The New Tiger Woods

TheRiddler

So with Tiger losing in the playoff to GMac this week is this a sign of the new times? Few years ago if anyone in the world was in a playoff with Tiger they would shít themselves, but are people not afraid of him anymore? Obviously GMac isn't he believed he could beat Woods. There were glimpses of his former self and he played some great golf, but losing a four shot lead on the final day can you imagine 2000/2001 Woods doing that? Is he just a regular golfer now?

Mister Sifter

TheRiddler wrote: »

So with Tiger losing in the playoff to GMac this week is this a sign of the new times? Few years ago if anyone in the world was in a playoff with Tiger they would shít themselves, but are people not afraid of him anymore? Obviously GMac isn't he believed he could beat Woods. There were glimpses of his former self and he played some great golf, but losing a four shot lead on the final day can you imagine 2000/2001 Woods doing that? Is he just a regular golfer now?

McDowell isn't just any other golfer. I think there are very few players out there who could have done what he did last night. McDowell is the real deal.

Black Swan

TheRiddler wrote: »

Is he just a regular golfer now?

How often do "regular" golfer's do a sudden-death play-off to win the title?
Graeme McDowell played a grand game to win the Chevron World Challenge, but he himself admitted that he did the "greatest putts" of his career to beat Tiger Woods.

TheRiddler

Blue_Lagoon wrote: »

How often do "regular" golfer's do a sudden-death play-off to win the title?
Graeme McDowell played a grand game to win the Chevron World Challenge, but he himself admitted that he did the "greatest putts" of his career to beat Tiger Woods.

By regular I mean a world class golfer, but doesn't have that aura anymore that you'd expect from a 14 major winner

TheRiddler

Mister Sifter wrote: »

McDowell isn't just any other golfer. I think there are very few players out there who could have done what he did last night. McDowell is the real deal.

I'm not trying to belittle what McDowell did, played amazing golf alright but what I'm saying is the Tiger of old wouldn't have dropped 4 shots on the final day. Even if he did, anyone in the playoff would almost be afraid to play against him, which was not the case last night.

FortuneChip

GMac has such confidence I don't think he'd be scared of anyone in a playoff.
He's had all eyes on him twice before on the final day of a tournament and held it together.
And after that great putt first time last night, you know he'd have the momentum going in to the playoff.

I think/hope that Tiger going winless this season will make him less "Terrifying" to other golfers in the new year, only for him to recover his finest form. I'd love to see him at his best battling against Kaymer/Westie and maybe Big Phil for the Number 1

mag

TheRiddler wrote: »

I'm not trying to belittle what McDowell did, played amazing golf alright but what I'm saying is the Tiger of old wouldn't have dropped 4 shots on the final day. Even if he did, anyone in the playoff would almost be afraid to play against him, which was not the case last night.

fonda

FortuneChip wrote: »

GMac has such confidence I don't think he'd be scared of anyone in a playoff.
He's had all eyes on him twice before on the final day of a tournament and held it together.
And after that great putt first time last night, you know he'd have the momentum going in to the playoff.

I think/hope that Tiger going winless this season will make him less "Terrifying" to other golfers in the new year, only for him to recover his finest form. I'd love to see him at his best battling against Kaymer/Westie and maybe Big Phil for the Number 1

I think you can add McDowell to that list as well, if he keeps up the form of this year he could be battling for world number 1

sweetswing

Blue_Lagoon wrote: »

How often do "regular" golfer's do a sudden-death play-off to win the title?
Graeme McDowell played a grand game to win the Chevron World Challenge, but he himself admitted that he did the "greatest putts" of his career to beat Tiger Woods.

Play-offs are a regular occurrence on tour, they happen a lot.
Tigers cloak of invincibility is gone, a player of G-Macs ability and mental strength will not allow himself to be intimidated, same as a lot of the top golfers today.
Tiger lost a 4 shot lead, on the last day ,in his own tournament, in his own back yard, in front of all his adoring fans.
I do agree they were 2 of the greatest putts I have ever seen.
People will have to get use to the idea that Tiger is no longer top dog, that he is closer to being a regular golfer than he is of being the main man.
I think we are in for a great year regardless.

abouttobebanned

Tiger choked. But McDowell made him do so.

