Tiger Passing On Bay Hill, Still Dangling Masters Possibility

[tiger19]

I'll obviously watch the Masters without TW. But let's be honest a Major without Tiger just isn't the same.

[Grinde6]

I can't take Notah seriously. He was saying before the British last year that he was hitting it like the "old Tiger" and then we saw what we got. Then before Phoenix he was saying "Tiger is hitting it better than I've ever seen" and we saw the exact opposite.

No one truly knows what's really going on with Tiger behind the scenes, whether it's a confidence issue, whether it's a practice issue, whether it's a lack of motivation issue, whether it's an injury..and whether it's a combo of the above. I'm kind of tired of the whole spectacle to be honest and when he plays, he plays. I don't expect much until he gives me a reason to expect something. I'm enjoying the way Spieth is developing and hopefully he will continue to blossom and be the American hope we need. That was great stuff today. If we can get Jordan, Rory and Bubba to bring their A-games to Augusta, I'll be happy.

If you have been watching golf at all when Tiger has been in the tournament EVERYONE says he has been absolutely striping it on the range.  Its been his ability to take that to the course that has been plaguing him.  So yes you can take Notah seriously...

[Kieran123]

He's busy making commercials....also, to me, his swing looks very different in this video.

[skydog]

If you have been watching golf at all when Tiger has been in the tournament EVERYONE says he has been absolutely striping it on the range.  Its been his ability to take that to the course that has been plaguing him.  So yes you can take Notah seriously...

No, No you can't. Notah will NEVER say a disparaging word about Tiger or his game. He views his friendship with Tiger as his livelihood (by allowing him to give 'inside' info from the Tiger camp) and he will never say anything that will jeopardize that.  Notah has become a propaganda piece furnished by Team Tiger.

[tiger19]

Not true at all what you said. I have heard Notah multiple times the last couple of years on the golf channel , tell it like it is about Tiger when he isn't playing well. Of course he will always defend him. But he had definitely said tigers faults when things have gone bad.

[Grinde6]

No, No you can't. Notah will NEVER say a disparaging word about Tiger or his game. He views his friendship with Tiger as his livelihood (by allowing him to give 'inside' info from the Tiger camp) and he will never say anything that will jeopardize that.  Notah has become a propaganda piece furnished by Team Tiger.

Whether Notah would say a disparaging thing about Tiger or not wasn't the issue. ChrisP said that Notah had said previously that Tiger was hitting the ball like his old self or better than he has seen. Which was backed up by everyone on the range at the tournaments he was playing. I don't disagree that Notah wouldn't say anything bad about Tiger which is him just being a true friend...something that is all but lost these days...but that wasn't he point I was making in saying that you can take Notah seriously.

[Quadhole]

I think he is hooked on painkillers... Will be a long long time before we actually know. THey can take away your drive to move on and life becomes a blur... Because of the money he has, it wqill just be ALLLLLLLLLright... No problem and keep telling everyone how sorry you are and dont worry, I will be back....

He has lost his drive to live the right life and doesn't know it....

[ScouseJohnny]

Tiger's (and, by extension, Notah's) difficulty is that, at the start of 2015, there were plenty of news stories about just how good Tiger's game was, with the source of those stories usually being Woods himself.

Example: http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/12236940/tiger-woods-says-driving-ball-far-was-15-years-ago

Then ugly things happened in January and February.

I'm not sure anyone is too interested in hearing about how much better Woods is playing now, compared to those rather sad scenes a month or two ago.

It obviously can't be anything too positive, otherwise, surely, he'd have turned out to play in the Palmer Invitational. Even making the cut would have been viewed as progress and would have been seized upon by the media as proof that Tiger's back in time to compete at the Masters - it's not as though he'd have been expected to win the thing.

[skydog]

Whether Notah would say a disparaging thing about Tiger or not wasn't the issue. ChrisP said that Notah had said previously that Tiger was hitting the ball like his old self or better than he has seen. Which was backed up by everyone on the range at the tournaments he was playing. I don't disagree that Notah wouldn't say anything bad about Tiger which is him just being a true friend...something that is all but lost these days...but that wasn't he point I was making in saying that you can take Notah seriously.

