How Many Tournaments will Tiger win in 2012?

[k-troop]

Originally Posted by Deryck Griffith

Exactly what?

The guy is struggling and this past Sunday is evidence that he slowing getting his game back.

I love Tiger and I want him back, but I would characterize it differently.  He's not "getting his game back."  His "game"--as in the Foley swing changes that people mostly talk about--is more than good enough to win tournaments right now, and has been since late last year.  His distance control is a little off, some days more than others, but his traj, shape, and contact is excellent.

His putting is awful.  He had a great putting day last Sunday, but that doesn't make a comeback--or even signal progress IMO.  Especially when he follows it with the putting nightmare he had yesterday at Doral.  It was just a good putting day.  I have great putting days from time to time--including Weds when I got around in 25-putts, with a 55-foot birdie bomb and lipping out a 70-foot eagle putt--but that doesn't make me a potential #1 OWGR.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by k-troop

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deryck Griffith

Exactly what?

The guy is struggling and this past Sunday is evidence that he slowing getting his game back.

I love Tiger and I want him back, but I would characterize it differently.  He's not "getting his game back."  His "game"--as in the Foley swing changes that people mostly talk about--is more than good enough to win tournaments right now, and has been since late last year.  His distance control is a little off, some days more than others, but his traj, shape, and contact is excellent.

His putting is awful.  He had a great putting day last Sunday, but that doesn't make a comeback--or even signal progress IMO.  Especially when he follows it with the putting nightmare he had yesterday at Doral.  It was just a good putting day.  I have great putting days from time to time--including Weds when I got around in 25-putts, with a 55-foot birdie bomb and lipping out a 70-foot eagle putt--but that doesn't make me a potential #1 OWGR.

He could eventually begin to remind us oldsters of a 1994 / 1995 era Tom Watson (or even older golf fans of a late 70s early 80s Johnny Miller) who was striking the ball as well as ever - better than in his prime many say, or at least he says so and he should know - but stopped making putts between 3 and 10 feet.

Tiger might need to find his mojo on the greens, but his natural swing is still there just under the surface. Like I said > a year ago, it's the one he uses to recover after a bad shot. Foley does seem to have Tiger firing on all cylinders tee to green, but one of the reasons he's won 71 events is he knew his favourite greens forward and backward (i.e the handful of favourite courses where he racked up the bulk of his wins) and he putted with surpreme confidence there. That confidence carried over to unfamiliar (or rather, less familiar) greens as well. That's not happening right now. Maybe the PGA Tour has done something since 2009 to Tiger proof their courses and it's something their doing with the greens?!?

[newtogolf]

Anyone think Tigers putting problems could be related to not having Stevie by his side any longer?  I know caddies are involved in mapping the greens and assisting in reads, any chance Stevie is better at it than Joe?

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

Anyone think Tigers putting problems could be related to not having Stevie by his side any longer?  I know caddies are involved in mapping the greens and assisting in reads, any chance Stevie is better at it than Joe?

Not likely. If there's one thing Freddie Couples was known for it's making the most of his short birdie opportunities. Oh wait a minute . . .

[k-troop]

Tiger admitted in a press conference (I watched it earlier in the week on Golf Central) that he doesn't like the new greens at Doral.  I guess the greens were changed to Bermuda since his last win there in 2007?  Anyway, I was only halfway watching television, but I recall seeing them.

That doesn't explain his 34 putts last Thursday or his general inconsistency on the greens for the last two years.  His putts/GIR yesterday was over 1.9.  Terrible.  He's apparently playing better today, but I have a job so no time to scrutinize stats right now!

I need one of the mods to ban me from this forum before I get fired.

[jamo]

Tiger might need to find his mojo on the greens, but his natural swing is still there just under the surface. Like I said > a year ago, it's the one he uses to recover after a bad shot. Foley does seem to have Tiger firing on all cylinders tee to green, but one of the reasons he's won 71 events is he knew his favourite greens forward and backward (i.e the handful of favourite courses where he racked up the bulk of his wins) and he putted with surpreme confidence there. That confidence carried over to unfamiliar (or rather, less familiar) greens as well. That's not happening right now. Maybe the PGA Tour has done something since 2009 to Tiger proof their courses and it's something their doing with the greens?!?

A lot of the greens at the courses he's been successful at have been gutted over the course of his career. It's possible that that is finally catching up with him.

[TheShark]

Originally Posted by TitleistWI

Zero.  Tiger is done.

Its like Seve, he's going to go from hero to zero.

[TimG3394]

I voted 3-4. With a major in there

[brocks]

I have raised my estimate. I now think he'll win his next 11 events in a row, including all four majors.

[Deryck Griffith]

Originally Posted by k-troop

His putting is awful.  He had a great putting day last Sunday, but that doesn't make a comeback--or even signal progress IMO.  Especially when he follows it with the putting nightmare he had yesterday at Doral.  It was just a good putting day.  I have great putting days from time to time--including Weds when I got around in 25-putts, with a 55-foot birdie bomb and lipping out a 70-foot eagle putt--but that doesn't make me a potential #1 OWGR.

Yes, his recent putting isn't that great; however, it's actually not that BAD in relative terms.  In Tiger terms, sure, it's not what we are used to but in comparision to his peers, he's still doing better than most.

