Tiger Withdraws

[The Recreational Golfer]

Tiger Woods withdrew for the Safeway tournament, saying his short game wasn't ready to compete at this level of play.

[Patch]

Not a surprise at all. There was even an "over/under" bet at one of the local race books on if he would play.

I read on another site (jokingly) where there was a miscommunication probably. That he meant to say he was going to "open a Safeway"...........

[chspeed]

Maybe he should play on the web.com tour for a while. Seriously, it's a catch-22. He'll never be ready for PGA Tour without some tournaments under his belt.

Edited October 10, 2016 by chspeed

[nevets88]

Redditor: If he's looking to preserve his back, this is definitely the Safeway.

[CarlSpackler]

Well that stinks. Was looking forward to it. At least he learned from his last comeback attempt.

Or someone offered him a bunch of money to make his comeback in the tournament that they sponsor.

[natureboy]

  On 10/10/2016 at 9:12 PM, chspeed said:

Maybe he should play on the web.com tour for a while. Seriously, it's a catch-22. He'll never be ready for PGA Tour without some tournaments under his belt.

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I actually had the same crazy thought, but as far as confidence and image if he fails there too it would only exacerbate things and accelerate his world ranking decline.

[bogdan101]

So let me get this straight: Friday he was all set to play, but over the week-end realized that his short game sucks to the point that being seen pitching and chipping in public would be a major embarrassment and deal a cruel blow to his ego?

[Natural Patrick]

  On 10/10/2016 at 9:12 PM, chspeed said:

Maybe he should play on the web.com tour for a while. Seriously, it's a catch-22. He'll never be ready for PGA Tour without some tournaments under his belt.

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I'm not convinced he could win on the web.com tour.

  On 10/10/2016 at 9:39 PM, natureboy said:

I actually had the same crazy thought, but as far as confidence and image if he fails there too it would only exacerbate things and accelerate his world ranking decline.

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What is ranked now, and how much further could he decline?

[natureboy]

  On 10/10/2016 at 10:15 PM, Natural Patrick said:

I'm not convinced he could win on the web.com tour.

What is ranked now, and how much further could he decline?

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Sure he's well down now, but the lower field value of the Web events will make any poor result worse than in a PGA event if he can manage to beat someone or make the cut.

The guy had 3 surgeries on his back. He was in so much pain at one point he couldn't get up from the ground and walk. That alone would make a sane person hesitant about making full swings in competition.

He has nothing to prove, except to himself (if he wants) so if he's that far off that he'd need to re-build on the Web.com tour, he'd  be better off just doing it on his own and if he couldn't get there, but craved competition still to just wait and tee it up a couple of times a year on the Senior Tour.

[Yukari]

Well, my weekend just freed up to play a round.

[StefanUrkel]

Tiger wouldn't even win the next LPGA tournament. 

[Ernest Jones]

  On 10/10/2016 at 11:34 PM, StefanUrkel said:

Tiger wouldn't even win the next LPGA tournament. 

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I'll take that bet. 

[David in FL]

  On 10/10/2016 at 11:39 PM, Ernest Jones said:

I'll take that bet. 

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First you'd have to actually get him to the first tee....  

[chspeed]

  On 10/10/2016 at 11:34 PM, StefanUrkel said:

Tiger wouldn't even win the next LPGA tournament. 

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Now THAT's creative thinking. Can you imagine the boost to the LPGA tour? Can you imagine all the $$$$ from the feminine products that Tiger could represent? Win-Win!

Edited October 11, 2016 by chspeed

[Pretzel]

  On 10/10/2016 at 11:34 PM, StefanUrkel said:

Tiger wouldn't even win the next LPGA tournament. 

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I don't think he'd have to worry about his short game much in the LPGA. He'd have 100 yards or less into every green, and from inside 100 yards the PGA tour averages ~85% GIR from all lies. This means he'd hit 14-15 GIR, not counting the fact that he gets 2-4 GIR "free" on the par 5's. I picture Tiger ending up hitting somewhere between 16-18 greens each day in an LPGA tournament, allowing him to shoot anywhere between 4 and 6 under each day (the par fives play like par fours for him) for a total of between 16 and 24 under par. The last tournament winner on the LPGA only shot 17 under par. 

Depending on the greens and other course setups, which are also easier than the PGA tour norm, it's likely Tiger could go even deeper if his putting is solid. He'd be facing a course set up somewhere around 1,000 yards shorter than he's used to along with slower greens and easier pin locations. In fact, I'd bet that most of the competitors in the U.S. Amateur would be able to walk all over a vast majority of the LPGA fields.

That said, I'd actually kind of like to see this now. I don't picture it happening though (even if Tiger/whatever other male player played only as an exhibition), since it would really only harm the reputation of the LPGA after the fact. It would be an interesting experiment though to be able to see exactly how large the difference between the two tours is though.

[chspeed]

  On 10/11/2016 at 12:16 AM, Pretzel said:

and from inside 100 yards the PGA tour averages ~85% GIR from all lies

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[Pretzel]

  On 10/11/2016 at 12:23 AM, chspeed said:

 

 

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One video does not make a point, though I understand it may be unfair to compare Tiger to the PGA tour average without seeing him perform recently. I have no other data point to reasonably compare him to though.

[imsys0042]

Shame.   I would like to see him back.   He's the Anakin Skywalker of golf.