The Tiger Woods Thread

AnneFrank

i'm a huge Tiger fan, and sick over his withdrawal, he hasn't looked right even walking around,
at the ryder cup alot of commentators were saying he was stiff too,
I hate to say it, but it could be the end of the great man playing

CalamariFritti

sob

WHIP IT!

At a loss to understand why people are so surprised/shocked by this. Woods hasn't been relevant on the course for several years.
The 'beginning of the end' was years ago. I don't know what we should call this.

LuckyGent88

Was looking forward to seeing him today even if I think he would have struggled. Weather isn't good there so maybe he just didn't fancy it.

However, the end looks in sight he looked uncomfortable, his swing didn't look right and he just looked physically unable to walk the 18 holes.

Would love to be wrong and see him compete at the top of the game but it's a long long way off.

HighLine

Just shows how you can never believe a word he says. It was obvious yesterday he was in a lot of pain and looked to be even struggling walking but yet in his post round interview yesterday he said - "I wasn't in pain at all"

Milkers

The only thing I will say is he looked much more "normal" at the Hero Challenge in December, had loads of birdies, shot a 65, and just generally looked extremely rusty. Fast forward two months and he looks like a crocked oul fella walking around. Bit odd.

Tom.D.BJJ

With his money, i'd be pumping HGH into myself to ensure i was healthy and mobile enough to enjoy an active life with my kids for a long long time.

slave1

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Back spasms his agent is saying. Sore thing.

I get these every few years from nowhere, very painful, very uncomfortable and then on egg shells for a few days as the back settles back, you can take medication but only after the fact. Not a nice experience.

I'm very sad to see him like this

Russman

Milkers wrote: »

The only thing I will say is he looked much more "normal" at the Hero Challenge in December, had loads of birdies, shot a 65, and just generally looked extremely rusty. Fast forward two months and he looks like a crocked oul fella walking around. Bit odd.

True, but maybe he was just able to swing a little more freely with massively wide fairways at the Hero, rather than possibly subconsciously tightening up on a proper tour set-up ? Who knows.

Even though I'm not really a fan (not a hater either), its pretty sad to see a once dominant player in the state he's in at the moment. I feel genuinely sorry for him. Fellas who aren't fit to clean his spikes are beating him.

Not 100% sure I buy the "rusty" argument in full though. I would have thought rusty would manifest itself more in the short game, silly dropped shots around the greens etc. I know he's had a few of these alright, but from what I saw at the Hero and the little bits from yesterday, quite a few of his dropped shots were from massive wides off the tee. If we're honest its been years since he's been able to hit fairways consistently, injury or not.

vienne86

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

Was looking forward to seeing him today even if I think he would have struggled. Weather isn't good there so maybe he just didn't fancy it.

However, the end looks in sight he looked uncomfortable, his swing didn't look right and he just looked physically unable to walk the 18 holes.

Would love to be wrong and see him compete at the top of the game but it's a long long way off.

I too was looking forward to today. Feel very pessimistic about his future - sad day.

Henry Ford III

A long lay off. 3 surgeries. 3 events played with only 1 finish and that at the bottom of the field.

Visually he looks bad. His form is relatively poor too.

I think we can all see where this is heading.

Rikand

If he comes play the 4 majors every year, that'll do me

Armchair Andy

Rikand wrote:

If he comes play the 4 majors every year, that'll do me

Are there amateur Wednesdays at Majors?

davo10

Unfortunately this has the look of a once great boxer who vanquished all before him but stayed to long in the ring only to take beating after beating. I said it previously on this thread, this is like the demise of Seve, you are rooting for him to do well but ultimately it is sad to watch as he sinks further and further into ignominy. Right now he is damaging his legacy, if he keeps going the way he is going, a new generation of golfer will remember him only as the guy who props up the field after hitting the ball like an 18 handicapper. The ball in the water from 100 yards out on the 9th is a case in point. Time for Tiger to spend time with his kids and reappear in the occasional seniors event in a few years time.

CalamariFritti

On reflection I must say the following. There is nothing that has changed what we saw considering his health and of course he pulled out and we're all worried this is just a drawn out retirement.

But on his play and the quality of his golf in Dubai. I just read that he came off the plane in the small hours of Tuesday morning after a 17 hours flight jumping I don't know how many hours going east, 12 or so? Then he was seen on the range around lunchtime. And teed off on Thursday morning.

