What Insiders Have to Say as Tiger Woods' Woes Hit a New Low at the 2015 US Open

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — The old line when a famous golfer shoots a bad score—Lee Trevino used to toss it out frequently—was that 90 percent of the pros didn’t care and the other 10 percent wish he had played even worse. Harsh, but mostly true.

Golfers are so focused on their own games, their own difficulties, it’s rare when they even acknowledge those of a competitor.

Even when that competitor is Tiger Woods. Even when it’s Woods who is responsible for a substantial chunk of the big purses and TV contracts that benefit those pros.

These are tough times for Woods, certainly. His second-round score in the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay on Friday was marginally improved over the awful round he had Thursday, a 76 compared to an 80—Woods’ third score in the 80s since January. Still, he missed the cut and was down at the bottom of the scoreboard, not at the top where he once used to be.

So the question was posed to Jordan Spieth, the new Tiger Woods who is near the top after 36 holes, if he or the other big-name contestants talked about Woods’ miseries. Whether they took notice of his decline and fall—as did the rest of us.

“I don’t think so,” said Spieth, who this April won the Masters, as Woods has on four previous occasions. “Given that this a U.S. Open, we have to maintain an insane amount of focus on ourselves. But sure, it’s Tiger. Everybody is aware. Everybody hopes that he’s back and contending soon.

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“I’ve certainly enjoyed my time playing with him, playing practice rounds and learning from him. He seems to be getting close, even though the scores may not show it. And I wish him the best. But as far as talking about it, there’s really no murmur.”

Jason Day, the Australian, is a pal of Woods and played a practice round with him earlier in the week. He offered more than a murmur about Woods’ troubles.

"We're just waiting for him to come back and win those tournaments like it was nothing—hunt people down ... like he was playing a Wednesday tournament at a country club," Day said Thursday. "But will we see it? I'm not sure.

"You're climbing Mount Everest and he's fallen off it a couple of times and climbed back up there again. Once people understand how hard it is to climb Mount Everest, it's hard to do it again."

Those who play it say golf is an evil game, a perplexing one. From nowhere, a successful veteran pro can whip a drive out of bounds and then spend weeks working on his swing so he won’t do it again—all the time terrified that not only will he do it again, but down the stretch of a tournament.

Several years ago, the late Payne Stewart stood on the elevated tee box of the inviting first hole of Riviera Country Club to begin the Nissan/Los Angeles Open. He snapped the ball left over a fence, put down a new ball—after a penalty stroke—and immediately hit that one over the same fence.

Michael Collins, a former Tour caddy who now does golf analysis for ESPN, has his own theory for what’s gone wrong with Woods. “First Y.E. Yang,” said Collins of the first man who beat Woods down the stretch in a major, the 2009 PGA Championship. “And then the fire hydrant.”

That was November 2009, when Woods, fleeing his wife’s anger, rammed their SUV into a hydrant in front of their Florida home. What followed were disclosures of Woods’ infidelity.

“He’s never been the same since,” said Collins.

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For sure, he’s never won a major since, the last of his 14 coming in the 2008 U.S. Open.

Woods contends his struggles are because of swing changes. He’s now with a fourth instructor, although he calls Chris Como a “consultant.” Others remind Woods split with his girlfriend, Lindsey Vonn, after the recent Masters and is helping to raise two kids with his ex-wife. Age and family matters affect almost every golfer.

Jack Nicklaus, whose record 18th major came in the 1986 Masters, when he was 46, told the New York Times, “After 1979, I just sort of revamped my swing, revamped my short game and moved forward with a positive attitude. I hope he does that.”

Nicklaus also said Woods would be better off as his own swing coach, an idea with which longtime Golf Digest columnist Ron Sirak agrees completely.

“Tiger and Seve Ballesteros were the greatest feel players ever,” said Sirak. “Look, the last 21 majors before this Open he was in the top six finishers nine times.

“Tiger has to figure out how to put the ball in the fairway. He’s like a pitcher who used to throw 96 mph but can’t do it anymore. When he was younger Tiger could come out of the rough and save pars. He made every 12-foot par putt he needed. Tiger is 39, an old 39. It’s different now. Tiger fans think he’s going to wake up and be 24 again.”

That won’t happen. His task is to beat guys like Spieth while also beating Father Time. As we’ve seen, it’s not easy.