Mister Sifter

abouttobebanned wrote: »

Tiger choked. But McDowell made him do so.

No he didn't. He just played poorly for large parts of the final day - his putting was particularly weak - very timid. Understandable perhaps given what's going on with his game at the moment - changes etc.

He actually finished his round very strongly though. Great shot into 17 and brilliant birdie on 18. He was simply out-done by some McDowell brilliance. To say Tiger choked does a massive disservice to what McDowell did last night.

scrubber72

TheRiddler wrote: »

I'm not trying to belittle what McDowell did, played amazing golf alright but what I'm saying is the Tiger of old wouldn't have dropped 4 shots on the final day. Even if he did, anyone in the playoff would almost be afraid to play against him, which was not the case last night.

Love it when people say what you said. You are belittling what graeme and what he did last night. Tiger wasnt up to it and you can say all you like about tiger from a few years ago. Simple fact is you could say the same if graeme played tom watson or jack nicklaus in their day. Sure tiger may come back to what he was a few years ago but suggesting that even then he was unbeatable is crazy. It may of been different had it been a major or the like but anyone of these guys can beat anyone on their day.

FortuneChip

fonda wrote: »

I think you can add McDowell to that list as well, if he keeps up the form of this year he could be battling for world number 1

I'd add him gladly! I think he's a great golfer, his mental strength when it comes to clinch putts etc is admirable and he comes off as a good bloke too.

Definitely hope to see him continue the form, might even ask Santa for a poster of him celebrating the Ryder Cup Putt!

Russman

McDowell is a great closer, always has been, generally when he has a chance to win, he does. There's a big streak of thickness in him.

It really annoys me when people try to make excuses for Woods though, if he hits a bad shot its because he's changing his swing, if anyone else hits a poor shot its because they choked. Listening to Sky last night nearly made me sick TBH. At one point GMac hit a chip to a few feet and from the same place Tiger chipped off the green, yet they almost made it sound like Tiger's shot was better !

Yes, Tiger is a great player, one of the best ever, no doubt about it, and he's capable of shots that nobody else can even contemplate, but he's still human and can make mistakes. This "not trusting his swing" on certain shots is because of the pressure in my opinion. Don't forget he's never been the most accurate and there was always a few bad drives in the locker ready to raise their heads - certainly he didn't hit any bad shots last night that he hadn't hit in years gone by. Its the pressure that makes him go after the shot harder than he would on the range and that big lunge swing comes out.

On most of his majors he's been way ahead going into day 4 and that in itself is an amazing achievement, but on only a few occassions was he ever put under under any real pressure in the final round, mostly (not always, granted) the other players faded away and the final rounds became a procession. Even our own Padraig stared him down a few years ago in last night's tournament.

I think there are certain players he always knew he'd usually get the better of, like Els, Vijay, Phil etc etc but some of the lesser names that are very stubborn can cause him problems when they just won't go away.

My tuppence worth anyway.......:)

stockdam

Darren Clarke whooped his ass many years ago so it's not surprise that other NI/Irish golfers will do it too.

Graeme holed 3 of the finest putts in a row that I've seen for a long time to win........it's not like Woods rolled over and let him win.

blackwaterfish

what a night of golf! such a shame we didnt get to see it from the first. would have loved to have seen graeme's blistering start.

And could not believe the amount of break on those putts when we eventually got to see the second putt from behind the ball. dottie pepper did say they were fairly straight right? or did she say straight forward?

anyhow, i think the pressure graeme felt in that last hour of the ryder cup has given him a resolve to be able to focus in similar high intensity situations. those 2 putts last night were ridiculous, ... and the recovery on the 17th was simply brilliant.


And altho i've never had a boner for tiger, unlike mark roe, its good to see tiger show some of the magic.

