Tiger Woods: Polarizing Star Will Choke Away Shot at Arnold Palmer Invitational

While the 2012 Arnold Palmer Invitational is well within the grasp of the polarizing Tiger Woods, a mental error will cost the star his momentum and he will choke away a possible win.

Woods sits tied for first place at the top of the leaderboard after the first two days of the tournament, but 36 more holes sit between him and a return to glory. 36 long and grueling holes.

Not only is the former World No. 1 coming off an injury to his Achilles that forced him to retire early from the last tournament, the jam-packed leader board may have Woods looking over his shoulder.

PGA star Hunter Mahan played with Woods the first two days of the tournament and uses same instructor (Sean Foley). Mahan told ESPN about how much Woods has changed who he is as a golfer over the past few years:

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I think people have to stop comparing him to past days. People have to look at it from right now and look at him almost as if he's a new golfer. He still is super talented. He's been through a massive rebuilding process, probably unlike anything we've seen before. His game is good. All the mechanical stuff is really, really good. And you are not going to see him blow up and have huge rounds anymore. You're going to see him play good, solid rounds of golf. All the tools are sharp and getting better than they used to be.

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So if he is as good physically as he has ever been, the assumption it is the mental shortcomings that are costing him chances to win tournaments. It’s hard to look at the recent lack of success and point to a cause as anything other than mental weakness.

The strain of what has become a circus of a life for Woods has led his gold game into a recession. While he has returned to elite physical form, he has yet to prove that he is mentally ready for the grind of retaining a lead through 36 holes.

With so much talent in the field and Woods recent history, it’s a safe bet that the polarizing star will end up choking away his lead and finish with a solid result.

He doesn’t need solid, though, Woods needs to win.

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