Tiger is never coming back

[Rick Martin]

gotta win a major to be back  - last year he looked awesome at the Arnold Palmer tourney, then didn't fare well at Augusta.....still has control issues off the tee, doesn't he? Augusta is another ball game compared to Arnies' tournament.

[bplewis24]

People keep saying he looked good last year...it was a different Tiger Woods last year.  That much is evident.

[Beachcomber]

The scary thing is this... Tiger still hasn't had four rounds where he put everything together in 2013.

He's said in post round interviews (as recent as Monday after his win at Bay Hill), that the best he has played in terms of ball striking and putting was at Torrey Pines.  But he shot a 39 on the back 9 at Torrey in the final round.

http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/players/Tiger+Woods/147/scorecard/2013/6

Just think how freaking good he'll be when he actually plays his best for four rounds.

[Valleygolfer]

Originally Posted by plum

hes not back till he wins a major and i say that cause i bet thats what he bases it on

I would say this would be the only argument to make against whether he is back or not. If he felt that way. I think he is back, maybe not to the early 2000 era yet but enough that players are starting to get nervous when he is close to the top.

[mailman]

Originally Posted by muggs

Mailman, Tiger winning at Bayhill means he's back? Me thinks not. He always plays well there, and yes, for him to be considered as 'being back' he has to win a Major. He's Tiger, that's the standard with him.

I think he's got a great shot at winning one this year, and I think that one is more than likely going to be The Masters. He looks like himself on the greens again. That said, driving accuracy might just keep him out of the green jacket.

Thats not the point I was trying to make. My point was pretty much that every tournament he plays in contains the best golfers in the world and are in themselves majors in all but name.

Looking at the 2013 Tiger compared to the 2012 Tiger I think there is light years between the two. Last year he sprinkled brilliance with lots of rubbish and you never had that feeling that he was going to nail anything other than the pretty blond in the back row.

This year its different, he looks like the golfer of old and has more brilliance and a lot les rubbish in there and you have confidence that he has once again got what it takes to win.

Regards

Mailman

[tomvk77]

I think the best part is he has confidence again. Just look at the movies available on last years Arnold Palmer and this year.

You can just see that he swings the club with more control and totally know off what is going to happen.

And when he's on the green he is sinking them again. I see him winning the green jacket.

and i think one more also ( us open )

I think he's back at the level he was at 5-6 years ago, but don't think he can be that dominant in play,

because the whole field is playing on a higher level. on thing is for sure i will be in front off the telly watching as much masters golf as i can.

[inthehole]

Saw a great interview with TW recently ... when asked how his current (winning) game compares to his best golf of years past ... he said his body has changed dramatically - he has nowhere near the flexibility he used to have, so he had to become more fit and stronger.     He's put TONS of time into building up his body to compensate for his lack of flexibility and also his knee issue - that is the reason he went through all the swing changes - it was necessary to take the pressure off of his weakened knee so that he could play the game longer.     The golf public didn't know exactly what he was up to or why he did what he did, but he had a plan from the start of all this, which he knew would take time, and is only recently starting to come to fruition.     One thing we all can agree on - the guy has a sick work ethic ...

[Rick Martin]

Leading the "fifth major" Players' Championship? ----maybe his 4th win this season and it's only May? He's nearly back.

[Rick Martin]

Originally Posted by zeg

This is silly. Tiger could become the second or third most dominant golfer in history for three years, starting tomorrow, and you'd still technically be correct in saying that he wasn't "back" since he had previously been the most or second most dominant. The guy is getting older and has had some major surgeries to recover from, so I don't think it's particularly insightful to predict that he won't ever be back at his 2000-era performance. But this is like trying to predict the weather for next March---there are hundreds of weathermen, and none of them are any better at it than asking a random guy on the street.

Well stated. He'll never be back to his Tiger-slam level, but many said he'd never be the top golfer in the world again.

Looking forward to Merion.

[Mulligan Jeff]

Watch out for the Grand Slam within the next five years - the best of Tiger is yet to come!

[Mr. Desmond]

Don't think he will beat the field by 8 strokes any longer ... but 4 wins of 7 events entered says this thread needs to go to bed.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

Don't think he will beat the field by 8 strokes any longer ... but 4 wins of 7 events entered says this thread needs to go to bed.

Amen!  If he ever does put 4 rounds together, he could win by 10.  He wins with what for him is just average golf.

[123Putt]

I was interested to hear he has won on his 100th, 200th and now 300th starts in the PGA tour. 400th the 19th major? ;-)

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by 123Putt

I was interested to hear he has won on his 100th, 200th and now 300th starts in the PGA tour. 400th the 19th major? ;-)

Yeah, I thought that was a ridiculous coincidence.  Pretty remarkable.  But I guess given Tiger's win percentage, he has like a 1 in 4 chance of his 400th start being a win, right?

Well, probably not when he's the age that accompanies a 400th start.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

Well, probably not when he's the age that accompanies a 400th start.

42 or so? Okay, maybe 1 in 5. :) Except for the fact that he apparently tries harder in those, so now it's up to 1 in 2. :)