There is no way he wouldn't be totally f***** with that schedule. I travel myself to the US a few times a year. I'm only jumping 5 or 6 or 7 hours and the way over is not so bad. You're just wide awake in your bed at 3 in the morning which gradually gets better through the first week. But you're wide awake. But after going the other way, coming back, I'm all over the place for nearly a week. Especially in the first couple of days I'd be glad not to be missing the ball tbh if I was playing golf.
Add to that the fact he's bound to be rusty anyway and I wouldn't be too harsh about the quality of play we've seen in Dubai.

The question is why would he do that to himself? He couldn't be needing the money could he? We know he had an expensive divorce but he is deemed to be the first billion dollar sportsman. So why?

Henry Ford III

Was his private jet repossessed?

fullstop

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Was his private jet repossessed?

Yeah I heard he flew economy, seat 57F between a pregnant woman and a screaming 2 year old.

CalamariFritti

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Was his private jet repossessed?

I wouldn't know only speculating but I'd say he just doesn't have one. Nobody buys these things they are crazy money like 150m. You'd lease one or have a share. And even that would only make sense if you needed one every week which wasnt really the case with him for the last two years.

Edit: I take it all back, still his. Maybe under maintenance or something.

bren2001

CalamariFritti wrote: »

I wouldn't know only speculating but I'd say he just doesn't have one. Nobody buys these things they are crazy money like 150m. You'd lease one or have a share. And even that would only make sense if you needed one every week which wasnt really the case with him for the last two years.

Edit: I take it all back, still his. Maybe under maintenance or something.

He has a private jet all right but there were protests at LAX (over Trumps immigration ban I assume) which meant he couldnt get to it. All according to Golf Weekly. He still flew first class so I don't really see him being stiff from the journey.

CalamariFritti

bren2001 wrote: »

He has a private jet all right but there were protests at LAX (over Trumps immigration ban I assume) which meant he couldnt get to it. All according to Golf Weekly. He still flew first class so I don't really see him being stiff from the journey.

But if you fly for 17 hours against the clock by 12 hours you gonna be a mess for a few days in any case. It really makes little sense what he did there for just golfing reasons.

Russman

CalamariFritti wrote: »

But if you fly for 17 hours against the clock by 12 hours you gonna be a mess for a few days in any case. It really makes little sense what he did there for just golfing reasons.

Didn't he miss the cut in Torrey Pines though ? Surely if he left the west coast on Friday evening or Saturday morning he'd be in Dubai before Tuesday ? Granted he would have been constrained by airline schedules but seems a long time for that journey (I think !)

He must have been getting a good chunk of change to turn up, wonder what his rate is these days, still in the millions ?

fullstop

bren2001 wrote: »

He has a private jet all right but there were protests at LAX (over Trumps immigration ban I assume) which meant he couldnt get to it. All according to Golf Weekly. He still flew first class so I don't really see him being stiff from the journey.

Exactly. Lie flat bed on those long haul carriers is as comfy as it gets, you just have to be disciplined with how much and when you sleep.

bren2001

CalamariFritti wrote: »

But if you fly for 17 hours against the clock by 12 hours you gonna be a mess for a few days in any case. It really makes little sense what he did there for just golfing reasons.

It was an odd journey to make and might explain the poor play but it doesn't explain the stiffness. He was walking around the course like a 60 year old. No point in jumping to conclusions, lets see if he plays Riviera.

CalamariFritti

Russman wrote: »

Didn't he miss the cut in Torrey Pines though ? Surely if he left the west coast on Friday evening or Saturday morning he'd be in Dubai before Tuesday ? Granted he would have been constrained by airline schedules but seems a long time for that journey (I think !)

He must have been getting a good chunk of change to turn up, wonder what his rate is these days, still in the millions ?

It actually said - cant remember where - that he arrived on Tuesday morning.

dball

Watch him trying to get into the chair from about 2.40 - and then he makes a joke as if to take away from the pain - He looks like he is suffering!

Milkers

dball wrote: »

Watch him trying to get into the chair from about 2.40 - and then he makes a joke as if to take away from the pain - He looks like he is suffering!

