PGA Tour Talks Tiger Woods

Torrey Pines is the latest stop for the Tiger Woods search party. We thought we were going to see him last week but that obviously was an imposter. Real or fake Tiger is about to play his first competitive round since his mind boggling eighty-two while missing the cut last week at the Phoenix Open. For Woods it’s been six days of practice and criticism. A bad few days at Torrey and we may call off the search party and move on to full out panic mode.

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Last week we wondered if he was ready to win; now it’s all about if he can even compete. The muddled swing thoughts and short game that is bordering on the yips, has Woods front and center for all the wrong reasons. This week other members of the golf community spoke out about what they’ve seen.

Rocco Mediate is a household name mainly because he was the lovable underdog who lost to Woods at the dramatic 2008 U.S. Open. No one was more complimentary of Woods that week than Mediate. He stated over and over how big of a thrill it was to go head to head with the greatest player on the planet. Rocco almost can’t believe what has happened to him.

"“It’s a mess right now,” Mediate said on Golf Channel’s Feherty Live. “It’s a little bit better up here (in the swing) but for some reason the best short game that was ever alive in the entire history of the world is gone. Now why is that? I’ve said it for eight years since he beat my butt at Torrey,” he continued. “The shots coming off this man’s golf club never happened before. Why is that? It’s technique.”"

Mediate has never been one to hold back his words, and his assessment of Tiger’s game was accurate. The thing that sticks out most is how bad his short game is right now. He’s changed his golf swing many times before but never have the other parts fallen apart like this. You could see this coming for years now. As Mediate would know Tiger was once the most clutch putter out there, now the guy can’t seem to make anything when he needs it most. With that in mind it’s a logical progression for the rest of his short game to eventually struggle.

Is it possible that he has the yips? Peter Kostis of CBS Sports isn’t about to jump to that conclusion.

"“I’m not in the camp that thinks he has the yips. That’s preposterous. But I do think he is playing around certain shots until he feels comfortable with them.”"

What about Tiger’s playing competitors, it’s hard for them to avoid questions about him on a regular basis, let alone when his game is in disarray. Phil Mickelson has spent his career answering questions about his so called “rival.” After also missing the cut last week the five time major champion has plenty of issues of his own to deal with. When it comes to Tiger he’s not worried about him figuring things out.

"“I think the short game is, when you haven’t played, it’s the first thing to feel uncomfortable and the quickest thing to get back,” Mickelson said after playing in the pro-am at the Farmers Insurance Open. “I don’t think he’s going to have any problems, I really don’t. I think we all, myself included, have had stretches where we feel a little uncomfortable, we don’t hit it solid, and usually it’s just a small tweak. Because it’s such a short swing that it’s not a hard thing to fix I just don’t see that lasting more than a week or two. I think Tiger is going to have the last laugh.”"

While everyone from Torrey Pines to Augusta is searching for a way to “fix” Tiger, it will come down to him and Chris Como. This is just the beginning of what Woods calls “the process.” Right now the process is returning plenty of negative results and while faith in both men waivers by the day, one solid round or tournament can turn things around. Come on Tiger go out there and prove us wrong!

All quotes courtesy of PGATour.com

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