Re: THE MASTERS
Posted: April 8th, 2011, 7:08 am
Posted on another sports board:
In his Sunday interview at Augusta, Tiger addressed some issues that IMO, makes me think that Tiger will have flashes of inspiration and win a few, maybe several more tournaments in the next 5-10 years, but Tiger "The Exterminator" is finished.
1. Age. He's 35 now, his knee won't allow him to make the powerful swings he made even 5 years ago. His "new swing" is trying to make up for the new reality and so far it hasn't jelled. Will it?
2. Tiger raised the bar in professional golf, and the new "young guns" have responded. Tiger himself said that he was awed by what has become an almost commonplace of driving 300+ yards with control. Last year 12 players averaged 300+ yards. Woods' 300 yard average was the first (Daly hit some whoppers but his inconsistency kept the average below 300.)
3. Even if Tiger can manage to get his control back, his short game has been only average and he's missing a lot of short putts (4-6') that would have been gimmees in his prime. Eye-hand coordination is one of the inevitable losses that comes with aging and this may be having some effect.
4. The intimidation factor is gone and will probably never be replaced. I recall an earlier Masters ('03, '04?) which Tiger led by 1 stroke going into the final round. He made an early birdie, put on the cruise control and shot par the rest of the way (1 bird, 1 boge IIRC.) Everyone else imploded (including Mickelson) as they tried to make up ground.
5. Historically the same thing happened with Nicklaus. By his mid-to-late 30s Jack's game was still good, but there was now a generation of young golfers, inspired by Jack's game, who had reached and surpassed the bar that Nicklaus had raised 10 years earlier. None ever matched him until Tiger came along, but on the other hand Jack could no longer meet that level consistently. Every good golfer of the late 70s-80s wanted to beat Jack and thought they could do it... and many did. The same goes with Tiger, they want to beat the best golfer of their generation and many now believe (and are proving) that they can do it.
6. His personal problems I won't even get into except to say that after you've been exposed as something you're not, the hardest part is not what others think of you but what you think of yourself. This along with the above factors is having a negative effect; obviously, the question is when and if he can look at himself honestly.
Short answer, Tiger isn't finished yet, he'll probably win a dozen (or more) tourneys and maybe a few more majors before he hangs it up or heads to the Champions Tour. But IMO his days of dominance are behind him because of the quality of the new guys and his own aging body. Which IMO is a good thing. The quality of play has vastly improved over the past 5 years (I only regret that Tiger never had the level of competitive golfers surrounding him that Jack had) while the level of competition in any given event has also risen.)
In his Sunday interview at Augusta, Tiger addressed some issues that IMO, makes me think that Tiger will have flashes of inspiration and win a few, maybe several more tournaments in the next 5-10 years, but Tiger "The Exterminator" is finished.
1. Age. He's 35 now, his knee won't allow him to make the powerful swings he made even 5 years ago. His "new swing" is trying to make up for the new reality and so far it hasn't jelled. Will it?
2. Tiger raised the bar in professional golf, and the new "young guns" have responded. Tiger himself said that he was awed by what has become an almost commonplace of driving 300+ yards with control. Last year 12 players averaged 300+ yards. Woods' 300 yard average was the first (Daly hit some whoppers but his inconsistency kept the average below 300.)
3. Even if Tiger can manage to get his control back, his short game has been only average and he's missing a lot of short putts (4-6') that would have been gimmees in his prime. Eye-hand coordination is one of the inevitable losses that comes with aging and this may be having some effect.
4. The intimidation factor is gone and will probably never be replaced. I recall an earlier Masters ('03, '04?) which Tiger led by 1 stroke going into the final round. He made an early birdie, put on the cruise control and shot par the rest of the way (1 bird, 1 boge IIRC.) Everyone else imploded (including Mickelson) as they tried to make up ground.
5. Historically the same thing happened with Nicklaus. By his mid-to-late 30s Jack's game was still good, but there was now a generation of young golfers, inspired by Jack's game, who had reached and surpassed the bar that Nicklaus had raised 10 years earlier. None ever matched him until Tiger came along, but on the other hand Jack could no longer meet that level consistently. Every good golfer of the late 70s-80s wanted to beat Jack and thought they could do it... and many did. The same goes with Tiger, they want to beat the best golfer of their generation and many now believe (and are proving) that they can do it.
6. His personal problems I won't even get into except to say that after you've been exposed as something you're not, the hardest part is not what others think of you but what you think of yourself. This along with the above factors is having a negative effect; obviously, the question is when and if he can look at himself honestly.
Short answer, Tiger isn't finished yet, he'll probably win a dozen (or more) tourneys and maybe a few more majors before he hangs it up or heads to the Champions Tour. But IMO his days of dominance are behind him because of the quality of the new guys and his own aging body. Which IMO is a good thing. The quality of play has vastly improved over the past 5 years (I only regret that Tiger never had the level of competitive golfers surrounding him that Jack had) while the level of competition in any given event has also risen.)
We like him because - well - because he's K.J. - pleasant, persistent and a former power lifter!!! 
I'm a big fan of Ogilvy and Day is looking handy for a young guy.