Sunday
Jan272013
Tiger On All Cylinders: "I've driven the ball well, I've hit my irons well, and I've chipped and putted well."
Having watched him a fair amount but much less than some of my peers, Tiger's game looks as complete as it has since, well, you know when. 
He has a six stroke lead with ten holes to play in Monday's Farmers Insurance Open.
Broadcast times are as follows:11 am PT on Golf Channel, 1 pm ET on CBS. And streaming live for the office workers of America.
Sunday, January 27, 2013 at 05:49 PM
Reader Comments (73)
Today we are looking for:
-sycophant
-slurper
-fan boy
-Eldrick
-Cheetah
-Tiggly Wiggly
-Dr. Galea
-enabler
-Steiney
-and L. Vonn
tlavin's opening salvo has teed us up for a rock 'em sock 'em game that's probably gonna be over real fast!
Off we go...
-the midget
-Haney
-apologist
-and neuroplasticity!
Until Tiggly Wiggly wins another major, he is basically "The King of the Shoprite Classic"
Here are the levels of tournaments:
1. The Majors
2. The Players Championship
3. WGC Events
4. Fed Ex Playoff Events
5. Limited invite PGA Tour events (includes the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance)
6. General run-of-the mill PGA Tour events (includes the Farmers Insurance Open, The Arnold Palmer Invitation presented by Mastercard, and the AT&T National)
7. Weak field PGA Tour events - is The Wyndam Championship, The Sony Open etc.
8. Opposite field events - that coincide with a major or WCG.
So, since 2009, Tiggly Wiggly has been winning fifth-tier events. Whoopdie doo. Wake me up when he wins a Major. Or heck, even a Players would be a major upgrade to bagging middle-tier events were most of the top players are taking the week off.
Are you referencing the invitationals there? What other tournaments would be in that category?
I do see that Memorial had 68 world ranking points last year and Bay Hill had 56....but over the years I think the fields have been quite comparable.
His swing now looks more fluid, likely meaning that he is more comfortable with Foley's changes
ADG - This looks better:
1. The Majors
10. Everything else (maybe Tiger's charity event(s) go at the top of this list)
When comparing the Memorial and AP Invitational, the field combined with the golf course do put Arnold's tourny behind the Memorial in my mind.
Should be an interesting year. Rory, gettin a handle on that new equipment yet?
Then, he starts using a chicken stick 2 iron from the tee in majors.
These typical early season flashes aren't worth much if he isn't at the jacket ceremony on Masters Sunday.
The game is more exciting when there are a couple or more great players competing against each other-something that has been missing a bit in the Tiger era.Woods and McIlroy going head to head should be good to watch-plus anyone else who wants to join the party.
I'm looking forward to it.
He was "Back" on his return to the Masters after the scandal, playing very solid and finishing 4th.
He was "Back" when he threatened at the 2010 US Open, a glorious shot to 18 in the 3rd round, finishing 4th.
He was "Back" when he almost won the 2010 Chevron World challenge, being edged in a playoff by McDowell.
He was "Back" playing well at the 2011 Masters, finishing 4th.
He was "Back" after his 2011 Aussie tour - 3rd at the Aus Open, and putting well at the Pres cup (despite a losing record)
He was "Back" after his last round charge at the Honda last year.
He was "Back" when he won the Arnold Palmer event.
He was "Back" when he won the Memorial.
He was "Back" when he won his charity event the ATT National.
Now he is "Back" again after winning the Farmers Insurance Open.
No, he is not "Back" He is not "Back" until he wins a MAJOR.
Here is the way I see it (Mind you I'm not a Tiger fan. I do respect his on course accomplishments) when if/he does win a major those that do not like him will say he won't be back until he wins 2 majors in a season. If he does that then there will be those that say he won't be back until he wins 3 majors in a season. If he does that there will be those that say he isn't back until he wins 4 majors in a row. Then if he would do that again the people that don't like him will still create some other impossible standard to hold him to so they can say he still isn't back.
Professional golf is at its best when it's biggest names are playing well and winning events. Majors or not.
This is better for fans, and the tour. I might have done it even later, to let kids come after school
...short version -- ADG's categories are pretty close.
UP front, all the data is from the OWGR website with which I know a bunch of you take issue, but it's the only comprehensive source I am aware of. The numbers cited here are the amount awarded to the winner, 2nd place gets about 60% of that, and they decrease fast from there. Now for a few facts:
- in 2012 there were 251 tournaments worldwide that awarded world ranking points.
- at the bottom are things like the Canadian Tour Championship with 6pts, Sun City Challenge offers 4pts.
- at the top are the 4 majors with 100pts.
- in the middle are things like web.com Tour Championship with 20pts, Emirates Australian Open offers 32.
- 4 distinct bands naturally emerge at the top.
- 22 events worldwide offer 55 or more OWGR points to the winner.
- 16 of the 22 occur in the US.
- BMW sponsors a lot of golf tournaments!
Categories:
100PTS -- Masters, US Open, Open Championship, PGA Championship.
80->70PTS -- Players 80, Doral 78, Firestone 76, Matchplay 76, Boston 74, Bethpage 74, Chicago/Crooked Stick 70.
69->60PTS -- Memorial 68, WGC/China 64, BMW PGA Champ. 64, Tour Champ. 62, Riviera 62.
59->55PTS -- Quail Hollow 58, Innisbrook 58, Dubai Champ. 58, Abu Dhabi 58, Bay Hill 56, BMW Masters 56
After that it drops off fast. A bunch of events clustered around 50 points (New Orleans, Colonial, Hilton Head etc...). Qatar and Torrey Pines were both at 48. Sea Island offered 26 and Disney 24.
Anomalies to me include:
- Masters must be getting a ton of *pomp and circumstance* points vs. Players.
- Dubai, Tour Championship and Abu Dhabi all look too high to me based on limited field size.
- the biggest upside surprises were Riviera and Innisbrook!
One thing I wonder about is if nothing changed at Bay Hill in 2012, except Rory entered, how many points would that event have offered? Gonna be interesting to see if Rory enters this year given Arnie's comments!
Where is this 17 number coming from relative to those that want to Monday qualify? Seems odd to me that 17 of the 87 who made the cut would be in that position.
If he wins a single Major, I will personally declare that he is back. Bottom line.
However, that does not mean he is back forever. I would give him about a two-year grace window. If he is majorless for two years after winning a major, then the comeback is officially over IMO and we will have to see if there is a Tiger v 3.0 with time waning. And, I don't care if he is winning non-majors. That is not what he is about.
I think one major ever two years is the minimum standard considering who we are talking about and the number/legacy that he has emphatically stated that he is trying to chase.
evidence of the level of play (rookies breaking scoring records at Sony), these guys are peaking for each event because of the moved up reshuffle after the west coast swing, if anything, rory/tiger are more rusty than new cardholders during this stretch to the reset, determining eligibility later in the year...