Will this be Tigers comeback year ...

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Mathew

Banned
After a good(or wonderful if you were most pro's) but majorless year woods is coming back to the buick after a long 'holiday spell off'. Currently he stands at -1 after one round while Kevin Stadler finishes his round of 64 to have a seven shot advantage. The question that is being wondered is if Tiger will make a comeback this year.....
 
What sort of comeback? If you're talking about non-major tour events last year, Tiger was dominant in relation to how much he played (which is why he received Player of The Year award by his peers). However, he did not produce during the four majors, and that's where I believe the term "comeback" applies.

I think his knee problems are a thing of the past, his swing looks good, he's found a driver he likes, and he's getting married... which means "look out" come major time. I predict he'll win at least 2 majors this season.
 
quote:Originally posted by southpaw

What sort of comeback? If you're talking about non-major tour events last year, Tiger was dominant in relation to how much he played (which is why he received Player of The Year award by his peers). However, he did not produce during the four majors, and that's where I believe the term "comeback" applies.

I think his knee problems are a thing of the past, his swing looks good, he's found a driver he likes, and he's getting married... which means "look out" come major time. I predict he'll win at least 2 majors this season.

Only a five event winner named Tiger Woods could invite talk of a comeback. And even just one major win, which I don't think he will even one, still sets him up for comeback talk. The guy is special, huh?

Masters- VJ US Open- Els Open- Rose PGA - Haas (his swan song).
 

hue

New
I got this from the Geoff mangum putting site from the post Detailed putting stats for touring pros


Swing gurus do double duty as putting coaches after having penetrated the protective world of Tour pros, and this is generally not a good thing. Tiger Woods' father barred Butch Harmon from teaching Tiger putting (see the dad's interview in Golf Digest a year or two ago, and Butch is not very knowledgable about putting anyway), and Tiger now relies mostly on Mark O'meara and O'meara's swing coach Hank Haney. Haney basically takes his putting cues from Mark O'Meara. It's no coincidence that Tiger and Mark share about the same bottom-rung putting stats. Annika Sorenstam studies with Dave Strockton Sr on occasion (Cali-folk). Thorpe on the Senior Tour studied with Jerry Barber. Rocco Mediate works on putting with an airline pilot named Rick Sonnier. Stan Utley, the Nationwide Tour putting guru to Jay Haas, visits periodically with Memphis swing guru Rob Akins to get his setup adjusted. Mickelson has studied with Crenshaw and now Pelz. Davis Love's swing coach Jack Lumpkin relies on others, apparently including Mike Shannon, to teach Daivs about the stroke in putting. Last week, Mickelson muffed two 5-footers to drop out of the lead in Phoenix down the final stretch. Stuart Appleby mostly follows his own counsel, as does Furyk and Roberts. Faxon keeps his stuff pretty private, and his "good stuff" has little to do with Bob Rotella or Scotty Cameron thoughts or advice.

Tiger Woods Mark O'Meara/ Hank Haney teaching combo. Brian what are your thoughts on this? How do you see it working out for Woods? Clearly Mr Mangum is not overly impressed with their putting advice.
 
All I can say is, "Mark Omeara = the Perfect Grip taining aid." Say no more. I think it's a mistake that Woods dumped Harmon. I dont care for Haney, and especially do not think Omeara is a swing guru in the making. Of course, I am no expert so take my opinion with a grain of salt. Woods has a ton of talent, maybe he can go this route and succeed. It's certainly been evident in the past that Woods does not like for anyone in his inner circle to gain much limelight, i.e. Fluff. Maybe that is the reason for the departure of Harmon. That was interesting about Earl Woods barring Harmon from touching Woods' putting stroke. Since Woods rise to domination a couple or three years ago, it certainly looked like Earl Woods was stepping back out of the limelight. When Tiger Woods first broke on the scene, you couldnt look at him for seeing his father right there.
 

hue

New
FanofHogan: I know Brian is no fan of O'Meara's swing he has called it a "contrived motion". Mr Mangum the putting expert does not think much of his putting method either. The omens are not good.
 
quote:Originally posted by hue

FanofHogan: I know Brian is no fan of O'Meara's swing he has called it a "contrived motion". Mr Mangum the putting expert does not think much of his putting method either. The omens are not good.
hue:
Maybe I'm not seeing clearly, since I only get to view what is shown on the telly, but I don't see that it's Tiger's stroke. He still makes the 5-6 footers firmly. His distance control is pretty fair, but his line is often not desireable on the longer ones. That adds up to his "reading" skills, not his "writing" or "arithemtic."

The other thing that seems different to me is that he is not "knocking down" as many pins as he did before last year. He's not giving himself as many close opportunities as he once did. That may equate to listening to the guru talk (and the casual stuff among players) that is largely mechanical - the stroke - rather than other important issues. Even the best of them may pick up a few "wrong" hints or clues occasionally.

I'm not convinced that the variety of systems across the board, as fostered and applied, have enough commonality to provide an effective standard for measuring what is and is not required for putting. (Anybody produced anything called the imperatives for putting?) So one player's guess (or that of a guru) is as good as another. And it's easy to miss something that is relevant when the eyes are fixed on something that may not be relevant.
 

Brian Manzella

Administrator
Tiger's OLD stroke (see US AM Highlights) was a great modern stroke like Scott Verplank.

He altered it slightly by the time of the 97 Masters, the BEST anyone EVER putted in the history of the world.

Now it looks like he is trying to MAKE the wrist do to much.
 
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