RichF

Potentially the biggest book on possibly the great golfer our our time...and one which should appeal to all: TW fanboys / haters / indifferent. Jaime Diaz is the one of the best golf writer in the business and I have no doubt 'The Big Miss' will be tastefully done, and anyone who doesn't think Hank Haney has insight into what has made one of the greatest champions in sporting history is being shortsighted. And why would Haney write anything scandalous...didn't he leave Tiger? (not the other way round?) Of course, releasing it a week before The Masters is down to the publishers, not Haney..and why everyone is slagging Haney, calling his 'classless' for releasing this book before they've read anything in it, is pretty funny.

That's good that he can switch it on like that and perform in front of 20,000. Rors has it all right now: great personality, super-hot girlfriend, best golfer in the world...making all the right moves.

Rors v Tiger: prescursor for this years' final Sunday-pairing at The Masters

Yesterday's 62 shows us that Woods is clearly on the way back to being at his very best...and maybe the 'it's a process' can be finally put to bed. However, I must warn 'The Woods Apologists' to be careful and wary with any future predicitons with 'Tiger for the 'W' at Doral', etc....have they kept their emotions in check so they don't get set up again for the let down? Doubt it. Having said that, he could actually get it all together and win a major this year. He might put it back together, he might get back to #1 and I, for one, hope he can do it. I also think, the true test of him 'being back', is being paired with someone like Rors on the 4th day and carrying it home....not just a Major... anything will do.

Quote: Is it??? Golly gosh. And there I was thinking it was a mere typo! Thanks, boss! I'll let you have Stevie The Racist, that's unforgivable IMP, but Haney? Publishing a book? Come on... Hey, it's not just ME who's saying it either... Why do you read anything I post re: Tiger Woods? Same reason everyone else does - so they can then do their "Leave Britney Alone!"-esque tantrums. I like you Erik, cos sometimes you come over like a smart-ass-know-it-all....just like me...but, my skateboard's better than yours.

Quote: Course you'll read it....the biggest golf book in years. You might find out a few things. Uh, yeah, he was. You know it, your Mods know it. Go back and have another look - voice wavering almost breaking, eyes visibly welling up. Doulbe-wow.

Quote: Yeah, this is 2011, buddy...the days of 'the Tour needs him' are a long, long gone and No, golf isn't boring without him. (unless that is, you like seeing the potential G.O.A.T fall apart on the course, that is) You feel sorry for him? You make it sound like it's everyone else's fault except his!! Everything bad that has happened to Woods is his fault, pure and simple. As ye sow, so shall ye reap... And what exact wrong-doings have Haney and Stevie committed?? I think you need to put away the rose-tinted spectacles and take a good look at the many other, better players on tour that make watching Tiger Woods as interesting as waching paint dry. Take a look at Rors : that guy is breathtaking everytime he tees it up now....he's always in contention. Superb swing, the best on tour bar none...and of course, at his age he's slowly growing into the role as Golf's Ambassador. Aside from the way he plays - non-robotic and with a lot of FUN, it's a great time to be watching golf along with the other up-and-comers... In contrast to that, we see Woods, stumbling around with yet more mediocre displays of shot-making, sort-range lip-outs, members of the gallery ducking for cover, etc, etc

Quote: Then why wouldn't Woods say this and summarily dismiss the whole affair? Why be so about something as pedestrian as everyone is saying? If he had NO PROBLEM talking about and denying the Gallea/PEDs affair, then why the stare, and brush-off and the emotional wavering of the voice in that interview? Look, we all know what happened here, it doesn't take a genius (or even any of the blind Woods-ites on this Forum) to figure it out: The facts is, Woods went to the SEAL base in 2006 and got to play around on some of their weapons. I'm sure they thought it was ace to have him there and he most likely enjoyed himself also. Woods comes back and then can't resist telling a story about what he did there. I'm sure he told this story to not only Haney but a couple of the hangers-on he was hanging out with at the time. If the story is false, then the co-author and the publishing company could be liable, but have the Woods camp come out and denied anything? If the story is true, all Haney has done is expose a phony. Consider, one snippet from a book, has caused all this hoo-hah. Can you imagine when the book is released in a few weeks? Woods was on a verge of a tearful breaking down after that Micelli Q&A;!!! When 'The Big Miss; is released, (and don't lie - you're ALL going to go out and buy it and read it), the press will go after Woods like a drunk wolfing down a curry at 2am in the morning.Woods story gets better by the minute. Just when you think he's turned a corner and all you 'head-in-the-sand's' are going "Yeahh!! He shot a 65 - he's BACK!", something new appears. As I said earlier, when the other 'dark demon' that should be cast out for all eternity that is Stevie, writes his book....hooooo-weeeeee!! That is going to be a frickin' jackpot of entertainment!

