Phil finished at +3 in the U.S. Open just like Tiger and missed the cut at the Colonial. It’s quite obvious that he has lost it.
Don’t forget that he won the Masters less than three months ago.:rolleyes:
See how fast he’s losing it?
whoooooosh!
No whoosh. LM is obviously delusional. For the record, Tiger and Phil have played in the same tournaments 7 times since late September.
Phil has beat Tiger 6 of those 7 tournament, (tied in the other one) and won 3 of those tournaments.
Tiger is not making enough of a commitment to fix his game, assuming he can. He went to Scotland for a 2 day hob nob with the rich instead of playing the Scottish Open. Then he flew back to America to see at his kids.
I don’t think that’s going to be a factor for him, ever. He’s simply way too rich as it is right now. I think its confidence he’s lacking, and as you mentioned, he’s not King Of The Golf World anymore like he’s used to being.
I think he’ll get back to himself before too long. He’s just too damn good not to, unless he just completely loses his focus permanently.
Some people are speculating that he flew back to sign some legal papers. :dubious:
A few years ago it was a foregone conclusion that he would break Nicklaus’ record for major victories. Is that still the case or is the conventional wisdom that he will fail to do so?
The Tiger of today will fail. He has to get it back, but I don’t see that happening in the near future. Tiger always had great commitment and a practice ethic.But , he has so many distractions with the divorce, lawyers and endless arguing with his wives lawyers, that he will not be able to focus on golf for a while. Then the guilt over what his actions did to his relationship with his kids has to eat away at him too. He is carrying a weight of his own making .
It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. He’ll probably win at St. Andrews and that will be the end of this conversation. Tiger is simply far better than any golfer in history, in almost every facet of the game. This combination of skill and psychology doesn’t just disappear forever. Phil and the others better get their majors in while he’s down. Once Tiger gets it back, he might not lose again. He does need to pair up with a good coach to make things easier on himself.
The fact that he finished 4th in the last 2 majors proves this. To still finish 4th and play as poorly as has been playing is amazing.
I hope you are right because golf needs him. But the 4th places don’t matter. he was not a real contender. This year you slide way down the players to find his name. He is not getting closer as he plays. That is a bad sign.
I think the “conventional wisdom” is not very stable right now. It was built up over a number of years, and will take some time to calibrate itself again.
As for me, I think he’s vulnerable, but I wouldn’t bet on him not breaking Nicklaus’ record.
Hard to say. Apparently, screwing pornstars is like his Popeye spinach.
Well, if the “wisdom of crowds” holds, he will win a major very soon. As bad as he’s playing, he’s the overwhelming betting favorite to win The Open Championship. He’s at +375 ($100 wins you $375 if he wins). The next highest odds at +700 are for “The Field”, which is any golfer outside of the Top 50. The next individual golfers are all at +1000, and include Justin Rose, Ernie Els, Phil Michelson and Rory McIlroy.
Based on the betting odds, his probability of winning is at least 2.66 times better than any other golfer. He’s no longer even liked by most people. But they’re still betting on him.
Rick Reilly made a good point recently: About 9 months ago, one could argue that the 3 most popular athletes in the US were Tiger Woods, Peyton Manning and LeBron James. Each has had a significant fall from grace since: Tiger as philanderer, Peyton as choke artist and LeBron as traitor.
You know… the last time I played, as I teed up the first hole at my favorite local course, a long, sloping down and to the left fairway, I thought about this kind of discussion. I took my practice stroke, a smooth, clean swing that sent the imaginary ball zooming down the middle of the fairway, just a bit of a fade on it, to land 275 away.
Then I took my actual swing, and I was for the thousandth time or so reminded of how much of gap there is between any PGA player and me.
Even Tiger’s “poor” showing is extraordinary, and matched by me only when hitting the imaginary ball.
I believe that even if he settles down at a level below his mighty earlier one, he’ll still continue to make a mark on the sport for years to come.
Tiger shot a 67 at the British Open. His only bogie was at the road hole. He is 4 back in 8th. That is a solid start.
So far the answer is, no Tiger can not get it back.
Let’s assume that he doesn’t win the PGA either in August. Here is a list of male golfers who have won 4 or more majors from ages 35 onwards:
Jack, 6
Hogan, 6
Snead, 5
Player, 4
Hogan and Snead played before fields achieved their modern depth (tho the fact that they were typically fighting each other for said titles should be noted: from 1948-53 they won 12 of 24 majors). Jack was well Jack, and neither his nor Player’s accomplishments should be discounted really, but again the fields simply don’t quite compare to those of the last 10 years. I’d clarify that a bit-while the number of elite players hasn’t really differed from era to era, the number of guys who could come out of nowhere and steal a few here and there most definitely has. And it could be argued that Tiger, during his truly torrid run from 1999-2002, benefited from the lack of any other elite players who could consistently challenge him, like Arnie, Gary, Trevino, and Watson did. Lefty only won his 1st major after Tiger already had 8 in the books.
I can’t find any oddsmakers who have put out a line, but I’d peg his chances at getting 19 at 5:2 (29% chance).
Those golfers did not go through a mess of their own making like Tiger. He should be at his peak. He is far from it. He has to get his head straight and that wont be easy, specially when his problems are on going and will be for some time.