Tiger Woods bitten by the Curse of the Bimbino

[TourSpoon]

Originally Posted by zipazoid

Ergo, the conclusion I reach is twofold: Karma ain't that picky, and Tiger isn't winning majors because he simply isn't winning majors. It's not karma, it's golf. Fickle damn game.

Fickle and not as easy as he has made it look.

[Infamous 273]

Stopped reading after "piss poor effort" - a statement like that shows the depth of this clowns perspective on the game (about a mile wide and an inch deep).

[newtogolf]

If Tiger is bitten by the Curse of the Bimbino guys like Westwood and Sergio must have really done some bad stuff.

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by zipazoid

So basically, because Tiger cheated on his wife, karmic forces are extracting their pound of flesh from him in the form of...not winning majors?

Cuz he is winning tournaments. He is #1 in the world again. He's still filthy rich with a trophy girlfriend & two apparently good kids. He jets around from tournament to tournament on his Gulfstream.

But....karma is silent on that but not letting him win majors anymore.

Interesting. I didn't think it was that selective. You would think if "karma" was indeed in control here, he would be beating balls at the back of some range in the middle of nowhere trying to get his tour card back & pleading for sponsor's exemptions while his houses were being foreclosed upon.

Ergo, the conclusion I reach is twofold: Karma ain't that picky, and Tiger isn't winning majors because he simply isn't winning majors. It's not karma, it's golf. Fickle damn game.

Karma be fickle, it is...

Yoda

[colin007]

IMHO, the turning point of Tiger's majors career was the 2009 PGA championship where YE Yang effectively punched Tiger in the mouth, head to head, straight up. Tiger has never recovered from that Sunday. Honestly, I couldn't believe it when I saw it.

[cipher]

Fun read.  I like JW, he is crazy, but entertaining.  The take is silly, and I don't buy into karma in any way. However I have no issues that others here do.  To each their own.  I would say he just lost some of his confidence at some point is all.

[barbm12thtee]

Article was fun reading but didn't take it seriously. I don't think Karma has caught up with him, he never cheated, in golf, so why should Karma go after his golf game? However, the extra-marital affairs, the firing and loss of his best friend Stevie and the book by Hank humbled Tiger and made him a "mere mortal". I often wonder if he worries about people in the gallery cracking jokes about him. Public really didn't have any ammunition before that fateful Thanksgiving Day.

[k-troop]

I still think Tiger's issue in majors is entirely mental.  I think that's well supported by the fact that since 2012 his scoring average is about 3.5 shots higher on Saturday and Sunday than it is on Thursday and Friday.  He's always right there on Saturday morning, but on Sunday he's three groups back and trying to make a move.

Interestingly, he's playing the weekend slightly better at Augusta.  Anyone who has played competitive golf under pressure can appreciate how much easier it is to confidently hit a shot you've hit a dozen times before on a course you've played a hundred times.  The pressure doesn't get to him as much there.

I get it that Majors are harder on the weekend:  the course is a little firmer and the pins are tucked.  But still, this is Tiger Woods we're talking about, and Major Champions are the ones who find a way to play well on the weekend when the conditions are tough and pressure is mounting.  Tiger knows this, because he's done it 14 times (well, maybe he's done it 10 times because in at least 4 events he basically won on Friday).

Tiger averaged 70 for Thursday/Friday at Muirfield, and he averaged 73 over the weekend.  That's consistent with his performance in all of the majors (not at Augusta) since he started winning again.  Major winners don't fade on the weekend; or, as was the case with Phil last week, shoots the low round of the tournament on Sunday.  Tiger's Thursday/Friday scores show that he still has the game to win majors.  Once Tiger can start playing his weekends at least as well as his first 2 rounds he'll start winning again.  It's that simple.

[ghalfaire]

Interesting article.  I'm not really a believer in Kama unless it is something you do to yourself (between the ears).  While Tiger is winning regular tour events and is #1 again as someone earlier said, I don't believe he really cares about either of those things to any great extent anymore.  His life has been about beating Jack's record of major wins and he badly wants to do that.  But I do think his biggest problem is between his ears.  Karma aside the question is "does Tiger believe he deserves to not win any more majors?".  The Tiger of old believed he deserved it all and there was no doubt in his mind (IMO) that he was going to get it all.  He seems certain of his destiny of breaking the most major wins record.  Well if you watch the body language and listen to Tiger the article is correct, he is a very very good golfer, but in his own mind he really doesn't believe he is Tiger anymore.

Just for the sake of total disclosure here I am an ASU Alumni and have always been a Phil fan and wished he could have played in non-Tiger era, like he is now.  So maybe I'm wrong and there is Karma and the good guy is finally getting his rewards and so it Eldrick.

[Mulligan Jeff]

I still question why Tiger chose to go with another putter I mean didn't he win all those majors with the Scotty Cameron...

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Mulligan Jeff

I still question why Tiger chose to go with another putter I mean didn't he win all those majors with the Scotty Cameron...

Two different Scotty Camerons.

[Mulligan Jeff]

Ok two Scotty Camerons. Tiger did re-capture the #1 spot with the Nike putter so it's hard to say go back to the Scotty Camerons.

