Can we all finally agree that Tiger is done?

[MSchott]

Originally Posted by Incognito

At the Barclays...

Rory and Zach are firing at pins...Tiger's going to the middle safe location.

He's just playing too conservative all the time.  Go get em!

Yet he's a stroke ahead of them at this point.

[jamo]

Yet he's a stroke ahead of them at this point.

I was about to post that. :beer:

[Henny Bogan]

Originally Posted by muggs

I don't want to hear how Stricker and Westwood were down and out and made remarkable come backs...they did not have anything close to the personal issues as Woods does, and their fall from grace was nothing by comparision. I think now is a good time to get off of his jock and start to give our attention to all the great young talent the PGA is experiencing today. It's the best young crop of golfers I've seen in my 31 years...

I agree that it's time to spend more time watching, and talking about, the young talent on tour and what the future holds for them.  I happen to agree with Sean Foley that the tearing down of Tiger Woods has gotten out of hand.

[Beachcomber]

I agree.  Tiger is done.  Until tomorrow when he tee's off at 1:06PM Eastern.  Then he will be back.

[HmtGolfGuy]

Originally Posted by RichF

However, looking at things positively:

1 - This is the first full, healthy season of play he has had since November 2009

2 - It has taken him about two full seasons for his previous major swing overhauls to gel, such that he could simply play and not have to think about the changes

3 - The flaws in his current game have always been the last aspects of his game to finally come under control as a result of the changes

A lot have advocated Tiger returning to Butch Harmon to work out a swing that both protects his health and seeks to bring back his power and his exquisite shot making ability. Because that is what is missing with Foley's swing: he is no longer a shot maker in my opinion and that's what's stopping him from hitting #15.

Precisely.  The full 2 years won't come until sometime next year.  He's done most of the preliminary shaping of the "blade" that is his swing, this winter he'll work on honing things to a sharp edge.  At the moment, he still "thinks" too much about how to hit a lot of shots, and that is exposed most in the pressure cooker that is inherent in weekend rounds at majors.  It's also why he plays as conservatively as he does, his margin for error is still considerably larger than it used to be (and probably will be in 6-12 months).

The shot making was also one of the last things to come around during the prior swing changes, so I believe we'll see that aspect a lot more next year.  The ability to shoot at (or at least nearer) the pins and knowing he can play the finesse shots needed on approaches and around the green will take a lot of pressure of his putting (as well as lead to shorter putts).

A couple thoughts about his conservative play - he's actually played this way a lot in the past, but the intimidation factor he had going for him made other players do stupid things to beat themselves, so he didn't need to be more aggressive.  Also, for a number of years there were only a handful of players with the ability and mentality to stay aggressive 4 straight days and out-score him.  Now, ALL the players embrace the "go for it" attitude, figuring "who knows, maybe this is my week to put together 4 really low rounds (and if not, oh well, let's try again next week).  He's probably going to need to adjust his game plan to counter this change.  Of course, if he cuts .5-1.0 strokes per round by fine-tuning his distance control and short game, all the talk about him being too conservative will be nothing more than a distant memory.

Going back to the original question, to say he's "done" because he didn't win a major this year is really jumping the gun.  If he doesn't win one by the time the 2014 U.S. Open has come and gone, then yes, he may be "done" with regard to his standards (and our expectations).  On the other hand, by Father's Day 2014 the people who've climbed on the "Tiger's done" bandwagon may look awfully foolish.

[Spyder]

He's definitely not "done".

His first shot from the tee that bounced off the damn courtesy tent and lemonade stand was funny as hell though. Spectators jumped all over that and started the "Nice Shot Tiger! Yeah Playa!" heckling. I'm a big Tiger fan but I definitely could not stop laughing at that... it made me feel better about what I did earlier in the day at least!

[Jimdangles]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber

I agree.  Tiger is done.  Until tomorrow when he tee's off at 1:06PM Eastern.  Then he will be back.

He didnt show up :( that front 9 was EVERYWHERE. Back 9 was just bad.

[Valleygolfer]

Lol... Love these old threads

[Beachcomber]

Originally Posted by Valleygolfer

Lol... Love these old threads

Poor Muggs.  Maybe we should let him start a thread about how this is the best comeback he has seen in his 32yrs?

[Rick Martin]

Not Really...........

[Chas]

Sure, Tiger was done ....... until he wasn't done any more.

[jamo]

[URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/71810/] [/URL] [COLOR=FF0000][SIZE=24px]Not Really...........[/SIZE][/COLOR]

If the endorsements are flooding in like ESPN's Darren Rovell seems to believe they are, then sorry, winning really does take care of everything. People generally have short memories with regards to who we enjoy watching smack a rubber ball around a field.

[Rick Martin]

Originally Posted by jamo

If the endorsements are flooding in like ESPN's Darren Rovell seems to believe they are, then sorry, winning really does take care of everything. People generally have short memories with regards to who we enjoy watching smack a rubber ball around a field.

Well said. I don't know exactly why I posted the above pictures, only probably to bring back memories of the low point in TW's era.  The guy was dirt in many people's eyes - but winning a few tournaments has erased all of that.  I tried to forget it (Tiger's worldwide live news conference asking for forgiveness, that psych rehab for sex addiction) - but NIKE has to run an ad that I think brings some of that to the surface again.    I don't think it was necessary.

[muggs]

I like how winning at Bay Hill means something to these Tiger lemmings. Let's see what happens at Augusta.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by jamo

If the endorsements are flooding in like ESPN's Darren Rovell seems to believe they are, then sorry, winning really does take care of everything. People generally have short memories with regards to who we enjoy watching smack a rubber ball around a field.

It's not rubber, it's RESIN!

Originally Posted by muggs

I like how winning at Bay Hill means something to these Tiger lemmings. Let's see what happens at Augusta.

Tiger won six times in 53 weeks. The answer to your question and the title of this thread is a resounding NO.

If you'd like to wager that Tiger won't win a major again, I'm sure you'll find plenty of people willing to give you REALLY good odds on that bet.

[Valleygolfer]

Originally Posted by muggs

I like how winning at Bay Hill means something to these Tiger lemmings. Let's see what happens at Augusta.

Maybe you should really explain to us "lemmings" why you hate Tiger.

[Deryck Griffith]

Originally Posted by muggs

I like how winning at Bay Hill means something to these Tiger lemmings. Let's see what happens at Augusta.

Simultaneously, you are both short sided and incredibly narrow minded.  People like you who dislike Tiger focus too much on the today (even though he is proving himself with victories) vs. the big picture.

Tiger has 5-6 years left in him (after this year) of good quality golf (look at Phil Mickelson who at 42, is still playing high quality golf while being Tiger's Sr by 5 years).

It's not about this up-coming Augusta, it's about the 24+ majors that Tiger has left ahead of him while he is still playing high level golf.  After this year, he will have 6 more good shots at Augusta.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by muggs

I like how winning at Bay Hill means something to these Tiger lemmings. Let's see what happens at Augusta.

I would have had some respect for you had you at least admitted you were wrong when you decided to show your face.  Instead you insult people who apparently had more common sense than you did while at the same time ignoring the entire argument (i.e., assuming everything is based on Bay Hill).

You're pathetic.