Quote: Yeah? That makes three low-lifes then: Micelli, Haney and Woods. So, if we agree on that point then you can also agree with me when I suggest that Woods clearly was bothered by Miceli's perfectly simple question. Why? We now know for fact that Woods' history is full of embellishment and lies, so saying he has done Navy SEAL training, but what he actually describes is nothing like what is actually done raises another flag, IMO. Micelli, aksed a question which put Woods in a checkmate position: he had to either had to say yes he did train with them or that Haney was making the story up. Either way he loses. Hence the reaction from Woods. (it's baffling to watch a worldly recognized figure who is so inept at handling himself) It has nothing to do with him not wanting to help Haney sell a book, it has everything to do with him getting caught in a lie....again. BTW, being a follower of Tiger's for many years, I'm really looking forward to (as must you, Erik and everyone else) reading 'The Big Miss' - should be the biggest sports book in years! (until Stevie, hopefully, brings his out too!)

One of two scenarios: 1 - Woods visited a Navy SEAL base, for a quick tour, then left. Afterward he told Haney that he had received some SEAL training, which included hand to hand combat and could defend his home if necessary. He also mentioned it didn't matter about his age because this limitation could be waived so he could enter, and spoke about being seriously interested in leaving golf to join. 2 - Haney completely made this story up. Micelli wasright on the money asking Woods a very simple question: "Did you train with the Navy SEALS?" If 'No' then he is calling Haney a liar. If 'Yes', then he is calling the SEALS liars as they have come out to see he NEVER trained with them. Woods of course being the media savvy individual he is did exactly what was to be expected: he got upity, insulting, and then looked real upset at the end of the exchange. So, down to one of two choices: A - Haney appears to have e-mails to back this up and has shown no signs of lying or fraudulent since his arrival in the public eye via Woods. B - Woods who is a confirmed liar and cheater. The obvious choice is there or all to see: in the objective, non-apologist real world, this is just another lie in a long string of them for Woods: trained with the military, being harrassed at school, lying to his wife, his family, his fans, and his friends, refusing to answer specific questions about Dr Galea, strange explanations of what happened on night in November 2+ years ago....it's nothing new. Whenever Woods has been confronted on one of his 'explanations', this is standard-proceedure: say little, stare, move on and wait until it goes away.

Watching yesterday, it was quite strange to see him as he was. I feel bad for Woods today, but he's he'll convince himself he's not 'done' - but he has to get a very big win: a WGC, The Players and/or a Major to be considered 'back'. Of course, he'll come back and try again of course but you can tell he just doesn't have it anymore.

Great Day #4. Seeing one of the greatest to ever play the game return to form, play outstanding golf and win his first tourny since march last year. Particularly impressive is the way Mickelson ignored Woods' bad play, never blinked and put his partner to the sword. I'm sure everyone's been in that situation when your playing partner is badly crash-n-burning and it affects your own game...

Quote: Probably for the same reason Norman weighed-in on Woods: to drum up interest for an end-of-season tournament that no-one's really bothered about. I'd be surprised if Team USA didn't all but blow away Team Who? by Saturday's afternoon 4somes...

Quote: Or, you can read constructive criticism, ponder over it, and then respond. But you know what? I agree with you here. I lot of people have suggested the PGA should act up and start fining/warning players for acting this way (they don't stand for swearing or tantrums or racquet abuse in tennis anymore) Woods would be on the top of this list. And I wouldn't expect this from any player in the Top 10, 20 nor from a player on Tiger's level who is ranked lower...Garcia, Watson, Levine, Hoffman, Daley, Sabbatini, O'Hair - names that spring to mind immediately when 'acting-the-jerk' on the golf-course. And by the way, I can say it til I'm blue in the face - I don't hate Tiger at all...if I did, I wouldnt have shook the guy's hand or wished him luck, pre-driving range on Day #1 at St Andrew's in 2010...but as usual, a lot of posters miss the point of my posts - it's not actually him my tirades are aimed at...

