Opinion & Analysis
DeFrancesco: Why Tiger Can Still Come Back
Just about everyone who is interested in golf wants to know if Tiger can come back. I happen to think he can, and I have a unique perspective as to what he is going through.
I had my first back surgery (a single-disc laminectomy, much like Tiger’s first three back surgeries) in 1983 while I was playing the mini tours in Florida. I had been a First-Team All-American at LSU in 1979 (good team that year: Corey Pavin, Fred Couples, Bob Tway, John Cook, Bobby Clampett, Gary Hallberg, Scott Watkins and myself. Mark O’Meara, Payne Stewart, Joey Sindelar and Mark Wiebe were on the 2nd team), and I had turned professional a year later. I made it to the Q-School finals in 1985, but the amount of practice it took to get there blew up my back again and I had to have a two-level fusion at S1-L5 and L4-L5. I gave up trying to make the Tour and got a job teaching, and it took me a year before I could play 18 holes.
Unfortunately for me, my trials were not yet over. The fusion bone grew in too well, so I had to have another surgery in 1988 to make more room around the nerve roots that the fusion had stabilized. I took a couple of years off away from the game, but I got back into teaching in 1991. I got to be a busy teacher, but I was determined to continue to play competitively at the club pro level. I made a pretty good career out of it, earning player of the year honors in my section four times, qualifying for five PGA Championships (by finishing in the top-20 at the National) and winning the National Club Pro in 2001 at age 43. I had to be constantly mindful of how much I practiced, and there were many occasions when I had to withdraw from events. Over the years, I tried to make adjustments to my swing that would allow me to play and get the most out of my body I could.
As a young player, my swing resembled the greats of the 70s (Nicklaus, Watson, Miller, Weiskopf) with an exaggerated “reverse-C” finish. I discarded this type of action for a more Hogan-esque rotational swing that was less stressful on my lower spine. This held up nicely for the most part until about 2009, after which the stiffness that had built up and over time made it difficult to strike the ball well enough to compete at my accustomed level. In December of 2014, I went in for my fourth and last surgery. My surgeon opened space around the nerves exiting from the sides of the two discs above the fusion, L3-L4 and L2-L3. The main problem with a fusion is that it eliminates all rotation in that area of the spine, and biomechanically the areas above and to the sides of the fusion are stressed in an abnormal way. It took me eight months to get back to tournament golf after that, and I am now able to practice more than I have in many years.
As you know, Tiger Woods just underwent his fourth back surgery in the past two years (he has now caught up to me in the race no one wants to win), and most of the pundits are thinking that he is done and will never compete on a high level again — certainly not anywhere near the level he demonstrated from the early nineties to 2013. As I mentioned, I happen to disagree with that assessment, and I will tell you why. The thing that most people who have not had back problems don’t understand is the difference between pain and limitation. A player of Tiger’s caliber can learn to play with limitations. If his body won’t do as much of what it used to do, he can still adapt his swing to what his body will allow and play great golf. If the basic movements required to make a good swing cause pain, however, the body simply will not allow itself to be injured and thus it will stubbornly refuse to function in the manner the player wants it to.
Tiger has been trying to alleviate his pain with the less invasive surgeries he has undergone up to this most recent one. It hasn’t worked out because even the minimum amount of stress he has put on it trying to play has eventually brought about pain, and with pain the muscles spasm to protect the area from further damage. That’s the end of the attempt to play. Now that he has undergone a fusion to stabilize the spine and remove the faulty disc, he has a chance to eliminate the nerve pain caused by the narrowing of the nerve root openings. This is a big deal. My guess is that his surgeons have recommended a fusion procedure for some time, but the word “fusion” itself is kind of scary. The first orthopedic I ever saw for my back told me I would need a fusion. I thought he was crazy and found another doctor. Tiger probably felt like he could beat the problem with smaller measures, but after his last failed attempt at coming back he finally saw the writing on the wall and opted for the more drastic fix.
