Year 2011: Tiger Woods still lurking in shadows
Another year is almost headed towards its conclusion as the once glorious, Tiger Woods, is still in search of his first victory since 2009. The year was marred by his absence from the course for most of the time, when he decided to take a break from mainstream
golf and rest in order to soothe his recent left knee surgery and the Achilles tendon damage.
The 14-major-winner has not won a single title since his last victory at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational, where he took over Australian, Robert Allenby and Irishman, Padraig Harrington by four strokes.
After news of his extramarital affairs broke the headlines in wake of the famous car accident near his residence, Woods’ career went spiralling down as he battled to bring some sanity in his deteriorating conditions both on and off course. He later publicly
apologised for misdemeanour but with little respite as he was dumped by his Swedish wife and many lucrative sponsors also stepped back from extending their respective multi-million contracts.
Woods also made some major changes in his professional team when he switched over to swing coach, Sean Foley and decided to bid farewell to his former coach, Hank Haney. The decision received scathing criticism from Woods’s fans, which were of the view that
Haney’s professional approach towards the sport cannot be replaced. Woods has won six major titles among several others playing under the guidance of Haney.
Woods started off 2011 with a disappointing event when he was fined by the European Tour for spitting on the turf in Dubai. The incident again catapulted the already battered Woods to another session of mudslinging and the former World Number One had to
bear with the wrath of both, fans and tour officials. He moved into the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship, where he performed well in the stroke play format but ended without a victory.
Woods’ performance in the Masters at Augusta National was one of his strongest during the past few months and raised expectations that the once brilliant Woods, will soon be back to his former glory once again. The speculation was something which did not
happen.
The 35-year-old suffered a slight injury in his left knee but went over to participate in the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass and severely damaged his knee. He was advised a rehab for two months and Woods had to miss the next two major events of the
year, the Open Championship and the US Open. He returned for the PGA Championship in Atlanta, only to miss the cut through the halfway mark.
Following the FedExCup Playoff Championships and his already bleak outlook on the FedExCup points table, Woods failed to qualify for the lucrative event for the first time. He decided to sit out and work on his sport for the whole month. At the same time,
he successfully lobbied to get into the President’s Cup team through his old friend, Fred Couples and was able to keep away the PGA Championship winner, Keegan Bradley.
Following an impressive performance at the Australian Open, Woods outsmarted Alen Baddeley in the final individual round of the President’s Cup to lead USA’s Team to its eighth victory in the event’s history. Although the victory does not mark an individual
win for the ailing Woods, but it has done tremendously well to boost his confidence for the upcoming calendar. Woods is all set to be another formidable foe for the field in 2012.
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