Tiger teaser as charge ends in sigh again

There’s a clear pattern developing here in Tiger Woods’ (still) remarkable comeback from potentially careerending back problems.

A charge starts. The MASSIVE crowds following him buzz. Twitter goes crazy. TV commentators reach for hyperbole, wanting desperately to be on highlight reels of the future.

And then someone pricks the balloon, the ball goes plop in the water or ratatatat off the trees or sailing over the OB fence, and there’s a collective, heartfelt sigh of disappointment.

And behind the scorers’ hut Tiger wonders how he could have played so well yet only shoot 70.

He’s so CLOSE everyone says. And we move on to repeat it at the next venue.

Do I think Tiger will win again? Probably, but I’m not 100% sure. The evidence is pretty clear now he’s pressing too hard when it contention and susceptible to too many loose shots.

Padraig Harrington, in a typically fascinating discussion with scribes last week, said that Tiger might have a better chance in a major than a regular tournament because he knows best what it takes coming down the stretch.

It’s a valid premise. But I have two counterpoints – my favourite Tiger stat, which is that he didn’t win even one of his 14 majors coming from behind, and also time as a decaying factor.

In his pomp, Tiger was the greatest frontrunner in history; he didn’t need seven shot leads. But it’s perfectly possible – probable – that his mind and his game don’t hold up so well under pressure at 42 than they did when he was 25.

For more sports opinion visit Steve’s blog at thecourier.co.uk/ sport/blogs/steve-scott