The key is this: if Tiger can play pain-free golf, he can figure out how to play within his limitations and can compete at the highest level. Ben Hogan is a great example of just such a scenario. Hogan was playing the best golf of his life in 1948 and early in 1949. Then he was hit head-on by a bus while driving back to Texas from a tournament. He suffered multiple serious injuries and almost died of blood clots a few weeks after the accident. He underwent a radical procedure to tie off one of the main arteries to his lower extremities, and as a result he had to soak in a hot tub for two hours and wrap his legs in ace bandages before every single round. In addition to the blood supply problems, Hogan also suffered a fractured left collarbone, a double ring fracture of the pelvis, a broken left ankle, a broken rib, and several deep cuts and contusions around his left eye. All of this served to shorten Hogan’s career (he essentially retired in 1955, six years after the accident), and he never played in more than six events in a single year after 1949. But due to his determination and technical knowledge of the golf swing, he could play through whatever pain he felt and was able to modify his swing. He was not as powerful, but he was perhaps even more precise.
Hogan won six majors between 1950 and 1953, and he came close in others. I see no reason why Tiger, if he can rid himself of the stinging nerve pain and muscle spasms that follow, can’t pull a Hogan and make a great comeback. I believe he needs to discard the notion of “explosiveness.” I am not talking about swinging easy, rather, I would like to see him compress less into the ground in the backswing and bring his hand path out toward the ball more in transition to give himself more space for his arms and hands and to encourage rotation in his lower body. He doesn’t have to hit it as far as Dustin Johnson to win majors; he can hit it as far as Zach Johnson and win.
Tiger may not need the money, but I certainly think he still has the drive to continue to compete and win PGA Tour events. I don’t believe he will give up, and this next attempt to make a comeback will again be something to watch.
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19th Hole
Vincenzi’s LIV Golf Singapore betting preview: Course specialist ready to thrive once again
After another strong showing in Australia, LIV Golf will head to Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore looking to build off of what was undoubtedly their best event to date.
Sentosa Golf Club sits on the southern tip of Singapore and is one of the most beautiful courses in the world. The course is more than just incredible scenically; it was also rated 55th in Golf Digest’s top-100 courses in 2022-2023 and has been consistently regarded as one of the best courses in Asia. Prior to being part of the LIV rotation, the course hosted the Singapore Open every year since 2005.
Sentosa Golf Club is a par 71 measuring 7,406 yards. The course will require precise ball striking and some length off the tee. It’s possible to go low due to the pristine conditions, but there are also plenty of hazards and difficult spots on the course that can bring double bogey into play in a hurry. The Bermudagrass greens are perfectly manicured, and the course has spent millions on the sub-air system to keep the greens rolling fast. I spoke to Asian Tour player, Travis Smyth, who described the greens as “the best [he’s] ever played.”
Davis Love III, who competed in a Singapore Open in 2019, also gushed over the condition of the golf course.
“I love the greens. They are fabulous,” the 21-time PGA Tour winner said.
Love III also spoke about other aspects of the golf course.
“The greens are great; the fairways are perfect. It is a wonderful course, and it’s tricky off the tee.”
“It’s a long golf course, and you get some long iron shots. It takes somebody hitting it great to hit every green even though they are big.”
As Love III said, the course can be difficult off the tee due to the length of the course and the trouble looming around every corner. It will take a terrific ball striking week to win at Sentosa Golf Club.
In his pre-tournament press conference last season, Phil Mickelson echoed many of the same sentiments.
“To play Sentosa effectively, you’re going to have a lot of shots from 160 to 210, a lot of full 6-, 7-, 8-iron shots, and you need to hit those really well and you need to drive the ball well.”
Golfers who excel from tee to green and can dial in their longer irons will have a massive advantage this week.
Stat Leaders at LIV Golf Adelaide:
Fairways Hit
1.) Louis Oosthuizen
2.) Anirban Lahiri
3.) Jon Rahm
4.) Brendan Steele
5.) Cameron Tringale
Greens in Regulation
1.) Brooks Koepka
2.) Brendan Steele
3.) Dean Burmester
4.) Cameron Tringale
5.) Anirban Lahiri
Birdies Made
1.) Brendan Steele
2.) Dean Burmester
3.) Thomas Pieters
4.) Patrick Reed
5.) Carlos Ortiz
LIV Golf Individual Standings:
1.) Joaquin Niemann
2.) Jon Rahm
3.) Dean Burmester
4.) Louis Oosthuizen
5.) Abraham Ancer
LIV Golf Team Standings:
1.) Crushers
2.) Legion XIII
3.) Torque
4.) Stinger GC
5.) Ripper GC
LIV Golf Singapore Picks
Sergio Garcia +3000 (DraftKings)
Sergio Garcia is no stranger to Sentosa Golf Club. The Spaniard won the Singapore Open in 2018 by five strokes and lost in a playoff at LIV Singapore last year to scorching hot Talor Gooch. Looking at the course setup, it’s no surprise that a player like Sergio has played incredible golf here. He’s long off the tee and is one of the better long iron players in the world when he’s in form. Garcia is also statistically a much better putter on Bermudagrass than he is on other putting surfaces. He’s putt extremely well on Sentosa’s incredibly pure green complexes.
