TIGER WITHDRAWN DESERT CLASSIC

[Holy Moses]

1. No way an agent makes 20%. 2%-5% is closer to reality.

2. Weight training has been a boon for my back. I had back problems a few years ago and concentrated my weight training on my lower back with deadlifts. No pain after a few weeks.

 

20% might be true if the agent was instrumental in getting the deal. They make far less if Tiger's involvement was greater.

[tbowles411]

2. Weight training has been a boon for my back. I had back problems a few years ago and concentrated my weight training on my lower back with deadlifts. No pain after a few weeks.

I'm glad that worked for you. But every back and every person is different.

[bradt588]

Honestly he is completely washed up and has zero confidence and this is the biggest fall from grace in sports history... or Tiger is fooling everyone !! his swing looks terrible, I do have a hard time believing this is someone that has hit hundreds of ball trying real hard to make a comeback.

 

The game isn't a priority to him no more...Lets face it, this isn't injuries or back problems.

[jmck]

Tiger outsmarted himself and it blew up in his face. It wasn't good enough to win the masters in a route in 1997 at 21. He had to rebuild, then it wasnt good enough to play the greatest golf ever seen in 2000. He had to wreck that swing and start over. He had the best body for golf possible at 21, he had to wreck that and get thick and beefy. It wasn't good enough to have a beautiful model wife and kids he had to wreck that with hundreds of affairs. It wasn't good enough to win prolifically under the new Haney swing, he had to wreck that and go rebuild again. It wasn't good enough to get back to #1 with Foley so he had to wreck that and do whatever he is doing now which he has described as going back to his junior swing. After all that he is admitting his original natural swing was fine but its too late. His muscle memory and destroyed body has no idea what to do over the ball. Tiger had a deep hole inside him he could never satiate and it got the best of him. If he sat down in 2000 and devised a plan to destroy his career he couldn't have done a better job than what we have seen play out. As a huge tiger fan its sad and a true sports tragedy.

 

Agreed. Give it a little more time and he'll be viewed as a cautionary tale. Amazing to think of his career as something that squandered a huge amount of potential, but there it is.

 

I understand what you mean by cautionary tale, but everyone who has ever touched a golf club in the world outside of Jack Nicklaus would love to have had Tiger's career. Might br cautionary for Day and Rory only because they might be risking longevity for short-term gains.

 

Oh, I agree. That's what makes it so crazy. Imagine the career he could've had if he stayed with Butch, doesn't try to join the SEALs, keeps swinging rather than try to force a marriage, etc etc etc. There's an alternate universe out there where he's won 150+ tournaments and 40 majors. Way back when, circa 1997-2000, that's what people were projecting as his ceiling and it didn't seem far fetched at all.

[clfergus]

I guess everyone loves a good train wreck. I have never been much of a TW fan. He just never had much personality in the interviews and the way he interacted with the fans. I don't wish any ill will on the guy, in fact I feel sorry for him. It is amazing to me how fame and fortune can wack out someone so badly.

 

Seriously, retire and take your 800 million dollars and enjoy your two beautiful children. Jump in the booth and announce the majors. Just by staying involved in golf he would keep his status and relevance. I worry about what he will do to his long term health.

 

I just don't understand why he commands so much air time. I get he is the greatest golfer ever...in my eyes the second. I personally could care less about the drama. It has been going on since 2009 and I think everyone knows that he is done and has been for some time.

 

Why then as golfers would we rather watch a golfer who is ranked some 600+ in the world who's play is in line with that ranking? Show me more coverage of all these great young players we have on the tour. I would rather follow Henrik Stenson on Live coverage all round than watch Tiger bogey all the time.

 

Show me all of the shots from the 16th green from the Waste Management on Morning Drive rather than have hours of experts calling in to discuss back spasms.

 

If I wanted drama I would watch BRAVO tv with my wife.

[vernon]

2. Weight training has been a boon for my back. I had back problems a few years ago and concentrated my weight training on my lower back with deadlifts. No pain after a few weeks.

I'm glad that worked for you. But every back and every person is different.

Yep. Weight training could cripple some people with bad backs permanently. Every injury and every person is different and even that is in constant flux.