That was actually kind of shocking to see. Goes to show how much bull**** himself and his agent were talking about his state of fitness.

valoren

I recall reading the Hank Haney book. He wrote about how Tiger would exaggerate injuries to his athlete buddies. A slight twinge would become a fracture etc . Haney's reasoning was that this was him attempting to portray a more macho image of golf to his buddies. The likes of Jordan, Charles Barkley et al who periodically suffered themselves from the injuries we are more aware of from more physical sports.

He was concerned with being seen as equals to those other pro athletes, that Golf was also an equally athletic sport and that serious injuries were also common place and sometimes serious among golfers. Haney's contention was that it was this that drove Tiger into extreme weight lifting. Golf is a sport of skill, touch and finesse. A delicate chip, or a putting stroke is not exactly macho in the eyes of the public.
What is macho is driving. Power hitting. 300 yard drives. You don't hear people espouse the beauty of John Daly's chipping action. They think his bombing balls from beer cans is macho.

Woods created the blueprint for the 21st century golfer. He shifted the stereotype of a 'golfer' from the chubby, wealthy, pringle sweater wearing country club member to the power hitting, bench pressing athlete.

Now we see the opposite, where he is actually really seriously injured. The injury is downplayed, understated, made light of. He knows it but can't bring himself to admit it perhaps. Why he plays is another question. It's not as if he needs the money. He could cut ties with his sponsors and still be extremely wealthy. Is it remaining relevant? Is it for attention? That's anyone's guess.

We will all have to face the fact that one day Tiger Woods will be an honorary starter at the Masters.
Time waits for nobody. That day might be coming sooner than we think.

First Up

valoren wrote:

Woods created the blueprint for the 21st century golfer. He shifted the stereotype of a 'golfer' from the chubby, wealthy, pringle sweater wearing country club member to the power hitting, bench pressing athlete.

I think Gary Player did that about 40 years earlier.

Hoof Hearted2

valoren wrote: »

I recall reading the Hank Haney book. He wrote about how Tiger would exaggerate injuries to his athlete buddies. A slight twinge would become a fracture etc . Haney's reasoning was that this was him attempting to portray a more macho image of golf to his buddies. The likes of Jordan, Charles Barkley et al who periodically suffered themselves from the injuries we are more aware of from more physical sports.

He was concerned with being seen as equals to those other pro athletes, that Golf was also an equally athletic sport and that serious injuries were also common place and sometimes serious among golfers. Haney's contention was that it was this that drove Tiger into extreme weight lifting. Golf is a sport of skill, touch and finesse. A delicate chip, or a putting stroke is not exactly macho in the eyes of the public.
What is macho is driving. Power hitting. 300 yard drives. You don't hear people espouse the beauty of John Daly's chipping action. They think his bombing balls from beer cans is macho.

Woods created the blueprint for the 21st century golfer. He shifted the stereotype of a 'golfer' from the chubby, wealthy, pringle sweater wearing country club member to the power hitting, bench pressing athlete.

Now we see the opposite, where he is actually really seriously injured. The injury is downplayed, understated, made light of. He knows it but can't bring himself to admit it perhaps. Why he plays is another question. It's not as if he needs the money. He could cut ties with his sponsors and still be extremely wealthy. Is it remaining relevant? Is it for attention? That's anyone's guess.

We will all have to face the fact that one day Tiger Woods will be an honorary starter at the Masters.
Time waits for nobody. That day might be coming sooner than we think.

That's gas, Heaneys take on the situation seems to be overly simplistic and miles off the mark, maybe it helped him to sell the books IDK, even funnier though is that you and others buy into it;):pac:

valoren

Hoof Hearted2 wrote: »

That's gas, Heaneys take on the situation seems to be overly simplistic and miles off the mark, maybe it helped him to sell the books IDK, even funnier though is that you and others buy into it;):pac:

There was the media hype about the big 5 dominating golf during Tiger's era.
The other 4, Els, Goosen, Mickelson and Singh are still playing, albeit not winning championships with the same regularity. They are still playing is my point.

I'm sure they weren't doing navy seal type exercises during that time as Woods was. I'm sure they recognised they needed to work out, but they were smart enough to get themselves golf fit, not fit for BUDS. Woods crocked himself. There's no two ways about it.

I think of another famous player who also had back injuries. Bernhard Langer.
Managed his injury properly. Didn't rush back. Still playing, still capable of top 10 at the Masters, still winning on the Champions tour.