Will Tiger Ever Prowl Again?

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.