The ackowledgement that Notah won't say anything bad about Tiger is why I can't take him seriously and why I take everything he says with a big grain of salt. Regardless of whether he was calling it like he saw it from Tiger's range work last year, he has shown time and time again that he doesn't come close to objectively reporting on Tiger.

On a personal level, I respect his loyalty to his college buddy but when you're in the media you're supposed to remove yourself from personal relationships/biases.

[dkolo]

No, No you can't. Notah will NEVER say a disparaging word about Tiger or his game. He views his friendship with Tiger as his livelihood (by allowing him to give 'inside' info from the Tiger camp) and he will never say anything that will jeopardize that.  Notah has become a propaganda piece furnished by Team Tiger.

That's just not true. Notah was basically parroting Brandel and others (and unfairly so, I think) on the post-game at the Phoenix Open, I believe it was, if you'd go back and watch it. Very critical of Tiger and his game.

[skydog]

That's just not true. Notah was basically parroting Brandel and others (and unfairly so, I think) on the post-game at the Phoenix Open, I believe it was, if you'd go back and watch it. Very critical of Tiger and his game.

OK, OK...like my old college english professor used to tell me, never use the world 'never' or 'always'. I shouldn't have said that he has never said a disparaging word about Tiger, but I don't think the fact that he's a tremendous Tiger homer is a debatable topic. Anyways, I wasn't trying to turn this into a Notah Begay thread.

[tiger19]

Well, it's almost that time. what does everyone think, will TW be at the first hole at Augusta? I still think if he has healthy he has to play. I don't care if he can't break 100.

[dkolo]

Well, it's almost that time. what does everyone think, will TW be at the first hole at Augusta? I still think if he has healthy he has to play. I don't care if he can't break 100.

Why does he have to? If he's not healthy, obviously he won't. But if it's purely mental like some people seem to argue, going to the toughest short game course in the world under massive scrutiny isn't a great environment for boosting up confidence. Like, maaaaybe it all clicks but man, odds are not good on that.

[Shorty]

Well, it's almost that time. what does everyone think, will TW be at the first hole at Augusta? I still think if he has healthy he has to play. I don't care if he can't break 100.

You think he might not break 100 if he's healthy? Strange logic.

Of course he'll play if he's healthy.

There's no debate or discussion about it.

Fit =  yes

Unfit =  no.

[tiger19]

That's what I would think if he is healthy he's playing. Notah Begay sounded like he is fine, except for mentally. And he also said 50-50 TW plays. Which means its higher. Tiger probably said I'm leaning towards playing, but I don't want it known yet. So he probably told Notah to say 50-50. Bottom line if he's healthy and admits he is not playing just because he is not ready mentally, that would be beyond disappointing.

[ChrisP]

You think he might not break 100 if he's healthy? Strange logic.

Of course he'll play if he's healthy.

There's no debate or discussion about it.

Fit =  yes

Unfit =  no.

I think his health is not the only issue. I think his confidence is as well. I think fitness and confidence need to be good to go in order for him to play. I think his practicing right now is not only to test his body, but also to try and build his confidence, particularly with his short game. He's not going to play Augusta if he can't chip a golf ball. While Tiger wants to win, he also doesn't want to embarrass himself and shoot 90. He's not going to tee it up if deep down, he doesn't think he has the game that can win.

[David in FL]

I think his health is not the only issue. I think his confidence is as well. I think fitness and confidence need to be good to go in order for him to play. I think his practicing right now is not only to test his body, but also to try and build his confidence, particularly with his short game. He's not going to play Augusta if he can't chip a golf ball. While Tiger wants to win, he also doesn't want to embarrass himself and shoot 90. He's not going to tee it up if deep down, he doesn't think he has the game that can win.

I tend to agree. The only people who have even intimated a health issue are the media, and a lot of people here. As far as I can remember, Tiger hasn't mentioned any health issues (beyond the infamous non-firing glute) but rather that his game isn't competitive......

[tiger19]

The rumor is Tiger has been playing "great". And he has his "edge" back. Sounds like game on ,next stop Augusta!