Tiger's golf.

We watched the end of the golf from Bay Hill at the club after our round, what a finish, a couple of my buddies had some negative comments regarding Tiger. Silly statements like " he's won enough " and " it would be nice to see someone else win it " I don't understand comments like these at all.
From a personal point of view I feel most fortunate that I have the opportunity to watch and follow this young man's career, I feel that this is a once in a lifetime situation in this sport that we love so much. It boggles the mind that this guy has won 64 tournaments by the age of thirty one, it's really quite incredible and he's not done yet, not by a long stretch.
He certainly has struggled with his driver off the tee and still manages to pull out the wins. His mental toughness in amazing, only Nicklaus showed anything similar in all the years that I have been watching PGA tournaments.
If I was to predict what Tiger would end up with when he hangs up his cleats I would suggest, 130 PGA titles and 35 majors and that, in my humble opinion would set a number that will never be equalled. Tiger is providing us with a spectacle that has never been witnessed in this sport before, taking nothing away from Jack and Arnie's era but Tiger is the only one who has had the four major trophies on his mantle,,,,,go Tiger go !

Great thread buddy,

I agree we are privilaged to witness history in the making, I can't see any up and coming youngsters beating him.

I think he is running our of winning speaches that the problem.


Cheers

Ian.

To witness it is amazing.

Tiger will do in 15 years (or less) what Snead did in 40.

The man has it all. Buddhist concentration and natural athletic ability coupled with the unending belief that he will win.

It would take a very special human being to match and surpass the legend he is only half way through creating.

I can't see him being caught in my lifetime.

Anybody who has anything negative to say about him does not have a leg to stand on.

He's the greatest role model in the world for our us adults and our children. Polite, articulate, passionate, knowledgable, educated, driven and strong.

If only other "role model" sportsmen would take several leaves out of his book.

OK, he's allegedly "the most fined player on tour" for his swearing. But he's only swearing at himself when he knows he can do better. He doesn't involve others, and doesn't expect others to get involved in him.

If the kids that hang around on the street corners swore they could do better, they wouldn't be there in the first place.

__________________
Luke: I don't believe it!
Yoda: That is why you fail.

I agree with everybody - even the friends that would like to see others win.

I think there are a lot of players that deserve to win on the PGA Tour, but no matter how much they deserve it, they have to beat the other challengers to get that win.

At the moment, one golfer sets the bar, and sets it high.

That golfer is Tiger, and unless somebody suddenly proves that he is on steroids and mind altering drugs or something, nobody can whine about the height of that bar.

Watching Tiger on the 18th hole - and not just on the green - is what pro golf is all about. Making sure, over 71 holes, that you are there, in contention, going up the 18th on sunday.
And once you are there - in the clutch - keeping your act together and deliver on the challenge.

Nobody - and I do mean NOBODY - does that better than Tiger. He was down by SEVEN shots after friday, but still did enough to be in the last pair on sunday. From that position, he was able to constantly evaluate the need to take risks or ease off the throttle.

From the fairway at the 18th, knowing that birdie would win it and par would tie, Tiger chose the risky shot, a fairly long carry over water, in an attempt to get close to the pin and have a shot at the birdie.
He made a good shot, and while he was in no way 'safe', he was in with a reasonable shot at that birdie putt.

And at that point, Tiger's mental strength takes over. Despite not having sunk a single putt from that distance all day - if at all during the tournament - Tiger knew that he had scored on similar putts lots of times.
That positive mental ballast lead him to see the long breaking putt as an opportunity more than a challenge. He believed he could sink it, and he did.

The burst of energy Tiger released when that putt dropped wasn't about 'surprise' or 'joy'. It was about understanding that the execution of that putt was pure perfection, from mental preperation, through read, to stroke.

Nobody does it better!

__________________
//Mox
2007 bag:
Mizuno MX-500 460cc 10.5* Fujikura Tour Platform 26.3 stiff.
Wilson Deep Red strong 3w 13,5* and 5w 18* graphalloy fatshaft stiff
Cleveland HALO 3i hybrid 22* graphite regular
Mizuno MP-60e forged 5i-PW True Temper Dynamic gold R300 steel
Mizuno MP Black OX raw haze 50/6 GW, 54/9 SW, 58/10 LW
Odyssey White Steel 2-ball SRT putter
Titleist NXT Extreme

I'm willing to bet that Tiger had no idea that he had missed everything outside 20' that tournament, standing over that putt. In fact, I'll bet he had envisioned every long, snaking putt he had ever dropped.

Its hard to find the words to describe his play anymore. All the words have been used many times.

I think the debates that used to go on about who was/is the greatest golfer ever must now come to an end.

I've said it for a while Tiger is by far the best.

I don't think anyone would disagree with you but some food for thought; I got sent these stats about the Bay Hill tournament.

Over the 4 Rounds of Golf:

13 Players had more Greens in Regulation than Tiger Woods. In fact, Cliff Kresege hit 7 more Greens than Tiger. Cliff who?

18 Players had fewer Putts per Round than Tiger Woods. In fact, Frank Lickliter had 8 less putts than Tiger.

37 Players hit their average Drive farther than Tiger Woods. In fact, Bubba Watson averaged 22 yards more distance off the tee than Tiger.

46 Players hit more Fairways than Tiger Woods. In fact, Brian Gay hit 10 more Fairways than Tiger.

So if you're not in the top ten (thirteen in fact) in any of the key areas of the game how do you get to be Number One in winning tournments? If I could bottle and sell that secret I'd be a rich man.

__________________
And, Brian, it's still not the Pope.

Wow, what great stats...........


My only possible theory behind this is: consistency......

Cliff hits more greens..............can't putt.

Frank has less putts.................when he eventually gets to the green.

Bubba drive it a mile.................can't hit a green for toffee.

Brian hits more fairways..............but 40 yds shorter than anyone else.

I think Tiger has all the things combined not great at any but combined his average must be better.

Ian..

Well by definition Ian his scoring average is better then anyone else

IMO I think there are three things,

firstly he knows the strengths and weaknesses of his game inside out and plays accordingly (I think there's a link here to my post on "Consistency")

secondly he has a plan for the round and sticks to it (was it The Open where he "just" biffed an iron down the fairway for position time and time again),

lastly he has mental toughness combined with a total will to win - as Mox said that was the first putt of that length he'd holed but come the moment...

We might never have the raw talent (OK that's a cert) or the mental strength but perhaps we could aim to emulate the first two elements. Is it too late for a New Year's resolution?

__________________
And, Brian, it's still not the Pope.

There is one bad thing he does.

Spits !

Disgusting !

There is no need to do it on a golf course !

There probably CAN be 'need', but I do agree that it's disgusting.

That said - I'm fairly convinced that most players do. Tiger's problem is, that the TV shows him all the time, and thus picks up on every single one.

So perhaps he looks worse than he is in comparison to the others.

Not only is Tiger Woods the greatest golfer to ever play the game, he's also the most competitive player on the tour today, bar none. I can't think of one other player on the tour today with his desire to win, others just bow before his greatness and tremble with fear. Tiger is not only a great golfer but a great athlete as well, just look at his body from just a few years ago. He probably has put on about 20 lbs of muscle and hasn't lost one bit of his flexability, an awesome athlete.

p.s. Tiger's video game rocks!!