On Tiger's quiet fade into oblivion

[ateamstupid]

http://runningpoint.wordpress.com/20...he-real-story/

At least Mickelson was close; Tiger’s major demons the real story at Merion

Joe Bianca

Though his legacy will always be dwarfed in comparison, Phil Mickelson still has one thing Tiger Woods never did. Mickelson’s everyman personality, his go-for-broke game and most significantly, his fatal flaws have always made him the most popular guy on any golf course he walks. Woods, while always attracting a large following in awe of his greatness, ironically has never had the same connection with his sport’s devotees because of that greatness. Tiger was a prodigy, a dominant force at Stanford, the youngest ever Masters winner in 1997, a cold-blooded assassin on the course throughout the first decade of his career. He won everything in sight, often by historic margins, rewriting golf history with automaton-like ease.

On the other hand, there’s Mickelson, who has often been described as playing golf like viewers at home would, taking aggressive lines, shaking off a lot of bad shots to occasionally hit some great ones. He’s won four majors, including three Masters, but there’s only one tournament fans are aching to see him win. The U.S. Open has always been Phil’s White Whale, the temptress he’s come almost comically close to conquering but could never close out. Sunday at Merion was just the latest act in this tragedy, as Mickelson missed putt after putt to squander a 54-hole lead, finishing 2nd for a record sixth time at our national championship. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Mickelson comes up short again. It’s a compelling story that’s essential to his appeal. It’s also the main reason that no one’s talking today about how bad the once invincible Woods continues to be in majors.

There was a period not too long ago when Tiger was an odds-on favorite at every major. Time and time again, he’d take the lead and never relinquish it, running away from the field on Sunday. The question of him breaking Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 majors wasn’t one of if, but when. He won the 2000 U.S. Open by 15 strokes to start a run of four straight major wins. The most recent of his 14 major tallies was his greatest feat, when he won an 18-hole playoff in the 2008 U.S. Open on one leg.

Unfortunately for Woods, that triumphant Monday at Torrey Pines has since become the delineation point for his career. Reconstructive knee surgery forced him out of 2008′s last two majors and he came up empty at 2009′s first three. Woods seemed poised to break his drought at the 2009 PGA Championship, but for the first time in his career surrendered a 54-hole lead at a major and lost by 3 strokes to Y.E. Yang. Several months later came the explosive and humiliating infidelity scandal, which did permanent damage to Woods’ public image and personal life.

It’s now been five full years since Tiger’s won a major — a stretch that would’ve been unimaginable before the tumultuous events of 2008-09 — and he’s getting further away from, not closer to winning one. Woods finished in the top 10 in five of his first six majors post-surgery. Since then, he’s only done it three times in 10 tries. The debate has changed from “When will Tiger break Jack’s record?” to “Will Tiger break Jack’s record?” to, at this point, “Will Tiger even win another major?” and rightfully so. Woods hasn’t been a serious threat at a Big Four event since he blew that 2009 PGA. He either starts off slowly and can’t rally, or plays well early but melts down on the weekend.

The most perplexing thing for Woods must be that, outside of majors, he’s once again the pound-for-pound best golfer in the world. After not winning a PGA Tour event in 2010 or 2011, he won three times on Tour last year and has won four times already this year. Only one other player (Matt Kuchar) has multiple tournament wins in 2013. Woods has a stronghold on the #1 world ranking. In the year’s two majors so far though, he’s been a mess.

Woods was playing well and moving up the leaderboard in the 2nd round at Augusta, when he got unlucky and had his pitch bounce off the flagstick and into the water on 15. He then took an illegal drop that originally went unnoticed, signed his scorecard incorrectly and eventually was penalized two strokes when a viewer called in to report his infraction. Woods never recovered and finished four shots off the lead. At Merion, Tiger was a respectable +3 on the feisty course through two rounds, then proceeded to shoot +10 over the weekend and finish 12 shots back.

