ESPN analyst rips ‘lost’ Tiger Woods’ swing changes on brink of Masters

The guessing surrounding the state of Tiger Woods’ game, as he prepares to return to competitive golf at the Masters following a two-month layoff, will likely continue until he hits his first tee shot at Augusta at 1:48 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Paul Azinger and Curtis Strange have had front-row seats to the relaxed, smiling, hugging, and loving father who bounced and danced onto the holy grounds on Monday. They witnessed successful practice sessions and saw him put on a show with his kids during Wednesday’s Par 3 Contest.

Yet residues of the ugly chipping performances the former world No. 1 displayed to start the 2015 season remained emblazoned on the brains of the ESPN analysts, who believe “lost” described even Tiger Woods 4.0.

“He hasn’t played in a long time,” Azinger said during a Wednesday night Masters roundtable. “Confidence is an earned commodity, and it’s something that Tiger is going to have to earn back. He can’t be confident.

“The last time he played, we saw him play, his game was in shambles. Curtis and I might have been able to give him a little trouble,” he said. “It was sad to see that somebody could fall that far. What happened? I think that Tiger allowed himself to be over-engineered and possibly over-engineered right out of a career.”

Strange, the winner of two U.S. Open titles, agreed.

“There’s no way [Tiger comes in here confident]. There’s nothing to draw from,” Strange opined. “He’s so used to overpowering and dominating people and golf courses and I don’t think he’s in that mode.”

A golfer who misses tee shots right and left, as Woods has for some time, is “lost,” said Strange, whom Azinger immediately echoed: “Lost.”

To Azinger, who earlier this year claimed Woods’ woes -- which led to a career-worst 82 and missed cut at Phoenix and an 11-hole withdrawal at Torrey Pines -- could be “fixed in minutes,” Wednesday seemed to do an about-face.

“You have to practice, there’s no shortcut to this,” said the 1993 PGA champion.

Azinger conceded that he believed Woods, who said during his pre-Masters press conference that he worked his “ass off” during his self-imposed furlough.

But hearkening back to a tried-and-true criticism that has dogged Tiger since he began revamping his swing under ex-coach Sean Foley, Azinger suggested he was practicing the wrong things.

“I do believe he has worked at it,” he said. “But he’s allowed himself, in an effort to get better, he’s gotten worse. He literally sacrificed a winning swing ... in a quest for a perfect swing, and a perfect swing doesn’t exist.”

Azinger also acknowledged that Woods “looked great” in his prep for his first competitive round since February 5.

“On the driving range, I noticed that he was rapid-firing balls, and that shows me that he’s uncluttered his mind somewhat,” he said. “A couple of years ago, every position was just micro-managed and analyzed and there was no freedom in that.”

Strange seemed unconvinced and expected little from the 14-time major champion who will soon resume his quest for that elusive 15th.

“I’d be surprised to really see him play well,” Strange said. “I think he’ll make the cut, I think he’ll have the energy and enthusiasm to gut it out, but I really don’t think he’ll be there on Sunday.”