Tiger Woods vs. Jack Nicklaus

1. Given Tiger's disappointing PGA Championship, many are now doubting whether Tiger can beat Jack's record of 18 major victories. I don't.  Tiger at age 37 is exactly where Jack was at 37 - both had/have 14 Majors victories.  Jack went on to win 4 more majors from ages 38-46 (1978-1986) and I see no reason why Tiger can't win 5 majors in the next 9 years. After all, that's about one major every 2 years.

2. What's really disappointing about Tiger's career has been the lack of rivalries.  No one has ever challenged him. Tiger's gone into eclipse after the 2008 US open, but no one has stepped up and dominated. And in every one of Tiger's 14 major victories, he led or was tied for the lead after 54 holes.  Conversely, only once since 1998 has anyone ever come from behind in the last round and beaten Tiger (Yang Yong-eun - 2009 PGA).  While Tiger has been forced into 3 playoffs, he won all three and who were they against? Bob May, Chris Demarco, and Rocco Mediate.  No great rivalries there.

By comparison Jack was constantly challenged by great golfers.  Palmer was dominating golf in 1962 when Jack arrived and the two battled throughout the 1960s. When Palmer started to fade (due to age) Trevino picked up the mantle, beating Nicklaus in 4 majors between 1968-1974.  After being struck by Lightning in 1975, Trevino game suffered, and Watson stepped up to become Jack's rival, beating him in the memorable 1977 "Duel in the Sun", the 1982 US Open, and 1981 Masters.

3.  So Tiger never comes from behind and battles anyone and no one comes from behind and battles him. Too bad, because great rivalries are what makes the sport so interesting.

Tiger Woods Putter lets him down - 2013 PGA Championship - Day 2

Tiger shoots a mediocre 70, leaving him 10 shots behind the leader.  While others were tearing up the course, Tiger's putting woes had him stuck in neutral.   With 4 birdies, all Tiger had to do was play par golf on the remaining 14 holes.  The sorry record:

1.  3-Putts at  the 14th and 16th - including misses from 3 feet and 5 feet. Tiger actually drove the green on the 14th, then 3-putted for par.
2.  Missed Par putts at the 2nd and 11th - from 6 and 10 feet.
3.  Missed Birdie Putts at the 10th and 13th - from 10 feet and 7 feet.
4.  Tiger birdied 4 holes. But the putts were from 2 feet, 8 feet, 5 feet, and 10 feet.

Tiger had another 5  Birdie chances with putts of 18-25 feet,  and missed them all.

Given his great Iron play and chipping, Tiger should have shot a 65.  Supposedly, Tiger dislikes "slow" greens - so the soft/wet conditions may be to blame. OTOH,  as Golfers  age their putting skills decline, and become more erratic.

He still has a chance. But he will have to shoot at least a 66 tomorrow and something similar on Sunday. There are simply too many golfers 6-10 shot ahead of him.  After his Bridgestone triumph, the Yahoos were proclaiming Tiger a "lock" for the PGA - now the same Yahoos regard him as "finished".

Tiger Woods fails again

Once again Tiger goes into a final round major within striking distance and can't win.   Many are blaming his wayward tee shots but the real culprit is his putting.  Tiger couldn't make a birdie putt to save his life and could easily have run away with the 2012 Claret Jug if only he could have putted like the Tiger of old.  Weirdly he's still the best chipper in the game, not only holing it out from an 18th hole bunker for 2nd round birdie but time and time again chipping it close enough for a small tap-in.

On the bright side, Tiger seems to have gotten smart and recognized his limitations.  Instead of bashing away with his driver,  he's adopted the Nicklaus strategy of going with his irons off the tee, hitting a lot greens-in-regulation and eking out a victory.  But to do that, you need to putt well and Tiger isn't.

Tiger's Back - but not better than ever

After his disappointing blow-up in the US Open Tiger rebounded for a close win in the AT&T national.  He's on track to be PGA player of the year and is back being the "man to beat" in the upcoming British open. But is he the Tiger of old? No.  He's 36 years old and can't putt the way he used to.  Even at the AT&T he only played well enough to squeak out a victory.   As usual his competition choked, with his co-leader Van Pelt bogying the last 3 holes to hand Tiger the victory.

Tiger is currently at the same stage Nicklaus was in the 1970s, clearly the best player in the game but no longer so dominate. Nicklaus only won  4 majors after age 36 and I think Tiger won't do any better.

Tiger's drought continues

Tiger shot a disappointing 7-over par to finish in 21st place. Sad, considering he was tied for the U.S. Open lead Saturday morning. He extended his majors drought to four years. Several comments:

1) Tiger - like many over 35 - isn't putting as well as he used to. Football players say "the legs are the first to go"; golfers say "the putting is the first to go".

2) Tiger's 4th round pattern in Major tournaments continues. In Majors he's 14-1 when going into the final round when leading or being tied for the lead. He's never won otherwise. Unlike Nicklaus, Tiger doesn't finish 2nd very often, nor does he come from behind to win majors. Is it that Tiger is so good when he's ahead, or has his competition been so weak?

3) His driving fell apart on Saturday and Sunday. He played the first six difficult holes so well the first two rounds, then disaster struck.

4) Its amazing how charisma free most of the PGA is - outside of Tiger. Most fans I talked to knew about Tiger, Phil Michelson, and that's about it. Given the winning score was +1, and Tiger went into the third round at -1, its obvious he could have won it easily. The absence of any GREAT golfers - other than Tiger -has hurt the game

Ten Comments on the 2012 US Golf Open

We were able to attend Saturday and today and had a great time.  Several thoughts:

1) Olympic is a beautiful course, immaculate and well-maintained. The weather is fickle though.  Saturday was a sunny 70, Sunday, foggy & cold.

2)  Tiger looks much thinner in person

3) Golf fans drink a lot but are well-behaved. And well dressed (for the most part).

4) The tournament was well organized. We were driven from Candlestick Park, passed through security, and were on the course in about an hour.

5) No one knew what time it was. No cell phone were allowed and many people have stopped wearing watches.

6) The concessions were reasonably priced. Only sign of gouging was for water.  Bottles and liquids weren't allowed through security and there were no water fountains.  Result: If wanted a drink of water it cost you $2.50 for some sorta of  'gourmet' bottled water - that surprisingly tasted like tap water.

7)  TV doesn't adequately show how crowded the golf course is.  There are thousands of people everywhere, sitting in grandstands, endlessly marching from one hole to another, lining fairways, getting concessions.

8) TV doesn't show how noisy it can be.  Everything is much closer than you think and the yells of the crowd  after a great shot can be heard all over the course.  Further, fans were constantly yelling encouragement at the top golfers (particularly for Tiger) as they walk by

9)  On Saturday, Tiger was accompanied by at least a 20 person entourage that you rarely see on TV.  Six TV reporters, 8 Photographers, a SF policeman,  3 US PGA officials and 2 others - probably plain cloth security. The better your standing, the more security/media people you had.  The top ten golfers were accompanied by Cops.  With Golfers below 40th place it was just themselves and their Caddy.

10)  The pros really are pros. Its only in person that you  can only appreciate how good they really are and how tough the course is. Their "Bad shots" bemoaned by TV announcers are usually just narrow misses that would be fine on less demanding courses.