The Tiger Woods Retirement Thread

[rkim291968]

IMHO, the turning point in Tiger's career was when that double-jointed midget YE Yang beat him down the stretch in the 2009 PGA Championship. He's not been the same since. He got punched in the face and couldn't respond.

Really?  That "double-jointed midget" started golf late in life while working in a golf course (gathering golf balls at range) and became a major champion, beating Tiger Wood no less.   He deserves respect.  But I agree that Tiger hasn't been the same since.   YE broke the mystic aura around Tiger.

[Pretzel]

I wonder about if the best thing for him to do would be to miss the 2015 season entirely. Don't pick up a golf club for 5 months, then spend the rest of the time he has working his butt off like he used to. It could help restore his passion for the game, or at least that's what taking a break does for me.

I would be kind of sad to see him retire. I grew up watching him destroy the competition. I remember watching the 2002 and 2005 Masters as a little kid, and the 2008 U.S. Open was a tournament that I couldn't take my eyes off of.

Ultimately it's his choice. If I were him (which I certainly am not), I would take at least a full year off before competing again. The guy needs to heal, and him pushing the bleeding edge of his surgery recovery times probably isn't helping.

[jgreen85]

one interesting consideration is Tiger is the first "athlete" golfer. Golf pundits raved about Tiger's athleticism and how it changed the game. I'd imagine then his game is more dependent on athleticism than most, if not all, golfers. In comparing golf to basketball, Kareem and Duncan's games were built on fundamentals and basketball IQ, whereas Barkley/Shaq on raw athleticism. We saw a quick decline in the skills/abilities of barkley/shaq while Kareem and Duncan were able to be top tier players for much longer due to their lack of an emphasis on raw athletic ability. Now we see Tiger, too old to be the athlete he was. Can he find the golf equivalent of the Jordan fade-away jumper?

I know some will mention gary player as well, and I'll defer to you on him as I know little about him.

[rkim291968]

I wonder about if the best thing for him to do would be to miss the 2015 season entirely. Don't pick up a golf club for 5 months, then spend the rest of the time he has working his butt off like he used to. It could help restore his passion for the game, or at least that's what taking a break does for me.

I would be kind of sad to see him retire. I grew up watching him destroy the competition. I remember watching the 2002 and 2005 Masters as a little kid, and the 2008 U.S. Open was a tournament that I couldn't take my eyes off of.

Ultimately it's his choice. If I were him (which I certainly am not), I would take at least a full year off before competing again. The guy needs to heal, and him pushing the bleeding edge of his surgery recovery times probably isn't helping.

x 3.

After the rest, if he doesn't want to comeback, I'd understand.

[Yukari]

Unfortunately, I would put the odds at >30% that he will retire by the end of 2015.

It's been a really fun watching him play during his dominant years.  I just hope he proves me wrong and has one more run at the majors.

[saevel25]

Maybe he'll do a Jordan type of retirement, take a couple years off and come back.

I think that might actually do him some good with his back. Clearly Glut Activation isn't working out for him. That or he should fire his sports trainer.

If Tiger wants the Major's record he needs to play in 9-12 tournaments a year. Just play in 1-2 before the Majors as a warm up. If he isn't healthy then shut it down, or skip a Major. Unless he seriously takes time off to actually get his back healed, he will be playing partial seasons anyways.

As for retiring, I put it at 1% chance that he retires by the end of 2015. I put it at 20% chance he retires in the next 5 years.

[ChrisP]

I don't know about "retire." I think there's a good possibility he steps away from competitive golf for a substantial period of time and tries to re-group and sort things out, trying out new swings and things that will take pressure off his back. I do think Tiger will explore every option possible to come back. But I do think there's a better than 50% chance that Tiger doesn't win another tournament the rest of his career. I hope and pray I'm wrong on that, but I think he's got a mountain to climb that might be impossible. So many obstacles in his way right now.

[ChrisP]

If Tiger wants the Major's record he needs to play in 9-12 tournaments a year. Just play in 1-2 before the Majors as a warm up. If he isn't healthy then shut it down, or skip a Major. Unless he seriously takes time off to actually get his back healed, he will be playing partial seasons anyways.

I think his chances of breaking Jack are slim to none, and slim is about a million-to-one shot. I don't even think he's going to break Sam Snead's record, which is going to be a shame if he doesn't. It's going to be interesting to see how Tiger is talked about 20-30 years from now if this is truly it. Is he going to be remembered as the guy who won 14 majors and dominated golf like no one did before when he was in his 20s....or will be remembered for a guy who completely lost his game because of injuries and failed to break golf's Holy Grail record. Time and history will tell.

[Lakitu]

Interesting thread, and I think actually holds water for the first time. He's going to be stubborn about it - he's more dedicated than anyone else on the planet, that's just who he is (at least from what I've seen). But I think a serious injury could potentially do him in, if not the continued WDs after so much preparation and publicity.

