Predict Tiger's 2018 Season

[RussUK]

1 minute ago, Veteran Golf Fan said:

Have you noticed that Rory has fallen out of the top 10 now and declining?

Yep, Just like Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and to get this thread back on track......Tiger (yes i know he was injured). All are still incredibly good golfers.

Its a shame Tiger left it as long as he did to have the last op on his back, but having worked in orthopaedics and speaking to sugreons about spinal ops i can kind of undertand why he took the fairly conservative route initially.

[Veteran Golf Fan]

13 hours ago, phillyk said:

Its not the good shots that intimidate already good golfers. I mean they are playing PGA Tour, every body has done every type of shot. If anything, I’d think it was the recovery shots that would wear your competitors down. Tiger seemed like he always had either, good breaks or just fantastic recovery shots. That would wear a guy down who’s thinking they got a stroke on Tiger. 

No doubt Tiger was better at recovering errant shots under pressure, but actually, the magical putting stroke was the key to him intimidating and beating his competition.  He would read it, roll it and make it at the most critical times.

2 minutes ago, RussUK said:

Yep, Just like Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and to get this thread back on track......Tiger (yes i know he was injured). All are still incredibly good golfers.

Its a shame Tiger left it as long as he did to have the last op on his back, but having worked in orthopaedics and speaking to sugreons about spinal ops i can kind of undertand why he took the fairly conservative route initially.

Donald and Westwood have been in serious decline for some time now and Westwood should not have made the last Ryder Cup team.  Serious yip putting does him in.

Regarding Tiger's back problem, he just didn't find the right surgeon soon enough.  This last one had the right approach with the fusion.  Hopefully, it will last so he can resume to elite status.

[Veteran Golf Fan]

1 hour ago, RussUK said:

What i posted was in regards to the 2016 Olympic games. Of course the OWR will have changed since the Olympics. I posted that as an example to show that, contrary to your comment that many of the top plyers didnt play, many did.

Plus, maybe be a little less agressive in your posts. 

Anyway, this is getting a bit off topic now.

You Brits are something else.  Can't stand hearing the truth, can you?

1 hour ago, RussUK said:

Yep, Just like Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and to get this thread back on track......Tiger (yes i know he was injured). All are still incredibly good golfers.

Its a shame Tiger left it as long as he did to have the last op on his back, but having worked in orthopaedics and speaking to sugreons about spinal ops i can kind of undertand why he took the fairly conservative route initially.

Interesting that 70% say Tiger will win one to four events in 2018.  Not many think he will win a major.  They should have more faith in the GOAT.

[Wally Fairway]

19 minutes ago, Veteran Golf Fan said:

Interesting that 70% say Tiger will win one to four events in 2018.  Not many think he will win a major.  They should have more faith in the GOAT.

Just out of curiosity - I'll ask why people should have more faith?

[Veteran Golf Fan]

2 hours ago, Wally Fairway said:

Just out of curiosity - I'll ask why people should have more faith?

Seems like several tour pro's like his chances this year based on what they have seen.  I will go with them instead of the doubters.

[iacas]

2 minutes ago, Veteran Golf Fan said:

Seems like several tour pro's like his chances this year based on what they have seen.  I will go with them instead of the doubters.

You should put your money where your "faith" is - I imagine there would be plenty of people who would be happy to wager against your opinions on Tiger this year.

Go ahead, name your stakes.

[Veteran Golf Fan]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

You should put your money where your "faith" is - I imagine there would be plenty of people who would be happy to wager against your opinions on Tiger this year.

Go ahead, name your stakes.

Confirmed, Iacas, you are nothing but a Tiger hater.  70% think he will win this year.

[iacas]

20 minutes ago, Veteran Golf Fan said:

Confirmed, Iacas, you are nothing but a Tiger hater.  70% think he will win this year.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Yeah. I'm a Tiger hater. 

P.S. I voted 1/0. I'm in that 70%. I'm still thinking, since you keep panning everyone who isn't seemingly picking 3/1 or higher, that you put your money where your "faith" is. Name the stakes and the bet. I imagine you'll have a few takers. If you're so confident, bet.

[Veteran Golf Fan]

12 minutes ago, iacas said:

Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Yeah. I'm a Tiger hater. 

P.S. I voted 1/0. I'm in that 70%. I'm still thinking, since you keep panning everyone who isn't seemingly picking 3/1 or higher, that you put your money where your "faith" is. Name the stakes and the bet. I imagine you'll have a few takers. If you're so confident, bet.

Ha, ha, ha, ha.  You are one arrogant dude.

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, Veteran Golf Fan said:

Ha, ha, ha, ha.  You are one arrogant dude.

Please explain, as nothing in that post demonstrates even a little arrogance.

You're shooting down everyone in here, calling people "stupid," and telling people they lack "faith." I'm simply imploring you to put your money where your faith is. I'm not saying I'm right. I am, however, saying that you're way, way off base in calling me a Tiger hater, and you seem to have missed out on the fact that I was among the 70% voted that he'd get a win.

Stop being a jerk, or you'll receive a warning. We have basically ONE rule here, and it's "don't be a jerk."

[onthehunt526]

3 minutes ago, iacas said:

Please explain, as nothing in that post demonstrates even a little arrogance.

You're shooting down everyone in here, calling people "stupid," and telling people they lack "faith." I'm simply imploring you to put your money where your faith is. I'm not saying I'm right. I am, however, saying that you're way, way off base in calling me a Tiger hater, and you seem to have missed out on the fact that I was among the 70% voted that he'd get a win.

Stop being a jerk, or you'll receive a warning. We have basically ONE rule here, and it's "don't be a jerk."

