Tiger Woods: When Will He Be Back?

A lot of fans expected or hoped that Tiger Woods could take home the trophy at the Farmer’s Insurance Open.  The more realistic among us took a wait-and-see attitude. What we saw was not totally encouraging.  Woods in bunker after bunker, missing putts.  It was a head shaker.

Woods was disappointed, although at the beginning of his final round, he was actually encouraged.

“Today was nice starting out. I hit it just as pure as can be, and then it progressively got worse as the day went on," he said after play on Sunday. “I hit so many good putts that didn't go in today and consequently probably one of the worst possible scores at 3-over.”

OK, let’s get serious here.  Plus three is not the worst possible score.  There were some 78s and even an 80 in the final round.  What Woods meant was +3 was not a score he shoots.

He said he had higher expectations coming in to the tournament than his results showed.

"I started out hitting it pretty good out here this week. I really did, and it progressively got worse,” he added.  

“We have some things that we need to work on,” he added about his new direction and new coach.  “Sean ( Foley) and I have been talking about it every night. I can do it on the range, but it's a little different when I've got to bring it out here, and I've got to shape shots. I've got to hit the ball with the right trajectory.  These greens are not soft. So you can't just hit any trajectory. You have to hit the proper trajectory.”

He said it was a matter of rerouting muscle memory.

“The old motor patterns are still there," he explained. "I'm going to have to fight through that. And I've done it before, and there's no reason I can't do it again.” 

He pointed to a stretch between the Western Open in 1997 and the Buick Invitational in 1999 when he won just a single event.  After that victory, he won seven additional titles on the PGA Tour before the end of 1999 and went into what most consider his best time ever, from US Open 2000 to the Masters of 2001, the Tiger Slam.  

One issue in his swing right now, according to Woods, is the release, which is different from his previous swing.

“The release that you want to have for the good shots and full swings are the same, and even the putting stroke,” he explained.  “You've got to do it. It takes reps and it takes reps under competition. You can't be afraid to go ahead and try it.”

Woods said that he felt confident that he was making progress at the end of last year with his play at the Chevron World Challenge.

“The whole year last year golf-wise came down to one golf shot, and that's what I'm so proud of—the 72nd hole of Chevron—that was it,” he said. “I needed to hit that fade. I needed to hit the 8-iron flush. I needed to get it there. I needed to hit it through the wind. And I did all those things and hit it to two-and-a-half feet. Those are fun moments.”

So Woods is not 100 percent back, but he’s at least in the bull pen, warming up.