Hold Your Breath - If Tiger Can Hit 17 Majors, How Exciting is the Reach to 18?

[Mr. Desmond]

Tiger just underwent this 3rd back surgery in 14 months. See http://www.tigerwoods.com/home

1. Do you think he will have to engineer a new swing to play at a high level?

2. Will he have to get rid of the "Go for the fences" swing?

3. Will he need to go to a smoother swing?

4. Can he mentally and physically rework his swing so it decreases the likelihood of re-injuring his back?

5. If he makes it to 18 majors, will he be acknowledged as the greatest?

6. And can one imagine the Tiger Hysteria if he can get to 17 ... and the Watch for 18?

___________

I don't know if he can mentally make the transition to a swing that decreases the probability of injury.

I think he will need to abandon the all-out swing and go to something with less yardage and higher probability of fairways and greens.

If he makes it to 18, I think he would be acknowledged as the greatest athlete and golfer of all time - since he will be the winningest golfer assuming he wins 4 majors and several other tourneys.

I think the "Tiger Watch" will generate the greatest enthusiasm for golf since 2000-2003.

Can Tiger re-think and re-configure his long game?

Will he find peace with himself? He seems a tortured soul.

[iacas]

1. No.

2. Yeah. He doesn't hit it farther when he does that anyway.

3. No. His range swing is fine.

4. Probably won't be relevant.

5. He won't make it to 18 majors, and people everywhere (myself included by a slim margin) already vote him as the greatest. Some don't.

6. Won't matter. He won't get to 16, let alone 17.

[Brakkus]

Tiger at his best was a blend of Mcilroy and Spieth. Course smarts but with the power to bring a track to it's knees.

Injuries have taken away that ability to shoot the gun. I think Tiger maybe is slowly realising this. At the Quicken loans he actually got into contention but that course was 500 yards shorter than a major track. It did show that he can think his way round a course.

Not sure if he can make a transition to more accuracy he always has the devil on his shoulder telling him to go for 350 with his driver. That guy has gone at least with any consistency.

A different end to his career now and maybe not the one we all expected but he's not the first great player to lose his aura when back problems came a knocking.

[Patch]

1. Yes, something easier on his damaged body parts. I don't think he can play at a high,  championship level for any length of time with his current (?) swing. He'd be looking at more surgeries if he does keep his current swing.. 

2. Yes, see #1 above. 

3. Yes, see #1, and #2 above.

4. If he wants to continue to compete at the highest level, then sure he can. If not, he could probably catch, and pass Snead by playing in less talented events. He's still a pretty good golfer, when healthy, when compared to the majority of the PGA players.  

5. Not relevant due to different eras of time. He already is the best in his own era of golf. Others were the greatest in their own eras of play. 

6. He has to get to 15 majors first. Three back surgeries makes this a long shot, especially against the newer, younger, healthier, highly talented competition.   

[JP golf]

1. Do you think he will have to engineer a new swing to play at a high level? Not Really

2. Will he have to get rid of the "Go for the fences" swing? No, but he has to be careful and selective.  His natural instinct is to go hard.

3. Will he need to go to a smoother swing?  Not really, I think he's on the right path.

4. Can he mentally and physically rework his swing so it decreases the likelihood of re-injuring his back?  Unlike some, I think this is one of the hardest things he has to overcome.  I think he "cons" himself sometimes.  I think he is making progress now though.

5. If he makes it to 18 majors, will he be acknowledged as the greatest?  Yes.  I already consider him the greatest. 

6. And can one imagine the Tiger Hysteria if he can get to 17 ... and the Watch for 18?  No, If he was to get to 17 it would prove so many wrong and be such a huge story for his resurgence that it would be the biggest thing going in sports.  I can't imagine the craziness if he gets to 17 because there aren't many that think that is even possible...  I hope he does.

[Broke100Once]

Frankly, if Tiger wins even one more major, it will already create hysteria due to the flood of "is Tiger back?" stories.  It's not impossible for him to get to 15 (stealing a Masters sometime) but the ship has sailed on him breaking Jack's record.

