Tiger Woods: Expectations Are Biggest Obstacle for Golf Icon

The PGA Championship is over, and Tiger Woods is still seeking his 15th career major victory. Woods tied for 11th place at two-under par.

The Woods I watched for four days didn't have many issues in terms of physical ability. He was hitting the ball strong off the tee, hitting more than enough fairways and his short game was better than it has been in recent tournaments.

Tiger's issues on Sunday in particular all came down to pressure. He carries a tremendous weight into every tournament he plays in, and major tournaments bear the biggest brunt of that.

Every golf enthusiast in the world is eagerly awaiting his 15th major win, and they won't settle until he reaches that point. Woods doesn't live in a hole when he's not on the golf course. He knows how people portray the current state of his career.

Don't think for one second that it's easy, even for an icon of his stature.

Woods seems to be gripping the club too hard. On Sunday, he was pressing way too hard to score shots rather than taking the safer route when he should have. This caused him to lose unnecessary strokes and slowly buried him down the leaderboard.

This isn't something new. Woods had a shot to win the WGC-Bridgestone Classic and The Open Championship prior to this tournament. He hasn't been playing "bad" golf for most of the year, but victories continue to elude him for the most part.

In the three tournaments he did manage to win this year, Woods seemed to settle down and just play the way he knows how.

It's hard to put the same expectations on Woods as we would other golfers, but it's time that we do. He's gone through injury issues, marital problems and a constant flow of scrutiny from every direction. The pressure he faces now is larger than ever before, and that's saying something here.

Woods is always going to put pressure on himself. He's an extremely focused athlete who thirsts for victory like few others do. Adding pressure on him isn't doing him any favors, and it's not making that 15th major appear any closer.

His old swing shows itself now. Ability on the course isn't the issue like it was last year and the year before. In terms of talent, he's ready to win.

Shaking the pressure that comes with his enormous reputation is the only thing standing in his way.