The guy who towered above his competitors for a decade mentally even more than physically is shriveling on golf’s biggest stages. NBC’s Johnny Miller noted on Sunday that, for whatever reason, Tiger isn’t putting at majors the way he does elsewhere on Tour. The conclusion that his issues are between the ears is unavoidable at this point, and the longer he goes without a major, the more his confidence seems to wane. Equally alarming is the list of young major winners since 2008 who didn’t truly experience the 37-year-old Woods’ era of omnipresence. Rising stars like Webb Simpson (27), Rory McIlroy (24), Keegan Bradley (27) and Charl Schwartzel (28) can’t possibly be intimidated by Tiger the way all of his contemporaries once were.

Considering how little Woods resembles the machine he was for so long and how deeply flawed he now appears, perhaps the golf world will pull hard for him as a tragic figure like it does for Mickelson. But first Tiger, he of the 76 career Tour wins, will actually have to be involved on Sunday in a major. How daunting that sounds says everything about how far Woods has fallen.

[declansharbor]

My brother Danny and my friend Georgie would keel over if they read this truth about the Almighty Tiggs.

The game has caught up to him, for a plethora of reasons.

[Rupert Pupkin]

That is ridiculous. Tiger is ranked #1 in the world right now. How can you knock the #1 player in the world? I personally liked his old swing better but I can't possibly knock his results this year. So far this year he's won 4 times and has earnings of $6 million and we're only in June. That is an incredible year. I can't think of any player in the last decade that had 4 wins by mid-June.

You're going to knock the guy because he didn't win the Masters or US Open this year? You can't judge a guy based on 2 tournaments. And by the way, if it wasn't for the one in a million fluke of his ball hitting the pin and going into the water, he would have probably won the Masters. I never root for Tiger because I like to root for underdogs. In addition, I think Tiger is kind of a jerk. But I certainly can't knock the year he's having. He's been dominant this year. He's got 4 wins from 9 starts. The most wins that any other player has is Matt Kuchar, who has 2 wins.

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

That is ridiculous. Tiger is ranked #1 in the world right now. How can you knock the #1 player in the world? I personally liked his old swing better but I can't possibly knock his results this year. So far this year he's won 4 times and has earnings of $6 million and we're only in June. That is an incredible year. I can't think of any player in the last decade that had 4 wins by mid-June.

You're going to knock the guy because he didn't win the Masters or US Open this year? You can't judge a guy based on 2 tournaments. And by the way, if it wasn't for the one in a million fluke of his ball hitting the pin and going into the water, he would have probably won the Masters. I never root for Tiger because I like to root for underdogs. In addition, I think Tiger is kind of a jerk. But I certainly can't knock the year he's having. He's been dominant this year. He's got 4 wins from 9 starts. The most wins that any other player has is Matt Kuchar, who has 2 wins.

Did you read a single word of the article? It's about his mental struggles in majors for the last five years (not two majors) contradicting with how automatic he used to be and how well he's playing at other events, and I discussed literally everything you said. Next time read what I wrote if your criticism is just going to entail a bunch of points I already made.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

Did you read a single word of the article? It's about his mental struggles in majors for the last five years (not two majors) contradicting with how automatic he used to be and how well he's playing at other events, and I discussed literally everything you said. Next time read what I wrote if your criticism is just going to entail a bunch of points I already made.

I apologize. I didn't realize you wrote the article. I thought you had just posted the article. I admit I had only skimmed over the article.

I was more responding to the headline that he was "fading into oblivion". He's hardly fading into oblivion. He was in a bad slump, partly due to injuries and partly due to making some swing changes. Now he's made an incredible comeback and risen all the way back to #1 in the world. I agree with you that he played very poorly for a few years but he is playing great now. As I said before, I don't like his new swing nearly as much as his old swing. However, he is still the player to beat at every major. He is still the favorite at all the betting parlors and rightfully so. Will he ever dominate in the majors to the same extent that he once did? I don't know about that but I think he will win many more majors. If he wins 5-6 majors over the next 5 years, would that be considered a failure since it's not quite the dominance that he once showed?

