In the first edition of Thrash Talk, I talked about guys who I thought had great chances at winning their first ever major championship in 2005. This week, I’m going to spice things up a little by talking about Tiger Woods’ “Sunday Roar” – or lack thereof – at Augusta.
In my majors prediction article, I picked Chris DiMarco to win The Masters because he is such a great competitor and has played well at Augusta in the past. As we know, he came up one stroke short of winning a green jacket. The man that beat him with a birdie on the first playoff hole was none other than Tiger Woods, who claimed his fourth green jacket that very day. But this wasn’t the same Tiger that fans have become accustomed to seeing in final rounds of major championships when holding the 54-hole lead.
Does anyone remember who placed second to Mr. Woods in the 2000 U.S. Open or 2000 British Open? Ok, it wasn’t too long ago, but I will tell you anyway. Miguel Angel Jimenez and Ernie Els tied for second place at Pebble Beach, only 15 shots back! It was the same story at the 2000 Open Championship at St. Andrews, with Woods winning by eight strokes over Thomas Bjorn and Ernie Els. These were major championship golf tournaments, and they were blowouts. They were indeed very memorable as far as the record books go, but as a fan, I found myself flipping through other channels trying to find something more competitive to watch. I love to watch golf as much as anyone I would like to think, but a 15 shot lead at Pebble Beach during a U.S. Open just doesn’t seem right.
I know Tiger has had a few close calls in major championships over the years. Sergio Garcia gave him a run for his money in the 1999 PGA Championship, and he was once again tested in the 2000 PGA Championship by Bob May. But Tiger was in control of both of those tournaments the whole time, and we all knew he would pull those out somehow. He just looked so agressive in those wins, and the same can be said about his Masters victories in 1997, 2001, and 2002. He always seemed to be the aggressor, in control of everything. And he always outplayed his closest competitor when it counted most: the final round.
With that being said, The Masters last weekend had a completely different feel to it. Tiger made a huge third-round charge to take a three-shot lead into the final round. Chris DiMarco faltered badly in the third round, shooting a 41 on the back nine. Everyone around me that watches golf put the green jacket on Tiger before the final round even began, and I’m sure a lot of people across the world did the same as well. To most people, it seemed like DiMarco was just playing for second place and a nice payday. Tiger had never lost a major championship while leading going into the final round, so it was just shaping up to be another Sunday similar to the 2000 U.S. Open and 2000 British Open. Right? Chris DiMarco didn’t see it that way, and he almost made history.
The two men were paired together for the final round at Augusta, and the end result was what most people expected. How it came about was much different than people expected. Chris DiMarco did what no other golfer has done to Tiger Woods in a final day of a major. He stuck it to the number-one golfer in the world! Tiger played well – don’t get me wrong – but he shot a final-round 71 compared to the 68 DiMarco pulled off. If it weren’t for Tiger’s miraculous chip on 16, DiMarco would have likely been slipping the green jacket on instead. Even after the amazing chip-in, Tiger limped home to a bogey-bogey finish.
That just isn’t the Tiger everyone has watched in major championships. Sure, Chris DiMarco played an amazing final round, but Tiger looked like he was playing not to lose instead of playing to win. He was on his heels the entire back nine and it almost cost him.
The aura of Tiger Woods has existed since his record-setting performance at Augusta in 1997, a record-setting performance in Tiger’s very first major victory. Golfers have always been intimidated when playing in the same group as him, especially on Sundays. I don’t know if it was the long drives or the shiny red shirts, but the fear was palpable, nearly visible.
Tiger’s “Sunday Roar” seemed to be missing last weekend and Woods looked to be emotionally relieved once he sank his birdie putt to end the playoff. He did give his patented Tiger fist pump, but it was soon replaced by tears. He always seems to show emotion after a victory, but the look on his face after edging out DiMarco was a different one than we’ve seen in the past. It was one of “survival” instead of “dominance.”
Final Thoughts
Has Tiger’s Sunday Roar turned into a meow since his run of domination between 1997-2002? In my opinion, Tiger has backed up a step as far as his dominance in final rounds goes. But come on, he is still the number-one golfer in the world. And if I was a betting man, he would still be my go-to-guy in the big tournaments. Also, it’s still too early to tell. The Masters was the first major tournament in which he has really contended since late 2002. It will be interesting to see how he plays the remaining three majors this year.
The spotlight will definitely be on him once again if he is in the lead or near the lead going into Sunday. The next time, people will be wondering if Tiger can get his roar back or if he will once again struggle to close the door on his competitors. As far as I’m concerned, if the tournaments are as close and exciting as The Masters was last weekend, I don’t care if Tiger has the “Sunday Roar” or not. I will trade a blowout major championship win for an exciting 18-hole finish any day of the week.
What do you think? Please Contact Cody, comment below, or post in our forum.
Photo Credit: © Andrew Redington/Getty Images.
His Sunday Roar was more of a meow simply because he has been trying to find his swing and he happened to do well on the 3rd round, but just like anyone going through swing changes, your going to falter at times. Especially if you don’t have A TON of confidence in your swing.
Right now, he sets up to a drive and he honestly probably doesn’t know if its going straight or not.
Give this new swing of his another 6 months and I can promise you we will start to see a Tiger of the old.
That putt he made on the playoff hole and his emotion was a sign of relief because your right, he won the tournament but was glad he just edged out Chris. However, he had been fighting his swing all week, he was fighting iron shots.
The only reason Tiger Woods won the 2005 Masters was his short game.
I think the fact that he was able to win the 2005 masters with his C+ / B- game is pretty impressive. We all know he wasn’t playing well, certaintly not to an “A” level.
I think he will play well in the US OPEN at Pinehurst and we will start to see more of the results coming from his swing changes. He was riding a wave in 2000 – 2001 and part of 2002. He had alot of momentum going for him. Now, he has 3 wins (i think) in 2005 along with a Major, so he is the guy to beat going into the US Open, he knows it and everyone else knows it. The confidence is growing and I think we will see some more good things out of Tiger the rest of the year.
I agree. Tiger is still a year or two away from his goal of cementing the swing changes. He’s aiming to be like Moe Norman or Ben Hogan-and if he even gets near that level, combined with his superb short game and great distance, will be nearly unbeatable. 20 majors? Plausible. So, good article, but you should be patient. Things will only get better.
As far as this final round-he’d had a big birdy charge, and probably lost some focus & energy due to the emotional rollercoaster of the first-third rounds. He also stated he had no consistency on the practice range before the last round started-so was probably playing as conservatively as possible, and very happy to win-for his father, most of all.
Steve Williams his caddie was pretty excited after the third round-stating to a reporter that this is what the new swing is like…but I feel it’s only the start. He’s still not quite on plane, and needs to tighten up at the top, improve his weight transfer, and practice practice practice.