|
Post by SUVFan on Nov 30, 2021 20:11:20 GMT -5
Tiger is hosting his Hero Challenge tournament this week and addressed the media. Clearly, Sports Illustrated was unimpressed, running this headline: Tiger Woods Speaks and Says Little About Accident or Future in Golf Woods addressed the media for the first time since January and had little to say about his February car accident or what his golf future might beThe redundancy was pretty stunning to me, considering they report that Woods shared that he was lucky to survive the accident and that at one point it was about 50/50 whether one of his legs would be amputated. That seems like something? Early in the story, they note that police said Woods was driving at least 84 mph at the time of the accident. So I guess they believe Woods should be sharing more about the accident, to the extent he remembers it. Instead, they report that he referred the media to public police reports. He didn't have a lot to say about his possible return to golf but I thought what he did say was considerable: The piece finishes with a note that Tiger is still hopeful he can play in PGA tournaments at some point.
|
|
|
Post by SUVFan on Jan 25, 2022 19:49:45 GMT -5
I had Golf Channel on briefly today. The show just before 4 pm apparently is running a new segment that features a shot of the day from Tiger's career. Today's was the last hole in one Tiger made on the PGA tour. Yep, 25 years ago today, Tiger holed out on the (even then) famed 16th at the Phoenix Open (that was long before the current sponsor's name was added to the event name): It's fun to see that early version of the 16th. It's the hole that, today, is a stand alone stadium:
|
|
|
Post by SUVFan on May 22, 2022 10:35:14 GMT -5
I neglected to update this thread during or after the 2022 Masters. Tiger actually played in this year's masters, managing to make the cut but never really challenging for the lead. He finished in 47th place at 13 over par, 23 shots behind winner Scottie Scheffler.
Frankly, it was remarkable that he was able to play at all. Frequently, I noticed that after putting out, instead of handing his putter back to his caddie as every pro seems to do, Tiger kept his putter in his hand, using it kind of like a cane to traverse from green to tee. He also frequently kept his driver or other club in his hand after teeing off, again using it as a cane, especially on downhill terrain.
|
|
|
Post by SUVFan on May 22, 2022 10:59:04 GMT -5
After the Masters, Tiger said that he planned to play in The Open Championship (a/k/a, The British Open), which will be held at St. Andrews this year, known to be one of his favorite courses. Because he was limping so badly around Agusta in early April, I was surprised to see him in this week's PGA Championship field.
Day one wasn't particularly great. He struggled to a +2 (the lead was -8) to start the event. His second round saw him fall to +5 briefly, one stroke on the wrong side of the cut line, but he rallied late in the round, aided by the late afternoon cessation of strong winds that had plagued the half of the field that had the late Thursday/early Friday starting times. His post round interview saw him hopeful that round 3 might see him surge.
No surge materialized. In fact, Tiger had to manage a late birdie to avoid the indignity of shooting an 80, managing to card a 9 over 79, which put him +12 overall, 20 shots off the lead and in last place. Questions started about whether he would finish dead last today?
However, continuing a recent trend that started in several of the relatively few non major events he's entered during his previous comeback, Tiger packed it in and withdrew late yesterday afternoon, avoiding the posting of what appeared likely to be his worst score in a major. It's the first time he's withdrawn from a major. The linked article says he withdrew, "Due to persistent soreness from a leg he is still rehabilitating."
I get it: 20 back there was no way he could win so why endure the pain? But I guess I believe that if you're not prepared to go the distance, you shouldn't enter and you shouldn't withdraw just because you're performance isn't up to par. Undoubtedly, he'd have played today if he'd been within 10 shots of the lead and he felt like a top 10 was doable. I have to think avoiding a dead last stat in his major record was a significant factor in his decision.
Clearly he made a mistake entering the tournament and, I hope he doesn't try to play the US Open in a few weeks. If he wants to take up a spot in an effort to test his game, maybe he should try entering one of the lackluster PGA events instead of taking a spot away from a golfer who would go the distance regardless of score. Those events would benefit from his presence, however brief it might be, in terms of patrons and TV ratings. Majors are going to get good turnout regardless. In this case, the cut line would not have changed if Tiger had not made it - everyone who was +4 or better made the cut and it wouldn't have shifted to +5 without Tiger in the field. But it could have made a difference and whoever would have made the field had Tiger not taken up a spot might have stuck around for the weekend and even made a run at the championship.
|
|
|
Post by SUVFan on Nov 21, 2022 8:37:17 GMT -5
On Saturday, during the ESPN Game Day show, Sir Nick Faldo was the celebrity guest picker. Sir Nick predicted that next month, Tiger and his son Charlie will win the father son tournament again.
Probably a safe bet!
|
|
|
Post by SUVFan on Feb 11, 2023 11:30:13 GMT -5
Sir Nick was wrong. I forget who won but remember hearing they didn't.
During yesterday's Phoenix Open telecast, there was breaking news that Tiger announced he'll be playing next week at Riviera, where he'll be the tourney host.
The 2021 edition marked the last time Tiger played in a non major event. It concluded a couple of days before the accident that nearly cost him his leg, if not his life.
|
|
|
Post by SUVFan on Apr 8, 2023 9:42:06 GMT -5
I realized I had not updated this thread for Tiger's performance at the 2023 Rivera tournament.
