Tiger Woods: Five Signs That Tiger Is Back Despite His 2011 Masters Finish
More than a week removed from the Masters, it's still hard to figure out just what we can expect from Tiger Woods.
How do we even rank that performance?
He didn't win. He himself says that he needs to do that to have a truly good week.
On the other hand, a T4 for someone who is just now beginning to play close to a full schedule for the first time since 2007 is hardly a failure.
Nobody will truly say that Woods is back until he at least wins a tournament, probably a major.
Honestly, that's a fair assessment.
Despite not winning yet, there are plenty of reasons to believe that 2011 will be a season in which Woods returns to his winning ways.
Most importantly, his signs of improvement are not limited to his performance at Augusta.
The Stats Sheet
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His stats are not pretty to look at.
Woods' best ranking on tour is 26th in greens in regulation.
Still, he ranks 29th in scoring average.
No, 29th is not what you would expect from a guy trying to become the best player of all time. But considering the stats, 29th isn't bad.
To be fair, that can be taken a few ways.
The cynical view would be to say that he's been lucky. That playing more rounds with those kinds of stats will dramatically raise his scoring average.
That's true, if he plays more and continues to put up those stats, his scoring average will not improve.
On the other hand, looking at his past success, is it fair to say that luck has been a big factor? Sure, he has had some luck, but he's also had runs of dominance that were unmatched in any sport.
That is not luck.
I would actually say that those stats are deceptively bad. That when he plays more golf, a lot of those stats will look a lot better. With that, his scoring average will do the same.
Consistent Play
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No, he has not won since 2009.
What he has still managed to do at an alarmingly consistent rate is make cuts.
He has played the weekend in every stroke play tournament that he has entered this year.
Even going back to 2010, he was one of only 11 golfers to make the cut in all four majors.
We've never viewed Tiger as a guy whose success is measured based on cuts made. We judge his success on how many wins he records, specifically in the majors.
But you can't win a tournament if you don't make the cut.
Generally, anyone making the cut is one good round on Saturday away from being in contention.
In the past, Tiger has had intimidation in his favor. If he had a lead on Sunday or was even close, he was likely to win.
Not only would he play well, but those around him would crumble.
Truthfully, those days may be gone. The younger players don't have the same memories of being routinely trounced by Tiger on the weekend.
More than intimidation, this is more about the law of averages. If he is routinely playing the weekend and often finishing in the top 10, the wins will come.
Emotion
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At Augusta, Woods showed all kinds of genuine emotion.
We saw the patented fist pump when he made his eagle putt on the eighth hole. We saw a similar reaction to a made par putt on the following hole.
On 15, we saw him twirl his club while a ball was still in the air. He gave us a swagger-filled walk to that green. The fact that he missed the eagle putt isn't relevant here.
His swagger was back, it's his putting stroke that wasn't working for him on the back nine.
And on that note, we saw genuine frustration from him during his disappointing final nine holes.
Since his scandals became public, we have seen a lack of emotion from Tiger. We've seen rounds where it genuinely looked like he didn't care.
Considering what he was going through, that was certainly understandable. It just wasn't something that we had ever seen from Tiger before.
When he was on the golf course, golf had his full attention. He didn't always win, but he was always fully invested; he always wanted to win.
At Augusta, he wasn't phoning it in. He genuinely wanted to win that tournament. It had all of his focus. He didn't win it, but it's a great sign that a win is not far away.
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Augusta's Second Round 66
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His T4 performance in 2011 only matched 2010's finish.
In 2011, he was one shot closer to the eventual winner than he was in 2010. Despite that, his 2011 score (-10) was actually one shot worse than 2010 (-11).
Reading that, it's a little hard to put too much stock in one round of golf. But before dismissing his second-round performance, consider that it was the lowest round that Tiger had shot at the Masters since 2005.
That year is significant because to date, it is the last time that he won the Masters.
Obviously, Tiger didn't win the Masters in 2011.
But Woods' success in 2005 didn't stop at Augusta. He also won the British Open, and followed 2005 up with two majors in 2006.
We can't look exclusively use history to prove future predictions. We can't do anything but wait to prove future predictions.
But struggling golfers don't shoot a 66 at Augusta.
Sunday's Front-Nine 31
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Struggling golfers also don't shoot a 31 over nine holes, anywhere. They certainly don't do that on the front nine at Augusta.
He did falter on the back nine, which was unfortunate for him.
Despite that, a lot can be taken from his first nine holes. Notably this: He did exactly what he needed to do.
Woods followed his second-round 66 with a disappointing 74 on Saturday.
The 74 meant that he had to make an early move on Sunday. He had to make birdies on holes that most of his competitors were not likely to birdie.
He did.
He rose on the leader board when the leaders were on their first few holes, if that. He made them hear the roars, and they knew exactly who was producing them.
Had everything stayed the same, Woods would have needed a 32 on the back nine to force a playoff. That's been done before, but is very hard to do.
Woods' back nine struggles were not the biggest reason for not winning.
Charl Schwartzel, Adam Scott and Jason Day all finished ahead of him. They all played great.
Schwartzel in particular was just better than anyone else, as he made a birdie on the final four holes.
If Woods continues his improvements, there will be several weeks where he is just better than anyone.
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