Is Tiger Woods all washed up?

[wildheart]

Having read the Big Miss - Hank Haney's frank account of working with Tiger Woods, it struck me that Woods has mental health issues.
Watching some of his shots recently and his no show in the Ryder Cup (continual back and knee problems), it looks like we are witnessing the capitulation of one of sports greats.
Mentally Tiger seems to have gone, or perhaps he's just moved on.
Lindsey Vonn is enough to take any man's mind off golf.
http://www.buschleaguesports.com/ind...tory-in-italy/

But having slumped to 56th in the world ranking, coming 132nd in the Phoenix open shooting a card wrecking 82.
the shots he was playing would embarress an 18 handicapper.
Sad to see but maybe like with Seve time and age have just caught up with him?


http://www.sbnation.com/golf/2015/2/...enix-open-2015

[ANDYB151]

A great athlete in his day, but he's had troubles for a while now.

[Mick P]

A great athlete in his day, but he's had troubles for a while now.

I am inclined to agree, old age and deterioration comes to us all and always rather early for sportsmen.

Mick

[Captainhowdy]

I'm sure he will win again, but he is now past his best and no chance of him overtaking Jack as the all time best.

[GraniteQuarry]

Doing all those holes has got to take its toll.

[Jimnic007]

Doing all those holes has got to take its toll.

LOL!

In all seriousness though, doing all that road running and wannabe Navy Seal training has really taken its toll on TW. His body is no longer up to playing golf at the standard he once played.

[Argee1977]

Too early to say really, i'd say give him another couple of tournaments to see if he can come back in some way, as with most he's a confidence player, so who knows, one good round and he could do well, although the days of dominance are over he still has the ability to win more majors for me, he just needs to get that confidence back.

[MakeColdplayHistory]

I'm sure he will win again...

I would be surprised if he ever wins anything significant again.
I don't dislike the fella - I just think he's broken.

(also Lindsey Vonn is mine - she just doesn't know it yet)

[TorGunnar]

I hope so. Vile human being.

Don't let the door hit ya on the way out.

[kultschar]

Maybe wearing his DSSD all the time has finally worn him out

[Mike_B]

I can't see him coming back, and given another bad tournament or two along the lines of the Phoenix one, I'm not sure how strong his resolve will be to continue - hope he surprises us, just doubt he will!

I hope so. Vile human being.

Don't let the door hit ya on the way out.

Why?

[midgetda]

He doesn't look in the best of health at the moment and I agree with others, looks past his best now. But could still come back and produce over 4 rounds and win another major or two if he can put it all together.

[ASK3L]

I'm not a Tiger fan, despise how he behaved using his wife/kids as a shield while trying to pull the wool over everyones eyes.
Despite that I'm not into the knee jerk reaction to his performance on the course.
He has been there before where he was written off before coming back to World #1. This time he had back surgery before choosing to go with a new coach!
A month before xmas when some Videos of his new swing were released the hype was how good it was, now 6 rounds later he is washed up WTF? is that all about!
Give it some time and if anyone wants a small wager that he will not break into the top 50 this season I'm all ears.

And I have to say on the HH book.

Having read the Big Miss - Hank Haney's frank account of working with Tiger Woods, it struck me that Woods has mental health issues.

To many it is a "Bitter account" not a "frank account"

[sevvy]

I hope so. Vile human being.


Don't let the door hit ya on the way out.

Why is he a vile human being? What evidence do you have apart from what's out there in the media?Because he cheated on his wife.... That puts a huge population of men in the same category. Because he's not as media friendly as other golfers.... He got quoted off the record very early on and has been guarded ever since. Because he's got a huge ego..... Add countless other driven successful people to that list too!
I'm a huge golf fan and have read some books on Woods and he is one of the most well liked players amongst his peers. I don't doubt he's got numerous faults but you try living in the media spotlight 24-7 for 20 years and see how you get on!
He's been written off numerous times and proven people wrong in the past. I've seen him play in the flesh and, not being old enough to have seen Nicklaus in his prime, he is the best golfer of my generation and I hope he goes on to win again, especially another Major. But as the Captain said Nicklaus' 18 majors must seem a very long way away

[ronin]

Why is he a vile human being? What evidence do you have apart from what's out there in the media?Because he cheated on his wife.... That puts a huge population of men in the same category. Because he's not as media friendly as other golfers.... He got quoted off the record very early on and has been guarded ever since. Because he's got a huge ego..... Add countless other driven successful people to that list too!
I'm a huge golf fan and have read some books on Woods and he is one of the most well liked players amongst his peers. I don't doubt he's got numerous faults but you try living in the media spotlight 24-7 for 20 years and see how you get on!
He's been written off numerous times and proven people wrong in the past. I've seen him play in the flesh and, not being old enough to have seen Nicklaus in his prime, he is the best golfer of my generation and I hope he goes on to win again, especially another Major. But as the Captain said Nicklaus' 18 majors must seem a very long way away

One of the most well liked players amongst his peers! I don't think so. I know people within the game and Woods and Phil Mickelson are two of the most disliked players in the game! His body can't seem to take the strain of playing tournament golf.

