Intro: this is my opinion. It is tough language but I respect the man as almost everyone does.
Tiger Woods has consistently said that he believes he can win another major championship - make it 16. He always wanted to beat Jack Nicklaus's 18 majors. His back and leg injuries destroyed that dream. He even had the number 18 embossed into his golf shoes at one stage.
UPDATE - FIRST DAY OF THE OPEN: Woods shoots 8 over and will miss the cut (he did by miles). He is almost in last place! He is wasting his time. He looked terrible. Sir Nick Faldo agrees. He questions why Woods puts himself through it all as did Colin Montgomerie who Woods criticised. It is time for him to stop and to think that he can win a major is fanciful nonsense.
Roe, a former European Tour professional, said on a ‘featured groups' international TV feed overseen by organisers the R&A: "You look at the eyes, you've got to think there's a lot of painkillers being taken to cope with the pain. It's not easy." - Planet Sport. Correct. Woods has a glazed look. He is not right. That's obvious.
That's the only reason why he's playing in major championships - to WIN. He is at Troon, Scotland, at the moment. And he's there because he believes he can win The Open championship. Actually win it. And he said the same thing about other major championships including the recent US Open Championship. And the UPGA before that.
And yet we see a man, with a wonderful golfing legacy, looking as if he is in permanent distress; almost zombie-like. He walks very slowly. My bet is that he takes drugs to manage the pain in his right leg (and back). His leg was re-fabricated after his horrendous car accident. They thought they were going to have to amputate it but they rebuilt it and I'm sure it causes him lots of pain even today.
He built up his upper body to compensate for the lack of muscle and strength in his right leg. He is also altered his swing slightly to accommodate this change in his anatomy.
Tiger is 48 years of age. The oldest age at which a professional golfer has won a major championship is nearly 50 when legendary American golfer Julius Boros won the 1968 PGA Championship.
The point I'm making is this: Tiger Woods has supreme confidence in his ability as a golfer. And rightly so because of his enormous history of success in winning 15 majors. But his confidence has evolved into arrogance and his arrogance has deceived him into believing you can win a major. He cannot.
The world has moved on in any case. It isn't just about Tiger Woods's age which is a barrier to him winning a major championship again. It isn't just about his injury to his leg which is a major barrier.
Remember, that a lot of the power and control of the golf swing comes from the lower body. You need strength in the legs to have a really good golf swing. You need to use the leg muscles, the big muscles, to generate power.
You can't just rely on the upper body and Tiger Woods has to do this. It's a compensatory golf swing working in a way which is totally contrary to the way it should be working. He's trying to buck the system and he simply not the golfer that he was.
He misses cuts, finishes quite low down if he does make the cut and all in all he looks like a sorry figure walking slowly across the fairways, gingerly, almost robot-like with a blank expression on his puffy face.
What concerns me is this blank facial expression. As mentioned, his face looks a bit puffy as well. I would allege that this is because he's taking painkilling drugs in high doses. His accident in a Genesis car happened as I recall because he was on a lot of drugs, painkilling drugs, prescription drugs I remember which knocked him out while he was driving. He fell asleep and his car careered over the central reservation of a highway and down a ravine.
That occurred before he had the leg injury so before the leg injury he was on painkilling drugs because of his back which has been operated on several times. His back injury is due to the enormous amount of stress his golf swing placed upon it over many years of golf. Top pro golfers not infrequently suffer from lower back injuries for this reason. When you hit the ball as hard as top pros the body takes a hammering.
It is not just about his right leg which can't generate power, it's about the painkillers he's on, his age, his attempt to recreate a golf swing (and one stage the greatest golf swing on the planet) which bucks the system which altogether means that he can't win a major any more.
There are many really excellent golfers these days challenging him. Even if he hadn't been badly injured and was is good physical condition, he would struggle today to win a major because of the tougher competition. Some great players have come through e.g. Scottie Scheffler.
The conclusion is that Tiger Woods's arrogance and heightened self belief are colouring his thought processes in a bad way. Colin Montgomerie has said that he should retire gracefully. Tiger Woods criticised Colin for saying that.
Tiger said that he would continue to play in The Open championship as long as he wants to and as long as he believes he can win because he is exempt from qualifying until the age of 60. He criticised Colin Montgomerie because Colin never won The Open championship and therefore has to qualify. Therefore Colin has no right to criticised Tiger. That's Tiger's argument.
I am afraid to say that Tiger would do well to retire gracefully. I'll be pleased to be proved wrong.
Telegraph headline: The Open 2024 predictions: Victory for Bryson DeChambeau, misery for Tiger Woods. Sounds near the truth.
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