After everything that has happened in the life of Tiger Woods, there may just be one place on planet Earth where he feels invincible – Torrey Pines. Having won his last five tournaments there, including a US Open on effectively one leg, Woods returns to the place where he is practically unbeatable.
It will be there in the Farmers Insurance Open that he begins his 2011 season, a quest to fully implement a new golf swing and do the best he can to erase the worst season of his professional career and personal life.
When we last saw Woods, he was stunned by Graeme McDowell making not one, but two vicious birdie putts to defeat him at his own tournament in a playoff. For three rounds of the Chevron World Challenge, Woods looked like his old self, using his new Sean Foley-taught swing to run circles around the field – just like old times.
With the money on the line and the monkey ready to jump off of his back, Woods was unable to close things out on Sunday. As McDowell’s lore grew by escaping from jail on multiple occasions, Woods’ best effort to lay the foundation for the fourth installment of his legendary career fell short. He would have to let a playoff defeat stew over the short break as he continued to work on his new swing in Florida.
Last week, Woods decided it was time. He was ready. He tweeted to his masses of followers, “I’ve been working hard on my game, it’s game time hooah!”
Having seen his swing from late December, it appears Woods feels very comfortable with the drastic changes in his swing. He does not stand as up right. His take away is wider. That flying elbow which hampers his driving is close to his body. The ball flight is lower.
All of the changes are for the moment of truth – impact. At impact, the ball flew as true as one would expect from a 14-time major champion.
While Woods’ life was changing, the world of golf trucked on without him. There is a new number one and two now, thanks to Martin Kaymer‘s victory in Abu Dhabi over the weekend. Fortunately, the position breeds some familiarity for Woods. The last time he was ranked third in the world was October 2004 after Vijay Singh took the top spot in the world from him in Boston over that Labor Day.
From that point, Woods proceeded to have a resurgent 2005, including a win at the Masters and the Open Championship at St. Andrews – two of golf’s biggest stages at which Tiger feels very comfortable. He won six times that year, breaking $10 million for the first time in his career. Quite a comeback.
In 2011, it seems like expectations are just as varied six years later. Observers don’t know if Woods will win this week, miss the cut, or do something in between. The predictions more resemble a Ford campaign for Phil Mickelson than the one-time Buick endorser.
But like Apple stock wavers when Steve Jobs appears on his way out, Team Tiger stock plummeted to a 15-year low in 2010. Not quite a penny stock, its market value is way under what it is truly worth. Get back in on the ground floor. Buy now.
Tiger Woods will be back in 2011.
He has a PGA Tour without the first and second ranked players in the world. The best American player is, frankly, debatable – including him in the discussion, even with his last twelve months counting. Though the backdrop to the world golf stage has changed, the PGA Tour has never looked any more ripe for the taking.
Place well at Torrey Pines this week. Maybe win the thing. Go to Dubai and give the world a little taste of what’s coming. Get back to match play – sweet, sweet match play – and defy the field of 64 to stare him down like Graeme McDowell did. Doral and Bay Hill are home games, and Woods is practically accustomed to a 72nd hole handshake from Arnold Palmer at this point.
Woods could effectively have his ducks in order by the time the Masters comes with the turn of the calendar to April. Optimistic? Absolutely. A win or two unrealistic? Not at all.
Even as things looked their worst last year, I refused to write off Tiger Woods forever. For then, sure. His world was so topsy-turvy that Woods could have begged for Newton’s apple to bump him on the head just to know which way was up.
Now, though, he knows. He seems sure. And he’s in the perfect place to be able to stage the kind of comeback that still has Steve Scott and his girlfriend wondering what hit them even 15 years later.
Whatever the outcome, enjoy it. This is the Rocky IV of the Woods saga. There will not be a better movie after this one. Woods is the underdog, just like Rocky truly was against Drago for the first time since the initial installment of the series. He will come out swinging – literally – and give everything he has to be able to safely claim he is the best in the world, even if just one more time.
