ronsc1985 I am sure Greg Norman and others felt the same way about Jack in Augusta in '86. I agree he certainly needs to improve, to be any kind of a real threat. Maybe he won't be what he was, but his was is better than ANY player playing today, and don't think Spieth, Johnson, Day and McIlroy don't know that. I am not expecting him to win a major, but I will not say he can't.

    He played better than I thought he would.

    There were spots here and there that he can obviously look back and build on. Through 4 rounds, Woody had 24 holes of birdie or better, whereas Dustin Johnson (finished 6th) had 22 holes of birdie or better (including two eagles).

    Wedge play around the greens looked good. Putting wasn't awful. You don't make 24 birdies through 4 rounds without making some putts. Iron play looked reasonably decent. Off the tee? Same deal as always. When he's not dealing with wind - he can manage. When it gets windy - he struggles to keep it in play.

    Overall, probably more good than bad. The bad was really bad, but the good was really good, too.

    The biggest question is did his back hold up okay, or is he icing it this evening? He showed no signs of being in pain, from what I watched of the tournament anyway. But if he can't get out of his 110% swing aggression off the tee, that pain-free existence will likely only be temporary.

    How do you know what anyone thinks or was thinking 20 years ago. Do you also do communication sessions with the dead while wearing a turban and gazing into a crystal ball?

    Day 3: Tiger very happy then not so much. Spuzz indifferent.
    Day 4: Tiger shits bed. Spuzz stays in his with wife.

    Looks like Spuzz has no more f*cks left to give.

    Well he did have the most birdies for the week....
    BUT he also had the most doubles too!

    He tested the water temperature with a limited field of top players on the world.
    We'll see what happens next season.

    He has a great chance of winning next year if his health holds up.

    This week reminded my of that old flick, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Woods supposedly lost 10 pounds due to illness and hopes to put that back on soon. He was 10 under on the front nine and six over on the back. Loss of concentration or just not tournament strong enough? Most of his strokes over par on the back were on the last three holes.

      he only hit 55% of fairways on a quite forgiving course

      letthebigdogshunt

      of the 17 man field 16 were worse on the back nine that the front for the week. Most had significant differentials too. Only Patrick Reid played better on the front vs back , -5 on back, -3 on front

      it was mostly due to the wind and when the swing is off a bit as we know the wind will wreak havoc

        If nothing else, Woods' return generates a ton of discussion, and I suppose that's good for the game.

        If you look at the big picture, more people are talking about golf this week than they were a month ago.

          Supp

          Indeed.

          Look at how crazy of his odds to win the 2017 Master ! Astonishing,

          For context, it’s not like Woods’ odds were that low to begin with. His opening odds in August, before he’d even announced a return date, were 60/1. And they were 40/1 before the Hero World Challenge.
          2017 Masters

          J Day 8/1
          J Spieth 8/1
          R McIlroy 9/1
          D Johnson 10/1
          H Matsuyama 15/1
          B Watson 20/1
          A Scott 20/1
          T Woods 20/1
          H Stenson 25/1

          http://golfweek.com/2016/12/05/tiger-woods-has-odds-better-than-stenson-to-win-2017-masters/

            The most positive thing he can take from this week is that he jumped higher in world ranking than anyone else. In the whole world! Clear up around 620 or so, a 250 point rise. gawddam, what a golfer.😉

            He did play rather well, overall, for not being competitive for 16 months. Don't know what he was thinking yesterday, trying to keep up with Louis off the tee. Looks healthy though, even though he was doing the "Freddie" squat a lot, while marking his ball.

            I do notice there are a lot of bad backs out there, esp. among the top golfers; TW is not the only one, and right now he seems the one with the least problems in that area.

            He led the field in birdies, yet he finishes 14th out of 17 golfers.....I find that interesting.....obviously lots of others cost him.....hard to fathom leading the field in birdies and finishing 14 shots out of the lead.

              ode He led the field in birdies, yet he finishes 14th out of 17 golfers.....I find that interesting.....obviously lots of others cost him.....hard to fathom leading the field in birdies and finishing 14 shots out of the lead.

              Sounds like a caddy and course management issue
              lol

              • ode likes this.

                I think it was mostly poor drives that were unplayable, hazard, or punch outs that led to the doubles....willing to bet he led the field in doubles+

                Agree with brsmirh, his swing looked great. Reminded me if the old Tiger/Butch days.

                'How do you know what anyone thinks or was thinking 20 years ago. Do you also do communication sessions with the dead while wearing a turban and gazing into a crystal ball?"

                Quote: ronsc1985

                "To top level players today he is just another journeyman player who may have a decent tournament every now."

                Let's see, Tiger is 40 and according to you, see quote from you above; Jack was 46 in '86. Using YOUR logic, what chance do you think Norman, Price and Seve thought Nicklaus' chances were in '86? It had been 6 years since he had won a major. Either way, those "top" players in '86 knew he was the fucking Golden Bear and only 4 back going into the final round of the '86 Masters. You know, a guy with his own trade mark. Hmmmm, TW has one of those too and I dare to guess the "top" players know who he is and not: "just another journeyman player," when they tee off against him. If not, when he is contending they will figure it out when they hear the roars of the gallery following him and not them.

                Who knows what Tiger will do, but for you to say the top players think he is just any other player is ridiculous.

                BTW, I didn't need a crystal ball or turban, just common sense.

                Come June It will be 9 years since tiger's last major victory, 33 1/3 percent longer drought than Jack in 86. Jack was 46,Tiger is just 40 and we've seen many players compete on tour in their 40's and look at VJ in his 50's still on leaderboards.

                I think it's highly unlikely Tiger wins another major, but won't say that it's impossible. He is Tiger Woods and has done things to surprise us before. i'd say the chances are less than 2%

                  Weirfan

                  I agree with you, I was just replying to a rather terse remark from my rebuttal that:"To top level players today he is just another journeyman player who may have a decent tournament every now."

                  I stand by that I don't believe that. I don't believe they think he is just "any" player, I'm not buying that. I would think they would want to see if they could beat him when he is right, if they could measure up to him.

                  Rant over.