Answers over the state of Tiger will be answered at TPC Sawgrass, live all week on Sky Sports The Players
Wednesday 13 March 2019 16:36, UK
Tiger Woods arrived at The Players Championship amid much speculation over his health and his putting problems. As Golf Channel senior writer, Rex Hoggard discusses, Woods has questions to answer at TPC Sawgrass...
Optimism hasn't been in short supply when it comes to Tiger Woods the last 12 months. In fact, it was a year ago yesterday that Mr. 80 PGA Tour Victories officially changed the conversation.
Following a series of middle-of-the-road finishes to begin what some considered the final comeback in a career filled with second chances, Woods arrived at the Valspar Championship searching for a sign of competitive life.
He didn't win his first start at Innisbrook Resort but his runner-up finish to Paul Casey was the first tangible evidence that modern medicine and a measured approach could produce at the highest level. There were still questions, but his relevance was no longer up for debate.
Twelve months removed from that seminal moment there are now an entirely new set of questions.
What should the sporting world make of a 43-year-old with a Grand Slam (four) of back surgeries in his medical records and a putting stroke that's looked more Ben Stiller than Ben Crenshaw this year?
Over the last year, Woods has regularly dismissed concerns about his health but his Bay Hill withdrawal because of a "neck strain" rekindled ubiquitous images of Tiger being rushed off a course midway through a round in a golf cart.
"You can only swing or make the movement as good as your body's feeling," Woods said on Tuesday, following a nine-hole practice round at The Players.
Woods would know given a career arc with a clear correlation between his time on the surgeon's table and his appointments in the winner's circle.
He explained that his neck first started bothering him at last season's Open Championship and it "flared up" again during the FedExCup Playoffs. Rory McIlroy spotted Woods receiving treatment on his neck before and after his rounds at last month's WGC-Mexico Championship, Tiger's second tournament in as many weeks.
"It started to get a little tighter and tighter and tighter as I played more holes in Mexico," Woods explained.
Woods' withdrawal from last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational, which he's won eight times, is probably best explained as an abundance of caution. Winning No. 9 at Bay Hill would have meant little if the wear and tear led to more time getting treatment than to preparing for the Masters.
"I'm 43 with four back surgeries, so just manage what I have and understand that I'm going to have good weeks and bad weeks and try and manage as best I possibly can and not push it," Woods said of an outlook that has evolved with age and injury. "There are times when over the years I pushed it, pushed it through a few things, and I've won a few tournaments doing it that way, but also I've cost myself a few years here and there because of it."
But if an ongoing neck strain is the first line of any report on Woods, the second paragraph is reserved for the state of his game, which would best be described as trending.
In three starts this year, he's posted three top-20 finishes including a tie for 10th in Mexico City. It's a good news/bad news deal on this front. Compared with 2018, he's well ahead of schedule given his results with nothing even close to his best stuff on the greens. The bad news is… he hasn't had anything close to his best on the greens.
What should the sporting world make of a 43-year-old with a Grand Slam (four) of back surgeries in his medical records and a putting stroke that's looked more Ben Stiller than Ben Crenshaw this year?
At last month's Genesis Open he had six three-putts and wasn't any better in Mexico with five three-putts and a four-putt. It was just the 12th time in his career as a professional on Tour that he four-putted a green.
The smoother and more familiar confines of TPC Sawgrass, where Woods has won twice, should help on this front and he made headlines on Monday when he showed up at the Tour's flagship event with putting coach Matt Killen in tow.
Ever since Woods split with swing coach Chris Como in December 2017 he's been a solo act, opting instead to depend on his own insight as well as the watchful eyes of Rob McNamara, a longtime friend and vice president of Tiger Woods Ventures.
Woods was vague when asked what he and Killen were working on - and Killen, who also works with Justin Thomas and JB Holmes, declined to comment on his relationship with Woods - but what is clear is that Tiger was searching for a second opinion.
"Matt has seen my stroke enough, and I've listened to what he has said to [Thomas] over the past year or so, and I really respect what he sees. He's very knowledgeable," Woods said. "I had been feeling that my stroke has been off, but a lot of it is physical. I'm having a hard time getting into the different postures. As my body's felt better, my stroke has come back a little bit, but also I wanted to see where was I off, what did he see?"
This isn't the first time the game's most prolific clutch putter since Jack Nicklaus has dealt with issues on the greens, but it is the first time he's had a specialist join the conversation.
In the past Woods has reverted to the lessons his late father, Earl, gave him as child or in extreme situations he's turned to Steve Stricker, like in 2013 when an impromptu putting lesson led to a victory at Doral.
"It looked good on TV. I heard those greens were tough in Mexico and there were a lot of three-putts," Stricker said of Woods' last start. "[Woods' stroke] looked smooth and I don't really see anything that jumps out at you. Everybody goes through those ups and downs. He'll be fine and get it going and start to see the ball go in again."
It was the kind of optimism one would expect from a player who has spent a career watching Woods make the improbable possible, but for many reasons that confidence has been tempered by facts.
Much like the way Woods altered the narrative a year ago at Innisbrook Resort with his runner-up showing, a neck strain and strained confidence with his putter have brought the conversation full circle. Where the dialogue goes from here is again up to Woods.
Rex Hoggard is a senior writer for GolfChannel.com. Click here for more of his views on The Players Championship, live all week on Sky Sports The Players ...
