Did Tiger play 18 for second place?

[MilkyButterCuts]

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[Soloman1]

Reading the Internet can make you stupid.

[Shilgy]

Hitting driver would still give a chance for birdie, but there is a greater chance for bogey as well.

This right here (at least the first half of your sentence) is the bottom line. With 1 to play and needing a birdie, your chances for par or bogey are irrelevant. The ONLY thing that matters is what gives you the greatest chance for a birdie to tie.

Incorrect. You want to give yourself a reasonable birdie putt for sure. So increased bad drive percentages reduce your chance of birdie more than being a few yards nearer.

 

Over the course of a round or a tournament you may be better off being nearer on average. But if you are as good as Tiger has historically been from 150-200 yards you want a guaranteed putt at the tie.

[puttfordoux]

There was a time when Tiger wouldn't play for second. He was either first, or way off the pace.

 

I think that its refreshing that Tiger seemingly has become more competitive now that he is not currently dominating the tour.

 

In their primes, what distinguished Tiger from Jack Nicklaus is that Nicklaus simply wanted to beat you, Tiger wanted to annihilate you. That attitude endeared him to many fans, but it made for some boring, anticlimactic television.

[GolfTurkey]

I don't think Tiger played to lose, but it's fair to question whether he chose the best strategy to win on 18.

 

There is no doubt that his physical execution isn't always perfect e.g. he chunked up a storm when he first came back and he sprays some drives that would be bad shots for a high swing speed amateur.

 

Is it so much of a stretch to think that he may noy always crunch the numbers perfectly in the heat of competition, especially if he has not been in contention for so long (a first for him)?

 

Who hasn't questioned a referee or umpire's decision in various sports? They are professionals whose sole job is correct decision making and yet we will second guess them.

 

Personally I feel like 2 iron was the percentage play to shoot the lowest score on average and 3 wood was the best bet to make a 3. My guess is that Tiger wasn't feeling confident and slightly hedged his bets i.e. gave himself an outside chance of the 3 in return for no worse than 4.If he cleans up his game more and he gains confidence I expect more aggressive plays. If he had already won this season I'm pretty sure the 3 wood would have come out.

[Lodestone]

Of course he wasn't playing to protect 2nd place, although I am sure he didn't think 2nd place "sucked" at this point of his comeback.

 

What is significant is that he thought a 2 iron that would leave him 190 out gave him a better chance at winning than trying to fit a Driver or 3-wood into a tighter area.

 

As far as "preferring" to be 190 as opposed to 140, that's silly. Tiger knows how to hit a lofted club with reduced spin, if needed.

 

He's come a long way, remarkably, IMO, but he knows he can't trust that he'll be at all accurate with Driver or 3-wood, so he made the best play he could make, with the game he had at the time. Like the other GOAT, beating himself with bad decisions just doesn't happen.