The golf world is still in collective shock at what we witnessed today. Tiger Woods, the greatest player of the day, slapped the ball around TPC Scottsdale to card a career high 82.
It was difficult to watch Tiger who has lost any semblance of a tour level golf game. He had trouble with all aspects of his game from tee to green, on the green, the bunkers, the desert, the cactus…and everywhere else he visited gave him fits.
What was even more painful afterwards, for me anyway was listening to him talk about his game or actually his lack of game.
He talked of patterns and processes and shallow angels and bottoming out. Bottoming out I get, that’s where his game is: the bottom.
But not once did I hear the world feel from Tiger. Isn’t that what a short game really is? It’s all about the feel.
This mumbo jumbo “golf speak” has taken over Tiger’s mindset and he isn’t playing golf any longer. He’s playing golf swing.
Too many thoughts about the swing have paralyzed the greatest short game player in the history of golf.
My buddies and I have a line we like to throw at each other. When someone has a pitch or a chip and he’s fool enough to ask “What’s the yardage?” our wise ass response is “It’s all about the feel Mr. Hogan.”
Tiger has lost his feel. At his peak he was the best feel player in history.
Now Tiger looks so confused and out of control it is difficult to fathom the depths to which his game has sunk.
It wasn’t long ago that Tiger relied on his short game to not only save his game but win 14 majors.
Jack Nicklaus, the Greatest of All Time called this shot below “one of the most incredible golf shots you’ll ever see played.”
And Tiger made shots like that all the time back then. The past two days we saw a different Tiger.
Jordan Spieth who grew up idolizing Woods and played with him the past two days said it well, “It was painful to watch because you know his short game was once as good as anybody’s will ever be.”
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