Putter Will Be The Key Factor If Woods Wins Again
Article by Aaliyah Green
It was glad to see a Woods holding the trophy again Sunday. Cheyenne Woods, a junior at Wake Forest, won the Atlantic Coast Conference women’s golf championship by seven shots, firing a bogey-free 68 in the final round.
Just like Uncle Tiger used to do it. “My niece, Cheyenne, just won the ACC golf title by 7 shots with TaylorMade R9! That’s awesome, I’m so proud of her,” Tiger said.
Meanwhile, it has been 586 days since Cheyenne’s famous uncle held a trophy. Woods is going to win again, of that much we’re certain. He showed flashes of Tiger 1.0 at the Masters, particularly the hooking 3-wood that chased up onto the eighth green in the final round, setting up an eagle putt that shook the pines, led to a front-nine 31 and put him in the mix.
Now, his decline is going to be different than, say, Billy Mayfair’s. It’s just that what once seemed a given. Woods surpassing Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships is looking less and less like a sure thing.
The competition is better than it was 10 years ago, when Woods basically had to beat Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh. Now, there are Rory McIlroys, Charl Schwartzels and Matteo Manasseros coming out of the woodwork, and none of them are intimidated by Woods.
Woods’ thrice-overhauled swing is a favourite topic of the television analysts, but it’s obvious he’s making progress under Sean Foley and he struck the ball well enough to win the Masters. It’s the putter that is holding him back. For a dozen years, Woods was maybe the best clutch putter the game had ever seen. At times, such as on the 72nd hole of the 2008 U.S. Open by Ping G15, he seemingly willed the ball into the cup. No one can putt like that forever. Of the game’s best players, only Nicklaus remained a great putter past his physical prime. Is Tiger’s time up? He has switched from the Scotty Cameron with which he won 71 tournaments to a Nike Method. That bespeaks a lack of confidence.
What happened at Augusta National 10 days ago, even given Woods’ long winless drought, was eye-opening if not shocking. In the old days, if he’d shot 31 on the front nine Sunday and was tied for the lead with the back nine to play, it was over.
But Woods managed only a pedestrian 36 coming in. He is three-putted on No. 12, inexplicably missing a two-footer for par. The CBS announcers tried to make excuses for him, pointing out that he had to wait a long time while playing partner Martin Laird three-putted. Woods hit a great shot on the par-5 15th to set up a six-footer for eagle and Woods Wins But Not Tiger, the kind of pressure putt he once rammed into the back of the cup. This time, he tried to coax it in with a tentative stroke and missed. On the par-3 16th he played too much break on a 10-foot birdie putt and missed again.
Of all the obstacles he will have to overcome to catch Nicklaus – an aging body, a crop of talented young kids, a closing window of opportunity – it is the putter that ultimately will determine whether he is successful.
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