[saturday]

Why can't people understand that not everyone is built the same.  [LIST] [*] Phil is very comfortable showing public displays of affection (PDA) towards his family and friends, Tiger apparently isn't, but that doesn't make him a bad guy.  He just has a different personality. [*] We know for a fact Tiger cheated on his wife, we have no idea if Phil ever cheated.  Ultimately unless you're a family member why do you care?  [*] Everything Tiger does is placed under a microscope and blown out of proportion usually in a negative sense.  Phil usually gets the benefit of the doubt (unless he criticizes CA tax hikes). [/LIST] I like both of these guys, but for different reasons.  I like that Phil appears to be the super nice guy that loves his family, is a fellow lefty and always has a smile on his face.  I like that Tiger is a super intense competitor that wants to win at all costs even if it means people don't like him.  As for the article, Whitlock joins Miceli, Chamblee and a bunch of others that bash Tiger to gain popularity or notoriety, which means they are bottom dwellers in their industry and desperate for attention.

Great post. They're two different personalities. The only thing is people want to like Tiger more but he's the type that doesn't let anyone in. Can't help it, it's just how he is.

[k-troop]

Originally Posted by k-troop

I still think Tiger's issue in majors is entirely mental.  I think that's well supported by the fact that since 2012 his scoring average is about 3.5 shots higher on Saturday and Sunday than it is on Thursday and Friday.  He's always right there on Saturday morning, but on Sunday he's three groups back and trying to make a move.

Interestingly, he's playing the weekend slightly better at Augusta.  Anyone who has played competitive golf under pressure can appreciate how much easier it is to confidently hit a shot you've hit a dozen times before on a course you've played a hundred times.  The pressure doesn't get to him as much there.

I get it that Majors are harder on the weekend:  the course is a little firmer and the pins are tucked.  But still, this is Tiger Woods we're talking about, and Major Champions are the ones who find a way to play well on the weekend when the conditions are tough and pressure is mounting.  Tiger knows this, because he's done it 14 times (well, maybe he's done it 10 times because in at least 4 events he basically won on Friday).

Tiger averaged 70 for Thursday/Friday at Muirfield, and he averaged 73 over the weekend.  That's consistent with his performance in all of the majors (not at Augusta) since he started winning again.  Major winners don't fade on the weekend; or, as was the case with Phil last week, shoots the low round of the tournament on Sunday.  Tiger's Thursday/Friday scores show that he still has the game to win majors.  Once Tiger can start playing his weekends at least as well as his first 2 rounds he'll start winning again.  It's that simple.

I'm going to come back off of this a bit.  I looked at Tiger's 14 major wins, and how he scored over the weekend versus the first two rounds.

Tiger has always played the same or better on the weekend during his wins at Augusta:  average of one shot better per round.  So, I'm not factoring any Augusta rounds.

In Tiger's 10 other major wins, he consistently plays worse over the weekend:  his scoring average rose over the weekend in 9/10 wins, with the 2006 PGA being the only one where he played better over the weekend.

For those 10 tournaments, he averaged 1.9 shots higher per round on Saturday and Sunday.  For the five US Opens/British Opens/PGAs he's played starting in 2012, he's averaging 3.7 shots higher per round on the weekend.

So, if Tiger played 3-4 shots better over the weekend in those five tournaments, he'd be consistent with his past performance.  (Tiger has lost 4 or fewer total shots over the weekend in 7 of his 10 major wins.)  So what if he did that over the last 5 Majors?

2013 US Open:  lost by 12, so no change.

2013 Open Champ:  lost by 5, so no change.

2012 US Open:  lost by 7, so no change.

2012 Open Champ:  lost by 4, so could have gotten into a playoff.

2012 PGA:  lost by 11 (Rory won by 8), so no change.

So, I guess that strictly speaking he isn't "collapsing" on the weekend relative to his historical performance when he's won majors.  He was leading in 8/10 of those wins, so maybe there is something to be said about the defensive vs. offensive nature of play when he's a frontrunner.

However, I will say this:  Tiger is nearly 2 shots per round higher over the weekend when he's in contention in recent majors relative to his past performance when he's won.  Additionally, he used to consistently post rounds in the 60s on the weekends in Majors--he hasn't done that in a long time.

He needs to start playing better on the weekends, plain and simple.  His weekday play shows that he has the game to do it--the fact that he's playing much worse over the weekends has to be in large part due to pressure and nerves, which is a problem for fans who want to see the old Tiger return.  However, one big weekend in a Major--a come from behind win--could silence all of the demons (and critics) and bring that Tiger back.

[bobsuruncle]

Tiger needs to go back to being Tiger. He should be cussing and swearing during the press conference about how piss poor he played, how he's f'ed off, how he wants to go step on a few throats, etc. Trying to be nice doesn't suit his style and is killing his game.

[theworldengine]

Lol. Rory has been underachieving as of late, is it because he got exposed as a scumbag? Golf is a weird game. Lol, at the idea tiger will never win another major. I would guess his issue is something mechanical. Of course how can I understand someone who is such a foreign entity to me. Something about his swing isn't holding up to pressure

[Beachcomber]

Karma has nothing to do with Tiger not winning at the majors.  It has a lot more to do with the fact that players around him have gotten better.  And he hasn't made clutch shots when required on Sunday.

Also, his putting at the Open was not good... His distance control was way off.

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber

Karma has nothing to do with Tiger not winning at the majors. It has a lot more to do with the fact that players around him have gotten better.  And he hasn't made clutch shots when required on Sunday. (Karma)

Also, his putting at the Open was not good... His distance control was way off. (Karma)

Challenging karma?

Karma sees all...