Tiger Woods Needs Great Showing at Cadillac Championship to Prepare for Masters

Tiger Woods has to have a great showing at the Cadillac Championship this weekend or else his chances at the Masters in April will be shot.

Woods has played better during 2012. In his last tournament he posted an amazing final round score of 62, which shot him among the leaders on the final day. He finished tied for second in the tournament, just two shots off of the winner, but the lasting impressions was that Woods may have regained his dominance that he once shown. 

However, he still has yet to put together a complete four rounds of golf together. 

In his four tournaments this year, he’s played at least two rounds of golf where he has shot a score under 70. In fact, in three of those four tournaments, Woods has posted three rounds of sub-70 play. 

However, in two tournaments Woods either started off shooting in the 70’s or finished his final round of golf with a score of 72 or 75. 

Some of the reasons why he may not be able to put together a consistent four rounds of golf with a score in the 60’s is because of his inconsistencies at putting. 

From the Washington Post, they took a look at Woods’ putting as he gets ready to play in the Cadillac Championship with quotes from Woods himself and NBC Golf analyst and former USA Open Champion Johnny Miller saying:

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Woods: “I can’t neglect what I do on the range,” Woods said at Doral Golf Resort on Wednesday, a day before he joins the rest of the top 50 players in the world for the WGC-Cadillac Championship. “But I can also start delegating a little bit more time to my chipping and my putting.”

And Miller: “I always equate it to a guy that’s 24 years old in the off-hand pistol shoot at the Olympics, wins the gold medal — and by 28, he can’t even make the team,” former U.S. Open champion Johnny Miller, now an analyst for NBC, said last month. “Putting is a lot like that in that the hole starts shrinking up for most people. . . . He’s made an awful lot of clutch putts and put himself in an awful lot of pressure situations and he’s had a lot of success. But you wonder, like the off-hand pistol shooter, how many times can you do that and have perfect nerves?”

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Woods’ last putt in his most recent tournament was an eagle putt from eight feet out. He nailed it and gave his signature fist pump in celebration. 

He needs to have more moments like that at this weekend's Cadillac Championship if he wants to make a serious run at the Masters next month. If he doesn’t, we will be back to questioning if he can ever regain his once dominant form.

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