(continued from page 35)
Find the Right Fit
That 15th major victory has become as elusive
to Tiger as the first is to everyone else. Tiger 2.0
has earned the most dreaded affliction known to
elite golfers––the greatest player never to have
won a major since 2008.
early and got my first one back in ’97. I’ve had,
certainly, my share of chances to win. I’ve had my
opportunities on the back nine on probably half
of those Sundays for the last five years where I’ve
had a chance, and just haven’t won it. But the key
is to keep giving myself chances, and eventually I’ll
start getting them.”
How many times have we heard that from Sergio
Garcia or Lee Westwood or Colin Montgomerie
or any number of great players who kept falling
short major chance after major chance?
MEASURING PROGRESS BY MAJOR STANDARD
Woods won’t admit it, but he’s clearly stressing and
pressing at the majors during this winless streak
that’s stretched to 22 majors. He’s 28 over par on
the weekends in his last eight major starts. In his
14 major victories, he had a total of five over par
rounds in 56 played. Something isn’t adding up.
More often than before, we hear excuses––slow
greens, a sore wrist, back spasms––coming from a
guy who used to never hide behind such common
crutches. He’s always been prone to profane
outbursts, but his emotional trigger seems itchier.
Some blame the media for harping on the
major theme.
“His lack of winning a major is the only thing
talked about, which I think is sad,” said Bill
Haas, the 2011 FedEx Cup champion. “I think
it’s ignorant.”
Haas has a point, considering Woods has won five
times this season––a figure that equals Haas’ career
total or the combined career accomplishments of
Charles Howell III, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and
Tim Clark.
Incidentally, it’s the 10th time in his career that
Woods has won at least five times in a season––not
that anyone is counting.
But who started this obsession with Woods and
the majors? He’s the one who taped the chart of
Nicklaus’ major wins on his bedroom wall as a kid
and not Snead’s 82 tour victories. He’s the one who
consistently defined “great” seasons as the ones
that include major triumphs.
“I’ve won golf tournaments, I’ve had some
really nice years, some really good years in there,”
Woods said just last November, “but as I said,
winning a major championship just takes it to a
whole new level.”
Woods isn’t redefining that, admitting last week
w w w. v s g a . o r g
Master_VSGA_Sept13_MASTER2.indd 39
Is this the price of being a genius at a craft––
defending a season that everyone else in golf would
kill to have as “pretty good?”
Did Michelangelo have to defend his later
works after his back-to-back combo of the statue
of David and the Sistine Chapel? Could Albert
Einstein ever match his grand-slam year of 1905
when he gave us E = mc2 and established the
foundation of modern physics?
Such is the life of Tiger, who must live by
impossible standards in his peerless realm. Because
of everything he’s achieved already, he can’t win for
winning anymore. Ordinary victories––no matter
how elite the field or wide the margin––don’t seem
to be enough.
Woods has won 14 PGA T
our events since his
last major victory at the 2008 U.S. Open. Fourteen
regular wins and one major got Fred Couples in
the World Golf Hall of Fame.
For Woods, it’s just mundane.
Woods could win the FedEx Cup title, capture
player of the year and eclipse Snead’s record before
he shows up at Augusta next April. But all that
really matters to him and everyone else is whether
he can break his major maiden again.
of time on our website in the
iron section. It’s the biggest
purchase and the one they wait
the longest to make. In many
ways, it’s the hardest for them to
pull the trigger on. But I don’t
think golfers realize how big the
breakthroughs in irons have been
in the last five years.”
It might not seem like iron
technology has improved much
in 30 years since the introduction
of the Ping Eye2—the first truly
high MOI (moment of inertia)
iron—but that’s not the case.
In fact, even today’s blade-like
irons are more forgiving on offcenter hits.
“The technological developments in irons may not be
as apparent as those in drivers,
but there have been significant
changes over the years,” says Luke
Williams, Callaway’s senior director of global woods and irons.
“Irons are now longer, more forgiving and are easier to hit from a
variety of lies. They’re more consistent and more fun to play with,
especially in the game improvement end of the spectrum.”
Once intimidating to hit,
irons have also become more
specialized, with specific player
types and playing characteristics
in mind.
“When I started at Callaway
we offered one iron, Big Bertha,
and everyone played it from
high handicap beginners to tour
players,” Williams adds. “Now
we have five different models
in our iron line—all with many
more options for shafts, ways
to customize them and fit them
to your game. This means we
can make a better iron for the
individual golfer no matter who
that golfer is and regardless of his
or her ability.”
The message is clear: Golf is
hard enough. Don’t make it more
difficult by playing equipment
that doesn’t suit your game.
Virginia native Scott Michaux is a sports
columnist and an award-winning golf writer
for The Augusta Chronicle. He is a regular
contributor to Virginia Golfer.
Author Tom Cunneff is a
writer from Hilton Head, S.C.,
and a regular contributor to
Virginia Golfer.
that he’d take one major win over five regular ones
as the “better season.” But he’s hedging more than
he ever used to.
“I think the overall package is how I look at it,”
he said after striking out in the majors again. “This
year’s been a great year so far. I’ve won at two of
my favorite venues, plus winning two World Golf
Championships and a Players in there. It’s been
pretty good.”
Would Woods trade his five wins this season
for one major? Reigning Masters champion Adam
Scott thinks so.
“I’d rather have mine, that’s for sure,” Scott said
before edging Woods in The Barclays. “I really
don’t know. He may want mine. I mean, No. 15 is
proving to be difficult for him. So that would have
given him that. But they have all got to get tougher
the more you get.”
THE INTRIGUE OF LEGACY BUILDING
September/October 2013 | Virginia Golfer
39
8/30/13 8:38 AM