One Final Thread On Tiger's Latest Return
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I've become an occasional reader of the Daily Racing Form (Zenyatta's fault) and while I stick by my positive assessment of Tiger's play last week, I couldn't help but think his write-up in the Form would look something like this:
Hasn't been the same since injuring himself and vanning off on November 27, 2009. Gelded since and hasn't been same except for T-4 finish in Masters to build on. Sporadic work pattern since included a long layoff, then finished well back in appearances at Bridgestone and PGA, followed by another long layoff. Finished T30 at the Frys.com Open, says reps are needed yet game is shut down again. Pass.
Doug Ferguson tries to make sense of Tiger's week and concludes...
It was only the 10th time in his career that Woods played an entire tournament without getting world ranking points.
The most recent occasion was last year at Firestone, with a limited field, when he tied for 78th out of 80 players. Otherwise, go all the way back to his tie for 56th at the 1999 Bay Hill Invitational for the last time Woods went four rounds and received no points (he also was shut out at the International that summer, but failed to qualify for the final round).
So what does it mean?
In the short term, he dropped to No. 52 in the world and will remain out of the top 50 for at least five more weeks until he plays the Australian Open, which is shaping up to have a strong field.
In the long term? That’s more difficult to gauge.
One more thing: he doesn't look that fit to me. Was it my imagination or was he struggling to walk properly all four days? Maybe that's why he doesn't play, say, four in a row to get in those famous "reps" ... he is physically incapable of doing so. And I'm not buying the "family obligations" thing, either. He could take his kids to the Disney, for example, show them a great time and play four rounds.
Elling: He was asked if he hurt his leg. He said he was fine. Beyond that, only Tiger and his doctor know for sure. Yeah, he played the family obligations card again. He's the only divorced father in the history of the PGA Tour. Hard to grasp how a guy who has played about 10 times all year has the continual conflicts.
Huggan: I'm betting his knee is the problem, and that it is going to be a problem for the rest of his life. As I said, it is difficult to believe anything he says on any subject other than the color of the sky or the direction in which the sun sets. Even then, I'd have to check for myself.
