What does Tiger's win say about golf?

[Deleted member 18588]

Obviously we know what Tiger's performance says about him.

The man is a phenomenon to come back from the injuries and operations etc; and even be able to play golf let alone win a Major.

But what does it say about the rest?

A guy in his mid-forties with a dodgy back and knees who hasn't won a Major for 11 years gave them a lesson around Augusta.

Should we, therefore, question quite how good they all are?

Or will it prove to be just a one-off, perhaps even a swansong like Jack's win in '86.

Either way it makes the future interesting.

 

[PJ87]

I think it says tiger is back to his best but the field is so much stronger than it was back when he dominated that he will wont have the same level of domination

he will break sam sneads record and golf will benefit from a fit tiger causing the other pros to up their game

its going to be a great year

 

[Parsaregood]

I think it says tiger is back to his best but the field is so much stronger than it was back when he dominated that he will wont have the same level of domination

he will break sam sneads record and golf will benefit from a fit tiger causing the other pros to up their game

its going to be a great year

Tigers not going to be as good as he was at his best physically he will admit that himself, he cant swing the way he wants to but he can do what needs to be done and still play to probably 90% of what he was in early 2000's. I think it shows you how hardworking and talented he really is, the competitions today is better but tiger at his best would still beat them easier than he beat them yesterday. Get tiger on a course where strategy is involved and has going to be up there, best iron player in the game. His short game is as strong as anybodys

 

[PJ87]

Tigers not going to be as good as he was at his best physically he will admit that himself, he cant swing the way he wants to but he can do what needs to be done and still play to probably 90% of what he was in early 2000's. I think it shows you how hardworking and talented he really is, the competitions today is better but tiger at his best would still beat them easier than he beat them yesterday. Get tiger on a course where strategy is involved and has going to be up there, best iron player in the game. His short game is as strong as anybodys

spot on about his short game

im glad he hasnt tried to go after distance of Rory and DJ because he doesnt have that in the tank to beat them.. he seems to have accepted he isnt the longest in the field anymore but he can beat them on course management

 

[Grant85]

Obviously we know what Tiger's performance says about him.

The man is a phenomenon to come back from the injuries and operations etc; and even be able to play golf let alone win a Major.

But what does it say about the rest?

A guy in his mid-forties with a dodgy back and knees who hasn't won a Major for 11 years gave them a lesson around Augusta.

Should we, therefore, question quite how good they all are?

Or will it prove to be just a one-off, perhaps even a swansong like Jack's win in '86.

Either way it makes the future interesting.

I think recency bias plays a big part here. Sure Tiger is back and competing, but a few weeks ago, Tiger finished T30th in the Players Championship.

I also reckon -13 was as good as he could do. His approach play continues to be his strength and at plenty of other venues, his driving and putting will not be good enough. There are a good 8 or 9 guys that will think they should have been a few better and at least have been in a playoff at -13. Brooks and Bryson got to -6 on the 1st day!! But of course they didn't and the pressure of a Major Sunday is certainly a real factor.

Maybe he can continue to improve, but I don't think we will see him (or anyone for that matter) being a dominant player and winning 6 or 7 events a year. The depth is too much and the quality of player right through the top 100 is such that there will continue to be a LOT of players in the mix for the majors and other big prizes.

 

[Deleted member 18588]

I think recency bias plays a big part here. Sure Tiger is back and competing, but a few weeks ago, Tiger finished T30th in the Players Championship.

I also reckon -13 was as good as he could do. His approach play continues to be his strength and at plenty of other venues, his driving and putting will not be good enough. There are a good 8 or 9 guys that will think they should have been a few better and at least have been in a playoff at -13. Brooks and Bryson got to -6 on the 1st day!! But of course they didn't and the pressure of a Major Sunday is certainly a real factor.

Maybe he can continue to improve, but I don't think we will see him (or anyone for that matter) being a dominant player and winning 6 or 7 events a year. The depth is too much and the quality of player right through the top 100 is such that there will continue to be a LOT of players in the mix for the majors and other big prizes.

You could be right.

A case of "Never mind the quality, feel the width!"

Plenty of decent players but no Woods, Nicklaus or Hogan amongst them.

But then dominant players only come round so often.