[sevvy]

One of the most well liked players amongst his peers! I don't think so. I know people within the game and Woods and Phil Mickelson are two of the most disliked players in the game! His body can't seem to take the strain of playing tournament golf.

Then read one of the books on Woods by Tom Callahan who is a journalist covering the PGA Tour and has done for years with access to all areas. The book actually highlights this because of Mickelson's media friendly image compared with how his peers see him, which was the reverse of Woods. I'm not for one second saying Woods is a great guy. Heaven knows he needs some seriously good PR at times. But Woods seems to polarise people the way no other golfer does when the vast majority of people calling all sorts of hideous names know very little about him. Dustin Johnson has just come back from self imposed exile after being caught cheating on a fellow players wife, loads of rumours of drugs use and shagging around. Yet he gets a minuscule of attention in comparison.

I think someone mentioned earlier in this thread that Woods was obsessed with the Navy Seals training because of his Dad's background and it's probably this that's caused him the endless issues.

[ASK3L]

Then read one of the books on Woods by Tom Callahan who is a journalist covering the PGA Tour and has done for years with access to all areas. The book actually highlights this because of Mickelson's media friendly image compared with how his peers see him, which was the reverse of Woods. I'm not for one second saying Woods is a great guy. Heaven knows he needs some seriously good PR at times. But Woods seems to polarise people the way no other golfer does when the vast majority of people calling all sorts of hideous names know very little about him. Dustin Johnson has just come back from self imposed exile after being caught cheating on a fellow players wife, loads of rumours of drugs use and shagging around. Yet he gets a minuscule of attention in comparison.

I think someone mentioned earlier in this thread that Woods was obsessed with the Navy Seals training because of his Dad's background and it's probably this that's caused him the endless issues.

A book by a journo, the truth! Really!
DJ took a self imposed exile! As with a few others he was told if he didn't he was getting a ban and it had nothing to do with shagging about!
Tiger doing seal training all the time! According to Tiger!
Nobody else changes swing! It's a shorter list to name someone who sticks to 1.
It's truly shocking what people choose to believe when they should know better or at least look at the big picture not what the tabloid journalism is telling you!

[maccer]

I do not think any other golfer has successfully changed their swing more then once - in terms of massive overhaul on swing, tiger is now on what his 4th or 5th version??? He looks so uncomfortable when he swings now compared to 1997 -2004 ( his swing changed in that period as well but it was always fluid) Look at all the greatest players of all time generally they stuck with what they had (if they were already successful) unless they had to change due to injury (hogan and a few others) Although I am sure someone will find some exceptions :-).

IMO Tiger has injured himself with his swing under foley. He now seems to have lost his short game which again IMO under pressure was arguably the best ever! Shame, would love to see him at his peak going head to head with Rory.

I have made quite a bit on betfair shorting Tiger woods in all majors for the last 4 years.

[number2]

I hope so. Vile human being.

Don't let the door hit ya on the way out.

I'm not really a golf fan so maybe shouldn't post about TW, but do prey enlighten us as to what makes him a ''Vile human being''?

[Tomaitch]

Tigers dominance of golf is unfortunately over . He has over engineered his body and left behind what were his core ingredients to his earlier success .
When you consider at the time of his ' indescretions '! He was going round the world dominating the majority of the events he played in . A feat of some endurance and strategic planning to boot .
Since a young boy he was moulded into the almost Super golfing machine both on a mental and physical basis .
Once he found fame and fortune and possibly the death of his Father who was unarguably the dominant force behind his career distractions have become harder to ignore . It was really just a matter of time .
Tiger was at his best easily the best golfer on the Planet . He doesn't have the elasticity he had ten years ago , his hips are slower , on the course at least ;-) He has bulked up his body too much and his mental focus which I believe was his main strength is nothing like it was . There were times in his career that after a round of golf he couldn't remember what shots he had played where . Almost trance like state that he had been playing under .
He I am sure will bounce back to win here and there , he is too good not too but the days of greatness are a distant memory now .
Mcilroy will dominate for a while but his hips cannot move the way they do forever , many golfers today are shortening their shelf life by over exerting their joints using vastly overdeveloped certain muscle groups.
Time will tell.

