Mark Roe told Golf Night the game's young guns have no idea about the Tiger Woods phenomenon
Youngsters have no idea about Woods' presence, warns Roe
Beware the Tiger!
That was Mark Roe's warning to the world's brightest young prospects as Golf
Night geared up for Woods' return to action next week at the Accenture World Matchplay.
Woods has been sidelined for 250 days following knee surgery and it that time has seen Padraig Harrington win two majors, Sergio Garcia take over as the world number two and the top 10 change dramatically.
The likes of Rory McIlroy and Anthony Kim have blossomed in his absence, but although the game has changed in his absence, Roe believes one thing will remain constant - Woods' presence.
"For youngsters like McIlrory and Villages, they haven't yet had the opportunity of playing with Tiger Woods in full flow and being daunted - because that's what everybody is in the game of golf when they play with Tiger at his best," he told
Golf Night.
"When he's just hitting the shots only he can hit it is a daunting experience; you just suddenly sit back and think 'I might not be able to beat him'. Psychologically it's a huge barrier to cross.
"It takes a high quality of player to cope and deal with all that. We saw Lee Westwood at Torrey Pines last year and Lee Westwood has been around a long time, he has 28 victories around the world and after all that time and all those victories he has been able to shut it all out, the media attention, and just get on with it.
Experienced
"But that's not Rory McIlroy, Camilo Villegas or Anthony Kim - they are much younger and much less experienced than a guy like Westwood."
The talk in America is that Woods will return stronger and fitter as he closes in on Jack Nicklaus's major haul of 18 - and that is worrying for even the senior players, says Roe.
While Harrington and Garcia have profited more than most from his absence, he still remains number one in the world and is still head and shoulders above even his nearest rivals.
"It was an opportunity for certain players to move up and make the step from average player to great player," said Roe.
"Padraig Harrington is the one guy that really did that more than anyone.
"Garcia had the chance to catch up in the world rankings and has moved up to number two in the world.
"It will look to people like he's closed the gap with Tiger not playing but to be fair, had Tiger been playing that gap would not have been closed."