This season, Garcia has two runner-up finishes, both of them being playoff losses. Both El Camaleon and Doral are courses he’s had success at in his career. The Spaniard is a player who plays well at his tracks, and Sentosa is one of them. I believe Sergio will get himself in the mix this week. Hopefully the third time is a charm in Singapore.
Paul Casey +3300 (FanDuel)
Paul Casey is in the midst of one of his best seasons in the five years or so. The results recently have been up and down, but he’s shown that when he’s on a golf course that suits his game, he’s amongst the contenders.
This season, Casey has finishes of T5 (LIV Las Vegas), T2 (LIV Hong Kong), and a 6th at the Singapore Classic on the DP World Tour. At his best, the Englishman is one of the best long iron players in the world, which makes him a strong fit for Sentosa. Despite being in poor form last season, he was able to fire a Sunday 63, which shows he can low here at the course.
It’s been three years since Casey has won a tournament (Omega Dubai Desert Classic in 2021), but he’s been one of the top players on LIV this season and I think he can get it done at some point this season.
Mito Pereira +5000 (Bet365)
Since Mito Pereira’s unfortunate demise at the 2022 PGA Championship, he’s been extremely inconsistent. However, over the past few months, the Chilean has played well on the International Series as well as his most recent LIV start. Mito finished 8th at LIV Adelaide, which was his best LIV finish this season.
Last year, Pereira finished 5th at LIV Singapore, shooting fantastic rounds of 67-66-66. It makes sense why Mito would like Sentosa, as preeminent ball strikers tend to rise to the challenge of the golf course. He’s a great long iron player who is long and straight off the tee.
Mito has some experience playing in Asia and is one of the most talented players on LIV who’s yet to get in the winner’s circle. I have questions about whether or not he can come through once in contention, but if he gets there, I’m happy to roll the dice.
Andy Ogletree +15000 (DraftKings)
Andy Ogletree is a player I expected to have a strong 2024 but struggled early in his first full season on LIV. After failing to crack the top-25 in any LIV event this year, the former U.S. Amateur champion finally figured things out, finished in a tie for 3rd at LIV Adelaide.
Ogletree should be incredible comfortable playing in Singapore. He won the International Series Qatar last year and finished T3 at the International Series Singapore. The 26-year-old was arguably the best player on the Asian Tour in 2023 and has been fantastic in the continent over the past 18 months.
If Ogletree has indeed found form, he looks to be an amazing value at triple-digit odds.
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In Tampa, there is a golf course that boasts carts that do not work, a water range, and a group of players none of which have any chance to break 80. The course is overseen by a staff of crusty men who have succeeded at nothing in life but ending up at the worst-run course in America. However, this place is no failure. With several other local courses going out of business — and boasting outstanding greens — the place is booked full.
While I came for the great greens, I stayed to watch our resident instructor; a poor-tempered, method teacher who caters to the hopeless. At first, it was simply hilarious. However, after months of listening and watching, something clicked. I realized I had a front-row seat to the worst golf instructor in America.
Here are some of my key takeaways.
Method Teacher
It is widely accepted that there are three types of golf instructors: system teachers, non-system teachers, and method teachers. Method teachers prescribe the same antidote for each student based on a preamble which teachers can learn in a couple day certification.
Method teaching allows anyone to be certified. This process caters to the lowest caliber instructor, creating the illusion of competency. This empowers these underqualified instructors with the moniker of “certified” to prey on the innocent and uninformed.
