Tiger Woods Looks Lost In Phoenix

It may be his first round of the year but Tiger Woods looks lost. He may be leaner and meaner and his swing may resemble the one that slammed golf in 2000, but the results are way off. For all those people in town for the Super Bowl hoping to catch a glimpse of the former world number one better get over to TPC Scottsdale on Friday because there’s a good chance he won’t be there for the weekend. Least for Tiger it’s not all bad, he was hoping to make an appearance at the game and now he may have plenty of time to get there nice and early.

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The entire pre-tournament buzz at the Waste Management Phoenix Open was about the return of Woods who was unleashing a new/old swing on tour. He spoke confident; he looked ready and made it easy for us to believe him. Then he stepped on the course and it all went down hill. First he drove the ball left, then he drove the ball right. His short game is still a mess and he physically doesn’t look like the same guy. He once strolled the fairways with a confidence that we all dreamed of. On Thursday for Tiger it looked like it was the last place he wanted to be.

Now to jump the gun after one round and say that he will never make a cut again is a little hasty, but I think there’s definitely a cause for concern. That’s because it almost seemed as if he was a fish out of water on Thursday. In the old days we always believed that he was just one swing away from a birdie run that could right the ship. While on Thursday it was tough to feel that way.

He did give us some hope with a dagger of a 4 iron on the twelfth hole that led to an eagle three and Gary McCord on the Golf Channel described it perfectly: “That’s a golf shot ladies and gentleman, it took twelve holes but we finally have a golf shot.” It took him twelve holes to hit a true golf shot?

"“It’s a frustrating thing” Woods said. “It’s just something where I need to get more competitive rounds under my belt and get a feel for it. I didn’t get into a mental rhythm for a while, and it took a little bit of time and during that span I made some bogeys.” Credit PGATour.com"

The alarm bells that go off with Tiger’s post round statements are the fact that it took him a while to mentally settle into a round. For him the game used to be as much of a mental domination as it was a physical one. His mere presence in a group or seeing his name rise up a leaderboard would cause competitors to crumble. He on the other hand never would. Through injuries, bad swings with the driver or putts not dropping, Tiger grinded it out because he was just mentally stronger than everyone else. Now for Woods it takes till the 12^th hole to feel comfortable out there.

With Woods playing with Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth it almost felt like a passing of the torch in some ways. Now it’s not like these guys set the place on fire Thursday, but right now they remind us more of the old Woods then Tiger does. Patrick Reed is fearless, confident, a winner, and is the best player to wear red on Sundays right now. Then there’s Spieth who blitzed the field at Tiger’s Hero World Challenge, while the host finished last. Also doesn’t it always feel like Spieth is around the top of the leaderboard like Woods used to be?

Golf is a young man’s game right now and I’m not going to say at thirty-nine the game has left Woods, but he just looks old. Even his clothes don’t look the same. He was always a perfect walking billboard for Nike. Today his polos look like they’re not worth the $70 they cost. I guess this is the “New Tiger” that were going to have to deal with. We’ve been waiting for the real Tiger to come back but maybe that just isn’t in the cards. Or maybe it was just one bad round. All I know is that lately there’s been plenty of those “one bad rounds.”

Next: Rory McIlroy Two Back After The First Round In Dubai

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