After this weekend, he is tied 10th in strokes gained putting on the PGA Tour http://www.pgatour.com/r/stats/info/?02564 that's better than 174 people on the list --> before this weekend, I believe he was 40th or something like that.

So, in my opinion, he's been lingering and slowly getting it back and this weekend he finally sealed it.  .786 in strokes gained putting despite the intenese amount of attention we have been giving to this is pretty good if you ask me.

Imagine if we gave the same type of microscopic attention to Bubba's putting?  If we did, we would all think he should hang himself!

[jamo]

He's 14th in driver accuracy. 14th! Five years ago I don't think anyone would have even been able to wrap their heads around that, and that's when he was rattling off majors.

[k-troop]

Originally Posted by Deryck Griffith

Yes, his recent putting isn't that great; however, it's actually not that BAD in relative terms.  In Tiger terms, sure, it's not what we are used to but in comparision to his peers, he's still doing better than most.

After this weekend, he is tied 10th in strokes gained putting on the PGA Tour http://www.pgatour.com/r/stats/info/?02564 that's better than 174 people on the list --> before this weekend, I believe he was 40th or something like that.

So, in my opinion, he's been lingering and slowly getting it back and this weekend he finally sealed it.  .786 in strokes gained putting despite the intenese amount of attention we have been giving to this is pretty good if you ask me.

Imagine if we gave the same type of microscopic attention to Bubba's putting?  If we did, we would all think he should hang himself!

Ha!  My post that you quoted was over 2 weeks old!  Since then, Tiger has injured himself, and come back, twice!!

I think all we can conclude from the first three months of this season, Tiger-wise, is that his swing is solid, and his confidence is back.  He did putt well this week, but his ballstriking won the event.  I'm not ready to give him the Masters yet, but obviously he's a favorite.  Augusta is going to put a much higher premium on putting.

He was #1 this week on putting from 10 feet and in, which I think is the magic number for success at Augusta.  We'll see!

[Deryck Griffith]

Originally Posted by k-troop

Ha!  My post that you quoted was over 2 weeks old!  Since then, Tiger has injured himself, and come back, twice!!

I think all we can conclude from the first three months of this season, Tiger-wise, is that his swing is solid, and his confidence is back.  He did putt well this week, but his ballstriking won the event.  I'm not ready to give him the Masters yet, but obviously he's a favorite.  Augusta is going to put a much higher premium on putting.

He was #1 this week on putting from 10 feet and in, which I think is the magic number for success at Augusta.  We'll see!

He was still top 40 on the PGA tour putting wise 2 weeks ago.

Nevertheless, all good points we have all made.  Augusta is certainly going to be interesting!

[TimG3394]

I wonder what his win just did to the odds in Vegas

[soon_tourpro]

He be dominaTING again.

He will struggle with the swing on and off but one or two off shots wont matter in 4 rounds.

His ironplay under pressure is unmatched.

Be fun watching the masters to see if he scares Rory.

[nevets88]

I don't want to be a debbie downer, but I think you can't say, obviously, but more so for him now as it all depends on how his body holds up. If it does, he looks good to go this year.

I for one would like to see him play well, it is a hell lot more interesting with him in contention although I'd like to see a come from behind win instead of holding serve in the final round. Just don't be surprised if he might miss a tournament or two because of injuries.

May the gods give us a McIlroy Woods mano-a-mano at Augusta.

[onthehunt526]

Probably in the five or six range with a least one major...  simply because this is one thing you guys don't usually talk about with Tiger so I will... He's hitting it better than he ever has... You look at his 2000 swing and yes he won 9 tournaments that year... but he missed it everywhere off the tee... He pretty much has eliminated one side of the golf course off the tee... and has went back to the patented stinger... I don't know if any of you were paying attention on Sunday to how many drivers he hit... the answer to that question is 3... on the 4th, 6th and 12th... He has a lot of reserve power... staisically he may not be as long as he used to be... partly because he's 36... but he may be the best iron player alive...

So majors wise... If he makes all his putts inside ten feet that particular week... he will win...

One note... Olympic for the U.S. Open now has bentgrass greens instead of poa annua that you would be used to... but Tiger putts well on all types of grass

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by onthehunt526

Probably in the five or six range with a least one major...  simply because this is one thing you guys don't usually talk about with Tiger so I will... He's hitting it better than he ever has... You look at his 2000 swing and yes he won 9 tournaments that year... but he missed it everywhere off the tee... He pretty much has eliminated one side of the golf course off the tee... and has went back to the patented stinger... I don't know if any of you were paying attention on Sunday to how many drivers he hit... the answer to that question is 3... on the 4th, 6th and 12th... He has a lot of reserve power... staisically he may not be as long as he used to be... partly because he's 36... but he may be the best iron player alive...

So majors wise... If he makes all his putts inside ten feet that particular week... he will win...

One note... Olympic for the U.S. Open now has bentgrass greens instead of poa annua that you would be used to... but Tiger putts well on all types of grass

Obviously you were not around back then or have a bad bad memory.  His fairways hit percent in 2000 was 71.2% averaging 298.0 yards.  This year he is at 67.94% fairways hit averaging 298.1.  So that is nowhere near "missed it everywhere off the tee."  As well as he is hitting it now, it still does not compare with his 2000 driving.  His *rank* was lower in 2000 but that is because you could still survive on tour back then by pitty pattying it into the fairway, a la guys like Fred Funk and Mike Reid.  Tiger was 1st in total driving in 2000.