Tiger may not quite be back...

[Marco]

[quote name='smiley9929' timestamp='1428622523' post='11323187']
Say what you want in terms of 'he's healthy' but what I saw was a very ginger walk toward the end of the round.

Anyone who says Tiger's health is back to 100% is fooling only themselves. Tiger clearly, in my judgment, is still not 100% in terms of physical health.

That being said, he played well today and I hope he continues to play well and compete well for the Masters championship.
[/quote]

his back is never gonna be 100%, he had surgery.

Only way to make it 100% back would be by having his posture recalibrated =)

[bscinstnct]

Tigerrrrr!

Gotta work tomorrow. Be a man.

Birdie 2 of the first 5. Get in there and live a little!

Go, go, go!

[jmck]

[quote name='Frankensteins Monster' timestamp='1428634053' post='11324677']
[quote name='jmck' timestamp='1428633913' post='11324653']
[quote name='Frankensteins Monster' timestamp='1428633191' post='11324563']
[quote name='jmck' timestamp='1428632717' post='11324495']
[quote name='Guardian5' timestamp='1428632557' post='11324485']
Ask this of the best players in the world. How good do you have to be to win a tournament out of every 15-20 and be a top ten player in the world.
Then ask how hard it is to win only the best tournaments where all the best players play. Tigers win rate and success is staggering. Ask the others!
[/quote]

That's very true of TW from 1997 to 2008.

Have you or Frankenstein seen him play golf since then?
[/quote]

He won five times in 2013, won the money list and player of the year.
[/quote]

Wow. Great point. He had one good year--in which he won zero majors--between 2008 and 2015.
[/quote]

Keep moving those goalposts. Eventually you'll make your argument correct.
[/quote]

Whatever dude. I'm not the one humping away at a 73 being a major accomplishment.

[hyunsbuns]

I thought he played well... If it wasn't for Spieth's dominating of every course lately he would only be 6 back of the leader.

[Barto78]

What score do you guys think Tiger has to shoot tomorrow to make the cut? 70?

[rafer11]

[quote name='Barto78' timestamp='1428636703' post='11324941']
What score do you guys think Tiger has to shoot tomorrow to make the cut? 70?
[/quote]

No no wat higher. 72 will make cut. Debatably 73. Just take today's scores and souble them. +2 would be the in line, +3 out. He just needs an even par round and he's in.

As for what he'll shoot. Not sure. Greens should be faster in the morning. He could have played much better today. Could have also played a tad worse. His play today probably deserved a 71/72. Lots of could of make putts. 9 could have been a 6 tho.

Today's play deserved a 71-72. He should play a tad better given he got the first round out of the way and he's playing in the morning. Id say he shoots about 70. 69 good round. I'll set O/U at 70.5.

[DTXgolfer12]

[quote name='jmvargas' timestamp='1428624025' post='11323399']
if he can shoot 68 or better tomorrow i say he has a chance to win.......
[/quote]

probably not. no one outside the top ten after day one has won the masters in forever. He's in 40th. he would have to shoot 65's and 66's every day from here on out to do it. The masters tends to get harder friday and sat

[Rory Mcilwoods]

He's swinging too hard. I can't see his back surviving 72 holes the way he is swinging.

[rafer11]

[quote name='DTXgolfer12' timestamp='1428638215' post='11325101']
[quote name='jmvargas' timestamp='1428624025' post='11323399']
if he can shoot 68 or better tomorrow i say he has a chance to win.......
[/quote]

probably not. no one outside the top ten after day one has won the masters in forever. He's in 40th. he would have to shoot 65's and 66's every day from here on out to do it. The masters tends to get harder friday and sat
[/quote]

3 68's, and he could win. Really depends on the scores tho. Usually -10/-11 is a good score, but there have been some -14 and -16 years recently with Charl and Phil.

[slimeone]

His game may not be back but the lame "vogueing" after bad shots is in solid form.

[DTXgolfer12]

[quote name='rafer11' timestamp='1428639491' post='11325203']
[quote name='DTXgolfer12' timestamp='1428638215' post='11325101']
[quote name='jmvargas' timestamp='1428624025' post='11323399']
if he can shoot 68 or better tomorrow i say he has a chance to win.......
[/quote]

probably not. no one outside the top ten after day one has won the masters in forever. He's in 40th. he would have to shoot 65's and 66's every day from here on out to do it. The masters tends to get harder friday and sat
[/quote]

3 68's, and he could win. Really depends on the scores tho. Usually -10/-11 is a good score, but there have been some -14 and -16 years recently with Charl and Phil.
[/quote]
Three 68's would UNBELIEVABLY good for Tiger the way he's hitting it. He isn't getting half as many birdie tries as the guys on the leaderboard. Even with three 68's it still woudln't be enough. Somone will be at 12 under by lunch tomorrow.

