Newsday (N.Y.): Tiger tries to find his old game
By Art Spander
Special to Newsday
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. -- The goatee is gone. Quite possibly the confidence is, too. But for Tiger Woods, the questions remain.
What's happened to his game? What's happened to his life? And when does one or both return to what might be judged normal?
The 92nd PGA Championship, the final major golf tournament of the year, starts Thursday at Whistling Straits, a faux-links course created along the shores of Lake Michigan some 60 miles north of Milwaukee.
Hunter Mahan, who won the WGC-Bridgestone last weekend -- and who Tuesday played a practice round with Woods -- is the hot golfer. Phil Mickelson, Graeme McDowell and Louis Oosthuizen are winners, respectively, of the year's Masters, U.S. Open and British Open.
Yet all anyone seems to care about is Tiger, who at the Bridgestone Invitational last week had his worst-ever four-round finish as a pro, a tie for 78th, next to last.
Woods, without a swing coach since the departure of Hank Haney in May, asked Mahan's coach, Sean Foley, to video his swing during their practice round here and conceded it was a "possibility'' the Orlando-based Foley might begin to work with him.
Woods also said he would play in the Ryder Cup the beginning of October, if he makes the team as a qualifier or a Captain's pick.
Woods implied it wasn't only what happened with his clubs that has made his game a mess, that fallout from his self-admitted sexual infidelities and subsequent estrangement from wife Elin Nordegren have had considerable effect.
" . . . With all that's going on, on and off the golf course, I feel I have to look at the positives and keep pushing myself to go forward and keep trying to get better,'' Woods said. "And that just doesn't mean hitting good golf balls.
"Life in general the last nine months has been very difficult. But my dad always said, 'Just keep living.' That's something I have taken to heart quite a bit. And there were quite a few times that I definitely have said that to myself.''
Woods had hair on his chin during the Bridgestone. Not Tuesday. "Well,'' he offered, "I just didn't have any clippers, and I was too lazy. So I decided to shave it.''
The failing confidence? "I've been through periods where I've hit it bad,'' he said. "And yeah, is your confidence not where it needs to be? Of course, I've been there . . . and that's one of the things I am excited about, the last few days I've made some good progress.''
Woods said he had been moving his head off the ball, a problem during his career, which caused the club to go off line on the downswing. He believes that has been corrected. His putting speed has been bad all year.
"I've learned a lot,'' said Woods of his life, "more so as a person than a golfer. I think that's a private matter on how I'm going to look back at it.''
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http://www.newsday.com/sports/golf/tiger-tries-to-find-his-old-game-1.2197239
Copyright © 2010 Newsday. All rights reserved.
Special to Newsday
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. -- The goatee is gone. Quite possibly the confidence is, too. But for Tiger Woods, the questions remain.
What's happened to his game? What's happened to his life? And when does one or both return to what might be judged normal?
The 92nd PGA Championship, the final major golf tournament of the year, starts Thursday at Whistling Straits, a faux-links course created along the shores of Lake Michigan some 60 miles north of Milwaukee.
Hunter Mahan, who won the WGC-Bridgestone last weekend -- and who Tuesday played a practice round with Woods -- is the hot golfer. Phil Mickelson, Graeme McDowell and Louis Oosthuizen are winners, respectively, of the year's Masters, U.S. Open and British Open.
Yet all anyone seems to care about is Tiger, who at the Bridgestone Invitational last week had his worst-ever four-round finish as a pro, a tie for 78th, next to last.
Woods, without a swing coach since the departure of Hank Haney in May, asked Mahan's coach, Sean Foley, to video his swing during their practice round here and conceded it was a "possibility'' the Orlando-based Foley might begin to work with him.
Woods also said he would play in the Ryder Cup the beginning of October, if he makes the team as a qualifier or a Captain's pick.
Woods implied it wasn't only what happened with his clubs that has made his game a mess, that fallout from his self-admitted sexual infidelities and subsequent estrangement from wife Elin Nordegren have had considerable effect.
" . . . With all that's going on, on and off the golf course, I feel I have to look at the positives and keep pushing myself to go forward and keep trying to get better,'' Woods said. "And that just doesn't mean hitting good golf balls.
"Life in general the last nine months has been very difficult. But my dad always said, 'Just keep living.' That's something I have taken to heart quite a bit. And there were quite a few times that I definitely have said that to myself.''
Woods had hair on his chin during the Bridgestone. Not Tuesday. "Well,'' he offered, "I just didn't have any clippers, and I was too lazy. So I decided to shave it.''
The failing confidence? "I've been through periods where I've hit it bad,'' he said. "And yeah, is your confidence not where it needs to be? Of course, I've been there . . . and that's one of the things I am excited about, the last few days I've made some good progress.''
Woods said he had been moving his head off the ball, a problem during his career, which caused the club to go off line on the downswing. He believes that has been corrected. His putting speed has been bad all year.
"I've learned a lot,'' said Woods of his life, "more so as a person than a golfer. I think that's a private matter on how I'm going to look back at it.''
- - - - - -
http://www.newsday.com/sports/golf/tiger-tries-to-find-his-old-game-1.2197239
Copyright © 2010 Newsday. All rights reserved.