GOLF HONDA CLASSIC WHAT SHOULD TIGER DO?
Experts weigh in on the problems with Woods’ game and when he might return.
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.
“If it’s not a panic situation and he’s not going to injure himself, then if he’s striking it well at Medalist (next week), I’d say go ahead,” said Warren Bottke, PGA Master Professional at Abacoa Golf Club in Jupiter. “But if there’s doubt coming in, it might ruin his opportunity for the Masters and (U.S.) Open.”
“He doesn’t have a clue of what he’s trying to do,” Tequesta’s Mark Calcavecchia countered. “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 at The Medalist Club in Hobe Sound and at his home in Jupiter Island.
Woods has withdrawn from three of his past eight events for health reasons, but it’s his game — from his long-standing struggles off the tee to his recent bout of chipping “yips”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.” DAYTONA BEACH — There is nothing ceremonial about Jeff Gordon’s farewell lap around the NASCAR circuit.
At 43, he’s still a threat to win every week, and he’s a threat to win his fourth Daytona 500 on Feb. 22.
Let’s step it up a notch, though. Why not a fifth Sprint Cup title in what Gordon has chosen to be his final full season? That would turn the Chase for the Cup into a story strong enough to gain a foothold in the heart of football season, and it would turn November’s season-ending race at Homestead into an all-time howler.
“I can’t think of anything better to end this season with than to do it like that,” Gordon said at Thursday’s NASCAR media day kickoff to Speedweeks. “To win Home-
1 p.m. Feb. 22, Fox
Bottke, who worked with rising Tour star Brooks Koepka for 10 years, said he’s seen a problem in Woods’ swing that didn’t disappear when he took a three-anda-half month hiatus from competitive play last fall.
“Now he’s got a fast rotary swing from the ground up that’s putting tension on his hips and back, that could injure him even more because he’s getting a lot of torque. He’s looking for explosive power, but I don’t know if his body can take that at this point.”
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 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 sure 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. “I went to a double-overlap grip, which Jim Furyk uses on every shot. Tim Clark has been battling that for a while. It comes out of nowhere.”
“He was a brilliant short-game player,” Hobe Sound’s Greg Norman told The Guardian about Woods’ chipping woes. “For that to fall off a cliff as quickly as it has is mind-blowing.”
Martin Hall, director of instruction at Ibis Country Club in West Palm Beach who teaches the game on “School of Golf ” on Golf Channel, said his first step with Woods would be to sit down and have a talk.
“Everybody has ideas of what’s going on and how to fix it, but the only way for sure is to have a candid conversation with Tiger,” Hall said. “Golfwise he’s super smart, so to think he’s missing something that is obvious is foolish.
“And he needs to talk to people who have dealt with anxiety: David Duval, Ian Baker-Finch. Listen to what they think and sit back and look at it. It’s hard to fathom, to think that he won five events two years ago and now we’re having this conversation.”
Hall of Fame teacher Bob Toski of Boca Raton 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.
“I’m not prepared to write him off,” Hall said. “A lot of people say he’s done, I’m not saying that. But this might be the biggest mountain he’s ever had to climb.”