[taporsnap17]

I haven't seen his round and won't until tonight. But following the play and my personal expectations, I thought he well.

He got through 18 holes. A bit wayward here and there, hit good drives and got a bit of confidence in his short game.

He won't contend. Going in, at best I was hoping he'd play well enough to make the cut and shoot say, four rounds of 70. Solid and confidence building for the rest of the season.

At worst, chips flying everywhere and a WD with a dinged back

[taporsnap17]

[quote name='Frankensteins Monster' timestamp='1428632359' post='11324459']
[quote name='jmck' timestamp='1428631966' post='11324417']
[quote name='Frankensteins Monster' timestamp='1428630468' post='11324241']
[quote name='Rustynuts' timestamp='1428630001' post='11324173']
The score he shot was the best he could have shot, pretty so so return really
[/quote]

LoL. Guy couldn't hit a chip shot off the ground two months ago. He was yipping 6 iron chip shots. He was all over the place with his driver. His iron shots here coming up 30 yards short. You say "so so" I say "LoL" @ you.
[/quote]

Yeah, you're right. Let's just cancel the last three rounds and give him the green jacket right now. They do give out green jackets for "most improved since hacking his way to an 82 two months ago" right? Or am I thinking of an award for punctuality? Maybe he can win that this year too. The other dude's right--with the way he hit the ball, 73 was as good as he could've shot today, and 73 was a pretty so-so round given the conditions today. Not sure what you're LOL about.
[/quote]

Way to be horribly hyperbolic in you post. I'm not sure you could be more exaggerating in response to my post. Almost doesn't warrant a response.

Wrong about the best he could have shot. He had at least three putts that could have fallen. I'd say 73 was as bad as he could have shot. He paid the price for his bad shot on nine.

Go on and say it was a so so round for someone who was called done, mentally destroyed, will never get over chipping yips, horribly swing just two months ago.
[/quote]

You make a fair point about his putting. But he also could've shot a lot worse. Escaping 9 with a bogey from where he was. That could've been a rallying point for him. But who rallies around bogeys lol

[joe perry]

It was mildly interested in watching Tiger today and yes his chipping was very good but I have been watching golf on tv since 1987 or so and Tiger does not have the complete game to win another major nor is he playing well enough.

Monty was just flabbergasted at the drastic dip Tiger makes with the driver and irons that is causing him to hit way too many poor shots every single round.

Tiger is no longer a stellar putter - very good maybe but I used to cringe how many big putts he made when I was rooting for Els back in the day - now I could never see Tiger beating the leaders at any major with his putting. All I can see is his driver preventing him from winning another major.

[JORDANF1]

Interesting topic, and yeah i though he played ok for a guy thats not played 4 rounds since Feb, as for Speith i highly doubt hes going to shoot - 8 over the next 3 days.

And this is the Masters , anything is possible ! and Yes its still possible that Woods can go 68 x 3 and win the thing ! as can anyone else, the course will get alot harder tomorrow !

At least TW is Back playing !

[borker]

Did some of you Tiger apologists actually watch the round cause I find it hard to see 73 as "the worst he could have shot". Sheesh.
I saw at LEAST 2 club drops in disgust in his follow through, a water ball on the par3 12th 154 yards, an almost another water ball that he roped back with too much spin but rough saved him, random 2-way misses on tee shots, a SHANKED 5-wood to where a tree saved it and dropped it straight down - this mind you was from the fairway NEXT over for the hole he was playing, and a badly pushed some 30 yards missed green from the fairway to which he had to chip over a bunker. Did I miss anything?

73 was literally the best he could have shot given the above. He was showing frustration, wanting to whack the ground a few times after shots wayward tee shots in the woods and having to miraculously hit recover shots. At one point I was amazed he was still only +1 as I got up to do things after a few of the above yet came back to see he once again saved par.Granted it was better than his last two tournaments to where he was chipping like a 20 capper and missing cut by mile.

The one positive is his short game looks much better. Once or twice I was glued to TV in anticipation of another chipping disaster as he had some tough tests today, but he had no issues. But he basically looked like the 111th ranked player in world out there he is, mixed in with the inhuman Tiger of being able to recover and grind.

[Ranchobob]

[quote name='Rory Mcilwoods' timestamp='1428638535' post='11325131']He's swinging too hard. I can't see his back surviving 72 holes the way he is swinging.[/quote]

Bingo. He's not 22 anymore. He's gonna destroy his spine with that swing.

