Virginia Golfer Voices
Self-Reliance,
Not Swing Changes,
KEY TO A TIGER RECOVERY IN ’15
T
IGER WOODS IS
BACK—AGAIN—
AND HAPPY
TO REPORT
THAT HE FEELS
NO PAIN.
It only hurts to watch him chunking chips
like a weekend hacker.
Sporting a “new/old” swing and a leaner
physique (thanks to conditioning and the
flu), Woods competed for the first time in
four months at the Hero World Challenge
on his old home course at Isleworth in early
December. As last-place finishes go, it was
fairly encouraging.
“It’s progress,” Woods said of his
performance that was only 26 shots worse
38
than runaway winner Jordan Spieth. “I hadn’t
played in four months. To come out here and
not play in any kind of pain is great progress,
and to be able to hit the ball as hard as I want
really without flinching.”
It was not possible, however, to watch the
greatest golfer of his generation—arguably
the greatest of all time—without wincing
at his short game. Even with four months
of rust and an illness that had him vomiting
on the course, it was shocking to see Woods
chunk chips with more regularity than a
15-handicapper. His chunk/skull count
over four rounds reached double figures,
a tally he attributed to getting used to a
new “release” and the thick grain around
Isleworth’s greens.
V IRGINIA G OLFER | J ANUARY/F EBRUARY 2015
38_VSGA_JanFeb15.indd 38
“Well, it certainly is surprising that I could
hit chips that poorly,” he admitted. “I flubbed
them. I just obviously need to clean up my
short game. That still needs a lot of work.”
Other than that glaring flaw, the reviews
for the retro look of Woods’ swing got
relatively rave reviews.
“I think it looks better,” said Steve Stricker,
who was in the same group of two with
Woods in the final round. “He’s going
through it a little more freely. Obviously
his short game, putting and chipping, it’s
not up to snuff, not what he’s expecting out
of himself. But he looks a lot better going
through the ball.”
“I don’t care what Tiger shot today, some of
his swings were his best in 5 years,” wrote his
former coach, Hank Haney, on Twitter. “Got
to get that chipping fixed though, not good.”
Haney was clearly not impressed with the
swing coach who replaced him, Sean Foley.
“Clearly better, back on track, he wasted
5 yrs,” Haney tweeted, leaving little room
for misinterpretation.
During his extended break, Woods ended
his relationship with Foley and brought in
Chris Como as his latest “consultant.” The
new direction of Woods’ swing evolution is
returning to the “motor patterns” he had as
an amateur and young professional working
with Butch Harmon. He caught up with the
old motions reviewing archival videotapes on
his mother’s relic VCR.
“And it was quite interesting to see where
my swing was then and how much force I
could generate with a very skinny frame,” he
said. “How did I do that? How do I generate
that much power? That’s kind of what we are
getting back into it.”
A BATTLE WITH BELIEF
Woods believes restoring some of his old
natural motions will shorten the transition
phase in what is his fourth swing change
as a professional. But in a rare admission,
Woods is as clueless as the rest of us as to
how long it will take to become reliable.
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” he said. “I’m
curious to find that out myself, too. I just
need to hit more balls and get more reps,
especially under competition. I want to see
where it’s at.”
Now 39 and feeling healthier than he has
since winning five times in 2013, Woods
WILLIE J. ALLEN JR./ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO; OPPOSITE: FILE PHOTO
After recovering from health issues, Tiger Woods
admittedly wonders what the new season will bring.
w w w. v s g a . o r g
1/21/15 1:53 PM