Is It Time for Tiger Woods to Reach for the Panic Button?

Ok, so less than three weeks ago Tiger Woods held the 54-hole lead at the PGA Championship, couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with his putter on Sunday, and as a result, Y.E. Yang became the first player in history to take a major championship away from him.

Last Sunday, Woods had makeable birdie putts on the 17th and 18th holes at Liberty National, which was hosting The Barclays.

Had Woods made one of the two, he would have forced a sudden death playoff with Heath Slocum, and we all have a pretty good idea how that might have turned out.  Had both putts disappeared into the ground, Woods would have come back from a five stroke deficit to earn his sixth victory since returning from reconstructive ACL surgery.

Neither putt fell and for the second time in as many events, Woods walked off the 18th green with a stunned look on his face and a rare disappointed feeling in his stomach.

Yesterday, during the opening round of the Deutsche Bank Championship, Woods’ frustration on the greens finally boiled over.

After missing four consecutive birdie putts from inside of 13 feet, Woods pushed his tee on the 5th hole (his 14th of the day) way off to the right.  What followed was shocking to say the least.

Woods cursed himself and then slammed his driver into the ground with such force that it bounced at least ten feet forward into a dried out marsh. 

It was a sight rarely seen on the PGA Tour, and quite frankly, one that most followers of the game hope they will never have to see again.

Woods needed 30 putts to get around TPC Boston yesterday and is seven strokes off the lead after 18 holes.

Someone call the fire department as Woods’ inability to sink the big putt as of late is a flow blown four alarm fire.

No…scratch that, the fire department couldn’t possible handle a crisis of this magnitude.  We need to call in the National Guard, the Army Rangers and the Air Force to deal with a situation as dire as Tiger Woods missing a few putts.

After all, Woods’ cold putter has got to rank right up there with Bobby Jones early retirement and Ben Hogan’s run-in with the Greyhound bus as the worst crises every to hit the golf world. 

Or, perhaps we should all just take a deep breath and relax.

By now, Woods putting woes, particularly in the majors, have been well documented.

Between 1999 and 2008, Woods won 13 majors and 58 PGA Tour events.

Tom Watson once referred to Tiger Woods’ performance over the past 10 years as the most dominant decade the game has ever seen.

During that stretch, Woods’ success was largely due to his ability to make 25-foot putts with the same ease and consistency as most tour professionals sink three-footers.

This year, however, Woods ranks 34th on tour in putts made between five and 10 feet, 42nd on tour in putts made between 10 and 15 feet and 161st in putts made between 15 and 25 feet.

So far in 2009, Woods’ putter has cost him the WGC-CA Championship, the Masters, the US Open, the PGA Championship and now The Barclays.

Combine Tiger Woods’ 2009 ball striking with his 2007 putter, and he would have barely broken a sweat while demolishing the field at the Masters, US Open and PGA Championship.

But, those 20 foot birdie putts and 12 foot par saves that Woods used to sink with ease have not been finding the bottom of the cup this season.  

What Tiger Woods has shown us is that no mater who you are or how well you hit the golf ball, it’s virtually impossible to win big-time events without a hot putter.

At the same time, Woods has also shown us that he is still by far the best player in the world despite his troubles on the green.

Woods has five wins and 12 top-10 finishes in 13 events in 2009. 

No one on the PGA Tour comes even close to matching Woods’ success this season.

Woods has almost doubled the earnings of Steve Stricker, who currently ranks second on the PGA Tour’s money list.

“To do what [Woods] does, on a weekly basis, is just incredible…it's pretty silly if anybody ever criticizes him for anything that he does, that's pretty much all I'm going to say on that.”  Ryan Moore said of Woods last week at The Barclays. 

The doubters will say that Woods’ overall wins and earnings mean little; that it’s all about the majors at this point of his career and he was unable to win one this season.

Well, yes, it is all about the majors at this point of Woods’ career, and no, Woods did not win a major championship in 2009.  However, this is the fourth time since 1997 that Woods has gone a full calendar year without winning a major. In fact, on two separate occasions during his career, Woods has gone a full ten majors without a win. 

The doubters will say—yeah, but that was then and this is now, and Woods is not as young as he used to be.

No, Woods is not as young as he was ten years ago, five years ago or even yesterday.  But, what many tend to forget is that Woods is only 33-years old.  It often feels as if Woods is ancient because he has been winning major championships for the past 13 years, but in terms of a golfer’s career, 33-years old is right smack in the middle.

With the level of fitness on tour today and the advancements in equipment, Woods’ prime could easily last into his early 40s.

What does that mean?

Well it means that if Woods’ prime lasts until he’s 43-years old, he will have another 40 opportunities to win five major championships and surpass Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 majors.

Woods’ career winning percentage at the majors is 27 percent.  Slash that winning percentage in half over the next ten years and Woods still surpasses Nicklaus’ 18 majors.

Sam Snead holds the all-time record for career wins with 82.

Woods currently has 70 wins and plays around 15 events each year.

That means that Woods will have 150 opportunities to win 13 events and surpass Snead’s record.

Any one out there willing to bet against Woods winning at least 13 of his next 150 events?

Here in America we have become accustomed to instant gratification.  With the emergence of the Internet, we can order anything from a book to a car and it will literally appear on our doorsteps the very next morning.

If we don’t get what we want exactly when we want it, we become cranky and begin questioning the system.

Unfortunately there is no such thing as instant gratification in golf.  A golfer’s career is long and filled with many ups and downs.

Nicklaus won his first major at the age of 22 and his last major at the age of 46.  That’s a 24 year span Nicklaus had to post his records; 2009 is only Woods’ 13th year on tour.

Between 1967 and 1970, Nicklaus went 12 majors without a win and then went winless again in his next 4 majors before winning the 1971 PGA Championship.

Between mid-1972 and 1974, Nicklaus won one out of ten majors.

Between 1976 and 1978, Nicklaus went 10 majors without a win and between 1976 and 1980, Nicklaus won just one out of 17 majors.

And this is Jack Nicklaus we’re talking about here, a man who is still the greatest golfer of all-time.

Woods has simply gone winless in his last four majors; not the end of the world.

Let’s also not forget that Nicklaus didn’t win his 15th major until the age of 38, which means that Woods has another five years to win one major and still remain ahead of Nicklaus’ pace.

Is Woods struggling with the putter this year?

He certainly is.  When was the last time you saw him miss as many must make putts as he has over the past three weeks?

Is it a full blown crisis?

Of course not.   

Woods’ inability to find the bottom of the cup this year does not warrant a push of the panic button, does not mean he is in the midst of some kind of ultimate decline, and is not the end of the PGA Tour as we know it—it’s just golf.  This is not the first time he's struggled with his putter and it certainly won’t be the last.

Woods has a decade or more left in his prime.  A golfer’s career is not a three week sprint but a 25 year marathon that Woods is only half way through completing.

So everyone just take a deep breath, sit back, relax and enjoy the remainder of the show.