No Containing Tiger - Good Read

Yeah, I read that this afternoon. Van Sickle tends to be an uber-fan when it comes to Tiger (ala Dickie V and Duke), but he's got stats and mostly realistic extrapolations going in this article.

I don't know about 11 in a row though. I think that one's gonna stick around forever.

Good article with some interesting stats. Too bad Tiger comes up with lame excuses not to play some of the courses (too short, bumpy greens). I couldn't tell but does this guy like Tiger?

Hardly a lame excuse. Good putting is all about confidence. Tiger said he won't play Pebble in the spring becasue it takes him weeks afterward to get his confidence back with the putter.

I have had the experience of playing a course with slow, bumpy greens and it takes some time to recover from it. It sure messes with your head when you have to hit putts that could go any direction at any time, and then go back to good greens.

I don't know how to link so here's the text of an ed. on PGATOUR.com


Tiger Woods' Keys To Victory At The Buick Open
Monday, August 7th 2006

By Mike Vitti

Tiger Woods' win at the Buick Open was a model of efficiency. Look at this line:

Round 1: Score - 66: 10 pars, 7 birdies, 1 bogey
Round 2: Score - 66: 10 pars, 7 birdies, 1 bogey
Round 3: Score - 66: 10 pars, 7 birdies, 1 bogey
Round 4: Score - 66: 10 pars, 7 birdies, 1 bogey

Even an "Iron Byron" would struggle being this consistent, and it isn't under the pressure of winning an event. Looking into Woods' ShotLink statistics at Warwick Hills it is obvious that he is tuned in with his irons and his putter is definitely cooperating.

Off the tee, Woods led the field in driving distance and hit at least nine of the 14 fairways in each round.

At 290.8 yards, Woods was 17th in average driving distance for all drives and in the final round his average was 293.3 yards -- the longest per round average for the week.

Woods hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation in the final round and had two different stretches where he hit 15 and 18 consecutive greens in regulation. For the week, Woods tied for eighth in GIR hitting 81.9 percent of the greens in regulation.

Woods ranked third in proximity to the hole averaging 23 feet, 1 inch, but in the final two rounds he averaged inside of 20 feet.

For the week, Woods averaged 18 feet, 1 inch on his approaches from the fairway; 10 feet, 7 inches on his approaches from 100-125 yards; and 19 feet, 10 inches on his approaches from 175-200 yards.

Tying for eighth in putting average, Woods one-putted 43.1 percent of the greens and converted 47.5 percent of his birdie opportunities.

In many of his victories, Woods uses his dominance on the par 5s to separate himself from the field, but this past week he was dominant everywhere, finishing sixth or better in birdie percentage on par 3s, par 4s and par 5s.