Tiger Woods Has Lost a Step?: That's a Shoe-In for Foolish Statement of the Year

“Once the putter goes, very few players are ever able to get it back”; “Woods is being humbled by the game and he has no idea how to handle it”; “Woods has a confidence problem”; and “Woods’ days of dominating the PGA Tour may be over” were all amongst the absurd, yet comical quotes seen and heard over the past four weeks.

Well, you’re all fools.

Woods has missed just two putts from inside of 10 feet all week at the BMW Championship, is 15-under-par through his last 35 holes, and looked as if he was out for a walk in the park with his good buddy Steve Williams this afternoon while posting  a course-record 62 at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club.

Woods leads the field by seven strokes and has nearly lapped Brandt Snedeker and Marc Leishman (who are tied for second) in terms of strokes under par.

So much for Woods having lost his putter or his ability to dominate a golf tournament.

Over the past four weeks, Woods was in a slump with his putter, it’s as simple as that.

It wasn’t the first time, and it certainly won’t be the last.

There hasn’t been a player to pick up a set of golf clubs who hasn’t struggled with his putter at one time or another, and that includes Nicklaus, Hogan, Jones, and of course, Tiger Woods.

Between mid-1967 and mid-1970 (right smack in the middle of his prime), Nicklaus couldn’t hit a big putt to save his life and he went 12 major championships without a win. 

Jack seemed to bounce back pretty well, being that he won 11 of his 18 majors after the middle of the 1970 season.

Ben Hogan won both majors he played in during the 1951 season but then missed a number of big putts and went majorless in 1952. He was finished, done, finito. Only he went on to win all three majors he attended in 1953.

Bobby Jones missed a number of crucial putts at the US and British Amateur championships in 1926, tied for 11th at the US Open in 1927 and wound up having his putting ability questioned just as every other great player would over the next 70 years. Jones, of course, went on to win four majors before winning the grand slam in 1930.

Folks, Woods struggled with his putter for a period of four weeks. It didn’t mean that there was an underlying confidence problem, or that his days of dominating the tour were over, or that he would never be the same player again, or that his putting woes somehow signaled the end of the world.

It simply meant that he was struggling with his putter for a month.

Woods didn’t win a major this year; he squandered a 54-hole lead at the PGA Championship; he missed a seven-foot putt on the 72nd hole to force a playoff at The Barclays, and he continued to struggle during his first three rounds at last week’s Deutsche Bank Championship.

Surprising?

Sure. When was the last time you saw Woods miss a big putt on the 72nd hole? And when have you ever seen Woods blow a 54-hole lead at a major championship.

The end of his dominance?

Absurd.

Woods is less than 24 hours away from sending his critics and the rest of the PGA Tour back to the Stone Age in terms of any thoughts they may have been having about his inability to dominate a golf tournament.