient on the length department, he hits it PLENTY far. (remember that driver he hit in PGA Championship playoff that blew everyone’s mind?)

From '04 to '07 Vijay's driving distance is EXACTLY the same as Tiger's was in '98-'02 (with the "old" equipment) - so when Tiger was hitting it the same distance as Vijay is now, he was hitting 69% of the fairways while on an equivalent basis Vijay is only hitting 60% of the fairways.

And Tiger's distance pickup between the two eras is only 8.7 yards - NOT the 30-40yds being bandied about.

Assuming it is truly an equipment only issue, Tiger would be smart to get the old 975D back out or whatever that driver was.

However, I contend that it's not an equipment issue, but a Haney/swing issue. And if Tiger did get the 975D back out he could not replicate the distance/accuracy results he produced from '98-'02 when he was with Butch.

Tiger has continued to win at a similar pace with Haney as he did with Harmon but it's an undeniable fact that the variance of his driving results is much more volatile now than it was with Butch.

Tiger won a US Open with Butch...I don't believe he ever will as long as he's with Hank.

(make that multiple US Open's with Butch)

ES

PS…I know that’s a lot to digest but it’s a complicated issue!

11.13.2007

I think Trevino is right about a shorter driver, but I'm not sure he's right about graphite. Characteristics like flex, torque, and weight of modern graphite shafts can be almost anything the player wants. While earlier generations of graphite shafts were by definition lighter and more "torquey" than steel, it isn't the case anymore.

Well....most of the graphite shafts in clubs for ordinary players certainly are lighter and torqueir than steel, but that, too, is by design, to help the ordinary player hit it further. But the professional level player can get graphite with the characteristics of steel.

I thought Tiger was at his best in ball-striking in the Harmon era. Maybe he couldn't play that way without causing injuries or something, but I agree with Trevino that it is surprising Tiger hasn't figured out how to hit the driver straight. I think it must be mental, since obviously he has the physical tools to do anything with the golf ball.

I hesitate to disagree with Lee but I dont think graphite is making him hit those big blocks

Tiger hits few drivers. Mostly 3 woods and irons off tees. The wayward drivers are probably due more to lack of use than anything else. Jack and Greg hit lots of drivers, consequently the familiarity bred success.

All things considered, Tiger will win many more majors, while last year's major winners should win none.

I linked to his 2002 "My Shot" and it's full of great quotes. Here was just one:

"My advice to architects: Before you build a course with deep bunkers, railroad ties, forced carries and water everywhere, just remember that no Donald Ross course has ever gone Chapter 11."

Keith, EP - you are forgetting one thing about graphite - it would be kind of badass to still be rocking a steel shaft.

Under Butch, Tiger looked like a swinger with the driver. Now he looks like a hitter. That is about as deep as my analysis gets. Apparently Mickelson was flying it past him in Shanghai.

Just hit the 3-wood, Tiger!

On a deeper level this is a penis issue.

i love that trevino is able to give tiger his due without making it somehow about himself. i miss this kind of graciousness in sports.

Jordan, there are many NLEs for Ross, Thompson, RTJ, and other famed designers. Though not all Chapter 11, the stories are similar.

You're kidding, thusgone. It's always been about Lee and hotstoving.

I believe that Trevino is correct about the driver equipment: Tiger has recently cut-down his driver and he puts about six inches of lead tape just above the ferrule to make the shaft heavier. Why not just go back to as near the club configuration that he was so successful with? I believe that it would improve his confidence as well as timing/tempo. I have always used heavier clubs because I believe the inherent inertia helps keep the club on plane and keeps the arms in sync with the body. Butchie always kept harping on this to prevent Tiger from getting stuck. Also, I always thought that Tiger's performance was linked in large measure to his mood, since he is an emotional guy. Give him the security blanket of a heavy, shorter, smaller-headed driver and I believe that his driving would return to what it was before.

HTBATG,

Tiger hasn't been the longest guy on tour for a long time now, in fact he's ranked 21st in distance. I don't know if he has "conceded" it yet or not, but he's far from being the longest guy on tour...far far from it.
At St. Andrews he didn't hit his driver very much, if at all.

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Phil beat Tiger in China, especially when Tiger went off-the-rails on the front nine. More than ever before, Tiger is beatable.

I think people forget that Jack wasn't exactly straight with the driver, at least not through his entire career. I think he was straighter than Tiger, but through the years Jack hit more 3-woods and 1 irons off the tee than anything else, especially in major championships. From his biography, I got the impression Jack was straighter with the driver in his youth--up to maybe 1966 or so, and in the late 60s and 70s his swing started deteriorating a little and he became more erratic with the driver; hence all the 3W/1I shots in those majors.

The real straight drivers of his era were Trevino and Arnold....Arnold was wild with the driver in his youth, but at some point in the mid-60s (about when he stopped winning the majors), Arnold became a very, very straight driver.

I don't remember well enough, but I would guess that if you asked Jack or one of his contemporaries, they would say that, even in his more erratic driving years, he was still straighter than Tiger is, and probably could manage to hit fairways with the driver when he "really needed to."

Warren - Jack and Greg hit 3W a lot, too.

Jack was straighter and Greg lots straighter than Tiger and proportionally longer than their contemporaries. Norman could put any club in the fairway but couldn't keep it from spinning off the greens or blocking it right..

Jack was not 21st in driving distance. No one who could play could consistently hit it farther than Jack, and believed that he was strong enough to hit it out of a small forest if he had to (his words I think). Jack hit more than his fair share of snap hooks, too. I will say that Jack was a much better driver than Tiger and he intimidated others with his tee shots. TIger imtimidates with his iron play and scrambling.

Taffy, I think Tiger intimidates others for other reasons too: his caddy, his gamesmanshiip (see U.S Open - 2009), and let us not forget that he is half black. How many guys on the US tour have never played golf (or any social activity) with people outside their own race? It's not a racist comment, but a comment about intimidation through unfamiliarity. This is not to discount his golfing prowess, nor media pressure, which surely has increased in the past decade. With every reporter asking everyone but Tiger "So when do you think you'll choke in the final round?" or implying as much, no wonder these guys wilt.