[wildheart]

Tigers dominance of golf is unfortunately over . He has over engineered his body and left behind what were his core ingredients to his earlier success .
When you consider at the time of his ' indescretions '! He was going round the world dominating the majority of the events he played in . A feat of some endurance and strategic planning to boot .
Since a young boy he was moulded into the almost Super golfing machine both on a mental and physical basis .
Once he found fame and fortune and possibly the death of his Father who was unarguably the dominant force behind his career distractions have become harder to ignore . It was really just a matter of time .
Tiger was at his best easily the best golfer on the Planet . He doesn't have the elasticity he had ten years ago , his hips are slower , on the course at least ;-) He has bulked up his body too much and his mental focus which I believe was his main strength is nothing like it was . There were times in his career that after a round of golf he couldn't remember what shots he had played where . Almost trance like state that he had been playing under .
He I am sure will bounce back to win here and there , he is too good not too but the days of greatness are a distant memory now .
Mcilroy will dominate for a while but his hips cannot move the way they do forever , many golfers today are shortening their shelf life by over exerting their joints using vastly overdeveloped certain muscle groups.
Time will tell.

Yea I reckon this sort of sums up my view. I've just finished...In search of the Tiger, Ian Staffords great read on a high handicappers grail to break shooting 80. He travels the world looking for the Tiger ingredient. The book was written in 2002, when Tiger was at his hiatus.
In the last dozen years so much has changed in Tigers life, mentally he just seems not to have the resolve. Faldo had the mental strength to fundimentally change. Ernie Els is also very tough mentally, but very few can hang in there at the very top... post 40. Tigers on the cusp, at 39 he has to make serious choices if he wishes to compete like Tom Watson, Phil Mickleson, Couples, Furyk etc.
Or he just walks away. I hate to see him spiral down even lower and become a journey man. The seniors is 11 years away he'll not make that.
Golf needs him with the Olympic agenda on the horizon, he is/was one of the greatest living sportsman, just sad to see him hacking around a shadow of his former self.

[Backward point]

I think that the decline of Tiger Woods exemplifies my feeling that top international sportsmen are more often than not fundamentally flawed as human beings.

Any youngster with talent or "star quality" is processed by "the system" and honed into a one-dimensional machine. Once out of their very small world of performing and giving scripted and rehearsed media appearances they really aren't very accomplished as people.

There are, of course, exceptions to this. But in the modern era of agents and personal sponsors they seem to be few and far between. So it's hardly surprising that some of them go off the rails occasionally, and given the fact that their lives are lived in the media spotlight, any transgression is instant news around the globe thanks to the public's insatiable appetite for gossip and scandal.

[sevvy]

Couldn't agree more with above post.
I think where Woods has made it worse for himself is by being so prickly with the media and, as a result, they jump on the opportunities that arise from Woods' life.
Dan Jenkins did a hatchet job on him recently by doing a pretend interview with him, it was very funny

[Alansmithee]

Tiger Woods is taking an indefinite break from golf, saying his game is "unacceptable for tournament play".
Woods, 39, withdrew injured from last week's event at Torrey Pines after just 12 holes, having missed the cut at the Phoenix Open the week before.
He said: "I need a lot of work on my game, and to spend time with people that are important to me like models from adult films.
"I enter a tournament to compete at the highest level, and when I think I'm ready, I'll be back."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/golf/31432730

[markrlondon]

^^^ <chortle> I suspect that certain aspects of that quote may not be exactly as Mr. Woods uttered them.

[earlsy]

^^^ <chortle> I suspect that certain aspects of that quote may not be exactly as Mr. Woods uttered them.

Having just read that article on the BBC, I didn't bother reading the quote... Well spotted!

[Diesel76]

Sad to see anyone suffer from metal health issues. Tiger has been and is a fantastic player and I don't think he's been the same since his dad died. I do hope he makes a full recovery primarily from his issues and then eventually pick up his clubs. It puts life into perspectiVe

[misterzero]

It sad to see such a great player in terminal decline.For a number of reason I can't see him coming back anywhere near his best form.Too many great sportsmen keep on competiting well past their prime and its sad to see them a shadow of their previous selves. Why they do this I don't know ? ego or sometimes financial reasons ,surrounded by too many yes men. All it does is overshadow and lead to their greatness being forgotten.

[wildheart]

Very sad but inevitable...Tiger, thanks for the memories I hope you find something new that you can exceed at?

[Argee1977]

Having listened to him and seen what he's been doing of late i guess it might be a while before he's back competing, if ever now. Sadly he's doing the thing that us amateurs are cursed with, overthinking his swing and his game, we all know he has all the tools to win, but constantly tweaking isn't going to help.

