Wow, terrible shot on 19. I don't golf but I would guess that was mostly mental, no?
Wow, terrible shot on 19. I don't golf but I would guess that was mostly mental, no?
Tiger withdrew after shooting 42 on the front 9 in the first round of The Players Championship because of a sore leg. His status may be in doubt for the Open and/or the Memorial.
http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=6532534
His personal problems led to his short-term demise, but his knee might be what leads to the end of his golfing career. Brandel Chamblee was commenting last night on the Golf Channel that even on the range he looks like an old man and just can't really do the things he needs to do with his lower body to swing the golf club the right way because of his knee.
He went through complete reconstuctive surgery and it's less two years since he came back and it looks like it's back to where it was. We could be watching the end of the line for Tiger. Too bad, golf still needs him.
Grape works as a soda. Sort of as a gum. I wonder why it doesn't work as a pie. Grape pie? There's no grape pie. - Larry David
If I shot a 42 on the front nine nobody'd be asking if I was hurt. They'd be asking if I was cheatin'...
Ha! Same here.
It's a shame that Tiger is hurt. However, pro golf will survive without him just like it has survived without Hogan, Snead, Palmer, Nicklaus, Watson, Player, Norman and Trevino. Granted none of them - save for Palmer - caused quite the upsurge in popularity in pro golf like Tiger has. But I wonder if it was just that - a surge. Is that something that could be sustainable even after he would retire? Back in the 80s, the NBA had a surge in popularity. Sports fans now refer to the NBA in the 80s as the "good old days." The NBA is surviving quite nicely even though there may be a lockout but it may not have been realistic to expect it to have been as popular now and forevermore as it was in the 80s.
Even if Tiger had managed to stay healthy and hadn't got into the mess that he did with his marriage, perhaps people would have got tired of him. Let's face it, he's not exactly the most loquacious athlete - which is by choice. On the course he's very charismatic but before all this stuff about his affairs came out, a lot of people felt he was somewhat robotic in public. Perhaps viewership would have dropped instead of increased on the final day of a tournament when he was the leader. People may have felt, "Oh, you know he's going to win so why even watch?" We'll never know for sure but it's possible that could have happened.
Tiger's a mess right now. And I don't like it. I really miss watching the best play his best. Watching golf is just not the same without him. I hope he plays well soon, but it's looking highly unlikely right now.
"....the two players I liked watching the most were Barry Larkin and Eric Davis. I was suitably entertained by their effortless skill that I didn't need them crashing into walls like a squirrel on a coke binge." - dsmith421
If Tiger had shot 34 on the front think he would have continued to play? Heck he won the US Open playing on that tore up knee that needed massive surgery. Tiger is a mental mess right now and am beginning to question whether he will ever rise above it again.
That's kind of an illogical question. If Tiger had shot a 34 on the front, it would have been because he wasn't hurt. So yeah, I guess he wouldn’t have quit. Everyone understands the problems he’s had mentally, but he darn near won the masters only a month ago. What could possibly have changed in that time frame from a mental standpoint to make him shoot 42 on 9 holes? THAT makes no sense.
Even in his struggles, he’s not been THIS bad… not even close. There’s just no way he could have been that bad without an injury. People are over-thinking this. He’s hurt, it’s obvious. The guys on the Golf Channel were saying he looked hurt on the range on Wednesday and Chamblee went as far as to predict Tiger wouldn’t make it to the weekend because of it. Mark O’Meara said Tiger was limping in the 9 holes they practiced together earlier in the week. The guy only played 9 holes of golf since the Masters and hit balls off the range once, both were this week.
Keep in mind that with all his very public struggles, he’s still only missed one or two cuts over that time frame. How many guys on the tour can say that? Not many. And take a wild guess who the only player to finish in the top 5 in 3 of the last 5 majors? That’s right, it’s Tiger Woods. The guy’s body is hurt. I think we may be watching the final demise of Tiger Woods, but not because his mind, but because his knee is hanging together by a string. What more can they do to it that they haven’t done already?
Grape works as a soda. Sort of as a gum. I wonder why it doesn't work as a pie. Grape pie? There's no grape pie. - Larry David
I know this probably wouldn't happen but, hypothetically speaking, if you were the commissioner of golf and you found out Tiger's leg problems aren't going to get any better would you consider letting him ride a cart if he requested to? Of course it would give him a competitive advantage but you could say, when healthy, he already has one. If he could play as well as he used to play while riding a cart it could mean a lot of money for the PGA.
I agree with dabvu. I don't think Tiger would ever do it even in the scenario you lay out. I think he'd prefer to retire than to have any asterisk placed next to his accomplishments.
Besides, the walking isn't what's hurting him, it's his actual swing and the impact it has on his knee. A cart wouldn't fix that.
Grape works as a soda. Sort of as a gum. I wonder why it doesn't work as a pie. Grape pie? There's no grape pie. - Larry David
Does anyone know how serious this injury is yet? From the sound of things he just tweaked it a bit and needs a couple weeks rest and he'll be ok. He just pushed it to hard coming back.
That may be true, but it's the same knee he had reconstructed less than 3 years ago. He's had 4 surgeries on that same knee. That knee was also one of the primary factors behind his first swing change from when he was young. It's been an issue for a long time. The question is if his knee is just shot.
Grape works as a soda. Sort of as a gum. I wonder why it doesn't work as a pie. Grape pie? There's no grape pie. - Larry David
Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please. |