The Cult of Stack and Jilt
The Stack and Tilt website proudly boasts, “A golfer swings his hands inward in the backswing as opposed to straight back to 1) create power, similar to a field goal kicker moving his leg in an arc and 2) to promote a swing that is in-to-out, which produces a draw (and eliminates a slice).”
Now, let me tell you something, there is this law of the universe which says “energy can either be created or destroyed,” so either these guys are defying physics or they have no idea what they are taking about. Further, the idea that the first move of the backswing determines impact is conjecture with a splash of utter fantasy.
These are the pontifications of a method — a set of prescriptions applied to everyone with the hope of some success through the placebo effect. It is one thing for a naive student to believe, for a golf instructor to drink and then dispel this Kool-Aid is malpractice.
Fooled by Randomness
In flipping a coin, or even a March Madness bet, there is a 50-50 chance of success. In golf, especially for new players, results are asymmetric. Simply put: Anything can happen. The problem is that when bad instructors work with high handicappers, each and every shot gets its own diagnosis and prescription. Soon the student is overwhelmed.
Now here’s the sinister thing: The overwhelming information is by design. In this case, the coach is not trying to make you better, they are trying to make you reliant on them for information. A quasi Stockholm syndrome of codependency.
Practice
One of the most important scientists of the 20th century was Ivan Pavlov. As you might recall, he found that animals, including humans, could be conditioned into biological responses. In golf, the idea of practice has made millions of hackers salivate that they are one lesson or practice session from “the secret.”
Sunk Cost
The idea for the worst golf instructor is to create control and dependency so that clients ignore the sunk cost of not getting better. Instead, they are held hostage by the idea that they are one lesson or tip away from unlocking their potential.
Cliches
Cliches have the effect of terminating thoughts. However, they are the weapon of choice for this instructor. Add some hyperbole and students actually get no information. As a result, these players couldn’t play golf. When they did, they had no real scheme. With no idea what they are doing, they would descend into a spiral of no idea what to do, bad results, lower confidence, and running back to the lesson tee from more cliches.
The fact is that poor instruction is about conditioning players to become reliant members of your cult. To take away autonomy. To use practice as a form of control. To sell more golf lessons not by making people better but through the guise that without the teacher, the student can never reach their full potential. All under the umbrella of being “certified” (in a 2-day course!) and a melee of cliches.
This of course is not just happening at my muni but is a systemic problem around the country and around the world, the consequences of which are giving people a great reason to stop playing golf. But hey, at least it’s selling a lot of golf balls…
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The PGA TOUR heads to New Orleans to play the 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. In a welcome change from the usual stroke play, the Zurich Classic is a team event. On Thursday and Saturday, the teams play best ball, and on Friday and Sunday the teams play alternate shot.
TPC Louisiana is a par 72 that measures 7,425 yards. The course features some short par 4s and plenty of water and bunkers, which makes for a lot of exciting risk/reward scenarios for competitors. Pete Dye designed the course in 2004 specifically for the Zurich Classic, although the event didn’t make its debut until 2007 because of Hurricane Katrina.
Coming off of the Masters and a signature event in consecutive weeks, the field this week is a step down, and understandably so. Many of the world’s top players will be using this time to rest after a busy stretch.
However, there are some interesting teams this season with some stars making surprise appearances in the team event. Some notable teams include Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama, Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala as well as a few Canadian teams, Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin and Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners.
Past Winners at TPC Louisiana
- 2023: Riley/Hardy (-30)
- 2022: Cantlay/Schauffele (-29)
- 2021: Leishman/Smith (-20)
- 2019: Palmer/Rahm (-26)
- 2018: Horschel/Piercy (-22)
- 2017: Blixt/Smith (-27)
2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans Picks
Tom Hoge/Maverick McNealy +2500 (DraftKings)
Tom Hoge is coming off of a solid T18 finish at the RBC Heritage and finished T13 at last year’s Zurich Classic alongside Harris English.
This season, Hoge is having one of his best years on Tour in terms of Strokes Gained: Approach. In his last 24 rounds, the only player to top him on the category is Scottie Scheffler. Hoge has been solid on Pete Dye designs, ranking 28th in the field over his past 36 rounds.
McNealy is also having a solid season. He’s finished T6 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and T9 at the PLAYERS Championship. He recently started working with world renowned swing coach, Butch Harmon, and its seemingly paid dividends in 2024.
