Tiger Woods
There are SO many websites covering Tiger Woods 24/7/365 that I try to stay away from Tiger play by play and reporting PGA Tour news. I can’t help myself this rainy evening. Honestly, I don’t watch the PGA Tour that often. It all starts to look the same after a while. The last golf I actually watched on TV was the Masters Tournament. I’d much rather play golf than watch it. Even in person.
Instead of watching the Memorial 3rd round today, I was hiking in the beautiful mountains of Northern Utah, my back yard. When I got home and powered up the MacBook Pro, I was flooded with the number 85 and news of Tiger Woods’s worst round in his professional career. He chased down another one of Jack Nicklaus’s records. Jack’s worst round as a pro was 85 as well. The only difference is that Jack was 63 years old and playing the Masters. Details details.
I have not heard or read of any post round commentary or interviews. If and when I do I hope I don’t hear “it’s a process” and “I’m close.” There are no health issues we know of. No excuses. It doesn’t matter if he can hit hundreds of perfect shots in a row on the practice range. Anyone with a brain knows that whatever Woods is doing is not working, be it mental or physical.
After a decent spring I’ve reached the first bump in the road of my golf season (yawn). I’ve shot my three worst rounds of the year in the last four or five rounds. The worst of those is 85. Those rounds have had me toying with the thought of quitting golf and doing something else more fun, like jabbing myself in the eyes with an ice pick. I’m a hack amateur so that’s expected. I can’t imagine what’s going on inside the cerebral cortex of Woods. Imagine being what appeared to be the best player the game has ever seen and suddenly losing your game.
I lose my game, my swing, my scores 2-3 times per year. It’s like clockwork. I go from low-single-digit hack to mid-single digit hack and back over the season. In the end it doesn’t matter at all. But for Woods the psychology must be incredible. The player who in years past could seemingly win tournaments by sheer confidence, has lost it.
What’s different between now and when Woods was dominating? He was certainly younger. 39 isn’t a spring chicken in golf. His body has broken down quite a bit. The sick and sarcastic part of my mind can’t help thinking perhaps testosterone is the missing ingredient, if you know what I mean.
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