Anyway, your article was well written and I agree with much of what you said. But I strongly disagree with your assessment that Tiger is "fading into oblivion". He's just recently come out of his slump and I think it's only a matter of time before he starts winning majors again. I don't know whether he will win majors at quite the same pace as he used to but I think we will see him winning plenty more majors over the next few years.

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

I apologize. I didn't realize you wrote the article. I thought you had just posted the article. I admit I had only skimmed over the article.

I was more responding to the headline that he was "fading into oblivion". He's hardly fading into oblivion. He was in a bad slump, partly due to injuries and partly due to making some swing changes. Now he's made an incredible comeback and risen all the way back to #1 in the world. I agree with you that he played very poorly for a few years but he is playing great now. As I said before, I don't like his new swing nearly as much as his old swing. However, he is still the player to beat at every major. He is still the favorite at all the betting parlors and rightfully so. Will he ever dominate in the majors to the same extent that he once did? I don't know about that but I think he will win many more majors. If he wins 5-6 majors over the next 5 years, would that be considered a failure since it's not quite the dominance that he once showed?

Anyway, your article was well written and I agree with much of what you said. But I strongly disagree with your assessment that Tiger is "fading into oblivion". He's just recently come out of his slump and I think it's only a matter of time before he starts winning majors again. I don't know whether he will win majors at quite the same pace as he used to but I think we will see him winning plenty more majors over the next few years.

Fair enough. The thread title is debatable and actually isn't the headline I used on the blog.

Obviously he still can be a force on Tour, but he's been pretty much a non-factor in every major since 2009, so I have to see him do it. It's a mental thing IMO, I don't think that's as easy to correct as something physical.

[hoovesupsideyourhead]

hes blaming elbow...in caddy shack fashion.o my arm

[Patrick333]

I'm not a fan of his but I certainly don't think that he's done winning majors.

[GPK]

78 wins, not 76. And if you take away Sneads 5 wins in four-ball events, Tiger is actually #1 in PGA wins.

Phil is a phony. Always has been. Always will be. What the great majority of his peers think of him speak volumns about him. His "likability" is media driven. No two ways about it.

Oh great Phil flew home the week of the open for his daughters 8th grade graduation. Admirable? Yes...but the media acts like he flying coach, sitting middle seat on southwest airlines. They need to GTFOH with that sh*t. He's flying on his private jet in the lap of luxury.

[3kings]

What comes first with Tiger, the really bad swing or the injury grimace?
He always said second place is the first loser, this year after the PGA he said he was happy because he was in contention in two majors. He went from the biggest intimidator to the biggest excuse maker on tour.

[Seattleallstar]

I stopped watching the Barclay's after Tiger went to -9 under after seeing him collapse after his back spasm. I thought Scott had it in the bag, surprising to find out Tiger had a chance to force a playoff.

[herkhorse]

come on Tom. It's OK to be a hater and all that, but do you really think he's faking injuries? He came within one roll of forcing a playoff against one of the hottest golfers in the game right now. and at least he uses a real putter.

[3kings]

Originally Posted by herkhorse

come on Tom. It's OK to be a hater and all that, but do you really think he's faking injuries? He came within one roll of forcing a playoff against one of the hottest golfers in the game right now. and at least he uses a real putter.

I do not think he is faking an injury in this circumstance. In the past couple of years I have had my suspicions. I was more interested in pointing out his change in mindset, as if he is trying to convince himself.

That and I was partially trolling GPK.

[herkhorse]

Originally Posted by 3kings

That and I was partially trolling GPK.

, that's hard to do these days

[GPK]

Originally Posted by 3kings

I do not think he is faking an injury in this circumstance. In the past couple of years I have had my suspicions. I was more interested in pointing out his change in mindset, as if he is trying to convince himself.

That and I was partially trolling GPK.

Originally Posted by herkhorse

, that's hard to do these days

You two old farts relax.