OT - What has happened to Tiger Woods golf game?

A multitude of things:

1) Mentally, he's lost his edge.  When he was dominant 10 years ago, he knew he could hit any shot he wanted and everyone else was scared to play with him (except for maybe a few guys).  Before he even teed it up in a tournament, he was basically already on the leaderboard.

2) His back and knees are really bad.  As a result of all of those injuries in the last 4 seasons, he's had to mess with his swing so much that he doesn't know which was is up anymore.  Obviously that's an exaggeration, but he's had so many coaches and tinkered so much with his swing that it must get confusing.

3) The young guns in golf are just so damn good now.  Rickie, Rory, Jordan, Keegan, Adam Scott, Ryan Palmer, Patrick Reed, Jason Day, and about 100 others (including 14-year-old kids from Asia and guys like Beau Hossler who was leading the US Open at Olympic a few years ago).  Many of them go out every week and eat these courses for lunch.  Tiger has no chance of having even 1 bad round in a tourney and making up for it.  There's no room for error any more.  Not saying he wasn't playing against a lot of good young golfer 10 years ago, but this is the best young crop of golfers in the history of the game.

There are many other reasons, but I think these are the 3 biggest.

Like some commenters above, it is very possible the decline of Tiger's golf game was because of the after affects of steriods and the damage done to his body. However, to suggest that steroids had a big part/nearly any part at all  in Wood's success is ridiculous for a game like golf. 

We'll see how the year progresses for him. If he is still at the bottom of leaderboard in August then it's safe to assume he's done. 

...is that we was seriously on the PEDs (as several have already mentioned on this board).  This was apparently the main driver for the over-inflated divorce settlement Elin got.  She was essesntially paid to keep her mouth shut about all the stuff she knows about Tiger, including an STD Tiger caught whilst intercoursing the state of Florida.  

 

I recommend the Barkley swing

He needs to go back to bangin porn stars

Global warming.

man-bear-pig

Doubtless a huge part of it is mental, and the mental side is such a huge factor at the level of PGA Tour pros. The hooker scandal definitely knocked him off stride.

Another part of it is physical. Tiger's always had a violent swing, and all that torque has clearly wrecked his left knee and his back; it's pretty hard to play great golf when those two key body parts are messed up. I kinda doubt Tiger ever did PEDs -- by all accounts he's just a workout nut who is a little obsessed with Navy SEAL workouts, etc. I seem to remember one of his swing coaches warned him to back off that stuff, fearing it was putting too much wear and tear on his joints.

Rick Reilly (who's not always my cup of tea) had a pretty good column last April contrasting Tiger with the man whose records he set out to chase from the beginning, Jack Nicklaus. Reilly said the big difference between the two was "balance":

>Woods has perfect balance in his golf swing. Nicklaus had it in his life.

 

Nicklaus had one coach, one swing, one woman. Woods has had three coaches, three swings and a Gold Club worth of women. One of each makes life simple. Multiples must be exhausting.

Woods had 18 majors lie down in his bassinet with him. It was his do-or-die, and he tracked it with a vengeance. But golf does not run well on vengeance. In golf, the harder you try, the worse you do. Nicklaus got to 18 majors without knowing he was going there. He didn't even know people were keeping track until he got to nine or 10.

Nicklaus loved golf, but it never seemed as if he loved it any more than his fishing, his hunting or his piano bars. [...] Woods' hobbies are as intense as he is. He spearfishes without a tank. Ski instructors in Colorado tell me he gets as mad at his own mistakes on the slopes as he does with them on the fairways. One of his most severe knee injuries apparently happened training with the Navy SEALs. [...]

Even their swings tell a story.

Nicklaus' swing was powerful, but it was softer, rounder, much like Nicklaus himself. [...] Woods' swing is a tower of torque -- like twisting a toy helicopter rubber band tighter and tighter. It's furious and fierce, like Woods himself. It tightens against unyielding hips, then uncoils against a stiff left knee. No wonder that knee has had four operations and now his back has had one[....] Nicklaus had three operations his entire career -- a knee at age 44, a hip at 59 and a back at 64. Tiger has already had five surgeries by 38.<

I don't think Tiger surpasses Jack's 18 majors now (he'd need 5 more); hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't win even one more. His body and his brain aren't in the right place, and there are too many other talented guys out there. Can you really see Tiger going toe-to-toe on Sunday at a major with Rory McIlroy anytime soon and coming out on top?

 

 

 

Overheard this conversation before the tourney......

I'll take care of him. What you've got to do is cut the hamstring on the back of his leg right at the bottom. He'll never play golf again, because his weight displacement goes back, all his weight is on his right foot, and he'll push everything off to the right. He'll never come through on anything. He'll quit the game.

You may be the first person, other than Steve Williams himself, to seriously suggest that Tiger Woods' success/downfall has something to do with Steve Williams leaving his bag.

Testosterone , winstrol , and anavar no longer in his body

Because his body is breaking down and thus he's constantly injured? Because he's rusty after yet another long layoff due to injury? Because he won't stop screwing with his swing, he can't hit driver anymore, and for whatever reason his putting has also fallen off? Take your pick

Just watched Notah Begay (i know, awesome name), a very close confidant of Tiger's back to their Stanford days, refer to Steve Sax disease, ie, second baseman who couldn't accurately throw to first. As a lifelong struggling golfer, I can totally relate to "the yips". That it is happening to the greatest golfer thats ever lived is... Humanizing? Terrifying? How can the human brain serve its master so cruelly?

He lost $750 million, major custody of his children, and years of accumulated market goodwill of his own brand.   He also recently got his teeth knocked out by a freaking camera.

A better question is how in world he shot as well as 44.

Lots!