Erik, you're far from being a Tiger hater. A little skeptical at times, but not a hater. As a matter of fact, there once was a thread where you actually called him the "GOAT".

People seem to think that his putter won him 79 Tour events, and 14 majors. Well some of that is true, when Tiger has his "A" game, he hit a bunch of GIRs and made every crucial par putt he looked at. I'm not calling Tiger a "bad" putter, because he's far from it. But when he wins, he's hitting a ton of greens in regulation. When he's "on" he may be the best iron player to play this game since Nicklaus. PERIOD.

[iacas]

10 minutes ago, onthehunt526 said:

Erik, you're far from being a Tiger hater. A little skeptical at times, but not a hater. As a matter of fact, there once was a thread where you actually called him the "GOAT".

I think he is the GOAT. Hell, one guy called me "not a fan of golf" because I said I only make the time to watch majors and the tournaments in which Tiger plays.

10 minutes ago, onthehunt526 said:

People seem to think that his putter won him 79 Tour events, and 14 majors. Well some of that is true, when Tiger has his "A" game, he hit a bunch of GIRs and made every crucial par putt he looked at. I'm not calling Tiger a "bad" putter, because he's far from it. But when he wins, he's hitting a ton of greens in regulation. When he's "on" he may be the best iron player to play this game since Nicklaus. PERIOD.

Historically, his putting and short game tend to be over-rated, and his driving under-rated.

And he didn't make every putt he needed to make, ever. Hell, he missed a lot at the 2009 PGA. Plus I have a clip around somewhere of Tiger missing a BOGEY putt and making a double, I think, against Garcia in the 1999 PGA. IIRC. It wasn't very long, either. Three feet, maybe four.

But… let's get back to the topic of predicting his 2018 season.

[Veteran Golf Fan]

25 minutes ago, onthehunt526 said:

Erik, you're far from being a Tiger hater. A little skeptical at times, but not a hater. As a matter of fact, there once was a thread where you actually called him the "GOAT".

People seem to think that his putter won him 79 Tour events, and 14 majors. Well some of that is true, when Tiger has his "A" game, he hit a bunch of GIRs and made every crucial par putt he looked at. I'm not calling Tiger a "bad" putter, because he's far from it. But when he wins, he's hitting a ton of greens in regulation. When he's "on" he may be the best iron player to play this game since Nicklaus. PERIOD.

I could have sworn that Tiger won the US Open at Pebble by 15 and refused to make a bogey.  I could have sworn that he bested Bob May at the PGA by making numerous putts coming in including the 18th that he had to make.  Could have sworn he made a really tough putt at Torrey at the US Open to get into a playoff and then won on a broken leg the next day.

[iacas]

1 minute ago, Veteran Golf Fan said:

I could have sworn that Tiger won the US Open at Pebble by 15 and refused to make a bogey.  I could have sworn that he bested Bob May at the PGA by making numerous putts coming in including the 18th that he had to make.  Could have sworn he made a really tough putt at Torrey at the US Open to get into a playoff and then won on a broken leg the next day.

This is only tangentially related to the topic at hand, so, please… back to that topic specifically.

[onthehunt526]

Earlier in the thread, I predicted 2 Tour wins and 0 majors. I honestly am going to stick by this. If he is driving the ball reasonably well, hitting GIRs, and putts reasonably well, he can win again. 

I think a big key for him will be how he plays at Torrey Pines (where he's won 7 times + a U.S. Open) and Riviera (where he's never won)... I'm not saying he'll win either of those, but a couple decent weeks, (maybe sneak a Top-15 or so) will do numbers for the rest of the year. 

I do think he will contend in at least one major, maybe even back door a win... Perhaps the Masters or the PGA at Bellerive depending on the status long game and his health. 

I can see a healthy Tiger winning another major or two eventually, in the next few years. 

Jack's record might stand. Sam's will not.

[DaveP043]

Did I read something about putting money down?  I've been known to do that before, and the other guy chose not to follow through. 

I think Tiger will do well to play all season, to contend a handful of times, but I doubt he'll win.  I don't know if he'll be physically able to play enough to get back into 100% grind mode, and I don't think that's something he can just turn on at will.  In the majors, I'd guess just one top ten.  It would be more fun if I'm wrong, if he exceeds my expectations, but those are my guesses.

[billchao]

5 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

I think Tiger will do well to play all season, to contend a handful of times, but I doubt he'll win.  I don't know if he'll be physically able to play enough to get back into 100% grind mode, and I don't think that's something he can just turn on at will.  In the majors, I'd guess just one top ten.  It would be more fun if I'm wrong, if he exceeds my expectations, but those are my guesses.

I'm with Dave on this. I think Tiger staying healthy and competing all year will be considered a successful season. I don't believe he will be winning tournaments just because he's healthy. He's been away from golf too long and the players on Tour keep getting better.

[Wally Fairway]

37 minutes ago, Veteran Golf Fan said:

I could have sworn that Tiger won the US Open at Pebble by 15 and refused to make a bogey.  I could have sworn that he bested Bob May at the PGA by making numerous putts coming in including the 18th that he had to make.  Could have sworn he made a really tough putt at Torrey at the US Open to get into a playoff and then won on a broken leg the next day.

Pebble US Open by 15, 18 years ago
Bested Bob May PGA Championship, 18 Years ago
Torrey broken leg US Open, 10 Years ago

I'm not saying he can't do it, but you are bringing up events from a really long time ago.
The game has changed, the courses have changed and the competition has changed since then - hell Spieth, Thomas, Rahm were 7 or 8 years old when he won the Tiger Slam.
I'm with Dave, I'm going to have to see him contend in some full field events before I believe the magic has returned.