No easy fix for Tiger’s troubles

Golf analysts can’t even agree on what ails Woods most.

Both Tiger Woods’ golf game and mental state are off the tracks, leaving experts divided as to whether he can or even should try to return to the PGA Tour in time for the Honda Classic in two weeks near his home in Jupiter Island, Fla.

“He doesn’t have a clue of what he’s trying to do,” PGA Tour player and friend Mark Calcavecchia said. “I definitely think he should pack it in for maybe a month or two.”

Woods surprised the golf world and ignited controversy and speculation with his unexpected announcement on his website Wednesday that he will take time away from competitive golf to work on his game.

Woods has withdrawn from three of his past eight events for health reasons, but it’s his game — from his long-standing struggles off the tee to his recent bout of chipping “yips” — that has people talking.

“Tiger has lost his game, his swing, his health, his nerves,” Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee said on “The Dan Patrick Show.” “He’s got a lot of holes in his boat.”

Chamblee said a conversation he had earlier this week with Woods’ former swing coach, Hank Haney, spoke to a significant flaw: Even when Woods was at his best, he was always tinkering with his swing.

“He said Tiger played a great first round at the Between his back issues, balky swing and chipping woes, Tiger Woods has “a lot of holes in his boat” said Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee. 2007 Masters, and the second day he came out and his swing was almost completely different,” Chamblee said. “He said, ‘What are you doing?’ and Tiger said, ‘I saw something in my swing that I didn’t like last night.’ That’s the way he’s always been.”

ESPN analyst Paul Azinger echoed that thought on “SportsCenter.”

“Jack Nicklaus has proven that he’s the smartest golfer of all time and he never sacrificed his swing at the altar for a perfect swing,” Azinger said. “Jack never said at his peak, ‘I can get better.’ Tiger was almost arrogant in that ‘I can get better.’ He didn’t need to get better. He only needed to stay the same.”

Calcavecchia said Woods was hitting the ball consistently right of his target at Torrey Pines, a sign his club was behind his body at impact.

“He needs to find a goto shot, be it a cut-across slice or something,” he said.

Calcavecchia has personal experience with Woods’ other big problem: the chipping “yips” that occurred in shocking fashion at Woods’ Orlando tournament in December and have persisted since.

“It’s essentially a flinch, where the hands stop coming through, the lower body just stops and the hands take over,” Calcavecchia said. “Tim Clark has been battling that for a while. It comes out of nowhere.”

“He was a brilliant short-game player,” Greg Norman told The Guardian about Woods’ chipping woes. “For that to fall off a cliff as quickly as it has is mind-blowing.”

Hall of Fame teacher Bob Toski said the first thing Woods should do is get back to the basics that made him the best player in the world for more than a decade.

“Go out with yourself and a caddie and try to play by feel, trust your instincts, aim a club to the target, work on tempo and rhythm,” Toski said. “Start with chips and putts and let the force of the club increase in speed with more length. Don’t listen to all the baloney. Do what you did when you were a kid.”

No one expects it to be easy — or quick.

Chamblee said Woods’ swing needs drastic changes and “I don’t know if he can find his way out of it.”Azinger said “he’s got rabbit ears now” and is listening to too many people. Calcavecchia called his short-game woes “shocking,” considering he had a 15-year run as the best in the game in that area.

EZRA SHAW / GETTY IMAGES Woods said he backed away from the PGA Tour to work on his game, but he was in snowy Colorado last week visiting his girlfriend, skier Lindsey Vonn.