Real shame. If he quit today he would go down as the greatest of all time in my book and many others', and eventually be viewed in a better light than Jack by the public eye, imo. With better luck with injuries, or hell, no scandal, he could have beaten Snead long ago and even Jack by now. In 2009 he was more dominant than anybody today, and yes that includes Rory. It would have been awesome to see what he could have done if not impeded by outside factors. I think he could have easily remained a force (3+ wins/year) into his mid-late 40s.

I'd like to at least see him win another major before calling it quits. It'd be one of the feel-good moments of Golf, imo.

[Lakitu]

I think that but for the unlucky fluke of hitting the pin on the 15th, he'd have definitely added #15 at the 2013 Masters. Sheer bad luck. And that may have provided the impetus for more.

Right now another five must seem like a very ponderous task indeed. On the one hand, reason enough to retire; on the other, I severely doubt whether Tiger scrutinizes the quality of the field in British Opens of the 1960s when arriving at a judgment as to whether he is the GOAT yet - reason enough to persevere, health allowing....

Also, THIS!

He legitimately could have won. This agonized me for a while but eventually I got over it, realizing that there are way too many "what-ifs" like this in the sport to fret over.

[Lihu]

IMHO, the turning point in Tiger's career was when that double-jointed midget YE Yang beat him down the stretch in the 2009 PGA Championship. He's not been the same since. He got punched in the face and couldn't respond.

Rofl, do I detect some height discrimination here? :-D

[dkolo]

I think he'll be fine once he gets healthy. My suspicion is that most of his struggles have come from lingering issues with his back. I would ask, though, how is Tiger's standing on Tour going forward if he has a few lost years? His 2013 Memorial, Bay Hill, and WGC wins give 3 year exemptions, so I think he's OK through 2016. After that, does he fall under the Life Member / Tom Watson category for as long as he wants?

[Big C]

It's really hard for me to see any scenario where Tiger Woods announces his retirement this year. By far the more likely scenario is that he decides to shut it down for the year (again), but I see no evidence that he's ready to throw in the towel completely.

[natureboy]

I don't think Tiger would do an official retirement announcement. If anything he would announce he was taking a year or two off to really get healthy and then realize he doesn't want to come back while away from the game.

I would agree. Sabbatical or reduced schedule far more likely than full retirement. Too early in my view to even pull plug on this season.

Just needs to get a little smarter about the back...wasn't wearing a sweater at Torrey and temps were in low 60's.

[9iron]

Really?  That "double-jointed midget" started golf late in life while working in a golf course (gathering golf balls at range) and became a major champion, beating Tiger Wood no less.   He deserves respect.  But I agree that Tiger hasn't been the same since.   YE broke the mystic aura around Tiger.

In other words, Tiger Woods was like Samson. Once his aura of invincibility went, so did his abnility to close the deal in Major Championships. One of the hardest things to do in life is "close". Some people can do it, others can't. Tiger went from one group to the other when he was finally taken down.

[colin007]

Rofl, do I detect some height discrimination here? :-D

Dude, when I watched it all go down, I felt so sick. I truly hated Yang in that moment, and I probably would've shanked him with a sharpened toothbrush handle if I saw him alone at an abandoned thru-way rest area.

[cristphoto]

I'd be gutted. Absolutely gutted. Having said that, at this point I'd don't think he'd be losing anything considering where his game's at now at the moment. Not many - including me - think that 19 majors is within his grasp anymore. If he comes to grips with that, then what reason is there to hang around? I know he's proud, and like I said, I'd be devastated, but what else does he have to prove? Too me, he's already the GOAT, no need to whimper out of the game for a couple more years.

I heard on the radio last week that only 22 different golfers have won a major after the age of 40. Woods will be 40 later this year. Given his current physical condition, and state of his game, I think the probability of him winning five majors is pretty remote.

[Zeph]

I've thought about it, but never really considered it a real possibility until he got hurt again last week. The years of injuries has become many now; what worry me is that his back always seems to give him trouble, and it keeps coming back again and again.

If he does make it back without injuries, the next question is if he's able to win again. He might get his shortgame back in order, but will his full swing and entire game be good enough? Has these years of injuries and not playing made him lose something?

He showed us what he could do in 2013. No majors, but he were in the run for two of them until the end. If 2015 ends up like 2014 did, I wonder if he will continue. He might even be forced to by his body if these injuries doesn't go away. I'm not that worried about his swing, short game and all that jazz, but the back pain, present or not, might always affect him. As was pointed out in the article, just knowing that he might get hurt on any swing out there could be enough to ruin his game.

I don't think he will beat Jack, and I'd rather he retired than keep going if the injuries are too bad. I don't get my hopes up anymore, but I don't like seeing him like this.