Quote: He may have skewered someone through the sternum with a sawn-off 1-iron for all I know. The fact that it's not been filmed or photographed means we'll never know for sure - only on what someone's written based on witnesses from almost 100 years ago. My guess is that not many people were watching...and I'm sure no kiddie said at the time: "Gee, Dad - you see Bobby Jones just called that guy a c*nt and took out another woman with a mashie"

Quote: Sign of the times I'm afraid. Over-generalizing here, but the more they get paid, the more of a jerk they seem to act. Re: Tiger, there's not much point reacting/opinionating. It's been going on for years, he doesn;t look any less or more of a twat when he's sulking/spitting/swearing/throwing clubs around, doesn't appear to give a sh!t either. But woe betide if you criticise him in any way, before one of the gang attacks you about you having the audacity to comment negatively about the man or his bad habits on the golf-course. Generally along the lines of: '"He's the World Number One (or 52nd) so he's entitled to sling clubs into crowds of people*, spit, swear..." * Check your facts RichF, he's never purposely thrown clubs into crowds - so stop HATING We're just average hackers posting on an Internet Forum and therefore not fit to even pick up his thrown driver, much less criticise him for doing it, so we all need to STFU and grant 'The G.O.A.T' the immunity he deserves from common sense and grown-up behaviour by the very nature of his god-given talents. And anyway, he can do whatever he likes: he's got 14 Majors - how many have you got?

Quote: You win a 'No-Prize' for picking out the two most trivial points of the post, which I threw them in to check to see if the pedantics are still in place. I could have said "the attendance was up 500% from last's years' 1,000 for 4 days" and "he's 36 years old" and still got a similar response...

I think it was a lot to ask him to turn up and win this...but to expect Top 5 was not out of the question, and certainly not a Top 10. Instead he flapped around and grinded into a T30. His performances used to inspire people and draw huge crowds. Now we have a small following of fanatics, and draws the derision of the majority. People are even throwing food at him... I call it as I see it - and the worst of this situation isn't so much his play, but that he is becoming used to not finishing high and being mediocre. Over the weekend, I watched to read his body language: shoulders slumped, grimacing (probably the knee is playing up again), he trundled off the course giving weak handshakes, starring at the ground. Result: 38 year old man with the body of a guy 10-15 years older. A shattered public persona who has become a side-show for a hardcore following who show up to watch, not to see his play but to witness the continual decline the most iconic golfer ever. For all the constant "it is what it is", "work in progress" and " I'm here for the 'W' " - I think this is a guy who knows what a lot of people already do: the game is up.

Tiger can bench 300 lb + 1RM...

I use TaylorMade RAC MB TPs with DG X-100s ...got them last year and found it straighened/lowered my previous ball-flight of hooky-and-high (using Titleist 695.MB with DG S300s). Initially, distance-wise I was about 10 yards shorter on each club, but over the last 6 months, I've been hitting the gym a lot and due to increased strength/flexibility, now I find I get more yardage out of every iron, e.g. I use my PW from 140yds, 6-iron-185yds, 3-iron-220yds, etc This is all well and good, butnow I can't hit my driver or fairway wood at all - TaylorMade R9s (9° / 15° with Fujikora Motore 65 &70 Stff stock-shaft, respectively)...I'd say 70% of shots is a 150-200yd duck-hook and Ive tried every fix: open-stance, open-face, weaker-grip...when I get one right, it goes....but that 'one' is usually out of 5 attempts... Could the constant use of Extra-Stiff flex in my irons have such an effect on my Stiff-shafted woods?

Quote: I agree....but just out of interest, does anyone know what the official data is for: a) TV viewing figures when Woods is playing in 2011 b) tournament gallery attendance figures when Woods is playing in 2011 Couples picking Woods for this tournament is solely about TV-ratings and little else. No rational person would pick him on his current game than for any other reason. And it's for this reason that the average-golf/sports-fan will tune in to watch Woods, good or bad. A 4th-day Scott v Woods MatchPlay sounds good...

Quote: No no...I mean there's been a changing-of-the-guard in the last 12-18 months...just like there was in the late '90s.

Quote: Come on man...this whole "I'm here to win...I'm here for the 'W'...I feel great...I'm hitting great shots...I'm a better player than I was 10-years ago..it's a work-in-progress...blah-blah-blah ' BS that we hear month after month... He's either saying what Steiny/Nike want him to say,, conference-after-conference, to keep as many people on-side as possible or...he's in total denial. Or both.

Come on, man....Els, Singh, Harrington, Garcia, etc - those guys are done. Guaranteed. They're as likely to win any major tournaments today as Couples, Love III, Price, Duval, etc would 5 years ago. There's time to smell the coffee and wake up... golf's moved on ... Would you seriously put money on Woods to win anything between now and September 2012?

Quote: Originally Posted by LankyLefty I dont see anything wrong with people paying big somes of money to entice Tiger to play in their tourney's. I think its a win win, Tiger gets to gets to make headlines for something positive and perhaps improve his game, the tourney sells tickets and increases TV ratings. Tiger Woods, good bad or average is still the biggest draw in golf. How long do you think it'll be before folks start not turning up to watch him hacking it around? He's totally in denial and he and his followers really need a reality check and should admit he's right back to 'Square-1'. He's ineligible for the PGA Tour play-offs and should go to tournaments that are good for his game , not just events that are willing to pay him inflated appearance fees.