.... and also good to see williams make a tit of himself yet again. taking off his caddy bib just b4 graeme slotted home that birdie on the 72nd hole... only to have to put it on again for the playoff. thank you steve!

WHIP IT!

blackwaterfish wrote: »

what a night of golf! such a shame we didnt get to see it from the first. would have loved to have seen graeme's blistering start.

And could not believe the amount of break on those putts when we eventually got to see the second putt from behind the ball. dottie pepper did say they were fairly straight right? or did she say straight forward?

anyhow, i think the pressure graeme felt in that last hour of the ryder cup has given him a resolve to be able to focus in similar high intensity situations. those 2 putts last night were ridiculous, ... and the recovery on the 17th was simply brilliant.


And altho i've never had a boner for tiger, unlike mark roe, its good to see tiger show some of the magic.

.... and also good to see williams make a tit of himself yet again. taking off his caddy bib just b4 graeme slotted home that birdie on the 72nd hole... only to have to put it on again for the playoff. thank you steve!

No, Dotty Pepper did say they were straight enough! I was surprised myself to see the replay later and see there was about 18 inches of break in the putt!

Williams should be reigned in, he's one of those caddies who thinks the game is as much about his as Woods. A tit. He should be fined if it's deemed the removal of his bib was some kind of psychological trick aimed at McDowell.

sweetswing

I'm not convinced with all the talk about his new swing, for me tiger has always been ragged tee to green, were he shone was ,when he needed to hole a put he allways seemed to be able to pull one out of his ass, he doesn't seem to have this edge any more, his confidence is shaken in a time when all the rest of the players are on a high.
Lastnight showed it's no good if you can get your ball inside your opponent if ya can't putt out...

blackwaterfish

WHIP IT! wrote: »

He should be fined if it's deemed the removal of his bib was some kind of psychological trick aimed at McDowell.

Agreed, but dont think it was... he's just an arrogant ars*hole of biblical proportions. the tit assumed graeme wouldnt nail it.

a tit that can make an arse of itself while behaving like a dick.

L.O.F.T

Most surprising for me watching Tiger Woods over the last 4 days was the amount of fairways he was finding and also hitting side's of fairways with looks and angles on his second shots to tucked pins, really accurate. For me its a look at the future of his game and more ominously the fact is he is spending most of his time working on his long game with Sean Foley grinding a new swing. When he becomes more comfortable with that swing he will begin to devote more and more time to his putting / short game and then I feel we will be in for another period of dominance from him.

blackwaterfish

pretty ominous alright.


Caroline harrington.... if youre reading this... ffs buy padraig a lesson with sean foley for christmas.

Sir Shankalot

blackwaterfish wrote: »

pretty ominous alright.


Caroline harrington.... if youre reading this... ffs buy padraig a lesson with sean foley for christmas.

I reckon Harrington will straighten himself out and be a major player once again next year. Part of his problem was that he saw Tiger and Phil winning lots of tournaments while missing lots of fairways. With the grooves the way they were it was far better to be 295 in the rough than 265 in the fairway. He changed his swing making it more power-based - now that golf has turned the other way I expect a keen student like Podge to adapt. If he starts hitting fairways he'll be right in the mix.

Hats off to Gmac, just superb....I remember Bob May draining one on 72nd hole of PGA...in 2000!! Aside from that I do not remember ANYONE sinking a putt of distance on the 72nd hole versus Tiger...let alone repeating the trick on the 73rd!! Brilliant stuff

WHIP IT!

Sir Shankalot wrote: »

Hats off to Gmac, just superb....I remember Bob May draining one on 72nd hole of PGA...in 2000!! Aside from that I do not remember ANYONE sinking a putt of distance on the 72nd hole versus Tiger...let alone repeating the trick on the 73rd!! Brilliant stuff

Speaking of Bob May, I'm sure I saw his name on the list at PGA Tour Q-School??