He managed to make the cut on the cut line at +1 and played fairly well on Saturday, moving 32 spots up the leaderboard, but struggled in the final round:
|
|
|
Post by SUVFan on Apr 8, 2023 9:49:48 GMT -5
The 2nd round of this year's Masters tournament is in the books. Tiger stands at +3 and backed his way into making the cut. He was on the projected cut line at +2 with 4 holes to play. As I expected, he birdied the par 5 15th to give himself a little cushion. But he bogeyed the last two and found himself needing help.
He got it when Im and JT both bogeyed 17, bringing the +3s into a tie for 49th. If either birdied 18, the line would move back to +2. Im made par but JT made his 3rd bogey in a row to drop to +4.
However he did it, it's quite an accomplishment. That marks 23 straight Masters cuts for Tiger (not counting the years he skipped it or withdrew), which puts him in a tie for that stat.
Tiger is still not in position to be a factor for another green jacket. He's 15 off the lead. He actually trails Amateur Sam Bennett, who holds 3rd at -8, by 11 strokes.
|
|
|
Post by SUVFan on Apr 8, 2023 18:38:00 GMT -5
Tiger's cut line finish this morning earned him a position in the final group to go off the back 9 in the 3rd round. He completed 7 holes before play was suspended for the day. It's not going well -- he's 6 over for this round so far, 9 over for the tournament and solidly in last place by 3 shots, 22 shots off the lead.
CBS has been mentioning frequently that Tiger now shares the record for consecutive cuts made at 23 with Gary Player and Freddie Couples. They put up a graphic that shows Tiger needed 26 years to achieve the stat, Couples did it in 24 but Player did it in 23! So, to me, Player is the only one who made the cut in 23 consecutive Masters. The other two skipped one or three tournaments for whatever reasons. They still made the cut in 23 straight that they played in but it's not quite the same as 23 in 23 years.
|
|
|
Post by SUVFan on Apr 9, 2023 7:24:48 GMT -5
Unsurprisingly, Tiger withdrew this morning from the 2023 Masters, citing an injury:
|
|
|
Post by SUVFan on Apr 9, 2023 11:08:04 GMT -5
Two 3rd round performances punctuate Tiger's mid-round WD from the Masters.
First, Sungjae Im also made the cut on the line, tied with Tiger after the 2nd round at +3. While Tiger's score ballooned to +9 when play was suspended yesterday, Im managed a 5 under 67 in round 3, vaulting into a tie for 15. That's exactly the kind of round the old Tiger probably would have came up with, if not a 66 that would have put him inside the top 10.
Second, Keith Mitchel is in last place at +7 after 3 rounds after a 5 over round. That's 2 strokes better than where Tiger was when he WD.
Tiger's WDs have increasingly become a pattern that, at a minimum, have the effect of avoiding scores that would be a stain on his remarkable record. Though I don't deny that in Tiger's condition, 29 holes would have been very difficult, especially with how wet the grounds are, it seems very likely that avoiding embarrassing scores is also the intent. If he had been sitting at level par when the horn blew, I have little doubt that he's have pushed himself to play today.
I don't know if they have started it yet, but it seems like the oddsmakers should be providing a betting line for whether Tiger WDs going forward.
|
|
|
Post by SUVFan on Apr 22, 2023 15:03:39 GMT -5
It's looking like Tiger will probably fail to complete any Major tournament in 2023.
According to ESPN, after withdrawing from the Masters, he underwent ankle surgery to fuse some bones together, eliminating the ankle joint and, hopefully, also eliminating the pain he's been experiencing, if I got it right.
The linked article says the recovery time is such that it would appear that Tiger would not be able to participate in any of the remaining majors this year, the last of which is The Open Championship across the pond in July, in about 3 months from now.
The article also notes that the surgery is addressing ongoing complications from Tiger's high speed single car wreck.
|
|
|
Post by SUVFan on Nov 30, 2023 18:17:22 GMT -5
Tiger is playing in a tournament this week for the first time since the Masters. The Guardian's headline tells it all:
Tiger Woods signs for ‘rusty’ 75 on comeback at Hero World Challenge -- Disastrous double bogey leaves Woods on three over par
He actually started pretty well before falling apart on his last 4 holes. If he's back, it could make for a very interesting year. Especially if the report at the end of the article about Jon Rahm likely moving to LIV materializes.
|
|
|
Post by SUVFan on Dec 3, 2023 10:30:57 GMT -5
Tiger's play has improved the past two days in the Hero World Championship.
Friday, he was 2 under par, making a fairly long, slippery putt for birdie on the last. The ball almost lipped out and if it had been an inch further to the right, he'd have had a fairly long putt for par. But it dropped.
Yesterday, he shot 1 under.
That said, at even par for the event through 3 rounds, Tiger is in 16th (out of 20) place, 16 strokes behind Scottie Scheffler, who has led the past two rounds.
We'll see how today goes, as he probably hasn't played 4 days in a row since the Masters.
Regardless, it appears he's recovered nicely from his surgery back in April and may be able to contend if he gets some breaks and others don't.
|
|
|
Post by SUVFan on Dec 4, 2023 15:36:30 GMT -5
Tiger slipped to level par for his final round in the Hero World Championship, which left him at even par for the tournament, in 18th place, 20 shots off the pace set by winner Scottie Scheffler.
I doubt he's at all satisfied with this performance but he's sent a message that he's capable of playing 4 rounds. This course was easy with 5 reachable par 5s and 2 drivable par 4s, so level par is not much of an achievement -- unless you haven't played in about 8 months and have undergone surgery.
2024 will be a much more interesting year on the PGA tour with Tiger back in the mix at the majors and possibly The Players. Kinda doubt we'll see him much more than that.
Developing.
|
|