Running Tiger Woods thread

If he can't hit the fairway better than 60 percent of the time, he'll never get a Top 10 finish in a major, muchless a win.
Miss 10 fairways at any British Open in a round and you're cooked.

His short game looked good, way better than it has in years. ... Is he going to put everything together - drive, chip and putt (and stay healthy!)?

 

Obviously very different courses, and very different fairways, but it's really silly that he switched his driver to one of TaylorMade new silly "TwistFace" drivers (which sounds like a Batman villain) instead of sticking with the M2 he was hitting well in the Bahamas. He's such a sticker for having equipment exactly the way he wants it, I always find it bizarre when he just goes along with whatever marketing gimmick his club company needs to push. His misses with this M3 were like 25 yards off line. Some of that was probably fatigue, but still. Play with clubs you trust, man.

 

I think the one thing everyone should agree on is that this comeback looks a lot more promising than the last few comebacks.

 

He should pull a Federer-at-the-French and just skip all future U.S. Opens. For his physical health, and my mental. Obviously a very encouraging tourney from health and results standpoint, but it could all come apart -- in both regards -- at next tourney so I just enjoy them for what they are and maintain a bit of hope for the possibility of future Ws. But goddamnit if I don't still get a bit of a thrill when he puts some birdies together and climbs within 5 of the lead and start thinking, well, maybe, if he keeps it going and leaders falter and....(and then he inevitably loses it a bit at the end but still).

Regarding Ryan's column. I totally understand the sentiment. But for me, at this point it's more like an artist than an athlete, for what I'm looking for. I know Scorsese is never going to make another Raging Bull or Goodfellas. But I still really enjoy when he's got a new movie and there's also, however slight, still the chance that something amazing will come out. Stephen King of today is not the Stephen King of 1974-1987 (Carrie, Salem's Lot, The Stand, The Shining, IT, Pet Sematary, Misery) but I'm still damn glad he's producing new material. Same with Tiger. I'm not looking for 2000, or 2005, or, really, even 2013, the last time he was healthy and won 5 times. Just the ability and health that allows him to play a dozen tourneys a year for a few more years and maybe win one or two and, as long as he's healthy and still in early to mid 40s, the possibility that, because this is golf where guys -- much less the most dominant ever -- sometimes come out of nowhere to compete in a major, he can perhaps make a run at major 15 some time.

 

If his short game is anything like it was this weekend, he may win The Masters.......this year.
Good thing about Augusta is there is no rough. At all.
You're telling me a guy is hitting 17/56 fairways at Torrey Pines and somehow manages to finish T23?
That's turning chicken shit into chicken parmesan.

 

I'm so pumped for The Masters' ceremonial first drives in 2053, when Tiger takes out a new big stick specifically designed for his arthritis and crippled back because after the 2052 Masters ceremonial first drive he was annoyed when Mickelson said that Tiger was "pissed" he couldn't drive it as far as Phil because of "inferior" equipment.

 

I certainly understand this thinking and don't exactly disagree. But if he sticks to the M2, while Day/DJ/Rose are hitting the twist/face and he's on the M2, its a bad look for TM and TW.

 

It's a bad look for TaylorMade, maybe, but it would be super easy for him to say "I just love the M2 and need a little more time to get this new driver dialed in" and it would be a story for about 30 seconds and no one would care. He didn't appear in any of TM's marketing release videos for the m3/m4 (even though Rory, DJ, Day, Rahm and Rose all did) so it's clear TM isn't pressuring him to push their product that much. He's also not playing a TM ball, or putter, nor does he have a TM bag, so his deal can't be for that much money. At this point, I wish he'd just play whatever the hell he wants and shrug at whatever cash people are throwing at him. Unless he's really that hard up for money.

 

Its a mystery that he's never been an accurate driver while everyday guys like JB Holmes/Koepka are bombers yet hit fairways. Even Palmer yesterday was hitting it pretty long and out there (at times past Rahm on Sat (?)). Maybe its like Kostis offered during the telecast, Woods just has to get comfortable with the surge from playing tournament golf and sync his body better.