 

[Alex1975]

The Tiger effect, you can`t look beyond it, it says nothing about anyone but him imo.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

I don't think it says anything about the rest of the field, or pros. What it says to me is that Tiger can compete on a course that has a more traditional length rather than the huge monsters they now use for most other majors where length is king.
I don't see a resurgence of the Tiger dominance of old, his back and body won't hold up with him trying to match the distances many others belt it now.
Yes, as a non Tiger fan it was nice to see a more rounded Tiger winning again, but I don't see a return to his pomp of years back.

 

[Robster59]

I think it says more about Tiger than it does about the other players. There are plenty of good players out there but Tiger has experience, knowledge and knows what to play and when to play it. If you think about his 2006 Open win, Tiger thought his way around the course. I think he used his driver once and played clever golf.
Some players still try to power their way around the course. Tiger knows he can't do that so has to adjust his game to suit. To achieve this after so many injuries says a lot about his determination.

 

[Jacko_G]

I think recency bias plays a big part here. Sure Tiger is back and competing, but a few weeks ago, Tiger finished T30th in the Players Championship.

I also reckon -13 was as good as he could do. His approach play continues to be his strength and at plenty of other venues, his driving and putting will not be good enough. There are a good 8 or 9 guys that will think they should have been a few better and at least have been in a playoff at -13. Brooks and Bryson got to -6 on the 1st day!! But of course they didn't and the pressure of a Major Sunday is certainly a real factor.

Maybe he can continue to improve, but I don't think we will see him (or anyone for that matter) being a dominant player and winning 6 or 7 events a year. The depth is too much and the quality of player right through the top 100 is such that there will continue to be a LOT of players in the mix for the majors and other big prizes.

Part of what you have typed is utter tosh!

To suggest he won because 8/9 guys didn't do as well as they should really is absolute nonsense. Do you honestly think before you type?

Guess what, Tiger beat all.that was in his way, he did enough and blew those 8/9 guys you refer too out of his way. Those young pretenders blew up when the Tiger was on the leaderboard they couldn't handle his presence or his golf.

Tiger has never been a great driver of the golf ball but he has holed out better than anyone I have ever witnessed play the game and certainly haven't witnessed anything to suggest his putting has declined.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Part of what you have typed is utter tosh!

To suggest he won because 8/9 guys didn't do as well as they should really is absolute nonsense. Do you honestly think before you type?

Guess what, Tiger beat all.that was in his way, he did enough and blew those 8/9 guys you refer too out of his way. Those young pretenders blew up when the Tiger was on the leaderboard they couldn't handle his presence or his golf.

Tiger has never been a great driver of the golf ball but he has holed out better than anyone I have ever witnessed play the game and certainly haven't witnessed anything to suggest his putting has declined.

Just because you love Tiger, is he not allowed his own opinion and thoughts on the subject?

 

[Imurg]

Nope.
Jacko's always right
He said so himself

 

[Deleted member 1147]

I think what it says about golf is that there are a lot of very good players around. The fact the leaderboard was so tight, and that going into the back 9 any one of those finishing within 5 shots, at the end, could have won it.

What it also shows is that when everyone plays their best the gaps between players aren't big, but some players just manage to step ahead of the rest, more often than others when it really matters.
That's why Tiger has 15, Phil has 5, Rory 4 & Spieth & Koepka 3 majors, while so many others have only managed 1 (DJ, JT, Day, Scott, Rose etc)

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I’m not sure it says anything different about golf than before Woods won

Did we think anything was different after Ernie won the Open or indeed when Clarke won The Open - both in the latter stages of career

It just means that Woods played better or made less mistakes than others did, he putted better and his course management was better than the rest , he got a touch of good fortune when others got punished but he made use of that to the maximum

 

[Imurg]

I think what it says about golf is that there are a lot of very good players around. The fact the leaderboard was so tight, and that going into the back 9 any one of those finishing within 5 shots, at the end, could have won it.

What it also shows is that when everyone plays their best the gaps between players aren't big, but some players just manage to step ahead of the rest, more often than others when it really matters.
That's why Tiger has 15, Phil has 5, Rory 4 & Spieth & Koepka 3 majors, while so many others have only managed 1 (DJ, JT, Day, Scott, Rose etc)

And many more haven't got any...

 

[TheDiablo]

I don't think it says anything about the rest of the field, or pros. What it says to me is that Tiger can compete on a course that has a more traditional length rather than the huge monsters they now use for most other majors where length is king.
I don't see a resurgence of the Tiger dominance of old, his back and body won't hold up with him trying to match the distances many others belt it now.
Yes, as a non Tiger fan it was nice to see a more rounded Tiger winning again, but I don't see a return to his pomp of years back.

