Tiger’s got the yips
FORMER world No 1 Tiger Woods must prove he has overcome the “chipping yips” in order to fully challenge golf’s elite again, says double Major champion Tony Jacklin.
Woods, 40, made his comeback after an absence of almost 16 months caused by chronic back problems to finish 15th in an elite 17-man field at last week’s Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
“I thought it was a promising return by Tiger,” Jacklin said. “It must have been a bit daunting for him after all that time away.
“One comment from Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee attracted my attention.
“Brandel maintains he’s not seen anybody really come back from the chipping yips,” said Jacklin.
“He cherry-picked a number of situations from the four days in the Bahamas, where Tiger had delicate shots he didn’t do well with.
“If he’s ever going to get back to the level of being able to win on the PGA Tour, never mind a Major, there’s no room for a weakness.”
The roller-coaster nature of Woods’s form was sharply illustrated by the fact that he led the tournament with birdies (24) and double-bogeys (six).
“His putting was sound, he hit the ball nicely, and his swing looks fine,” said Jacklin, winner of the 1969 British Open and 1970 US Open.
“With the putting yips you can go to a long putter, as long as you don’t anchor it, but you can’t do that with chipping yips,” added Jacklin.
“Chris Couch won the 2006 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He overcame them in that event by chipping left hand below right and then disappeared off the scene.
“That’s the only example I’ve seen of someone who had chipping yips and adjusted his grip.”
Jacklin knows how psychologically damaging the putting yips can be to a player.
He struggled on the greens at the back end of his career and, even now, when he plays for fun, cannot bring himself to use a conventional putter.
“When you yip, you get into outcomes rather than staying in the stroke,” said the 72-yearold Englishman. “You start wondering where the ball is going to end up and you can’t do that. The mind has got to be in the here and now,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cheyenne Woods believes her famous uncle has many more wins in him and he can beat Jack Nicklaus’s long-standing record of 18 Major victories.
“I haven’t spoken to Tiger for a month or two, but I was really excited to see him not only on the course, but on the course playing well last week,” Cheyenne said before the Dubai Ladies Masters, where she is making her second appearance in three years.
“That’s the Tiger we have all missed. I think everybody was happy to see his trademark fist-pump and see Tiger making birdies and holing out bunker shots, because that’s the Tiger we all remember.
“Tiger is to me the greatest golfer that has played, and the greatest golfer in my lifetime, at least. It was really nice to be able to see him playing well.
“The next season will be really exciting to see him play, hopefully, a full schedule or whatever he might put together. I think he definitely has a chance (of beating Nicklaus’s record).
A 14-time Major champion, Tiger made his much-anticipated return to the golf course for competitive action for the first time in 466 days, finishing 14 shots behind winner Hideki Matsuyama of Japan.
Tiger, who turns 41 later this month, was the oldest player in the field.
Norway’s Suzann Pettersen also felt Tiger would soon be back to his winning ways.
“Tiger is still Tiger. I guess he has proved us all wrong, that he won’t back. There were a lot of people who doubted that he would ever come back from all the injuries he has had,” said Pettersen, who is making her first appearance in the Ladies Masters.
“It was fun to see him back on the golf course. He creates the buzz he has always done. Just to see him swing a golf club, pain-free, kind of leads to the next step which will probably be to go out and win tournaments again.” – Reuters-ANA