Critics claim Tiger Woods has lost “originality” in his swing, Phil Mickelson thinks otherwise
Just when the former world number one thought he is out of the troubled waters, he has now landed in a deep quagmire of not being able to translate his strong performances over the weekend into victories.
His final round melt down has now happened for consecutive second time in the season when he lost the Pebble Beach Pro-Am title to the rampaging Phil Mickelson.
Woods disclosed after the round, "I just could not get comfortable".
Woods surged into contention at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship earlier in the month and was overtaken by the surprise winner Robert Rock in the final round to lift the title.
Woods finally started to experience resurgence in the Australian Open last year where he finished as the runner-up.
He went over to the President’s Cup to post another thrilling victory in the individual round on the final day.
He finally brought an end to his two-year long winless streak at the Chevron World Challenge, the closing event on the PGA Tour calendar.
Hoping to continue with his newly gained confidence, the 14-major-winner had hoped to land the Pebble Beach title earlier in the year to strengthen his blistering form.
Carding another brilliant performance over the weekend, Woods started off the final round, four strokes behind the lead and two strokes ahead of the eventual winner Mickelson.
He lamented the idea that he has not won a tourney for the last two years.
He argued that the Chevron title, although does not have a full PGA Tour status, was still a rollicking victory, good enough to help him regain his confidence.
He stated, "People think it's a couple of years (since he won a tourney), but I won just a couple months ago. And I'm just kind of off to my first start of the year here in the States, and I made some good improvement this week ... "
Critics are of the view that the former world number one has lost the originality in his swing after going through an intensive swing-change rehab under the tutelage of his coach Sean Foley.
Mickelson, however, insists Woods is gradually coming back into his once trailblazing form and it is a matter of time before he lands a title.
Mickelson said, "You could see, it's such a night-and-day difference. ... He never hooked a shot. He used to hook, you were waiting for it, and now he's just striping it right at his target with a tiny little fade, just like he used to do".
Mickelson won his 40th PGA Tour event at Pebble Beach to become only the ninth player in the history to do so.
Woods made an appearance at Pebble Beach after a lapse of ten long years. He has won seven times on the venue, including the 2008 US Open, last of the major titles in his 14-major-title count.
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