Gaining Momentum

It was bound to happen eventually.  Tiger Woods gets a top-5 in an event for the first time since the Masters in April.  At the Australian Open Tiger posted a 67 on the final day of competition which consisted of a red hot back nine.  He made the turn at 3 under, then par on the 10th led to a lackluster tee shot on the par 5 11th.  The hole finished with a bogey, but Mr. Woods got it back right after at the #1 hardest hole on course the 12th with a birdie.  On the drivable par 4 13th, he pulled driver-horrible decision.  After approaching the hole in a mess, that hole led to another bogey.  He chipped in for eagle at the par 5 14th, and followed up with an unfortunate birdie at the 17th after the eagle putt slid past the hole by mere millimeters.-He finished solo 3rd.


After the round, Tiger said that if he posted an even or 1-under score during the third round, (Saturday) he probably would have won the tournament.  He did go on to indicate that he is extremely pleased with the progress he's making, and noted that the time he has "finally been put into practicing" is starting to pay off. Some of his competitors are just as upbeat.  Jason Day, paired with Woods for the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday, said after the 2nd round that Tiger "is starting again to hit shots nobody on the planet can hit."  One can definitely say that it is good to see that the "younger generation" is beginning to observe what it's like to play with Tiger rounding into his "A-Game."  Because previously, when these younger golfers joined the tour, Woods was in the middle of a giant scandal, with his game in shambles, and downright embarrassing.  The newbies such as Day, Fowler, and even Rory McIlroy really have not seen Tiger play currently like how he was playing when they were growing up watching him golf on TV.


"Tiger is the best golfer in the world, forever." This was said by United States Presidents Cup team captain Fred Couples who decided use one of his captains picks in early August on Tiger.  Obviously, one will agree with this statement made by Mr. Couples.  And with the Presidents Cup only a day away, fans of golf will see that Tiger really is starting to become the best player again.  


Here are some quotes said by competitors and teammates of Tiger leading up to the Presidents Cup.-


"I think Tiger and Adam are still very good friends, I don’t think there’s a problem – I think Stevie and Tiger patched it up, I honestly think he’ll have a good time."-Fred Couples, during President's Cup Interview


"His return to dominance seems inevitable."-Phil Mickelson, on the state of Woods' game


“Anybody that … jumped off that wagon, they jumped off way too quick. I have a feeling he’s going to make people eat their words.”-John Cook, on Tiger Woods


Only time will tell regarding when Tiger will resurge completely.  The Presidents Cup is this week, he then returns to California to play in his own Chevron World Challenge first week of December.  Following roughly another four week break, Tiger will return at the Farmers Insurance Open in January.


Tiger says he's ready.  Are you?

Waiting Game

Well, he's done it again.  The world had seen Tiger Woods for a total of 20 seconds during the Frys.com Open last month, then he was gone, untraceable, he totally disappeared.  It was seen that improvement has been made.  The 3 final rounds in the 60's were the most positive step we've all seen since the electrifying start to the PGA Championship before a total crash and burn front nine.  We saw glimpses of 2009 Tiger, he made semi consecutive birdies throughout all three rounds.  His real only flaw at the Frys was that he did not find enough fairways; because during tournament coverage, we saw that he consistently made putts from shots exclusively from the fairway after a would-be stellar tee shot.

His putting during the first round (of which he shot a 73) was a little off, but the lead strips on the bottom of the putter drastically improved results.  Although we did not see any fist pumps, Tiger had shown that he has been working on most aspects of his game.  Personally, one can hope that he trusts his full swing enough to exclusively work on putting.  Because if the guy can putt even semi-well, he's better that the entire field no matter what anyone else scores.

Our next opportunity to see the greatest golfer of all time is coming up at the Australian Masters-November 10-13th, an event he won by 2 strokes in 2009 (also his last worldwide win).  Even last year at the same even we started seeing progress; Tiger finished in solo 4th with amazing putting during his final round.  Obviously during his press conference, his goal, as always, is as Tiger says "to get a W."  One can say with a definitive argument now that he does have the capability to win; due to his three straight 68's, the 62 at Medalist way long ago, and the, oh lets say 5 weeks of hopefully intense practicing with Sean Foley.

