Tiger Woods is hardly a stranger to the intensity of media and fan scrutiny, unparalleled hype, and off-the-charts expectations that he has engendered since his explosion onto the world stage at the age of 2.
Tiger Woods must overcome the hype to win again, says Johnny Miller
Woods plays with a pressure and microscope like no other, something that will be a huge obstacle to getting back in the winner’s circle.
Yet, those are the very non-physical issues the former world No. 1 must conquer if he is ever to win again on the PGA Tour, according to NBC/GolfChannel lead analyst Johnny Miller.
“The hardest thing for Tiger is just the attention that he draws and the media coverage and the pressure that his unbelievable career has created,” Miller said during a Wednesday conference call on the eve of the tour’s 2017 kickoff, the SBS Tournament of Champions in Hawaii. “Let’s say he’s tied for the lead going into Sunday. It gets so amped up, what people expect, and it’s just hard.
“He’s got to break that ice,” Miller added.
Woods, who has not prevailed in a tour event since 2013 (so is not in this week’s annual opener of the previous year’s winners) made his long-awaited return from multiple back surgeries to competition at last month’s Hero World Challenge. While he finished 15th in the 18-player tourney, Tiger did lead the field with 24 birdies in 72 holes.
Miller, though enthused by how Woods handled his irons and putter, as well as the “slower tempo” of his swing, noted the 14-time major winner still lacked a reliable, go-to drive.
”If he wants to win, he’s got to get a dependable shot off the tee, like Dustin Johnson has gone to a cut or whatever he wants to hit that he can do in his sleep,” Miller said.
Woods’ short game — improved though it may be from the chipping yips that have dogged him since the 2014 World Challenge — remained an area of concern for Miller.
“I still think he’s got the heebie-jeebies chipping around the green, little pitch shots, and I’m not sure if he has a lot of confidence or not,” Miller observed. “I saw a couple of mediocre shots in the Bahamas in that area. Those are the two areas, the driver, the expectation, and one other thing obviously is the chipping.”
Woods, who this week confirmed he’d open the year at Torrey Pines in late January and announced a full dance card for February — Omega Dubai Desert Classic (Feb. 2-5), Genesis Open (Feb. 16-19), and Honda Classic (Feb. 23-26) — pronounced his World Challenge effort “a positive step.” His long, injury-related hiatus resulted in “some really dumb errors I don’t usually make,” but his “good stuff was really good, which is a great sign,” he said in a blog post on his website.
Now, if only Woods can regain the 10 pounds he lost after being “blitzed by a virus” before Thanksgiving and get his stamina back up, he won’t have to worry about running out of gas as he conceded he did all four days in the Bahamas. Whether he can continue his chase of Sam Snead’s all-time tour victory mark of 82 with his own No. 80 remains to be seen.
Miller’s colleague Mark Rolfing believes it could happen, but it’s a long shot.
“Can he win? I think it’ll be difficult, but I would say yes,” Rolfing said during the teleconference. “All the stars are going to have to align.”
Woods’ erstwhile would-be rival, David Duval, tempered expectations, hoping Woods would “get through the year with a full schedule and in a healthy manner.” Miller, on the other hand, was beside himself at the prospect of seeing Woods for a complete year.
“You know, he’s going to be a lot of fun to watch,” Miller said in what surely must be the understatement of the near year. “He’s going to really help the TV ratings.”
See More:
