Tiger’s assault on Jack’s record could be over
The year 2010 was supposed to be the one when Tiger Woods put to rest any lingering doubts that he was the number one golfer of all time. He already had 14 major championships in his back pocket and needed just four more to catch Jack Nicklaus, who himself said that Tiger would be a shoe-in to win at least one in 2010. It was all set up: he was about to play on three of his favourite major championship courses in the same year while in his prime.
Everything went wrong.
Woods favourite courses
In 2000, Woods visited Pebble Beach for the US Open. No one else broke par that year, it was playing that difficult, yet Woods finished 12 under. Forget that he destroyed the rest of the field for a moment and consider that in the history of the US Open, no one had ever finished 10 under par or better before. In other words, he didn’t just beat the 2000 US Open field; he beat everyone in the history of golf!
Many in the world of golf believe that Augusta National sets up the best for Woods. It definitely suits his game. Length is key at the Masters and wayward drives find a lighter rough than the other major tournaments, giving Woods a distinct advantage. He has cleaned up there in the course of his career, winning four green jackets and setting numerous scoring records.
But ask Woods what course he thinks sets up the best for him in a major, and he laughs. “I’d probably pick St. Andrews all four times,” he said a couple of weeks before the 2010 British Open. In 2000, Tiger Woods became the youngest ever golfer to complete the career grand slam when he won the British Open at St. Andrews by eight shots. In 2005, he returned to The Old Course and mocked it again, beating the field by six shots.
Same courses, 2010
At Augusta last April, Tiger did okay. It was his first tournament back after taking a break to deal with some pretty heavy personal issues, and he tied for fourth. Not bad at all, but he was five shots back by the end and never really in the hunt.
Come June, the US Open returned to Pebble Beach for the 2010 Championship and not only did Woods not win, in a final round where even par would have given him the victory, he shot a 75 and didn’t even beat his playing partner, Gregory Havret from France who is ranked 114 in the world. He was starting to look ordinary. It wasn’t the Tiger we were used to seeing. He wasn’t prowling and no one was skulking in the shadows to avoid him.
All eyes were on Woods at the 2010 British Open last month. He had two strikes against him as he stepped onto the first tee at St. Andrews, and he ended up whiffing: tied for 23rd place, 13 shots out of the lead, and failing to break par in all but one round on the course he said sets up best for him.
Even worse!
If there were any lingering doubts that his career is on the downslide, they were laid to rest this weekend. Eleven times Tiger has played the Bridgestone Invitational World Golf Championship event at Firestone. He won the thing seven times! He has never finished worse than fourth. His average per tournament was 10 under par. This weekend, he finished 18 over par, his worst score ever in a professional tournament. He finished second last.
Although Nicklaus felt certain a few months back that Tiger would break his record, he also suggested that a lot would depend on how Woods did this year. “This year has a lot to do with him beating the record. He’s in his prime. If he doesn’t play well on three golf courses that he owns – Augusta, Pebble and St Andrews – if he doesn’t win on one of those, he might not break it. I suspect he will win one of the next two (at Augusta or Pebble Beach) and I suspect he’ll pass my record in the next couple of years.”
The Golden Bear had some theories on what might prevent him breaking the record. “We have no idea what his neck issue is. We have no idea if his knee is bothering him. We have no idea whether he’s got his head screwed on properly because of his private affairs.”
Maybe those private affairs are weighing too heavily on his mind. Or maybe the years of whiplash-swinging are starting to take their toll on his body. Whatever it is, one thing has changed. He’s no longer a good bet to break Jack’s record. Tiger's very own friends, Augusta, Pebble Beach, St. Andrews, and Firestone bear witness to that.
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