Will Tiger Ever Prowl
Again?
Tiger has not one a major since his famous one legged
victory at the US Open in 2008, that’s four years! Of course he has had some difficulty; the
exposure of his personal life, a coach and swing change and then of
course the parting of the greatest partnership in the sport with Steve Williams
leaving. So he has had a tough time since that famous victory but the question
on everyone’s mind right now must be whether he will be able to come back from
it and personally I don’t think he will.
Some will argue that three wins this year is just the beginning;
that within maybe two years he will be his old self again. No offence to the likes of Lee Westwood and
Luke Donald ( who still have time) but majors are what count and while he may
have a few more tournaments left him in, I can’t see Tiger winning many more,
if indeed any, majors. I certainly think
that Jack Nicklaus’ record is safe for a long while yet. Tiger put himself in prime position in three of
the Majors this year and walked off with none and i could easily see that
becoming a habit. There is a certain
added pressure to a major that maybe Tiger can't quite handle to the same level
anymore. His mental strength has been
his key since 1997 and although his swing has
changed a few times, as have his coaches, caddies (and mistresses) he has
always had the mental resolve to come back and win golf’s biggest prizes again
and again. Tiger has also lost his aura,
no one is afraid of him anymore. Gone
are the days where he would climb up the leader board on Saturday and the
overnight leaders would faulterbecause of it; the young guns out there are now saying “Bring
it On” and that’s as much to do with their mental strength as it is to do with
the loss of his. This is another problem
I see for Tiger in the coming years; the up and comers are so good now, the
field is so open and that is evident in the major results, McIlroy being the only
player to have won multiple majors in the last 4 years. The likes of Bubba, Simpson, Bradley, Fowler,
Rose, Poulter, the list could go on for another page; all these players have
proven themselves in the last few years.
A few major winners in that list will undoubtedly win more and while
since 1997 up till about 2006 Tiger would be odds on favourite to win almost
anything he entered, you wouldn’t find the most avid golfing gambler place a
bet on Majors anymore. If I were to ask
you who was going to win the Masters next year, who would have a clue? Some
loyal Tiger fans (of which I am most certainly not one) would still put a punt
on him, maybe Phil has got one more left in him; the analysts on Sky and the
Golf Channel will look at whose game suits Augusta best, past results and in
form players but the bottom line is that no one has the foggiest idea. I think that’s the way the results are going
to go from now on, it’s anybody’s game now and even if Tiger can find a few
more fairways and find some form for the Majors, his winning factor, his aura, has
gone for good and I think that we may have seen the best he has to offer. Tony Jacklin famously said that Majors were
the easiest tournaments to win because 90% of people didn’t believe they could
win them in the first place, this might have been the case in the 60s and 70s
but nowadays with the wealth of talent coming through and the emphasis on
mental coaching I don’t think that’s applicable and that is almost certainly to
Tigers disadvantage.
As I write more of these (and hopefully more people will
read them) it will become abundantly clear that I am not a Tiger fan but i think
he is important for the game, he draws crowds and despite personal misdemeanours
(which hopefully are behind him) he does act as a role model for young golfers
everywhere so we will all wait patiently to see if he can perform the miracle
of all comebacks, I for one am not sure he can.