[Blade Junkie]

[quote name='borker' timestamp='1428642195' post='11325415']
Did some of you Tiger apologists actually watch the round cause I find it hard to see 73 as "the worst he could have shot". Sheesh.
I saw at LEAST 2 club drops in disgust in his follow through, a water ball on the par3 12th 154 yards, an almost another water ball that he roped back with too much spin but rough saved him, random 2-way misses on tee shots, a SHANKED 5-wood to where a tree saved it and dropped it straight down - this mind you was from the fairway NEXT over for the hole he was playing, and a badly pushed some 30 yards missed green from the fairway to which he had to chip over a bunker. Did I miss anything?

73 was literally the best he could have shot given the above. He was showing frustration, wanting to whack the ground a few times after shots wayward tee shots in the woods and having to miraculously hit recover shots. At one point I was amazed he was still only +1 as I got up to do things after a few of the above yet came back to see he once again saved par.Granted it was better than his last two tournaments to where he was chipping like a 20 capper and missing cut by mile.

The one positive is his short game looks much better. Once or twice I was glued to TV in anticipation of another chipping disaster as he had some tough tests today, but he had no issues. But he basically looked like the 111th ranked player in world out there he is, mixed in with the inhuman Tiger of being able to recover and grind.
[/quote]

I think that is a fair assessment of his round. Some of the up and downs were very good indeed.

In Stats:

10/14 Fairways Hit - 71% vs Field 66% (much better than I was expecting, and much higher than my perception of watching some of the highlights!)
11/18 Greens-In-Regulation - 61% vs Field 63%
1.56 Putts per Hole (vs Field 1.69)
One Three-Putt (Field 0.94)

If he starts hitting better approaches then he should score better. Technically, he still seems to be dipping into the ball to my eye ... also, don't see why he has to hit so hard, and lose balance etc.

Top-25 would be a highly creditable finish in the circumstances, though I am sure that is not his mindset lol.


On a final note, he shot the same score as the highly fancied Stenson, Walker and Fowler, and three better than last week's winner JB Holmes. #perspective

[FargoRC]

I thought he got stronger as his round progressed, obviously a good sign with his health history. Wouldn't be shocked if he puts together a solid round tomorrow,

Still not sure how he got out of hole 9 with just a bogey, but somehow he did and then seemed to settle in a bit after that. All in all he looked like a pro that hadn't played competitive golf in a few months, it was about what I expected. If he can stay healthy I think he will win a few times this year, maybe not any majors but it will be good to see him back in the mix again.

[360_CS]

Nice to see his short game has improved. But what the hell is with his long game. That 9th hole...WTF!

[straightslice]

[quote name='JColtrane' timestamp='1428621989' post='11323137'][quote name='jlbos83' timestamp='1428621788' post='11323107']
[quote name='legitimategolf' timestamp='1428621404' post='11323073']
[quote name='jlbos83' timestamp='1428620643' post='11322979']
He didn't play like Tiger Woods.
[/quote]

Whatta ya mean, he was going left, right, hitting crazy shots out of the trees, wedging it around with lots of spin, grinding hard, making all the tough little putts and generally salvaging a score like nobody's business--that's always been Tiger Woods's game!
[/quote]
True, but Tiger Woods salvages a 68!

He did make all those nasty four footers, though!
[/quote]

You do realize, he's broken 70 in the first round only once.[/quote]dont confuse his points with facts.

[AndyP]

[quote name='jtitleist12' timestamp='1428624546' post='11323445']
His chipping is a non issue. I don't see how anyone could even question it after his chip back across the bunker towards the water after being way right on #11! That could have been a disaster but it was a huge up and down.

I thought the swing looked pretty good overall, but he is rusty which is to be expected. You can't play competitive tournament golf once every 2-3 months and expect your irons to be dialed in.

Like others have said, he needs to play 2,3,4 weeks in a row.

- Josh
[/quote]

One chip does not a consistent chipper make. Also, what was he doing there on the 11th in the first place to require a chip - yup, way out of position due to his previous shot that's what.

Additionally, how can he be rusty when he's allegedly been practicing from dawn to dusk.

He'd be well advised to do lots and lots of charity work for the next decade, then go on the Seniors Tour.

[Trap Junior]

I wouldnt be too quick to say his short game issues are over. They can come back.

Played somw great pitches yesterday though.

His swing is just awful. How on earth can he not have addressed some glaring swing issues is beyond me. His tempo, his transition is out of sync and his downswing are absolutely awful. Anyone who thinks he will contend or shoot a few low rounds is clueless about golf. He is gettibg his arms way too muvh from the inside even when playing an intentional cut.

[Titleist 670]

It's pretty simple - this was an encouraging round for Tiger in many ways; much improved short game, +1 after a very long layoff.

Why people want to start extrapolating this over an entire season and giving him wins and majors, I really don't know.

73 the worst he could have shot? It seemed like it was a fair number given how he was hitting the ball. And now people here are saying he's going -12 over the next three days? Glad we're not getting ahead of ourselves.

