Tiger Woods Tamed by Augusta, but Ready to Strike in 2011 and Beyond

After Tiger Woods completed a Sunday 66 and tied for 10th at Doral this past March, he was asked by a reporter if he was on track to win the Masters; the response, “oh, yeah.”

Believe Tiger Woods then or not, it was "oh, yeah", almost, for Tiger at Augusta in 2011.

Another Tiger Sunday-at-Augusta charge that ultimately fell short, a tie for fourth.

This is the result that has become par for the course for Tiger at the Masters, finishing outside the top five once since 2006, resulting in zero wins.

This the player who was once the yearly favorite vs. the field.

With his fade to fourth, Tiger’s yearn for his first win thereby announcing the release of Tiger version 4.0—version 1.0 peaked at Augusta 14 years ago—is not necessarily an expectation that is realistic at this point in time. 

CBS’s David Feherty even pointed out how obvious that yearn was as Tiger faltered through the final four holes on Sunday, but wanting isn't winning.

Tiger’s idealism was evident with his proclamation of his career quest to break Jack’s 18 majors and feeling the expectations from the outside because of the brilliance he has shown consistently, but they now seem a bit premature even with his greatness.

The enormous expectations can’t be fulfilled at all times. If Tiger is going to win more than 18 majors, and likely more than 80 tournaments in the process, is it really feasible to expect the guy to breeze through the process?

In a Golf Channel roundtable interview last week, eight-time major winner Tom Watson offered the following: “The greatest players have a long career trajectory, Nicklaus’ major run from 1962-1986. The doubt creeps in but, but Tiger will get it back once he finds the key to his new game.”

Nicklaus was the only “great” Watson referred to, but Walter Hagan, Gary Player and Ben Hogan are also between Tom and Tiger for career major victories.

We saw a 21-year-old Rory McIlroy crumble, quite different than the 21-year-old Tiger who began setting records.

So what do we expect from Tiger going forward?

In Dubai, we saw the beta version of Tiger 4.0 crumble on the weekend, a Saturday saving back nine followed by a Sunday thud; soon followed by highlights of cacti and a first-round exit at the Match Play.

But then followed the southeastern swing for Tiger: the WGC at Doral, The Bay Hill Invitational and The Masters, tournaments he has won three, six and four times respectively.

His play over these three tournaments, to me, serves as his first checkpoint and launching point into 2011, for better or worse.  

At Doral, Tiger was still building, but had discovered how to rectify his misses. He had gained an understanding of why a certain swing produced a particular shot.

At Bay Hill, Tiger was finally feeling comfortable shaping shots, working with trajectories—take a look at this old Nike Golf commercial, the Butch Harmon swing, in order to get a visual of what Tiger is working towards—when able to attack the golf ball thinking about the shot, not the swing.

Tied for 10th and tied for 24th, neither result stellar, but flashes of potential and stability, nothing more than one round at a time.  

I noted two things before the Masters:

• One, Tiger has an uncanny ability to bring his “C” game to Augusta and finish in the top five;
• Two, Tiger has been adamant, and may very well be correct, that his new swing will bring more success in his career, but he’ll need to bring his putter along for the ride, too, something we haven’t heard much about from Woods throughout his changes.

Except at Bay Hill, “I don’t know what dude (late father Earl Woods) saw in my game, but he really knew putting and he knew my stroke.”

Tiger had begun to go back to some of the old exercises Earl put Tiger through, and his speed and stroke were beginning to improve.

His putter, however, proved to be his downfall at Augusta; pure as Georgia peach, tapioca-pudding ball striking often went unrewarded.

The round-one 71 for Tiger was his status quo, don’t shoot yourself out of the tournament on day one.

Tiger moved on Friday, a day two 66 that included a back nine 31, his lowest back nine since Thursday of 1997. 

He escaped trouble and was nearly perfect with the putter, a birdie miss at 16 from inside eight feet his biggest flaw, most importantly showing signs that his ball striking was much improved. Oh, Tiger's Friday scores in his four victories: 66, 66, 69, 66.