You know Augusta is 7,500 yards? Not many longer than that. It also played incredibly soft this week.

 

[fundy]

The Tiger effect, you can`t look beyond it, it says nothing about anyone but him imo.

wow, hi stranger, hope youre well

 

[Parsaregood]

I think recency bias plays a big part here. Sure Tiger is back and competing, but a few weeks ago, Tiger finished T30th in the Players Championship.

I also reckon -13 was as good as he could do. His approach play continues to be his strength and at plenty of other venues, his driving and putting will not be good enough. There are a good 8 or 9 guys that will think they should have been a few better and at least have been in a playoff at -13. Brooks and Bryson got to -6 on the 1st day!! But of course they didn't and the pressure of a Major Sunday is certainly a real factor.

Maybe he can continue to improve, but I don't think we will see him (or anyone for that matter) being a dominant player and winning 6 or 7 events a year. The depth is too much and the quality of player right through the top 100 is such that there will continue to be a LOT of players in the mix for the majors and other big prizes.

Tiger missed probably 5 short birdie putts on day 1 and 2 so the point you make about it being the best he could do is rubbish, guess what the other guys pretty missed the same putts and the best player over the 4 days won. I think tiger still has the game to comfortably win 3 times a season. I think he will get either the open or us.open this year. There are more good players about now but there arnt any great players, as in once in a lifetime players and that's what tiger is like it or not.

 

[rksquire]

It says only good things. Tiger is arguably the best player ever to play the game of golf, the fact is his last enforced absence wasn't the way to bow out, so this is how (hopefully) his career will come to an end - at the top and competing for the next few years.

Hopefully it inspires those around him to challenge him, and be as good as him, and ultimately take over the mantle of dominance whilst he is still there. Not because I dislike Tiger, but because it would be good for golf. There's a frat boy contingent amongst the Americans (Fowler, Speith, Thomas, etc.) that may mean they don't step up to knock him of his perch - you need a single minded determinancy (imho). DJ has all the golf tools and the mental vacancy not to be intimidated so maybe him. Used to think it might be McIlroy but he talks a better game than he plays, although in truth I anticipate more majors in his future as well.

What does it say? It says he had 14 majors before becoming a personal and physical trainwreck. And then he fixed himself, personally and physically. And then he found a way to play golf. And then he won a tournament, to prove he could do it. And then he won a 15th Major when lots said he couldn't. And golf is now spread across all the papers around the world, and Tigers back. So everybody else now needs to be inspired and step up.

 

[Grant85]

Tiger missed probably 5 short birdie putts on day 1 and 2 so the point you make about it being the best he could do is rubbish, guess what the other guys pretty missed the same putts and the best player over the 4 days won. I think tiger still has the game to comfortably win 3 times a season. I think he will get either the open or us.open this year. There are more good players about now but there arnt any great players, as in once in a lifetime players and that's what tiger is like it or not.

But Tiger's putting has been at that level for years now. It is a very common factor with elite players that putting drops off as they get older, despite the fact that physically there is no reasoning to this. But people talk about it a lot to the point it is certainly a factor.

Last year he was 48th on the PGA Tour strokes gained putting and this year (so far) 73rd. So that's not a small sample size and his putting is very much 'in the pack'.

Not seen the stats for the Masters, but I'd imagine his rankings will look something like this;
SG off the tee - 30th
SG approach - 1st
SG tee to green - 3rd
SG around the green - 10th
SG putting - 26th

And he also got away with 2 wide tee shots on 11 on both Saturday and Sunday - both times finding a clear shot to the green to make 2 putt pars - when he should have been in a bit more trouble.

Of course, I'm dissecting things a bit too much as over 72 holes he was still better than the field.

But the formula for Tiger to win is as follows;
A course not too penal off the tee.
Tough greens where a great iron can put you close, but if you miss the spot then even the good putters will be happy with a 2 putt.
Par 3s around the 150 to 170 mark when the best iron players will given themselves plenty of chances over 4 days.

Can certainly see him win more Masters and an Open at St. Andrews or maybe Hoylake. Possibly a PGA at the right venue as well. A US Open is going to be tough for him, likewise a British Open at a tight venue.