Don't expect Tiger to be 'match tough' in San Diego
Things happen fast in sports. One minute, we're all talking about Tiger's inevitable run to the Grand Slam and a major championship season that was laid out in front of him like dominoes (Augusta, Torrey Pines, Royal Birkdale, Oakland Hills, helloooo Bobby Jones!). The next, Tiger's putter turns cold, he takes a surgeon's knife to his left knee and a golfing nation turns its lonely eyes to the LPGA Tour (Helloooo Lorena Ochoa!). With all due respect to the Boos and Bubbas of our golfing world, spring and summer just won't feel the same without Tiger chasing the specter of Bobby Jones.
Tiger's injury, which will likely force him to miss Wachovia and the Players Championship, may also wreak havoc on his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 professional majors, at least in the short term. What will Tiger's game be like when he returns from knee surgery? Will he have a tune-up event before June's U.S. Open at Torrey Pines (the Memorial, from May 29 to June 1, seems logical), or will a long rehab force him to jump right into a major championship cold? And how sharp will he be when he picks up the sticks?
Tennis players call it being "match tough," and it's a good guess that Tiger won't be when he stands over his first shot of the U.S. Open. He'll have missed weeks of practice, not to mention competitive rounds at tough courses like Quail Hollow and the TPC Sawgrass, that would have aided his pursuit of a third U.S. Open title. The good news for Tiger? He has six victories at Torrey Pines, including one following a similar layoff after knee surgery in December of 2002.
The bad? He won't be returning to THAT Torrey Pines, but rather a rough-strewn, lightning-quick Torrey Pines that's been prepped for a U.S. Open. Two years ago, after the death of his father and a respite from golf, Tiger returned to the U.S. Open at Winged Foot and missed the cut. He later admitted he just wasn't as prepared as he needed to be. While a missed cut at this year's Open seems far-fetched for a player who knows every nook and cranny of the course, don't expect Tiger's week in San Diego to be an easy, seaside stroll.
(Photo: Fred Vuich/SI)
Posted by: siburp | Apr 29, 2008 11:45:48 PM
"Match tough" for TIGER. If he plays, he will be "match TOUGH". Missing the cut again in the US Open very unlikely. The last time expected as unlikely he was mentally prepared and focussed. This time only physical, unlikely mentally.
Posted by: mojo | Apr 27, 2008 4:41:27 AM
I think Tiger wont be as dominant as before...we have seen the best of him. Goodbye Tiger and goodluck to you.
Posted by: William | Apr 22, 2008 1:01:28 PM
Damon,
I fail to understand your logic about Tiger maybe being cold and not 'match tough'. Especially given his history of winning so regularly after a long layoff, due to injury or just rest. By the way, I don't count the time after his father's death because that took more of a mental toll.
You just don't make any sense to me.
Posted by: Kit | Apr 22, 2008 12:29:50 PM
That's not true, taipan, and you know it.
Posted by: taipan | Apr 22, 2008 5:30:40 AM
Bobby Jones' grand slam comprised the US and British Open titles and the US and British Amateur crowns. That is fundamentally different to winning the Masters, US and British Opens and PGA. No one has ever won the modern version of the grand slam which, I gather, was thought up by Arnie Palmer and a reporter during a flight over the pond to Britain. Tiger has won about a third of the majors he has played in and is never really a cinch to win despite the hype. If that were the case, reporters and other fans could bet their houses on him winning and retire. And talk of a calendar grand slam this year was premature to say the least. It would make sense if talk started after he had won the first three majors of the year. Torrey Pines may well be his best chance of winning a major this year. He has always done well there and toughening up the course will also make it tougher for the rest of the field. And all the talk about his surgery was overdone. It was a minor operation and Tiger was up and running a day or two later.