Now, going into Saturday, many thought he was primed to charge; I disagreed.

As a former competitive golfer, I can prohibitively attest to the fact that it’s very tough to back up a great round with a good round, even an average round; how well do you bounce back from the best of results, an often overlooked hardship of golf. I thought 70 was the ceiling for Tiger on Saturday.

Tiger summed it up, pleased with how he hit it and he made nothing. Tiger brought his D-plus putter en route to a 74, a 69 or better had he brought even his B putter; unfortunately, his putter hit the snooze button early Saturday morning.

Sunday brought Tiger red and a Sunday Tiger charge, one 3-putt from about 100 feet offset by an eagle and four birdies.

His front nine charge peaked with on the eighth hole, a thunderous, hooking 3-wood from 278 that vaulted inside 12 feet, eagle; an Incredible Hulk-sized fist pumped, R-rated roar and chills down the spine of America.

Eight greens hit, 13 putts, -5 through nine holes; Tiger Woods would make the turn tied for the lead of the 2011 Masters, in prime position to pounce his slump to sleep. 

Instead, Tiger’s putter went back to sleep. A 3-putt on 12, par on 13, brutal birdie miss inside 12 feet on 14 and the one that will replay for years; the eagle miss on 15, inside four feet, that slipped away to the right, along with Tiger Woods’ 2011 bid for a Masters victory.

Golf great Bobby Jones once said, “competitive golf is played mainly on a five and a half inch course…the space between your ears.” 

Rory McIlroy used the word comfortable three or four times in a 20-second span to describe how he felt about his game going into Sunday; we saw how “comfortable” feels during a final round at Augusta.

Tiger, on the other hand, emphasized starting strong, giving himself a chance into Sunday; he didn’t foresee he would be in the position to close.

Tiger accomplished his goal going into Sunday, but it wasn’t the goal of winning. 

And honestly, that says something positive to me.

When Tiger stated in an ESPN interview after Bay Hill that he would be the best in the world once his game had fully settled, many chuckled.  Some roared.

Going into Augusta, of course, he believed he could win, but going into Sunday, it was just about giving himself a chance.

Even if Tiger had won at Augusta, you wouldn’t be reading me say he is back; that being near the form accomplished during the unparalleled dominance of 2000 and 2001, and to some extent again in the middle of the decade.

Tiger’s goals can now grow; the focus on finishing is back in the vision. Tiger knows finishing comes from the flat stick, and I expect him to really focus on his speed and green reading going forward, green reading a major struggle of the past few seasons. 

But also remember this isn’t just about golf; Tiger was an athlete whose whole persona was that of a great champion, Tiger the person fully hidden, cheering for him was never in question.

And now, looking at Tiger work his way around the course, you can see in his demeanor that he is still adjusting to the added pressure of his persona being split; Tiger the champion on the course has been replaced by a split of Tiger the person and Tiger the golfer.

Forget about committing to a swing, Tiger is still trying to fully find himself inside the ropes.

On Sunday amidst his front nine charge, America saw a glimmer of the re-integration of Tiger the person and the golfer back into one, the focus on his golf and nothing else.

For nine holes, Tiger looked the part again: present, focused, believing the 2011 Masters was his to win; back in his element, the person of scrutiny finally, once again, overwhelmed by the golfer.  

And while the person prevailed in the end, many believed that glimmer of Tiger we did see Sunday was buried somewhere in 2008, never to be seen again.

As quickly as Tiger returned, just as America began to believe they were watching the champion of old, he left Augusta nine holes too soon. Still not fully healed, still not re-integrated into his role as a golfer or person, but what happened can't be undone.

Tiger, now we all know you're in there. I'm hungry for you, and I'm not alone. Everyone can relate to being human, having to bounce back from the worst.  

What he left behind at Augusta are the roots to a now growing belief in his abilities, the anticipation building for Tiger Woods Version 4.0, coming soon.