It has been an entire week since I last posted on Tiger Woods. That has to be some kind of record. So here goes.
Everyone has a theory as to what Woods needs to do to get his game back. More practice, less practice, new coach, old coach, play more, play less and my own solution: think less.
The consensus is that his problems are more mental than physical but few are willing to voice what many are thinking: it all stems from his scandal. 
Alan Shipnuck of Golf.com/Sports Illustrated says his woes all come from that 2009 disaster.
“But the dilemma Woods now faces is that the cure for what ails him is unlikely to be found on the driving range or practice green, or even in casual games with buddies. His woes have nothing to do with swing mechanics or the “release patterns” in his chipping. It goes much deeper than that, to the metaphysical. More than five years have passed since Woods plowed into a fire hydrant and lost control of his carefully-curated public life. What followed was the biggest tabloid scandal in sports history and the worst public shaming of the Internet age, and yet many observers now underrate the effect it had on Woods. In seeking to understand the problems in his golf game, all roads lead back to the scandal and its aftermath.”
Shipnuck thinks Tiger will have a difficult time finding what made him great.
“The belief that Woods can regain his old confidence fails to recognize that he is no longer the same person. His entire identity and sense of self was taken away by the scandal. Shame is among the most powerful and destructive of human emotions, and Woods has been marinating in it ever since. The need to reinvent himself, to start anew, led him to remake his swing under Sean Foley, an experiment that clearly failed. It is revealing that Woods is now looking for salvation in video clips from his youth. If only it were that easy to start over emotionally. During his heyday Woods could hit any shot and he putted better than anybody ever has, but what separated him from everyone else came from his heart and his head. His belief in himself was absolute, and unshakeable. Under pressure he was the clearest thinker and the most resilient. Success begat success. But all of that is gone now.”
Jaime Diaz of Golf World asks “Is Tiger Woods Done?” 
“Even that question carries the caveat, of course, that professional golfers, who have the most ability to come back because of the nature of golf and the many years one can play, get the benefit of the doubt. The greater the champion, the greater the benefit.
But here’s the thing. At Torrey, as it had been at the Waste Management Phoenix Open the previous week and at the Hero World Challenge in December, what transpired was simply too graphic not to trust our eyes. The emperor has no clothes.”
Diaz acknowledges that Woods is in trouble both physically and mentally but cautions that a Woods return to greatness would be historic.
“No doubt more time away from golf after a lost 2014 sounds too risky with the clock ticking. But Woods as a golfer is a very old 39. If he can successfully address and even resolve the source of his turmoil, he has a chance to be a young 40-something, a player more capable of being physically healthy, rid of technical confusion and, yes again winning majors.
Given where Woods is today, that would be the narrative of the greatest comeback in the history of golf. And it wouldn’t be close.”
Update 2/20: Tiger has announced that he would not be playing in next week’s Honda Classic. He feels his game is not “tournament ready.” The saga continues.
Click here for Diaz’s Golf World article. Click here for Shipnuck’s Golf.com piece.
Related Articles
