Tiger Woods - What Happened? SI Cover Story...

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

Did anyone catch the cover story on SI?  Alan Shipnuck dives deep into that vexing question.

 

Did he get tired of being Tiger Woods?   Was he on the "juice" and got caught?  

 

Click here for the story, and post your thoughts back in this thread...

[JudgeSmails]

No athlete has ever dominated ANY sport, the way Tiger dominated golf for a decade +

I think it's a combination of him getting older and everyone catching up to him....back when he was dominating, he could do things noone else could, now there a alot of guys that can do those things (length wise), it happens in all sports.   

[numberonecoog]

I feel when he got beat by YE Yang he lost that air of invincibility. People feared him on Sundays.  People paired with him would shoot the highest they had all week. Its like when Tyson got knocked out. People realized it could be done and wernt as scared. I think that had a lot to do with it. Obviously his body quit as well. He kept trying ot come back too soon and never gave him self the time to recover. If he had taken a year or so off after the US open and gave his knee and leg enough time to heal it would have been much better. I also like the theory he just didnt like being Tiger. He was trying ot be what his Dad wanted him to be. A methodical opponent killer. I think this new Tiger we have seen recently is the Tiger he always wanted to be.

[revkev]

I haven't read the article yet but finally someone else who sees the light!  I have been saying this forever numberonecoog. 

 

But even more I believe it is why YE took him down that gets to the heart of it - for the first time Tiger's putting failed him and of all things the putter is particularly a mental part of the game.  What is more Tiger's drop off parallels that of other some great Hall of Fame players including Arnie and Tom Watson who lost it with the putter in the mid 30's.  Like Tiger those guys could still contend in majors and win some other tournaments but they were never the force that they were prior. 

 

I believe that Tiger's demise started with his putter but that was hidden by everything that came next.  Regardless his dominance was amazing, I'm on record all over the place of being a Jack fanboy so what I'm writing next has to be read through that lens, nothing ever was like Tiger's dominance - Jack was dominant in majors for a ten year period of time in a way that needs to be viewed to be believed - just look at his record from the mid 60's to the mid 70's sometime.  Tiger was dominant like that every stinking week - it was a pleasure to watch.

 

One last thing in regards to dominance in sports.  I've been reading where people are complaining about the UConn Women's dominance as being bad for Women's basketball.  Really?  Would anybody other than parents be watching Women's college basketball if it weren't for the UConn Huskies?  Tiger's dominance was the best thing to happen to golf just as UConn's is to Women's basketball.  The day will come when they are unseated and not long after that the day will come when they are missed.

 

I miss Tiger!   

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

I haven't read the article yet but finally someone else who sees the light!  I have been saying this forever numberonecoog. 

 

But even more I believe it is why YE took him down that gets to the heart of it - for the first time Tiger's putting failed him and of all things the putter is particularly a mental part of the game.  What is more Tiger's drop off parallels that of other some great Hall of Fame players including Arnie and Tom Watson who lost it with the putter in the mid 30's.  Like Tiger those guys could still contend in majors and win some other tournaments but they were never the force that they were prior. 

 

I believe that Tiger's demise started with his putter but that was hidden by everything that came next.  Regardless his dominance was amazing, I'm on record all over the place of being a Jack fanboy so what I'm writing next has to be read through that lens, nothing ever was like Tiger's dominance - Jack was dominant in majors for a ten year period of time in a way that needs to be viewed to be believed - just look at his record from the mid 60's to the mid 70's sometime.  Tiger was dominant like that every stinking week - it was a pleasure to watch.

 

One last thing in regards to dominance in sports.  I've been reading where people are complaining about the UConn Women's dominance as being bad for Women's basketball.  Really?  Would anybody other than parents be watching Women's college basketball if it weren't for the UConn Huskies?  Tiger's dominance was the best thing to happen to golf just as UConn's is to Women's basketball.  The day will come when they are unseated and not long after that the day will come when they are missed.

 

I miss Tiger!   

 

 

Agree on several levels.  Was reading the great book "Jack and Arnie" about their rivalry and friendship.  Johnny MIller's recounting of the '73 Open at Oakmont was fascinating, as Arnie was in the hunt on the final day.  Miller says by that time Arnie's putter and short game was failing him, and once that goes, "you're just another guy."  He said Arnie had a knack for nailing a couple of clutch 20 footers per round to save par or make birdie.  Once he stopped making those that amounts to 8 strokes per event lost...

 

Seems the same thing happened to Tiger.  That, plus the loss to Yang and the subsequent nightmare I believe caused him to lose his hubris - or that air of invincibility.  Once you lose your confidence, intimidation factor and putting stroke, you're just another guy...

 

Jack was able to get it back for one magical weekend in '86 -- maybe Tiger can do it one more time.  It would be awesome to see...

[Kenny B]

I haven't read the article yet but finally someone else who sees the light!  I have been saying this forever numberonecoog. 