[tristanhilton85]

1. No. I think his swing is fine as it is.

2. I think he'll need to tone that down a bit. I don't think there really is a need for him to do this anyways.

3. No.

4. He just has to make sure that he doesn't come back before he is fully healed. I think that was a problem for him this last time. These things take time to get better.

5. I think that there will be less of a debate. I already think that he is, and I know that many people do as well. I think a good amount of people in Jack's camp will make the switch if Tiger gets to 18, but there still will be those that won't.

6. The watch for 18 will be nuts if it ever happens. I don't think that it'll get there though.

[Mr. Desmond]

When I read Erik's response yesterday, it reminded me what most have said - "Tiger looks great on the range."

I've heard that since, I guess, 2003, or whenever he took up with Haney. I took lessons from a couple of Haney guys, and they said Hank said the same thing. Great on the range... Under Cuomo, I assume it's the same. Tiger can give a great exhibition for the crowd at tournaments, but the mental aspect of ... I don't know, calming his mind and  body on the course -- I have no idea if he just gets caught up in the competition and can't calm himself, or thrives on it and thinks he can handle it....

Edited November 2, 2015 by Mr. Desmond

[onthehunt526]

On 10/31/2015, 11:33:29, Mr. Desmond said:

Tiger just underwent this 3rd back surgery in 14 months. See http://www.tigerwoods.com/home

1. Do you think he will have to engineer a new swing to play at a high level?

NO

2. Will he have to get rid of the "Go for the fences" swing?

No, not necessarily

3. Will he need to go to a smoother swing?

His swing is fine, I think he looked good at the Wyndham

4. Can he mentally and physically rework his swing so it decreases the likelihood of re-injuring his back?

I dont think he needs to... More or less needs the rehab process in full.

5. If he makes it to 18 majors, will he be acknowledged as the greatest?

He already is the greatest, It took him twelve years and 46 majors to get to 14, Jack's 14th major was the 1975 PGA... His 56th as a Pro...

6. And can one imagine the Tiger Hysteria if he can get to 17 ... and the Watch for 18?

HE needs a Jack Nicklaus 1980 in 2016 or 2017 to even have a chance. PERIOD.

___________

I don't know if he can mentally make the transition to a swing that decreases the probability of injury.

I think he will need to abandon the all-out swing and go to something with less yardage and higher probability of fairways and greens.

If he makes it to 18, I think he would be acknowledged as the greatest athlete and golfer of all time - since he will be the winningest golfer assuming he wins 4 majors and several other tourneys.

I think the "Tiger Watch" will generate the greatest enthusiasm for golf since 2000-2003.

Can Tiger re-think and re-configure his long game?

Will he find peace with himself? He seems a tortured soul.

That being said... He needs to clear up any mental off course, crap, before he has any chance of doing anything, on the course...

Forget his injuries since 2008 (Torn ACL, Achilles, Back), etc. I think the bigger issue, is his mind is not in the game and you can tell... 

I think his issues with addiction to messing around with women, caused his game to go sideways... I think it's eating on him that he threw away his family life for trashy women... I do believe he regrets it, though if he's still messing around... He has a serious illness and needs to take care of himself before, he comes back... He seems miserable, and it effects your performance at work.

Erik, the following piece may be on or off topic, you decide...

I think physically he can come back, that is not the issue, hell, Ben Hogan son several majors, after he had a car wreck he nearly died in.. 

Mentally he may never recover, I don't think he is at peace with himself and may never be again... If he were still married to Elin, he may have 20 majors already... Who the hell knows?

I do not think mentally he is even on the golf course anymore... I think Sam Snead's record may even be safe... He needs to shore up his personal life, before he wins again...

[colin007]

honestly, i think the reason why Tigs doesnt already have the record is because of YE Yang.  seriously, after TIgs choked away that PGA to that midget, he lost his mojo.

[skydog]

3 minutes ago, colin007 said:

honestly, i think the reason why Tigs doesnt already have the record is because of YE Yang.  seriously, after TIgs choked away that PGA to that midget, he lost his mojo.

Well....that, and the other blow he suffered to his persona later that year.