Tiger's 2011 schedule concludes with a solid appearance at the President's Cup, proving everyone wrong, staring down international captain Greg Norman with every drained putt.  Fred Couples will look like a genius, and Tiger will go into December's Chevron World Challenge, Graeme McDowell-less- tournament and again, hopefully win.

He then, YET AGAIN, disappears, to his Jupiter Island Mega-Mansion with backyard golf course for the winter.  In hopes of a full 2012-Injury-Free schedule, his first 2012 tournament will be the Farmer's Insurance Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links on January 23-27th.

Tiger will win in 2012, he's too motivated not too. And after this season, with that beyond believably epic front 9 at the Masters-a Major Trophy he shall lift again. Time is just in the way.

Getting it In

Last Thursday at approximately 7:30pm, the world was woken up to the news that the one and only, Mr. Tiger Woods is teeing it up at Firestone Country Club, home of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.  I called this eons ago.  I said that if he was going to return this season it would have to be either here, or directly into the PGA Championship, the year's final major.  Nevertheless, this does not come as a surprise, Tiger has obviously chosen to come back to Firestone because of the apparent comfortability factor.  This is a course on which he has won seven times...SEVEN TIMES, with most of them coming in consecutive order.

On Tuesday, Tiger had his press conference giving out the subtle, but sometimes telling Woods-isms.   Reporter-"How do you feel, the knee and achilles?" Mr. Enthusiastic- "They feel great."  Quite the descriptive response from the worlds most-recognizable athlete.  No, when asked about the leg he simply stated that it's back to 100%, and that his "docs," of which he listened to this time, said that he was given the green light to play this week.  Later on in the press conference Tiger stated that his health has not been this good in years.  "Years" he said, "plural."

Now, how much of this we can believe, I do not know.  A good point made by Jason Sobel, senior writer at The Golf Channel, stated that Tiger says he's "good to go" all the time.  And that he roughly had the same response back at THE PLAYERS where he shot a 42 over just nine holes.  He unfortunately was not "good to go" then, and we can't jump to conclusions based on a serious snare on Tiger's face telling us he's ready to go.  After his practice round of nine holes, also on Tuesday, Sean Foley, his ever-upbeat swing coach, said that Tiger looked "sharp, very sharp."  What else is he going to say? " Oh yeah Tiger looks horrible, he definitely won't win this week."  I bet he's paid by Tiger to say half of the things he says to the media.

I really hope Tiger's health is at an all time high.  I want his health to stay there, along with everyone else in the golfing world who wants his health to stay there.  Tiger being healthy and competing drives the entire game.  And if he's as "sharp" and as "focused ready to compete in the tournament" as he and Sean Foley says he is, get ready for Tigergeddon.  He'll start wiping out whole fields again...maybe not by 10-15 strokes, but from maybe 4-5, and that's solid.  Let's face it, he hasn't been "healthy" since really before 2008...and that's why he hasn't won anything, but the second he wins...everyone watch out.

But it needs to start at Firestone on Thursday.

Tiger to Miss 2011 British Open

This is not a surprise.  Tiger Woods is missing the British Open due to injuries to his left leg.  We all know that this is the leg that he had season-ending surgery on in '08, just after the epic U.S. Open with Rocco Mediate.  This is also the leg that includes a knee that has been shattered by the swing Butch Harmon created years ago.  Lets just say, this is the Achilles Heal for the "greatest golfer" on the planet.

After his announcement during his AT&T National press conference,  The Golf Channel immediately analyzed Tiger's latest appearance as weak, bland, and totally uneventful.  What else were they expecting? Some supernatural announcement indicating that Tiger will start playing non-marquee events such as the John Deere Classic or the Reno-Tahoe Open?  This is Tiger Woods, not some random, out of the Top-50 golfer.  Everyone wants to believe that Tiger will play in every tournament they watch on T.V., and that him not playing at all begins to indicate a retirement plan in action.

Tiger Woods is not finished playing golf.  He should have been "smart" several years ago, just before he joined forces with Hank Haney, but his drive and focus enabled him to win for years at a time while being hurt.  He's only 35, turning 36 in December.  He has many more years ahead of him, and almost 40 more majors to compete in, AND he's already committed to the 2016 Olympics.  Jack won a major at age 46, as of now, Mr. Woods is right on track to match the record setting maverick.  

Just watch, come this time in 2012, we'll all see a 16 in the "Majors Won" column of Tiger's book.  

Retirement plan...ha