Should Tiger go back to Butch? (1 Viewer)

[Drew Bethel]

It seems like ever since he let Butch go his game has been slipping.

 

[Paul_Medenwaldt]

Could be a mental distraction to his game. I wouldn't mind having a swedish blonde distract me from my job

Didn't Andre Aggasi (sp?) have that same problem when he was dating Brooke Shields?

Paul

 

[Drew Bethel]

Yeah, he's +3 already and it ain't lookin good. I miss the old 2001 Tiger!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Jack Nicklaus made an observation in an interview a couple of years ago regarding Tiger and his pursuit of Jack's records. He commented that it may be tough for Woods to keep up his torrid pace once he settled down with a family and had his focus deflected from what was then a single mission.

I think Tiger knows his swing and how to fix it as well as any instructor -- even one as renowned as Butch Harmon. Woods biggest edge over the competition was not just natural talent (there are lots of very talented players on the PGA Tour) -- it was his mental toughness, competitiveness and golf intelligence that set him apart from the rest of the tour, just as it did with Nicklaus.

Tiger may figure out a way to balance his personal and professional life, just as Nicklaus did. In fact, Nicklaus credits his wife Barbara's support a great deal for his successful golf career.

What's really amazing, though, is even when Woods is not at the top of his game, he's still a threat in almost every tournament he enters.

 

[Haggai]

Agassi's career bottomed out around the time he was married to Brooke Shields, I think. He revitalized his career in a big way in the past 5 years, and he's been married to Steffi Graf since (IIRC) 2000, so maybe he just needed to be with another tennis legend!

 

[Patrick Sun]

So Tiger needs to ditch his current wife and be with Annika Sorenstam?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Well, ESPN's golf host Mike Turico seems to agree with Drew that Tiger needs to go back to Butch Harmon. Turico is a guest on a local sports talk radio show here once per week (he lives in the Detroit area), and was talking about Woods this afternoon. His opinion was that the break with Harmon was an ego thing -- Tiger was not happy that Harmon was taking so much credit for his success. Also, Turico mentioned that some of the network's golf analysts think his swing has developed a few flaws that were not there in the past.

It's certainly a different perspective from someone close to the subject.

 

[LarryDavenport]

I'm sure you guys know more than me, but could it be the switch to Nike clubs that is affecting his game?

 

[SethH]

I think this is a really good point. While Tiger is not contractually obligated to use Nike I'm sure there is a lot of pressure on him to use their clubs. Even some of the other golfers on tour have commented on the poor quality of Nike compared to other clubs. I'm sure they're not terrible, but I doubt they are on par with others.

 

[alan halvorson]

Tiger definitely has a swing problem that, as hard as he swings, causes him to push the ball right, and occasionally yank it left. I don't know why he doesn't take the time to fix it. His backswing swing path is too much outside - very likely he picked this up from his buddy, Mark O'Meara, maybe intentionally, maybe not - that forces him to compensate on the downswing. If that compensation isn't perfectly timed, off to hinderlands he goes. Taking it outside is a common fault of those who seek a very wide swing arc because it feels like a wider swing, but feelings ain't facts. Take it back straighter, Tiger! Free advice from this most humble golf swing analyst - take it.

 

[Keith Mickunas]

I don't follow golf really, but a while back I heard he switched drivers from the Nike to something he used before to try to fix some of his problems. I don't know what he's using now.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Probably a Titleist driver, in the past, I think he was using the 975D.

Here's a story on his possible switch last year:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/gol...ger_driver_ap/

 

[Patrick_S]

I thought he was only engaged at this time.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

I'm pretty sure I read that they had gotten married, it was a few months back though so I don't recall.
I've got to agree with whomever it was that said the most amazing thing is that Tiger has to be considered the favorite in almost every tournament he enters. He's in a slump for Tiger Woods, but a number of guys on tour would kill for his slump. I don't know if its just with his swing or if there are other distractions but I think the man who's records he's chasing made a prety interesting observation as mentioned above.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

No, they just got engaged a few months ago.

 

[Daryl Furkalo]

They got engaged at the President's Cup last year I think.

 

[Drew Bethel]

Tiger is even...anyone know if this will be good enough to make the cut?

 

[Charles Guajardo]

no fun w/o pics. tiger's fiance:

 

[alan halvorson]

Saw her at Sahallee a couple years ago during the NEC World Championship in Redmond, Washington. Looked pretty good in person too.

 

[Craig S]

Tiger shot a 3-under 69 today, putting him (as Drew said) even for the tournament. He did make the cut, but is 9 back of the leaders (Jerry Kelly & Kevin Sutherland).