[SadTrombone]

[quote name='DTXgolfer12' timestamp='1428640082' post='11325247']
[quote name='rafer11' timestamp='1428639491' post='11325203']
[quote name='DTXgolfer12' timestamp='1428638215' post='11325101']
[quote name='jmvargas' timestamp='1428624025' post='11323399']
if he can shoot 68 or better tomorrow i say he has a chance to win.......
[/quote]

probably not. no one outside the top ten after day one has won the masters in forever. He's in 40th. he would have to shoot 65's and 66's every day from here on out to do it. The masters tends to get harder friday and sat
[/quote]

3 68's, and he could win. Really depends on the scores tho. Usually -10/-11 is a good score, but there have been some -14 and -16 years recently with Charl and Phil.
[/quote]
Three 68's would UNBELIEVABLY good for Tiger the way he's hitting it. He isn't getting half as many birdie tries as the guys on the leaderboard. Even with three 68's it still woudln't be enough. Somone will be at 12 under by lunch tomorrow.
[/quote]
Maybe, but they do play 4 rounds. Nobody gets a jacket at lunch on Friday.

I see -12 winning this thing by 2 unless they get rain that the subair can't keep up with. If the greens get real soft, we could see 16 to 18, especially if Jordan's putter stays hot.

If I were playing and someone offered me -10 right now, I'd take it and enjoy some peach cobbler and like my chances.

[misplacedtexan83]

[quote name='DTXgolfer12' timestamp='1428623962' post='11323383'][quote name='redfirebird08' timestamp='1428623369' post='11323309']
[quote name='DTXgolfer12' timestamp='1428622775' post='11323233']
He's been practicing. Short game looks much sharper. However in my opinion it's one of the easiest things to fix. Sometimes it just takes reps to get touch back. What I noticed is how scared tiger is of shots that call for a draw. I saw him hitting giant high fades over trees instead of a 5 yard draw today. He can't get to left pins and that's why he has so few birdie opportunities. Other players can position themselves around a golf course with one shot shape....but you can't do that when you miss as many fairways as tiger does. He needs to get comfortable hitting a draw again
[/quote]

He actually drove it pretty well overall. Distance control on the irons was not good and cost him quite a few shots.
[/quote]

Yes he drove it better. But he still has a two way miss. You can't play well with a two way miss off the tee[/quote]

He also hit draws and fades yesterday. Unfortunately, all golfers get stuck from time to time.

It was good to see him not fear the left or right, so let's see what today brings.

[SurfDuffer]

Biggest thing Tiger needs to learn is effortless power. His game the past decade has been more about powerful effort than anything. It was very noticable watching Tiger and Fred Couples in the same broadcast.

[Frankensteins Monster]

[quote name='AndyP' timestamp='1428658557' post='11325773']
[quote name='jtitleist12' timestamp='1428624546' post='11323445']
His chipping is a non issue. I don't see how anyone could even question it after his chip back across the bunker towards the water after being way right on #11! That could have been a disaster but it was a huge up and down.

I thought the swing looked pretty good overall, but he is rusty which is to be expected. You can't play competitive tournament golf once every 2-3 months and expect your irons to be dialed in.

Like others have said, he needs to play 2,3,4 weeks in a row.

- Josh
[/quote]

One chip does not a consistent chipper make. Also, what was he doing there on the 11th in the first place to require a chip - yup, way out of position due to his previous shot that's what.

Additionally, how can he be rusty when he's allegedly been practicing from dawn to dusk.

He'd be well advised to do lots and lots of charity work for the next decade, then go on the Seniors Tour.
[/quote]

Hey look, another troll for everyone to ignore. Make sure nobody feeds them. They tend to replicate if fed.

[PingDrv00]

The main thing I noticed is that he had on proper golf shoes.

[pmo09]

[quote name='jmck' timestamp='1428633913' post='11324653']
[quote name='Frankensteins Monster' timestamp='1428633191' post='11324563']
[quote name='jmck' timestamp='1428632717' post='11324495']
[quote name='Guardian5' timestamp='1428632557' post='11324485']
Ask this of the best players in the world. How good do you have to be to win a tournament out of every 15-20 and be a top ten player in the world.
Then ask how hard it is to win only the best tournaments where all the best players play. Tigers win rate and success is staggering. Ask the others!
[/quote]

That's very true of TW from 1997 to 2008.

Have you or Frankenstein seen him play golf since then?
[/quote]

He won five times in 2013, won the money list and player of the year.
[/quote]

Wow. Great point. He had one good year--in which he won zero majors--between 2008 and 2015.
[/quote]

Didn't he win like 6 times in 2009 and 3 times in 2012 too?

In fact, he's won more than any other player on tour since 2008