Cadillac Championship 2012 Leaderboard: Panic Button Unnecessary for Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods isn’t alone.

The former No. 1 player in the world desperately needs tournament victories in order to regain the legendary swagger and killer instinct that he once possessed.  But the fact that he entered just the second day of the 2012 Cadillac Championship with a score stuck at even while at the same time being six back from the leader is no reason to press the panic button.

Mother Nature must be taken into consideration when grading Tiger’s opening-round performance.  According to Bob Harig of ESPN, Woods admitted to the media after he sunk the 18^th hole that:

"

It was just a difficult day.  The wind was blowing putts around, and it made for a very challenging round.  You could handle the par-5s today and I'm sure the guys who shot some good scores played the par-5s well.

"

But it wasn’t just Woods who was shaken from the wind.

Phil Mickelson finished even on the day as well.  Tiger’s media-created rival Rory McIlroy actually finished one over par.

There isn’t a need to over-analyze.  Woods’ mediocre outing isn’t more of the same disappointment that golf fans have been forced to witness since the exposure of his affairs.  Sure, since then, Tiger’s game has failed to live up to expectations, but he’s been slowly and steadily improving.

His Round 1 performance isn’t a setback.  It couldn’t even be considered a stumble or a bump in the road.  It was the wind sounds like a pitiful excuse, but it’s legit.

Tiger shot eight-under-par on this past Sunday in the Honda Classic.  Chill. Woods finished just behind McIlroy last weekend, and in Doral, he’s still right with him.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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