I can name 20 instructors off the top of my head that would get Tiger either back to his great ballstriking form or very close to it in really no time.
A lot of people accuse me of being a 'Tiger hater', but that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, when he was kicking ass and taking names in the pre-Haney days, I had quit the game and I still loved to watch him play every single time he went out.
THAT was true greatness for me.
THAT was what a 'once a generation' and 'arguably the greatest of all-time' should've looked like.
I never really got to see that from a player before hand. I didn't start playing golf until 1986. Nicklaus was already well past his prime back then, but that was also the year he won the green jacket and played that final 9 like I sort of imagined the greatest (or arguably the greatest) of all time should play it.
From there I had Greg Norman, but he was too 'un-clutch.' Nick Faldo was awesome and sort of looked like one of the all time greats should look like, but his prime really didn't last that long. Nick Price to me was unbelievable as far as striking the ball goes and I still consider him a top 10 ballstriker of all time. But he wasn't very good with the putter and his greatness was short lived as well.
The guy that really excited me for awhile?
John Daly.
He absolutely destroyed Crooked Stick and you thought that if he had a decent day with the driver and the putter he couldn't be beat. But we all know that story.
Eventually Tiger came along. I made it to the US Junior Am in a year he won it, but only saw him hit a few shots. Before he became a pro, I had only heard some things about his game. But as soon as he turned pro I really got to see his game and it was obvious that he was playing a different game than what I had ever seen. It was like a very athletic, more polished and straighter version of John Daly. In other words, it was flat out awesome.
Of course, there was a learning curve for Tiger. For instance, I believe after his first season he was one of the worst bunker players on Tour. He saw that statistic, then worked hard on his bunker game and the very next year was as good as any player on Tour out of the bunker. Again, flat out awesome.
And he played in a fashion that was something along the lines of what I would imagine the golfer who was supposed to be better than Nicklaus and Hogan...and then some. He really didn't seem to have a flaw in his game, something I imagined the greatest of all time should have...now I just got to watch it.
And then the 2000 US Open at Pebble happened.
Enuff said.
But the move to Haney came along and I didn't quite understand it. And Tiger did add more majors and more achievements to his crown. But, the player that played a way that I always dreamed of in my head, that I always wished I could see at least once in my lifetime....had disappeared.
In fact, he was hitting shots that I never imagined any #1 player in the world hitting. And yes, it was fun for awhile to see him hit those escape shots and make all those crazy putts, but it just wasn't the same.
And it didn't have to be EXACTLY the same. Just a reasonable facsimile. Instead, IMO...we got junk. We got courses set up for Tiger (and other long ball hitters like Phil, Vijay, etc) and too many of the courses were set up for guys to kill the ball with little regard as to where it goes as long as it didn't find a hazard or O.B. It was almost like I went from watching golfing nirvana to watching a spectacle. And lots of sad, final round collapses from Tiger's competitors.
I would really love to see Tiger work with somebody else worth a damn and have an open mind to it. Watching golf could be flat out awesome again.
3JACK
(my guess is if he dumps Haney, he'll go with Sean Foley)
