“I just never felt like I had the speed right”, Woods said later in the same interview. In 2013 he just missed out on the Adam Scott and Angel Cabrera playoff at the Masters.
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He completed the final five holes of his second round Saturday to finish four-over for the tournament, missing the cut by two shots.
He has failed to break par in his last seven rounds at the majors, the longest such streak of his career. The 10-year-old kids who go gaga for Rory and Jordan and Jason have virtually no first-hand knowledge of his greatness. In golf, you can’t play defense against the other guy. You do not have to be in the PGA to experience this feeling. Throughout the year, Woods has talked about the “process” of getting his game back, of how he was hitting the ball well, even if the numbers on the stat sheet and on the scorecards said something different. From age 8 onward he started playing in junior tournaments and he had immediate success. For me, golf is a lot things all wrapped up into one. He was the two-time Australian Junior golfer of the year. But much like Tiger of 15 years ago, the recently minted big three that will grow the game are now pure and fresh.
He struggled during that rookie campaign of 2008.
After a thunderstorm forced play to be suspended on Friday evening, Woods entered next week’s Wyndham Championship, the last regular PGA Tour event before the FedEx Cup play-offs. He’ll be in contention in the final round of a major again.
Woods hasn’t won a tournament in more than 24 months. Sunday’s win at Whistling Straits was the icing on the cake for a most glorious 2015 campaign. He cried when his wife and young son hugged him on the 18th green. He had shot an aggregate score of 20-under-par. I live a mostly nocturnal life, so playing golf gets me out of my comfort zone.
Following his father’s death, his mother needed to take out a second mortgage.
Hopefully, though, Tiger’s golfing greatness is not the only inspiration he imparted on the keepers of the flame. The world of men’s professional golf is in very good hands.
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We have always been unfair to Tiger Woods. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen Woods walk tall and with some swagger. Only time will tell if this marks the beginning of the end for past major winners Adam Scott, Webb Simpson and Keegan Bradley. This is flawless. We can finally appreciate him for the golfer that he is.