For more breaking golf news and the best Wisconsin Green Fee Coupons/Specials, please visit www.mybirdiebook.com
It will be there in the Farmers Insurance Open that he begins his 2011 season, a quest to fully implement a new golf swing and do the best he can to erase the worst season of his professional career and personal life.
When we last saw Woods, he was stunned by Graeme McDowell making not one, but two vicious birdie putts to defeat him at his own tournament in a playoff. For three rounds of the Chevron World Challenge, Woods looked like his old self, using his new Sean Foley-taught swing to run circles around the field – just like old times.
With the money on the line and the monkey ready to jump off of his back, Woods was unable to close things out on Sunday. As McDowell’s lore grew by escaping from jail on multiple occasions, Woods’ best effort to lay the foundation for the fourth installment of his legendary career fell short. He would have to let a playoff defeat stew over the short break as he continued to work on his new swing in Florida.
Last week, Woods decided it was time. He was ready. He tweeted to his masses of followers, “I’ve been working hard on my game, it’s game time hooah!”
Having seen his swing from late December, it appears Woods feels very comfortable with the drastic changes in his swing. He does not stand as up right. His take away is wider. That flying elbow which hampers his driving is close to his body. The ball flight is lower.
All of the changes are for the moment of truth – impact. At impact, the ball flew as true as one would expect from a 14-time major champion.
While Woods’ life was changing, the world of golf trucked on without him. There is a new number one and two now, thanks to Martin Kaymer‘s victory in Abu Dhabi over the weekend. Fortunately, the position breeds some familiarity for Woods. The last time he was ranked third in the world was October 2004 after Vijay Singh took the top spot in the world from him in Boston over that Labor Day.
From that point, Woods proceeded to have a resurgent 2005, including a win at the Masters and the Open Championship at St. Andrews – two of golf’s biggest stages at which Tiger feels very comfortable. He won six times that year, breaking $10 million for the first time in his career. Quite a comeback.
In 2011, it seems like expectations are just as varied six years later. Observers don’t know if Woods will win this week, miss the cut, or do something in between. The predictions more resemble a Ford campaign for Phil Mickelson than the one-time Buick endorser.
But like Apple stock wavers when Steve Jobs appears on his way out, Team Tiger stock plummeted to a 15-year low in 2010. Not quite a penny stock, its market value is way under what it is truly worth. Get back in on the ground floor. Buy now.
Tiger Woods will be back in 2011.
He has a PGA Tour without the first and second ranked players in the world. The best American player is, frankly, debatable – including him in the discussion, even with his last twelve months counting. Though the backdrop to the world golf stage has changed, the PGA Tour has never looked any more ripe for the taking.
Place well at Torrey Pines this week. Maybe win the thing. Go to Dubai and give the world a little taste of what’s coming. Get back to match play – sweet, sweet match play – and defy the field of 64 to stare him down like Graeme McDowell did. Doral and Bay Hill are home games, and Woods is practically accustomed to a 72nd hole handshake from Arnold Palmer at this point.
Woods could effectively have his ducks in order by the time the Masters comes with the turn of the calendar to April. Optimistic? Absolutely. A win or two unrealistic? Not at all.
Even as things looked their worst last year, I refused to write off Tiger Woods forever. For then, sure. His world was so topsy-turvy that Woods could have begged for Newton’s apple to bump him on the head just to know which way was up.
Now, though, he knows. He seems sure. And he’s in the perfect place to be able to stage the kind of comeback that still has Steve Scott and his girlfriend wondering what hit them even 15 years later.
Whatever the outcome, enjoy it. This is the Rocky IV of the Woods saga. There will not be a better movie after this one. Woods is the underdog, just like Rocky truly was against Drago for the first time since the initial installment of the series. He will come out swinging – literally – and give everything he has to be able to safely claim he is the best in the world, even if just one more time.
For more breaking golf news and the best Wisconsin Green Fee Coupons/Specials, please visit www.mybirdiebook.com
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