I know this has been covered before, but here is a new study released by the Golf Association of Philadelphia.

http://gapgolf.org/charts.asp?sfile=static...s_handicap.html

It concludes he is a +8!

And they couldn't even get the real slope rating of the courses as they weren't determined for tournament play.

Might as well call it +10 w/ how courses get set up for Tournaments... seriously w/ the green speeds and height of the rough.

Prolly at least. I think based off scores he posted at Isleworth back years ago, his calculated index was +10.

Depends on the courses. I know that Colonial in Fort Worth plays much easier for the PGA tournament than it does typically. The PGA mandates the rough cut down, the greens roll perfect, and I'd say the course plays a good 2-3 strokes easier per round during the tournament in May than it does for the members in June. Heck, it's a tougher course the week before the PGA gets here if the rough hasn't been cut yet.

Either way, I think Tiger is probably a +10 or better. I've played with many +4 range players and some PGA players and given how he plays against them in tournaments, I'd think +10 or even lower would be accurate.

I thought they said it was +13 during the tavistock cup at Isleworth

McCord said the same thing, he's a +13. Nothing like a 59 to make the index drop a few points!

That's pretty cool. I would say he is a +10 or +11 though.

Higher slope rating will only move his handicap closer to zero, rather than to a greater "plus" number, so adjusting the slope rating as a previous poster mentioned would actually hurt the calculation. You'd have to adjust the course rating, not the slope.

Sergio was +5.7 or something when he turned pro and surely Tiger is more than 2.3 shots better than a 17 year-old Sergio!

There has been quite a few of these. McCord said the he plays at +13 from the "Tiger" tees at Isleworth

What happens when Tiger plays another pro for a friendly round of golf. Let's say CHIII. Would he a stroke or two to him? Seems like it would be insulting since they are both PGA guys, but it would be the right thing to do otherwise CHIII would have to pay out more often.

No, once you turn pro your index is scratch, so if you're playing pro against pro no one gets strokes no matter how good one is compared to the other.

This doesn't necessarily refer to Tiger's handicap but it's sort of on topic and I thought it was interesting. I heard Johnny Miller say in a broadcast a couple of years back that the difference between your average PGA tour professional (average, not elite) and a scratch handicapper is equivalent to the difference between a scratch handicapper and an 18 handicapper! If you think about it, that's incredible and puts in perspective how good those guys really are!

I believe it because pros practice for a living and have some amazing god given talent. It's like the difference between a professional basketball player and somebody who can slam the ball in a pickup game.

Ever wonder what Tiger's handicap would be? No, but I'm sure Golf Channel will eventually have a 1 hour special assessing the situation once they finish the 1 hour special on how he dresses prior to his round, which will be just after the 1 hour special on how he awakes in the morning and takes a shower.

the show will be titled "Top 10 ways Tiger plans to lower his handicap"