Is Tiger Woods Still The Zenyatta Of Golf?
When Zenyatta proved Saturday that she's the Tiger Woods of race horses, it was only natural to see Tiger to stop toying with the elite HSBC Champions field and put them away with one of his trademark rise-to-the-occasion finishes.
Befitting his frustrating 2009 season, he failed.
It's been easy to resist joining the growing chorus suggesting the Tiger Woods aura has disappeared after his no-win 2009 major championship run. And yes, we're talking about the HSBC Champions with cell phones going off, cameras clicking on backswings and at the end of a long year with the next major six months away. Not exactly an ideal barometer of Tiger's future. It's always been amazing how consistently he brings his best to even meaningless events.
However, the site of so many oddball shots combined with the mostly outstanding final day play--sans a Mickelson wedge whiff and an Els hybrid whiff--makes it reasonable to wonder if the Tiger-is-unbeatable-aura has ended?
Tim Rosaforte says no big deal, Tiger has a few kinks to work out and it all adds up to a potentially epic year in 2010:
Tiger will process all this and come out in 2010 a better player, because that is his creed. But this run by Mickelson is more than just a two-month hot streak while Tiger fights his putter and shakes off the final pieces of rust. This is enough of a competitive message that the 2010 season, with majors at Augusta, Pebble Beach, St. Andrews and Whistling Straits, could be epic, should Mickelson and Woods keep on their competitive tracks; and should Els build off his second-place finish in China, and not the 5-wood he fatted into the middle of the pond on the 72nd hole.
But it was hard not to be struck by Peter Dixon's account of the final day and the on-course vibe:
From the moment that Mickelson increased his lead with a birdie at the 3rd, things started to go downhill for Woods. The walk to the 4th tee provided a stark contrast. Woods kept his head down while Mickelson, smiling and nodding to the crowds, smacked hands as he went.
And then he slowed down to gather his thoughts. Following behind him was like walking with a boxer to the ring; he was going to make his challenger wait. This, after all, was psychological warfare as much as anything else — not a word was to pass between the two — and within four holes, Woods had gone.
Lorne Rubenstein noted that 2010 has the makings of a great year for Mickelson after his impressive win, but also observes:
Woods was barely off the course in the last round of the HSBC when he was looking forward, rather than backward, and that he just wanted to “get out of here.” Asked if there was anything wrong with his game, he said, “No, just one of those days.”
It was also one of those strange years. Very strange.
And as I knew they would, the SI gang had a few thoughts on the matter:
Shipnuck: Tiger will deservedly be player of the year in '09, but his shocking stumble out of the gate in Shanghai — ball in the water, flubbed chips, 4 over on the first 7 holes — is of a piece with his Sunday meltdown at the PGA, the missed putt on the last hole at Liberty National and the Sunday beatdown Phil administered at the Tour Championship. When it comes to Tiger, Phil has never felt this emboldened, and I'm guessing he's not alone.
And...
Morfit: You have to admit Tiger hasn't looked like Tiger lately. No majors in 2009 is not a huge deal, but the way Yang reeled him in at the PGA, the way he failed to make the big putt at Liberty, the way he backed into the FedEx Cup title, the way he took himself out of contention on the front nine at HSBC — uh, excuse me, my regular Tiger Woods has been replaced by Folgers crystals.
Michael Bamberger, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: The players are still in shock over the PGA, more in shock that Tiger didn't make that putt Sunday on 18 at the Barclays, and now this? It's a brand new day.
Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 07:34 PM
Reader Comments (16)
Doesn't "whiffing" mean that you don't make contact with the ball?
Yes, technically you are correct. But only making it about halfway into the lake was almost as bad.
Based on interviews, it appears Woods had the same view.
Based on past results and early 2009 success, this year is seen as both disappointing and indicative of the future.
However, based on July '08 - January '09, this year looks like a wonderful "comeback."
The 2010 Masters should provide many answers.
First of these is:
Will Woods' new knee and swing permit him to return to his driver?
The demise of Tiger Woods has been greatly exaggerated and is the result of fairly weak and lazy reporting. Instead of going after interesting stories with other players in the field, the focus remains on what Tiger didn't do. There are other stories out there, but nobody is tracking them down.
