DON’T GET ME STARTED had my eyes glued to every major golfing tournament that, for about the last 20 years, was dominated by Tiger Woods. Many golfers went into a major playing for second place.
Now the young Turks are taking over. Guys like Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott; Sergio Garcia and many others. This year, Tiger was re-habing from some surgeries and leg problems. This past week, he pronounced himself fit; felt no pain and focused his attention on the British Open.
His legion of fans were ready to go rejoice and wait for Tiger to go after his 15th win in the majors at the Open. After all, even Jack Nicklaus mentioned that he felt Tiger would break his record of 18 career wins in the majors. Tiger has been stuck on 14 since 2008.
Tiger went across the pond early; practiced on the course in Liverpool and on the opening day of the British Open, Woods rebounded from a bogey-bogey opening to blister the back nine and closed his round with an impressive 3 under par, even though that left him 3 shots behind leader Rory McIlroy.
In round two, on what turned out to be a fine weather day, Tiger strode to the first tee at 9 a.m. (our time) and 5 minutes later placed the ball on the tee and took his first swing of the day. That first swing told the story of his play the rest of the way on Friday.
That first swing sent the ball heading way left of the fairway, gallery and it cost Woods a double bogey. He then bogeyed #2 and unlike the first round, he would not recover. He settled for 14 straight pars before getting his first birdie on the 18th hole….barely making the cut. His round of 77 included a triple bogey 7 on #17.
Some felt sorry for him and others lamented the fact that after the first two rounds of The Open, Tiger could not beat 64-year old Tom Watson who joined him in playing the weekend by making the cut.
Certainly consistency is so important in the game of golf. McIlroy followed his opening 66 with another 66 in the 2nd round to really take control of the tournament heading into the final two days.
Woods and Watson barely made the cut. The fans cheered Watson’s accomplishment and scratched their heads watching Tiger Woods struggling as badly as he did.
It seems as if time; injuries; and of course his personal situations maybe are taking a toll on his game. He missed the cut in the previous tournament and there is one major left, the PGA that he certainly will make a bid to compete. And that seems to be the dreaded challenge……..competing in a tournament, let alone in the pressure cooker of the PGA major championship.
There is so much speculation; the many changes in his swing and recently some putting woes. Other are saying, “Hey Jack Nicklaus won his last major at the age of 44.
Others, and I’m inclined to agree with them, parting company with those who contributed to his early greatness. Butch Harmon coached Tiger Woods during his rapid rise to being one of the biggest stars in golf. They parted company as did Tiger with his former caddie Williams. And then things started to go downhill a little bit.
Tiger Woods will continue to play golf but recently, and in the British Open, the young Turks are sending the message that the tables will be set by them rather than all the great stars that preceded them……including Tiger Woods on Don’t Get Me Started.
Filed under: Don't Get Me Started
Tagged with: British Open, golf, Tiger Woods
Sorry, comments are closed on this post.