Keith Mitchell/Joel Dahmen +4000 (DraftKings)
Keith Mitchell is having a fantastic season, finishing in the top-20 of five of his past seven starts on Tour. Most recently, Mitchell finished T14 at the Valero Texas Open and gained a whopping 6.0 strokes off the tee. He finished 6th at last year’s Zurich Classic.
Joel Dahmen is having a resurgent year and has been dialed in with his irons. He also has a T11 finish at the PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass which is another Pete Dye track. With Mitchell’s length and Dahmen’s ability to put it close with his short irons, the Mitchell/Dahmen combination will be dangerous this week.
Taylor Moore/Matt NeSmith +6500 (DraftKings)
Taylor Moore has quickly developed into one of the more consistent players on Tour. He’s finished in the top-20 in three of his past four starts, including a very impressive showing at The Masters, finishing T20. He’s also finished T4 at this event in consecutive seasons alongside Matt NeSmith.
NeSmith isn’t having a great 2024, but has seemed to elevate his game in this format. He finished T26 at Pete Dye’s TPC Sawgrass, which gives the 30-year-old something to build off of. NeSmith is also a great putter on Bermudagrass, which could help elevate Moore’s ball striking prowess.
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Pete
May 5, 2017 at 4:52 am
I haven’t been a Tiger fan ever since the infamous “loose impediment” incident in 1999 (not in the spirit of golf IMHO). That said, I do hope he can comeback and compete at the highest level again because it will be great for the sport I love.
rymail00
May 4, 2017 at 8:09 pm
Great article Wayne, really enjoyed and hope read more from you. Maybe even lesson articles too if possible.
Steve Wozeniak
May 4, 2017 at 3:34 pm
He is done unless he finds a coach that knows what he is talking about. Foley and Como are twins they teach the same garbage……duh…..let’s swing left, even though the target is not over there and it will destroy my back….yep let’s just swing left baby!!!!!! Time for a course on simple physics….
Steve Wozeniak PGA
SH
May 4, 2017 at 7:16 pm
I love you Steve
Doug Ferreri
May 8, 2017 at 7:21 am
Finally another voice of reason.
farmer
May 4, 2017 at 2:10 pm
WayneD played at a high level-for a club pro. Not close to tour level. Tiger is 41, by WD’s words, it’s going to be 8 months before he can start to work again, so, 42. He’s going to have to learn a new swing, which is going to take a year to get grooved, so he’s now around 43, he’s forced to play a very limited schedule, limited range time … there’s just too many things. Even without the injuries, Tiger last won a major in 2008, and he is at the age where golf careers begin to tail off. I would like Tiger to be pain free, play an occasional tournament with no great expectations and be able to live a normal life, whatever passes as normal for a rich celebrity. As a force on tour, nope, never going to happen.
Mitch Young
May 4, 2017 at 11:44 am
3 years ago tiger woods was still the best iron player in the world when he hit the fw, even though he had the worst year of his career. just put that into perspective, his absolute worse and put an iron in his hands and he beats the best of the best. tiger is a very special talent, one we will never ever see again, all the things that we think that are extraordinary is simply trivial to him. when you are so ahead of the curve, you will always have a boxer’s chance at winning in golf or better yet a major championship. the masters is a crap shoot with a limited field every year. the british open is weather the most weather dependant major. i doubt tiger would ever win a US open, he just doesn’t drive the ball well enough to be a front runner. the pga i say he will have a harder time winning. so for a 42 year old with multiple back surgeries, he still has a 2.5/4 of winning a major.
James Stephens
May 4, 2017 at 10:03 am
Tigers never gonna swing hands out coming down. He can’t do it. He’s done. Wayne D is a master bs artist
Mr Muira
May 4, 2017 at 8:14 am
Tiger is done, fried, cooked, finito. It was a pleasure watching him.
NolanMBA
May 4, 2017 at 7:31 am
My “good back” friends just don’t know what it’s like… When you are in an icy parking lot and consider getting down and rolling/crawling to get where you need to go just to prevent slipping and throwing your back out– then we can talk.
larrybud
May 3, 2017 at 10:39 pm
Because a 3 is sooo close to top pga tour players… huh.
lolerballz
May 9, 2017 at 4:59 am
haha! the classic USGA +3 hcp and yet if you play with him, he never goes lower than 80 :DDD
Jude
May 3, 2017 at 10:07 pm
Your writing is a breath of fresh air. Very encouraging I pray he plays again competitively.
