Professional golf, as good as it is, has lost a lot of the charm
and character it had before Tiger Woods appeared and turned the sport of fun
and relaxation into one of all business. It’s gone from creating shots to one
of exact yardages. And, as long as the media continues to worship Woods as if
there will a second, third, fourth—you get the idea—coming of Tiger, the game
will suffer from lack of a cluster of stars to take his place as the lead
attraction. There are plenty of good golfers in the professional ranks, none
who capture the attention of golfers and those who don’t play golf as Woods
does, but it is better to concentrate on what’s at hand than what’s not and why
with Tiger.
Today, on nearly every golf broadcast, on nearly every show
on the Golf Channel, in written golf columns all over the world, on radio
sports radio broadcasts that include golf and sometimes not, discussions
migrate to “What’s wrong with Tiger?” and how to fix his game to return him to
the top level of competition, to gain the spotlight, the leadership role, the
throne as many pundits prefer. Just a couple of years ago, Tiger won five
tournaments, not the major kind, but he won on the PGA Tour, against the best
of the rest. In those tournaments, he dominated the minds of others which
allowed his dwindling physical ability to play just well enough to surpass the
others. His mental ability, though, dwindles with every bad shot he makes,
every “wrong” swing he produces, every slight appearance of wrong-doing on the course
and off.
In recent years, Tiger has had physical problems and
sometimes blamed those ailments on his swing, something he’s changed often in
his career. He has always been a power player off the tee. In his early years, he
shortened the courses with his long ball. When his drives split the fairway,
and even when those tee shots are just a little off line, Tiger has been within
reach of the greens with much shorter irons than the competition. His play of
those irons—8, 9, W, etc—was superior. His putting ability was legend. But now,
more than ever, he’s off his game. His strength—his ability to play and score
better than the rest—started with his drives; now that’s a weakness. He’s
pressing himself causing his shot to avoid fairways way right and way left,
requiring him to hit scrambling shots with which he is unfamiliar or for which
he makes a half-hearted effort as if he’s seeking someone’s sympathy. Those bad
approach shots put him in tough putting positions, decreasing his accuracy on
the green. The result of all of this has been missed cuts or finishing his
final tournament round hours before the leaders tee off on the final day of the
event.
Some say he needs a new swing coach; others say he needs help
other places; some suggest he stop everything else—including following a
well-known skier—to concentrate on his golf. Maybe his time has passed, that he
will not surpass Jack Nicklaus in “major” titles; he definitely will not do
that if he keeps playing the way he has been recently. He doesn’t need the
money; but he needs the success, the spotlight though he doesn’t want any
outsides coming inside.
There is a solution to his woes, but it would be un-Tiger-like to
do it. He needs to throttle back on the tee, not try to duplicate his
game that dominated the tour for so long. He needs to hit straighter yet
shorter shots off the tee and develop a better mid-range game. In doing so, if
successful, he’ll increase his confidence and not enter a tournament wondering
if he’ll be around for the final two rounds. He doesn’t need a new swing coach
or a new caddy or a new psychological guru. Nearly any daily greens fee golfer
could take the place of each of those. It’s obvious Tiger’s not having fun
playing tour events and that’s because he’s not winning, not dominating. He’ll
only get the fun and the winning back when he hits fairways and greens and
holes a few putts. It’s to be seen if he can do it; it’s doubtful he ever
will. Golf will survive without him. It’s been nice knowing his game.
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Dictionary.com
word of the day
eyesome
(adjective)
[ahy-suh m]: pleasant to look at
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