5 Takeaways from Tiger Woods' Performance at the Memorial

Well, it wasn't very good. There's your top takeaway from Tiger Woods' 14-over-par 71st-place finish at the Memorial. 

In his first competitive action since The Players Championship, where he finished tied for 69th, Tiger Woods was unimpressive at The Memorial, a tournament he's won five times. He struggled with all facets of his game and needed a late-Thursday rally just to make the cut. 

Saturday brought with it the worst round of Woods' professional career: an 85. He recovered somewhat Sunday with a two-over 74, but did nothing to quiet the growing sense of doubt, speculation and impatience with his poor play. 

Here are five takeaways from Tiger's miserable Memorial. 

The Door of Speculation Is Wide Open

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Even before he went into freefall with a Saturday 85, Tiger Woods wasn't exactly receiving acclaim for his play at Muirfield Village. Woods needed a clutch par putt Thursday to merely make the cut, which inspired the usual questioning and criticism. 

Theories abound as to what's wrong with Tiger Woods. 

Steve Elkington indicated via Twitter that Tiger's relationship with coach Chris Como isn't helping the golfer's game any and that the right coach would be able to straighten Woods out in short order. 

Hank Haney, Woods former coach, indicated via Twitter that more time (or "reps" as Woods says) isn't going to help: "It's been 8 months, he's had plenty of time," Haney tweeted. 

Finally, Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee, one of Woods' most outspoken critics, alleged that Tiger has ruined himself but offered a ray of hope. 

"

Time hasn’t robbed Tiger Woods of his game, he’s done this to himself. He’s traded his genius for the ideas of others.

I believe if he actually called Butch or Hank Haney, either one of them, that within a month or two they’d have him back playing some solid golf.

"

Tiger's Take

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While Tiger Woods didn't comment on his third-round 85 immediately after the horror show, he did speak with reporters following his final round. 

First, Woods echoed his familiar "two steps forward, one step back" sentiments, cautioning that progress is slow. 

"

I made a few changes, a few tweaks.  The guys that have made tweaks, you have moments where you go backwards and then you make big, major strides down the road.  That's just the way it goes. 

You have to look at the big picture.  You can't be so myopic with your view and expect to have one magical day or one magical shot and change your whole game.  It doesn't work that way.

"

Then the former world No. 1 indicated that he was pleased with elements of his final-round two-over 74. 

"

Today was more what we've been doing on the range.  And to be able to step up and tag those drives like I did today and even shape some of the irons, which I was struggling with early in the week, I got those shapes back again, but doing it with a different pattern. 

"

He also suggested that is recent difficulty is a classic golf conundrum: How to take what you're doing on the range to the course

"

I was stuck right between the patterns.  Today was what I've been doing on the driving range, and that was finally nice to see.  I got a solidness back, I was hitting the driver with both shapes, cuts and draws.  My irons are shaping it both ways again.  But I was doing it in a different way than I had been.  I'm doing it the way that I have been on the range.

"

It's All Bad...but the Driver Was Worst

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For the week, Tiger Woods hit a mere 44.6 percent of fairways, including several shots so far off the map you'd need to send in a search party. From big pushes to snap-hooks, Woods made every variety of blunder with the big stick at Muirfield Village. 

He hit 48.6 percent of greens in regulation, which is, to be sure, not good. However, as Muirfield Village's rough was no picnic, a golfer couldn't be expected to find the green often with his approach shot when playing from the thick stuff more than half of the time. 

The lone bright spot for the Stanford alum: the putter. Woods was 15th in the field in strokes gained: putting, picking up 3.42 strokes on the competition. 

He Doesn't Look Ready for Chambers Bay, to Say the Least

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Here's an understatement: Tiger Woods doesn't look ready to tackle Chambers Bay at next week's U.S. Open.

Woods spent the beginning of last week in Tacoma, Washington, getting a feel for the U.S. Open venue, so he has that going for him. One would assume in two days of practice at the course, Woods has a feel for how he's going to navigate the track, where the USGA will set pins and has done the requisite homework. 

Now, he just needs a golf game that gives him a chance of capturing the elusive 15th major championship. 

Fortunately, he has two weeks to work on ingraining swing changes and remedying whatever was ailing him technically at Muirfield Village. 

Unfortunately, he'd spent three weeks prior to the Memorial practicing and didn't look any better than he did at The Players Championship. 

Still, much can happen in two weeks of dedicated practice (Tiger's fans hope).

Jack Thinks Tiger Will Be OK

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Golf's all-time major leader, Jack Nicklaus again stood firm with his contention that Tiger Woods will regain his form. 

Nicklaus, one of the game's elder statesmen, of course, knows it would be bad for business to publicly doubt the guy who's chasing his record. What was interesting, however, in Nicklaus' comments last week during the telecast was this suggestion: 

"

Tiger’s running from teacher to teacher. In today’s technology, I think Tiger just needs to go back and review some of his own things rather than listen to somebody else. He’s the only one inside him who knows what’s really going on. He’s the only one who’s been able to fix what he’s got.

"

So, in the mind of the Golden Bear, Woods ought to stop tinkering under different tutors and get back to basics, keeping his own council. 

Stats via PGATour.com