 

But even more I believe it is why YE took him down that gets to the heart of it - for the first time Tiger's putting failed him and of all things the putter is particularly a mental part of the game.  What is more Tiger's drop off parallels that of other some great Hall of Fame players including Arnie and Tom Watson who lost it with the putter in the mid 30's.  Like Tiger those guys could still contend in majors and win some other tournaments but they were never the force that they were prior. 

 

I believe that Tiger's demise started with his putter but that was hidden by everything that came next.  Regardless his dominance was amazing, I'm on record all over the place of being a Jack fanboy so what I'm writing next has to be read through that lens, nothing ever was like Tiger's dominance - Jack was dominant in majors for a ten year period of time in a way that needs to be viewed to be believed - just look at his record from the mid 60's to the mid 70's sometime.  Tiger was dominant like that every stinking week - it was a pleasure to watch.

 

One last thing in regards to dominance in sports.  I've been reading where people are complaining about the UConn Women's dominance as being bad for Women's basketball.  Really?  Would anybody other than parents be watching Women's college basketball if it weren't for the UConn Huskies?  Tiger's dominance was the best thing to happen to golf just as UConn's is to Women's basketball.  The day will come when they are unseated and not long after that the day will come when they are missed.

 

I miss Tiger!   

I never played golf during the Jack and Arnie years, but I did watch golf.  I really don't know why I didn't take up the game earlier other than I had so many other things that took up my time.  But I remember Jack and thought Wow! can he really play the game.  He was dominant for a long time, and winning the '86 Masters started me thinking that I could play this game when I get old (I was 39 then, lol); I started in 1992.

 

When Tiger came along, he was fun to watch.  He was a front runner; once he got a lead, he challenged anyone to come and get him.  They didn't very often, but when they did (YE Yang), his intimidation was over.  He was never one to come from behind.  

 

I have always liked watching Tiger.  He could visualize shots and pull them off better than anyone else.  But when he raised the bar for pro golfers, he created his demise.  Everyone got better, so more people could challenge him.  To stay ahead, Tiger started "working out".  Before that, he had what I thought was the body of a golfer, and I agree with Shipnuck's comment that when he muscled up, that was the start of his decline.  I wonder what Tiger would have achieved if he hadn't done that.  My view is that led to a lot of his injuries.

 

In the last page of the article, Shipnuck quoted Hank Haney:  "If he walks away now, the narrative is that injuries cost him a chance to catch Jack. That sure sounds a lot better than he lost the desire or he threw it all away with reckless behavior in his personal life."   I don't know if that's Tiger's thought process, but it's seems plausible.  

 

​He can't swing like he has been swinging.  He won't return with that swing, any of them.  I do think it's possible for a comeback, but a swing that is friendly to the back is a necessity.  Rocco did it, and I think Tiger could to... if he wanted to do it.

 

EDIT:   UConn is a dynasty.  This Sunday they play the Oregon State Beavers (Go Beavs).  I don't think many thought that OSU would get past Depaul, and they did not look good against Baylor, but they managed to squeak it out.  But now they play UConn.  I hope they play their best game.  It could be an all Pac-12 Finals!  I doubt it though.

[Will Par]

Thanks for the link.  I probably wouldn't have read the article otherwise. I think Earl Woods is the key factor in everything for Tiger.  Earl learned in the military how to motivate men to perform their best in combat and trying circumstances.  And he took that same approach when raising Tiger.  The only difference between Tiger and some other kid down the street is that Earl told Tiger every day that he was better, stronger, and mentally smarter than any opponent he would every face.  Tiger not only learned to believe that, he took the desire that all boys have to please their father and made it become a reality.  Without Earl we have no Tiger Woods.  Earl was the great motivator.  All of Tigers interest in the Navy Seals and military was about his father.

 

When Earl passed, that was the beginning of the end.  I think the article clearly identified many of the issues Tiger faced after the loss of his father.  Loss of motivation, relief from the intense pressure to succeed, etc. The story of Tiger might have been different if Earl had lived longer, but of course we'll never know.

 

 

 

 

[Badfish]

Tiger's wedge game was masterful.  He could shape his shots like no one had ever seen before.  His skill with the flat stick was unparalleled.  His length with the driver wasn't too shabby either.  But even with all these tools in his bag his most valuable attribute was his mental game.    Today we have players that rival Tiger's skills.  But putting  it together week after week is another thing all together.  That's what made Tiger special.  It is my belief that Tiger's demise was self inflicted.  Prior to his divorce and the messy circumstances surrounding it Tiger had enjoyed a popularity never before seen by a professional golfer.  When you reign atop a pedestal for as long as Tiger had, the fall can be devastating.   In addition:  His popularity enthused a generation primed to emulate him.  That generation is now his competition.  And they're good.  

[RookieBlue7]

Great read and gives some insight into Tiger's world that we wouldn't otherwise have considered.  Some of the stories in there are epic.