Finding a comparison to Tiger Woods in the entire world of sport is difficult. The breathtaking heights Woods reached in the early parts of his career, most notably from 2000-2001 when he won all four Major Championships in a row, had never been seen before and may never been seen again. Not even Jack Nicklaus, the only man who should ever be mentioned in the same breath as Woods, managed to achieve such a feat on the way to his 18 Major Championships. You can make reasonable arguments that Lionel Messi, Sachin Tendulkar or Roger Federer have all reached similar peaks in their respective sports but that doesn’t wash with me. Messi, great though he is, has had times during the peak of his career where people were unsure if he was better than Cristiano Ronaldo. The same logic applies to Tendulkar with Lara and Federer with Nadal.

I say this to illustrate how stunning it is for a fan of Tiger Woods, or a fan of golf in general, to see the greatest singular talent the sport has ever seen crumble like a poorly played game of Jenga. It tells a great deal about the current state of Woods’ game that we are unsure if the 80 he shot yesterday, in the first round of a tournament he has dominated previously, is the nadir. Everyone has bad days, every sportsman or woman has had days where they just don’t have ‘it’. Maybe they woke up on the wrong side of the bed or didn’t have a strong enough cup of coffee. This isn’t just one day though.

Ever since Woods won the US Open on one leg in 2008 he’s had trouble with his knee, Achilles and most recently, his back. There have been positives, he won 5 PGA Tour tournaments as recently as 2013, but they’ve been mixed in with the injuries that have crippled his progress. These issues have forced him to reconsider and reconfigure what was once the most beautiful swing in golf. To find the magic formula, the formula that he hopes will take him back to the top of the golfing world, he’s cycled through swing coaches like a rich man does boxer shorts (if you can afford it you only wear them once, right?)

The issues he’s having grappling with a new swing are clearly both physical and mental. Mentally, to me anyway, he looks shot. As a young man he always seemed content with the world, like there was nothing he’d rather do than be out on the course competing. He had this wonderful, light-up-a-room-when-he-walks-in sort of smile. Now, he looks like the stresses and strains that come with being one of the most over analysed human beings on planet Earth are taking their toll. He’s only 39, retirement age for athletes in most sports but young for a golfer, yet he looks about 50. He stands in front of the mic after another tough round and he looks exhausted, his eyes heavy and his shoulders slumped.

Then there’s the physical aspect of his game. Obviously those injuries are going to take a toll, they would on anyone, so if he had to make changes to his swing to prolong his career then so be it. He’s also much, much bulkier now than he was in his peak years. Back then he was fairly wiry and supple - his swing flowed beautifully like a piano concerto, all the individual parts blended together to compose the most graceful tune. Now it seems choppy, he can’t quite get the body to do as he wishes so he fights it throughout the swing. With his barrel chest and tree trunk arms he can’t get them to rotate like they once would.

It isn’t too late, of course. Anyone with the natural ability Tiger Woods had, and I assume still has somewhere, can conceivably achieve anything. I hope this was just another blip on a long road to where he wants to be.

We want the great athletes to end their careers by drifting slowly in to the night, Father Time eroding the skills they once possessed with every passing day. Tiger Woods is currently experiencing the exact opposite. That’s sad.  

 Other day 1 observations

•          Monty! – How about the 51 year old Colin Montgomerie shooting a one-under 69 to sit tied 14^th. He may have played better from tee to green than any other player, the only thing costing him a really low round was a couple of makeable putts he missed. This could be to do with the greens but I’ll discuss that in a moment.
•          Rory – He played average. His main issues came on the green where he seemingly couldn’t make anything all day. At +2 he’s got to put together a solid round tomorrow to ensure he isn’t too far from the leaders over the weekend.
•          Spieth – He shot a quietly impressive round of -2 to leave him in an excellent position. The only lower score during the afternoon was three-under so that underscores how happy he should be.
•          Stenson – The only European surrounded by a wave of Americans at the very top of the leaderboard, he’s got the perfect temperament to deal with the testing conditions so this could be the weekend he breaks his major drought.
•          The Greens – Several players were outspoken in criticising the greens. I must admit on television they looked very odd, I’ve never watched a golf tournament where it’s so difficult to distinguish between the fairway and the green. Obviously that doesn’t guarantee they play poorly but, judging by the opinions of those that have putted on them, they’re not in the best shape. Definitely something to monitor over the weekend. 

Harrison Ryle

harrison.ryle@foremostgolf.com