Strange Statement From Tiger Woods
On Sunday, Tiger Woods tried to explain his weekend Major failure, saying:
“I was too relaxed, and tried to enjoy it, and that’s not how I play. I play intense and full systems go. That cost me.”
Does this strike anyone else as strange? He’s essentially saying that he wasn’t mentally prepared. That his attitude needs an adjustment.
Old Tiger had laser-beam eyes on the weekend that melted his opponents’ brains and pushed them into unforced errors. Old Tiger won Majors.
New Tiger enjoys himself. And so New Tiger doesn’t win Majors.
Without parsing his words too carefully, it sounds to me like he’s saying that the entire time he was winning, he wasn’t enjoying himself.
That would explain a lot.
Or, it could be a confession that he really has no idea why things aren’t working out for him.
I can’t figure it out. All I know for sure is that it’s a very strange statement.
What’s your take?
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Yes very odd. I pointed out in a comment on my blog that TW always has an explanation as to why he didn’t win that week. I needed to adjust this or that. Why not make those before or during the tournament if it is that easy to diagnose?
Quite frankly I see it as this simple. Lost mojo.
Posted by mediaguru on 08/14
Glad you agree. There’s also something else in that statement that I can’t quite put my finger on. I’m sure it will come to me.
I think it just further supports what I’ve been saying for two years. Tiger is done winning Majors. He might back into one more, but he won’t win it. He’ll be sitting in the clubhouse with a decent score and no reasonable hope of winning, only to find out that everyone else has had a melt-down (ala Webb Simpson).
There is simply too much talent out there for a 36-year-old with gimpy knees, questionable putting and mental game issues to win on golf’s biggest stages.
Posted by The Original Golf Blogger on 08/14
To me the question isn’t whether or not Tiger will break Jack’s record. The question is whether or not he will win ANOTHER major.
Posted by mediaguru on 08/14
I think they should start asking Tiger in every interview what he thinks of Rory’s game. Why didn’t Rory win this week, when do you think Rory will win again. Everyone else has been putting up with that crud about Tiger for so long, it is time that reporters start asking Tiger those kinds of questions.
As for this, I took it as he is now stretching for excuses. I was a little surprised he didn’t blame the prickly pear bush. BTW- it looked like Rory was enjoying himself.
I have been on the Tiger is done with majors for a little longer than two years I think. All the analysts continue to forget to mention that the major wins started a year before the Escalade hit the tree - the block on majors may be exacerbated by the scandal, but it is a different block than the scandal - the first real pressure Tiger felt in years was once he got within a slam of Jack - that has been the only thing in golf that really mattered to him for so long. I do think also if he manages to get 15, that 16 won’t be too far behind - but then 17 will be harder for him than 15 was.
BTW- Tiger is my favorite for the Barclays. and then probably one more to get the FedEx Cup. I think he should be #2 now, and if he wins 2 more before Rory wins again, then he should be #1.
Posted by martin on 08/15
Why doesn’t Tiger just admit it? His problem is that he doesn’t have Steve Williams on the bag anymore. LOL. I meant that as a joke but I’m sure that is part of it. Williams wants to win as much as any player does but Joe Lacava spent a lot of time with the most relaxed golfer in the world - Fred Couples. Not the right kind of energy for Tiger to feed off of.
Posted by Miranda on 08/15
‘twas YE Yang who stole his Mojo. He hasn’t been the same since.
Posted by The Original Golf Blogger on 08/15
Miranda - you may be on to something there. Steve had a lot of time with him knowing when to push him and when to stroke his ego. Further, Tiger might not even listen to LaCava when he offers a suggestion where Tiger knew that Steve knew Tiger’s game even better than Hank did.
I still think that the major thing is a different block for him, but Steve might be much more effective at getting him through that.
And GB is right too, Yang has a lot to do with this whole thing too. It was Yang that showed everyone that the old Tiger was gone and it was a new day, most importantly he showed Tiger. It may not have even been the case, but once YE “Buster Douglas” Yang knocked down Tiger, Tiger thought something changed and so did the field.
Its probably time for a new swing change. Look out Sean Foley!
Posted by martin on 08/15
What he really needs, IMHO is a new putting coach. That’s what’s killing his game more than the swing.
Posted by The Original Golf Blogger on 08/15
Yes I found it very strange as well. I would have thought after his comeback by now he would have his mental game sorted out. Perhaps it’s a case of he’s spent so much time redesigning his golf swing he’s forgotten about the mental side of the game.
Tough one to explain that’s for sure.
Posted by Troy Vayanos on 08/15
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