Tiger Woods: Is He a Contender or Pretender at Players Championship 2011?
Tiger Woods is back in the hunt this week after missing the last several weekends of the PGA Tour circuit with an injury.
Woods sprained his MCL and strained his Achilles tendon in his left knee during the third round of the Masters in early April, sidelining him for several weeks.
But now, Woods has returned to the links in time for The Players Championship at Sawgrass, hoping to build off the strong form he showed at Augusta, when he rallied from a five-stroke deficit to take a share of the lead into the clubhouse on Sunday.
Will Woods be a contender at Sawgrass this week, or was his return to form be sidetracked by the post-Masters injury layoff?
We're breaking down the arguments behind whether Woods will be a contender, or a pretender destined for a lackluster finish in the tournament many call "The Fifth Major."
So, grab your pitching wedge and your red polo shirt, and let's get started, shall we?
Pretender: His History at Sawgrass
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Few courses have given Woods as much grief in his career as the unforgiving links at Sawgrass.
Tiger has battled his driver and some major inconsistency at Sawgrass in the past, finishing outside the top 20 more often in this tournament than in any other he's played in his career. On top of that, Woods didn't have an ideal experience on the course last season, playing fairly well through two days before withdrawing with neck pain on Saturday.
Woods has often struggled on the course, as his results have been lackluster more often than not—even at the height of his powers. It's not that he's been consistently bad at Sawgrass, just consistently inconsistent.
Contender: His Play at the Masters
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Sure, Tiger's been hurt recently, but before the injury, he played the best four rounds of golf in recent memory. He kept himself on the leaderboard on a regular basis during his rounds at Augusta, and managed to post some vintage Tiger Woods scores on the front nine on Sunday—hitting five-under through those first nine holes of the day.
He was hitting the ball brilliantly at Augusta, and assuming he's not too rusty (which, given the way he was hitting during the last two days of practice rounds, he won't be), Tiger is capable of delivering a sensational performance during the next four days.
Pretender: His Putter
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While most of Tiger's game was better than it had been since the 2009 season, one area still stood out as problematic—his putter.
Tiger three-putted quite a bit during the Masters, including whiffing on a fair number of makeable putts on Sunday that could have put him even further into contention in the final round. His play upon reaching the green was lackluster at best at Augusta, betraying him even when he was on a roll on Friday and Sunday.
Poor play on and around the greens at Sawgrass is a great way to head home early, and unless Tiger's putts have improved at all since Augusta, he's going to be in for a long week.
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Contender: He's Focused
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The biggest reason Tiger will be one of the dominant forces in The Players is simple: He's focused and highly motivated.
Over a good chunk of the last two seasons, Woods has found himself distracted by off-course issues surrounding his suddenly public personal life.
But now, Tiger has no off-course distractions. He seems happier than he's been in quite some time on the course, enjoying and relishing the chance to play golf again. If you're one of Tiger's competitors at Sawgrass this week, that's the last thing you want to see: Tiger happy, motivated and focused on his game.
When all of those variables converge, with just a hint of talent, Tiger's going to have his groove back, and when he does, the winless streak will come to an end.
Conclusion: Contender
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While it's far from assured that Tiger's going to win at Sawgrass this week, it's hard to see him not being a contender for the title.
Woods played brilliantly at Augusta in spite of his injuries and terrible putting, and he was hardly out long enough to build up more rust than he typically would during one of his extended post-major absences.
Sure, he's struggled at Sawgrass in the past, but he's also won the tournament before. He's capable of finding a groove at The Players Championship this week, and assuming his putter is even marginally better than it was at the Masters, he'll be at or near the top of the leaderboard once again.
He's dialed in and focused right now for the first time in almost two years, and we've seen throughout his career what he's capable of when that happens.
In other words, chalk Woods up in the contender category as we get underway this week.
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