Swinging fortunes
Written By
DNA Web Team
| Updated:
The American World No.1 was sidelined for eight months after winning last year’s US Open at Torrey Pines and has failed to add to his grand slam tally in three attempts.
Tiger Woods’s premature exit from the British Open, where he was bidding to lift the Claret Jug for a fourth time, raised immediate questions about his progress since returning from knee surgery.
The American World No.1 was sidelined for eight months after winning last year’s US Open at Torrey Pines and has failed to add to his grand slam tally in three attempts this season.
He tied for sixth at both the US Masters and last month’s US Open before missing the cut at Turnberry last week by a stroke. However Woods has raised expectations to such a high level that the post-mortems began well before he boarded his plane to fly back to his home in Orlando, Florida.
Former European Ryder Cup captain Mark James suggested the 14-times major champion should consider changing his swing coach Hank Haney, despite having won three times in 10 PGA Tour starts this season.
“He will be thinking all the way home about his swing and what he needs to do next,” James told the BBC. “He will be wondering whether to continue working on what he has been working on, or whether to ask advice from somewhere else. It’s difficult when you are used to working with one coach like he is with Hank but I think maybe they have got to take a slightly different direction. In my opinion there is too much movement of the head. It goes down a lot at the start of the downswing, and up at impact, which is too soon.”
American Mark O’Meara, a double major champion and Woods’s long-time friend and mentor, disagreed. “I would tell you that I played with Tiger on Tuesday and it was as good as I’ve seen him hit the ball and prepare for a major championship,” O’Meara, 52, said.
“As much as anyone I was shocked (when he missed the cut). It just goes to show you that even if we think that Tiger Woods is not human, he is human. As to what is wrong, this and that, you can speculate all you want but I would say that he’s swinging fine. He played so well at Congressional and drove the ball well there but he obviously didn’t do as well here and didn’t swing the way he wanted to,” said O’Meara.
Woods won his 68th PGA Tour title at the AT&T National earlier this month, the tournament he hosts at Congressional in suburban Washington, DC. “Even the great Tiger Woods misses (cuts) once in a while,” O’Meara added.
“I know it’s frustrating for Tiger because he’s trying to get those 18 to 20 majors to beat Jack (Nicklaus) and everyone that slips by is not much fun for him.” Woods trails only Nicklaus (18) in the all-time standings. Comfortably the best player of his generation, Woods is unrivalled when it comes to his work ethic and commitment to the game.
He has been driven in his quest to pile up majors ever since he pinned up a chart of Nicklaus’s accomplishments on his bedroom as a child. Although he has worked closely on his swing during his professional career with, initially, Butch Harmon and then Haney, the 33-year-old has always had an end-goal in sight.
Woods missed the cut in a major championship for only the second time as a professional at Turnberry, more through mental errors than swing problems. —
The American World No.1 was sidelined for eight months after winning last year’s US Open at Torrey Pines and has failed to add to his grand slam tally in three attempts this season.
He tied for sixth at both the US Masters and last month’s US Open before missing the cut at Turnberry last week by a stroke. However Woods has raised expectations to such a high level that the post-mortems began well before he boarded his plane to fly back to his home in Orlando, Florida.
Former European Ryder Cup captain Mark James suggested the 14-times major champion should consider changing his swing coach Hank Haney, despite having won three times in 10 PGA Tour starts this season.
“He will be thinking all the way home about his swing and what he needs to do next,” James told the BBC. “He will be wondering whether to continue working on what he has been working on, or whether to ask advice from somewhere else. It’s difficult when you are used to working with one coach like he is with Hank but I think maybe they have got to take a slightly different direction. In my opinion there is too much movement of the head. It goes down a lot at the start of the downswing, and up at impact, which is too soon.”
American Mark O’Meara, a double major champion and Woods’s long-time friend and mentor, disagreed. “I would tell you that I played with Tiger on Tuesday and it was as good as I’ve seen him hit the ball and prepare for a major championship,” O’Meara, 52, said.
“As much as anyone I was shocked (when he missed the cut). It just goes to show you that even if we think that Tiger Woods is not human, he is human. As to what is wrong, this and that, you can speculate all you want but I would say that he’s swinging fine. He played so well at Congressional and drove the ball well there but he obviously didn’t do as well here and didn’t swing the way he wanted to,” said O’Meara.
Woods won his 68th PGA Tour title at the AT&T National earlier this month, the tournament he hosts at Congressional in suburban Washington, DC. “Even the great Tiger Woods misses (cuts) once in a while,” O’Meara added.
“I know it’s frustrating for Tiger because he’s trying to get those 18 to 20 majors to beat Jack (Nicklaus) and everyone that slips by is not much fun for him.” Woods trails only Nicklaus (18) in the all-time standings. Comfortably the best player of his generation, Woods is unrivalled when it comes to his work ethic and commitment to the game.
He has been driven in his quest to pile up majors ever since he pinned up a chart of Nicklaus’s accomplishments on his bedroom as a child. Although he has worked closely on his swing during his professional career with, initially, Butch Harmon and then Haney, the 33-year-old has always had an end-goal in sight.
Woods missed the cut in a major championship for only the second time as a professional at Turnberry, more through mental errors than swing problems. —