Fat Perez
May 3, 2017 at 4:38 pm
Come back to WHAT?!
mlecuni
May 4, 2017 at 4:20 am
New era of TIGER being called PHOENIX ?
MATTHEW SIPE
May 3, 2017 at 3:48 pm
Everyone overlooks the amount of practice (daily) he would need to get back into tournament shape. That’s not gonna happen, he can’t continuously practice the amount needed to perform on the highest level due to these injuries.
H
May 3, 2017 at 11:41 am
You forget that the women get in the way. How he destroyed so many of them. Edlrick’s ego too. And the kind of money we’re talking about that Eldrick has, compared to what Hogan was making, is astronomical and can’t even be compared, the money is a massive factor that will take away the hunger to go after it. Plus it’s mostly the public and media scrutiny he faces every time he steps out to the course that he can’t handle. He never has been smart at making speeches nor speaking in public. His management team and agents surround him in a cocoon now so he doesn’t put his foot in the wrong thing, you can see he’d rather just be at home with the kids and be left alone. His agents and publicists are geniuses at keeping Eldrick’s noise in the media, keeping the world up to date, even trying to upend other people’s successes by publishing updates at inappropriate times. That’s the world he lives in. If it was pure golf for winning tournaments only and going for records, I’m sure he’d be out there gunning for it, but all this other stuff have stopped him. Has anybody asked how often he speaks to Elin or allow her to see each other’s kids or themselves, for that matter?
Dorcas
May 3, 2017 at 4:18 pm
“He never has been smart…”
The irony is real.
Bob Jones
May 3, 2017 at 11:29 am
Three spine surgeries here. I’ve had to learn to accept my limitations. I’m not sure Tiger’s out-sized ego can accept his. But, then, is he willing to go through missed cuts and mediocre finishes in his attempt to come back? Be just another Tour pro on his way to…what? That, not his back, will be the sticking point.
Golferguy
May 3, 2017 at 11:14 am
Tiger’s been beating up on his body with golf since he 3 or 4 years old. He should just take what’s left of his health and move on to coaching.
Chopper
May 3, 2017 at 11:09 am
So here is a guy that has played golf at the top 0.01% level and has happened to have very similar injuries and surgeries and all you 15 handicappers immediately dismiss his opinions because they do not line up with your predetermined outlook on Tiger. Interesting.
BD57
May 3, 2017 at 7:53 pm
Nelson, Snead, Palmer, Player, Weiskopf & Nicklaus, none of which I’m aware.
Hogan … um, there was this head on collision with a bus …….
hburt
May 3, 2017 at 10:43 am
Very well written article. You obviously know more than most about back pain and the golf swing. Like you said, with this major fix Tiger will have a chance to play pain free again. But still remains to be seen. Even if the physical part works out, he will have to muster the mental strength to come back and win again.
Definitely don’t question his mental strength when Earl was around – it was unparalleled. But since 2006, I do question it. I’m not sure he has it in him to humble himself and make swing changes to accommodate his physical limitations. Don’t think it’s in his DNA. I think he gets frustrated and just tries to power through.
I don’t question that he wants to come back and win. But I don’t think he knows how to struggle through tough times. His whole life he has always been the best. Not saying he didn’t work hard, but I think everything came pretty easily to him. He’s not used to seeing other guys blast it past him. He’s not used to having the chipping yips. That sort of thing never used to happen to him. I think it’s taken him down a few pegs, in our minds and in his own. That is what I think he won’t be able to overcome.
We’ll see. I actually hope you’re right and I’m wrong.
Tcann32
May 3, 2017 at 4:04 pm
I think you’re spot on with the statement of it not being in Tiger’s DNA to change the way he plays.. not enough to follow through with it anyways. He has started to change some aspects, but I just don’t see him slowing things down enough to make the necessary changes. This also begs the question: Without Tiger’s swing, the one that won countless tournaments (80-ish?) and 14 majors; is it still Tiger, and will he be good enough to compete as he once did with a different swing and approach to the game? He’s obviously going to be able to hold on to many, many very strong aspects of his game, but can he re-vamp other parts of his game well enough to compete with some of the things he will have to give up? Like you, I hope I, and you, are wrong. It’d be great to see him come back and win. Even just win a regular tournament. 2013 was really exciting to see the big cat come back and win again, even if it didn’t include any majors.