I don't think the HSBC is a "meaningless event". In fact, it was one of the best tournaments I saw all year and it had an energy that not one event outside of the majors had all year in the U.S. The crowds were excited to see the best players in the world and there was an exuberance that is in short supply elsewhere in the world.
If Tiger had a hard time with the cell phones and cameras - too bad! I thought his dad spent countless hours bothering and distracting him and teaching him how to be tough and focused when he was learning the game. At least that is what we were lead to believe, things change - deal with it.
Greg Norman had the right idea: a world tour of golf where all the best players in the world compete on different continents would be far more interesting than the PGA tour. Hopefully we will get there eventually and the PGA tour in the US can become the Nationwide or something like that.
We've talked about this before but: Tiger does not lose with grace. Considering he is soon to become the first golf billionaire, the least he could do is give the media a few minutes and not act like a spoiled child.
It still seems unlikely to me that Phil will be able to CONSISTENTLY challenge Tiger since Phil so depends on his near miraculous short game saves. . . But, these year ending tournament results do bode well for the start of 2010 - lots of unanswered questions (NO! - not John Huggan's.)
Ok boys, gather 'round. 2008 - Tiger wins 4 of 6 starts with 2 seconds and finishes off the year winning the US Open in a Monday playoff with a shreaded knee and broken bone in the same leg.
2009 - six MONTHS after major surgery to repair the knee, plus major reconstruction on the golf swing to get rid of some of that knee snap he's always had - just to make sure he doesn't tear up the knee again. (most of the swing work done while Coach Hank is dilly dallying with Charles Barkley) Knee surgery like this is usually a TWO YEAR rehab to 100% and we're just 16 months into the process.
So - Tiger gets back into play a little early and picks a hilly course with very few flat lies to make his comeback and only wins one round in the Match Play. Fast forward two weeks and he finishes T9 at Doral. Two more weeks...9 months after the surgery...and he wins Bay Hill.
Is any of this starting to sound familiar ?
Woods has 17 starts this year, plus the Presidents Cup - SIX wins and three seconds - and a total of 14 top 10's. One missed cut.
The fact that he didn't win a major is less interesting than the fact that he found a way to have as many wins as he did on a still recovering knee...though the missed cut at the British was a real surprise.
Pay attention here you media toads - Tiger Woods has had seasons where he didn't win a major and you acted like it was the end of the world. Those seasons were during major swing overhauls and recovery from surgery. When he got things in order - he went back to his regular schedule of dismantling the PGA Tour - and he hasn't done anything to make those of us who don't have our heads in the sand or up Phil Mickelson's hind quarters this week think any different.
I'm glad for Phil - but he is still Phil. Did you not notice what he did at the 72nd hole in China ? Missed the fairway by 15 yards with a THREE WOOD, then didn't get the ball out of the rough with his second (understandably, he had to be careful in the deep rough not to let his ball snap right into the water), then a nice third and two putts for the win. If Els hadn't fatted his 5 wood, a shot he didn't need to hit to put pressure on Mickelson, who knows what Phil could have done ? We've seen it year in and year out. His problem isn't the putter - it's the mushy stuff between his ears.
If you believe Tiger Woods is washed up, you should turn in your media credentials immediately and check into a clinic. I don't know what will happen in 2010, but you can be sure that Woods will be doing his best to put anybody who said he is done in their place. That's what he has done in the past and there is no reason to believe any different.
"Phil was extremely fortunate to win with Els producing his now dependable 72nd hole collapse.
"
Els hasn't even been in contention so how is it a dependable 72nd hole collapse? He sure hasn't been throwing 63's around, now has he?
Seems like an Els that hasn't been seen for a while rather than something dismissed as dependable.
Appears to me that Els may just re-join the elite and possibly ruin the Tiger-Phil party that the host and the rest of the media is so "desirous" of as my boy Rush would say.
I'm more focused on the other 62 shots that he hit Sunday not the only one that you apparently saw on Golf Central because nobody on the GS blog actually watches events on TV :)