[markrlondon]

overthinking his swing and his game [...] constantly tweaking isn't going to help

I wonder if (amongst other things for sure) he has suffered from too much continuous improvement. What I mean is that people who excel at a certain thing often try to continuously improve every aspect of their performance. This is usually a beneficial approach. However, for someone who is genuinely at the top of their field of endeavour, it can also be risky because there may be nowhere to go to actually improve. Thus they can end up reducing their performance, rather than improving it.

Just a thought. And if that is the/a problem here, I'm sure it's not the only one.

[Jackwibble]

Yes he is.

[Gareth-W]

I don't doubt this news is very sad to Tiger Woods fans/some parts of the game of golf at large but as I said before it's pretty clear that the majority of the issues with TW are one's of his own making.......

And (personally speaking) I think the loss of his Father hasn't really been a huge part of the downfall in his game as he still won 4 of his 14 majors after Earl passed away.

[wildheart]

I was enthralled watching the play at the US Open last night at the brutal Chambers Bay. I only saw Tigers first few holes, but when he started bogey bogey I feared for him. Golf can be such a cruel game, but one birdie and a treble bogey on the 14th seems to have made making the cut almost impossible. No doubt Chambers Bay is a very tough course but Tiger shoot 80 again must be killing him inside.
he has stated he needs to play more golf, but at this rate he will do well just to make the cut in events.

His only saving grace is that Ricky Fowler had a worse round than him, but seeing Monty shoot 11 shots better than him must be gauling for Tiger!
The question these days is not can Tiger win a tournament...can he break 80!

[Daveya.]

No he's not washed up. He won't give up and will find his game again at some point

[Jackwibble]

Yes he is !

[jukeboxs]

Yes he is !

At least you changed the terminal punctuation this time round, it wasn't a complete copy.

[Kidsteruk]

He feels to be on his descent.

I only hope he recognises it for what it is, adjusts his attitude and game plan unlike others who didn't step back from a high profile playing position.

I really would love him to carry on playing at the highest levels, but not to the detriment of his amazing contribution to the game

[Daveya.]

In truth no one knows. Golf is a fickle game and all I will say is this is Tiger Woods. So if anyone can bring a game back its him

[sevvy]

He's got two swings at the moment, one one the range and one on the course. Personally I hope not, but it's an uphill struggle that's for sure.

[wildheart]

Tigers latest comeback is now in tatters http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/37619709
Now ranked 786 in the world his demise has to be on a sporting scale not seen before, but as Wayne Rooney is finding 'age stops for no man'.
Such a shame that the greatest golfer of modern times should finish like this but just can't see him as a player to hack about at the back of the field.

[sevvy]

It's strange that only last week Jesper Parnevik commented on how he played with him and he was flushing it. As ever with Woods you know what he wants you to know.
According to his good mate Notah Begay he's physically fine but his games just not where it should be. Notah tends to be an unofficial spokesman for Woods so I'm inclined to believe this.
On a personal level I hope it's not the end. Plenty of golfers with far less natural talent have won majors in their 40'so it's still very possible.
If it is the end then it's been a remarkable career.

[Morning Wood]

Tigers latest comeback is now in tatters http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/37619709
Now ranked 786 in the world his demise has to be on a sporting scale not seen before, but as Wayne Rooney is finding 'age stops for no man'.
Such a shame that the greatest golfer of modern times should finish like this but just can't see him as a player to hack about at the back of the field.

There's no doubt he's given us golf fans a lot of entertainment over the years, but I think there will be more scandal to come out as there's something of the night about Mr Woods.

[Iconoclast]

For sure.

[Passenger]

And this is a bloke who's supposed to be role model for kids, sadly he's become a cautionary tale.

[Tomaitch]

And this is a bloke who's supposed to be role model for kids, sadly he's become a cautionary tale.

Easy to sit on the sidelines and give advice , remember he has become such a world phenomenon that he cant go out his door without being chased , confronted and hassled etc . Its a known fact most human beings cant handle the mental pressure of what this sort of fame brings , actors , singers etc all the same .
Unfortunately the media will add to his issues , instead of leaving him alone to get better in his own time.

[studly]

Why poor Tiger?

He is just blowing some money, getting loaded and having a good time.

He was probably just driving back from doing a George Best in a hotel room with a bunch of hookers and drugs.

[Passenger]

Easy to sit on the sidelines and give advice , remember he has become such a world phenomenon that he cant go out his door without being chased , confronted and hassled etc . Its a known fact most human beings cant handle the mental pressure of what this sort of fame brings , actors , singers etc all the same .
Unfortunately the media will add to his issues , instead of leaving him alone to get better in his own time.

Who's giving advice.

[Daveya.]

Best golfer of my sons generation and one of the best of all time. His swing is athletic and if he Hoganised his swing a bit he might be able to compete again


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[Agd47]

I'd be more than happy to eat my own words but I think he's done. Looks like there's too much going on in the old noodle nowadays.

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