Posted on 06/18/2004 7:25:22 AM PDT by the_devils_advocate_666
David Duval couldn't do it. Vijay Singh couldn't. Neither could Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els or even Phil Mickelson.
No one could handle the greatest swinger of his generation, Tiger Woods.
When he was behind you, your lead wasn't safe, no matter how big. When he was ahead of you, you couldn't catch him, no matter how slim his lead.
By the time he was 30 he was going to be the world's greatest golfer.
Then, many theorize, Elin Nordegren did what Duval, Singh, Garcia, Els and Mickelson couldn't do. She brought Woods to his golfing knees.
While most American men discovered girls in their pizza-faced teen-aged days, their heads spinning with the hormonal cocktail that had them forever high, Woods was out perfecting his golf game.
Ah, but the man was not a monk, and so, they say, when he was finally smitten by a love kitten, his mind was blown into the rough along with far too many of his tee shots.
That, at least, is the tabloid theory.
Golfers have different theories.
In these parts, there is no finer golfer than Brad Westfall, who opens defense of his fifth West Virginia Open championship on Monday. The Tygart Lake Golf Course professional sees Woods' slump, which had lasted through seven majors as the U.S. Open bega* play Thursday, in a different light.
To Westfall, the swinger has lost his swing and isn't playing enough to get it back.
Period.
The reason Woods hasn't won a medal play tournament since October of last year (his only win this year was a match play event) is purely technical, according to Westfall, not the model he's going to marry,
"No, no, not at all," Westfall said. "There are two things that have hurt him more than anything. One, he doesn't play enough. Two, he switched swing coaches."
Woods first learned his swing from his father, then was tutored by the legendary (Tiger made him a legend) Butch Harmon, from whom he broke off a while back.
"If you look at all the articles, he's going by what Mark O'Meara, his friend, is saying," Westfall said. "But they have different swings. Even Harmon has said Tiger's swinging flatter than he used to."
A golfer's swing is his game and Woods had the best swing.
When he first came out on the tour, he had troubles off the tee, spraying the ball around. Harmon worked that out for him until Woods was hitting nearly 70 percent of the fairways.
Now he's hitting less than 60 percent and no one, not even Tiger Woods, is good enough to play any major other than the Masters from the rough.
"He's now back to being erratic," Westfall said. "His swing isn't standing up under pressure. Before, when he got the lead, everyone knew it was over. Now, they believe they have a chance."
Westfall says there are a couple of other items affecting Woods' game. "Look at Duval. He went from Titleist to Nike clubs and has not been the same since. Tiger did the same thing and has not been the same. And both of them are playing different balls f rom when they were at their peak."
Oddly, Woods' startling success has made it tougher for him to regain his spot at the top of the golf world.
"He's lifted all the players to a higher level," Westfall said.
Makes sense, but you wonder what decision he'd make if he were forced to choose between his girlfriend and his golf game.
Well, I admit that she could bring me to MY knees as well!
Tiger's hitting most of his drives off to the right..His stance is off..that's because, after he proposed, his lawyers handed him an 874 pagwe draft of a proposed pre-nup...he's been lugging it around ever since, causing one shoulder to drop slightly...
Jack Nicklaus described why Tiger was so dominant back in the late 90's. He said Tiger would show up at the golf course 2 hours before anyone else, and then after the round while everyone else was going home to thier families or making dinner plans Tiger would be the last person on the range, hitting his 300th 7 iron of the evening because his approach at #17 had landed 3 feet to the left and 2 feet farther than he wanted it to.
Now Tiger only plays select tournaments, he shows up at the same time as everyone else, and he heads to the car and off to meet his girlfriend or out to speaking engagements etcetc right after his round.
Quite basic, he is playing less and practicing less, and therefore he is now merely one of the top golfers not The BEST.
Uh, balls. Putter. Shaft. Err, Hole-in-One. It's a crude joke, but there's some assembly required.
What is it about Swedish blonde girls?
I dated a Swedish-American blonde years ago, she was something else...
(Please don't mention this to Mrs. GLC!)
If that's the girl, I understand Tiger's loosened knees. ;^)
I prefer red heads... but what is it they say about beggars?
...and a fat wallet! He isn't hungry!
"Women weaken legs!" -- Mickey Goldmill, Rocky
That reminds me of a poster hanging on a guys wall where I used to work. It had a pic of a beautiful model and the caption read "no matter how good she looks, some guy,somewhere is tired of her sh**."
OK, I $ee what he $ee$ in her, but what doe$ $he $ee in him? I mean, he'$ not that great looking. Kinda $kinny and he $ort of remind$ me of Howdy Doody in the face. And how long can talking about golf be interresting to girl$ who don't play? What could it be that'$ attractive to her?
Any gue$$e$?
Jokes aside it is an interesting area of speculation since he was so dominate. I honestly expected that to continue for some time. A couple of observations.
Too true about Butch Harmon, I think he's nuts for getting rid of him but then I don't shoot par. Also at the same time he tanked: knee surgery and a switch to Nike drivers. Now I know there is a 99% chance they aren't the same drivers one would go out and buy, they're probably clones of his old drivers (rumor is they cloned his old irons when he switched those) but he's sure had problems finding the fairway since he switched.
What's amazing is that he remains so popular and ranks in the endorsement money. Haven't a clue how long that'll last.
Long term endorsements were negotiated... for very big bucks. The only way they can take the money away is if he does a Kobe!
Long term endorsements were negotiated... for very big bucks. The only way they can take the money away is if he does an alleged Kobe!
his mind was blown into the rough
Seems to me it's past the rough and deep in the bush.
He's still the #1 ranked golfer in the world. He's just no longer miles ahead of #2...
He was living with Elin for years before they officially became engaged, so I cannot see how giving her a ring suddenly rendered him incapable of hitting the fairway. It was observed yesterday that the reason all his tee shots were flying right was that he was getting his arms ahead of his body. Quite simple.
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