Badger2009

sweetswing wrote: »

I'm not convinced with all the talk about his new swing, for me tiger has always been ragged tee to green, were he shone was ,when he needed to hole a put he allways seemed to be able to pull one out of his ass, he doesn't seem to have this edge any more, his confidence is shaken in a time when all the rest of the players are on a high.
Lastnight showed it's no good if you can get your ball inside your opponent if ya can't putt out...

Not sure I agree with this. Maybe in more recent years but back in the early 2000s he was very good tee to green. Remember the open in 2000, it was something crazy like he wasn't in one bunker all week, some stat in St. Andrews!

Great win for Graeme though and also good to see Tiger back competing for 4 rounds.

LuckyGent88

Great win by GMAC and clearly knows his way over the finishing line now. Showed great courage, skill and determenation after his awful tee shot on 17 to produce the bogey there and the birdie on the last.
And as for TIGER and his new swing, clearly he has made significant improvements so hopefully we can look forward to a magnificant season of golf in 2011 with that Number 1 spot up for grabs

Sandwlch

L.O.F.T wrote: »

Most surprising for me watching Tiger Woods over the last 4 days was the amount of fairways he was finding and also hitting side's of fairways with looks and angles on his second shots to tucked pins, really accurate. For me its a look at the future of his game and more ominously the fact is he is spending most of his time working on his long game with Sean Foley grinding a new swing. When he becomes more comfortable with that swing he will begin to devote more and more time to his putting / short game and then I feel we will be in for another period of dominance from him.

He is looking good and I think reports of his demise were premature. He still seems to be missing one ingredient though to add back the magic of a few years ago - he needs to forget the Buddhism and get make transgressing in a big way. Was at his very best pre-Elin when presumably he was at it unrestrained. Still good, but not quite as good after marriage when he probably curtailed it a little. Just not himself this year while he tries to 'become a better person'. You're a free man Tiger, get back transgressing like never before - and watch the majors pile up!

Gallant_JJ

For anyone who hasn't seen it......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGwHKdk3UnI

Kace

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

Great win by GMAC and clearly knows his way over the finishing line now. Showed great courage, skill and determenation after his awful tee shot on 17 to produce the bogey there and the birdie on the last.
And as for TIGER and his new swing, clearly he has made significant improvements so hopefully we can look forward to a magnificant season of golf in 2011 with that Number 1 spot up for grabs

+1

Talk about close-outs in 2010 - balls of steel by GMAC !!!!

blackwaterfish

Gallant_JJ wrote: »

For anyone who hasn't seen it......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGwHKdk3UnI

first putt: williams no bib.
second putt: williams with bib.

lol... i'm loving this!

blackwaterfish

ridonkulous

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

Great win by GMAC and clearly knows his way over the finishing line now. Showed great courage, skill and determenation after his awful tee shot on 17 to produce the bogey there and the birdie on the last.
And as for TIGER and his new swing, clearly he has made significant improvements so hopefully we can look forward to a magnificant season of golf in 2011 with that Number 1 spot up for grabs

To be fair he hit a club he never thought could go over the green and the ball pitched only 15 - 20 feet from the hole. It was more he misjudged the club due to the amount of adrenaline running through his body. That and he pull hooked it

stockdam

ridonkulous wrote: »

That and he pull hooked it

He just closed the face slightly and pulled it. It was unlucky to find the deep rough only yards off the green. Anyway, he showed great composure and got up and down in two........me, I'd have taken 7 or more.

ridonkulous

stockdam wrote: »

He just closed the face slightly and pulled it. It was unlucky to find the deep rough only yards off the green. Anyway, he showed great composure and got up and down in two........me, I'd have taken 7 or more.

I think more than half the field would have done just that and worse.

blackwaterfish

graeme gives his toughts to the golf channel on steve williams profound tit-making talents...

fast forward to 4:45

http://www.thegolfchannel.com/golf-videos/golf-central-thursday-december-9th-2010-6763/?ref=10005

gmac rightly keeps its civil here but reading between the lines you can get a sense of how enormously satisfying it must have been to wipe williams eye.

ah sweet.