With what he has shown so far though, he’s going to have to re work his swing, his approach to the game, and his mental game as well, and that’s the part I think will hold him back. He’s a golf nut and couldn’t stay away entirely the last couple years, and couldn’t make the changes needed to stay healthy, and I’ll be surprised if he can do it again. Not to mention, after hitting what I must assume is a million golf balls with the same swing over many years, and now having that swing be limited, the road to recovery will include more than feeling good again, and will entail re-learning everything. I’m sure he can learn faster than anyone, but his muscle memory won’t do him any good because he’s going to have to change so much. His mental and muscle memory might even hurt him because those are the things that can’t be erased and much of it won’t fit into what he’s going to presumably attempt to do now. .
TvGuyJake
May 3, 2017 at 10:25 am
TW couldn’t even make it back as a caddie? I love the reasoning in these articles…ooh “let em get the reader’s attention” with some specious reasoning. Take off the rose-colored glasses,,,you’ve seen the last of TW; and that includes the Senior Tour. #MoveOn
Joe
May 3, 2017 at 10:10 am
the tiger is done. sorry. move on.
JD
May 3, 2017 at 9:42 am
Yeah sure…. and Grizzly Adams had a beard.
ooffa
May 3, 2017 at 9:16 am
Nah he’s washed up. Forever. Not coming back. Have to say he had a great run though.
Rex
May 3, 2017 at 10:26 am
Best run ever. Better than jacks. If anyone wants to argue that first think about wgc events
ooffa
May 4, 2017 at 8:51 am
That’s the issue. Tiger was a run. Jack was a marathon. The runner has collapsed. Jack was better.
Greg V
May 3, 2017 at 9:10 am
Hogan had only won 3 majors before his accident (4 if you count the Hale America Open during WWII). As well, he started his equipment company in 1953, so he had plenty of reasons work his tail off to win majors.
Tiger has already won 14 majors. Where’s the incentive?
ROY
May 3, 2017 at 9:57 am
He’s still short of Jack and Sam – thats his incentive…..
Tcann32
May 3, 2017 at 8:58 am
I have similar injuries to the writer, and to Tiger. It’s awful, nasty, and no fun at all. I have yet to undergo surgery as I’ve already had eight or nine operations in my shorter life span, and am not interested in going in for another. That being said, some days it seems like it’d be worth it.
Now, if the back is anything like other injuries after an operation, then the writer nailed it on the head in saying that Tiger will need to change some things about his swing and the way he plays. It’s possible to get your body to perform well enough to achieve the same end results as before, but you can’t do it in the ways in which you became injured in the first place, and Tiger doesn’t seem to want to change that so much. I also believe that with the right changes, he could come back in much better form than he has. The only question I really have, is without that explosive swing and style of play, will it really be Tiger, and will he be good enough to beat those that might not be as good as Tiger once was, but are better than Tiger on his bad, mediocre, and decent days. I don’t think he’d win tournaments by 10 strokes anymore, healthy or not, so he will have to excel in other facets of the game in which he can get a leg up over the field again, while giving up the advantages he used to have.
Steve S
May 3, 2017 at 8:52 am
I agree that Tiger COULD play and be good again, but I don’t thing his ego will allow him to revert to a finesse game from his power game….and he’ll have to become a much better putter.
Hans
May 3, 2017 at 8:51 am
Tiger is the needle so you are probably going to get a lot of opinions here, but I just wanted to say thanks for the insight. Coming from someone who also had a fusion and played played golf at a very high level, it’s interesting what you say about a player being to play with limitations (but not pain). It would seem that being able to practice less is a big limitation (esp for Tiger since he likes to make swing changes) which might be the biggest roadblock, that and his age (he doesnt have a ton of time to learn to adapt). Insightful to hear how you were able to adapt and produce great golf again in a similar situation.
cgasucks
May 3, 2017 at 7:56 am
I look forward seeing Tiger win again….on the Champions Tour.