 

Five years ago I was able to improve my back tremendously by hiring a personal trainer and incorporating weight training. However, that was then and this is now. I can no longer even come close to doing the types of exercises and lifts that I did then. Things changed that dramatically in just the last three years.

 

I'm now much more limited in what I can do. As for golf, some days I can play and some I can't but no amount of weight training in the world is going to help me at this point. Do whatever you can while you can but that doesn't mean it's always going to work or that you'll even be able to continue to do it.

[cvvorst]

The anti-Tiger guys in here are loving it. I think it's funny that they would spend so much time commenting/complaining on a guy that they supposedly care so little about....

 

 

I have back problems. I have days where I almost forget about the pain, and I have days where I think about it constantly. I'm guessing therapy can help some people, but for me it made it worse. I've heard good things about stretching stuff like yoga, and strengthening your core. I know for sure lifting weights isn't good for it, but I can't help himself (I'm guessing Tiger is the same way) I try to play golf 4 - 5 times a week, even if I can only play 9 holes at a time. My back does much better through 9, 18 is pushing it. I can't imagine flying for over 12 hours on top of playing daily and constantly practicing. Not to mention the other stuff that wears you down and takes up more time and energy like appearances for sponsors, and media meetings, and spending time with friends, etc.

 

I agree with others. He needs to really be picky with what he does. He doesn't need to fly all over the world, or play in tournaments every week. I truly think he can make a come back if he changes. He won't be the dominant golfer who wins constantly, but I think he can be a threat in the bigger tournaments he chooses to play in.

[cvvorst]

2. Weight training has been a boon for my back. I had back problems a few years ago and concentrated my weight training on my lower back with deadlifts. No pain after a few weeks.

 

 

Please don't recommend dead lifting to others with back problems. For a lot of people it would only exasperate the problem. I know it helps some, but only a Dr should be recommending stuff like that IMO

 

What kind of injury did you have that deadlifts helped?

[Holy Moses]

Tiger outsmarted himself and it blew up in his face. It wasn't good enough to win the masters in a route in 1997 at 21. He had to rebuild, then it wasnt good enough to play the greatest golf ever seen in 2000. He had to wreck that swing and start over. He had the best body for golf possible at 21, he had to wreck that and get thick and beefy. It wasn't good enough to have a beautiful model wife and kids he had to wreck that with hundreds of affairs. It wasn't good enough to win prolifically under the new Haney swing, he had to wreck that and go rebuild again. It wasn't good enough to get back to #1 with Foley so he had to wreck that and do whatever he is doing now which he has described as going back to his junior swing. After all that he is admitting his original natural swing was fine but its too late. His muscle memory and destroyed body has no idea what to do over the ball. Tiger had a deep hole inside him he could never satiate and it got the best of him. If he sat down in 2000 and devised a plan to destroy his career he couldn't have done a better job than what we have seen play out. As a huge tiger fan its sad and a true sports tragedy.

 

Agreed. Give it a little more time and he'll be viewed as a cautionary tale. Amazing to think of his career as something that squandered a huge amount of potential, but there it is.

 

I understand what you mean by cautionary tale, but everyone who has ever touched a golf club in the world outside of Jack Nicklaus would love to have had Tiger's career. Might br cautionary for Day and Rory only because they might be risking longevity for short-term gains.

 

Oh, I agree. That's what makes it so crazy. Imagine the career he could've had if he stayed with Butch, doesn't try to join the SEALs, keeps swinging rather than try to force a marriage, etc etc etc. There's an alternate universe out there where he's won 150+ tournaments and 40 majors. Way back when, circa 1997-2000, that's what people were projecting as his ceiling and it didn't seem far fetched at all.

 

40 majors and 150 tournaments? That's a little high even for an alternate universe. I thought Tiger's max would be 22 or so majors, 100 PGA Tour wins and those numbers would be forever untouchable in golf.

[Choclab]

Tiger outsmarted himself and it blew up in his face. It wasn't good enough to win the masters in a route in 1997 at 21. He had to rebuild, then it wasnt good enough to play the greatest golf ever seen in 2000. He had to wreck that swing and start over. He had the best body for golf possible at 21, he had to wreck that and get thick and beefy. It wasn't good enough to have a beautiful model wife and kids he had to wreck that with hundreds of affairs. It wasn't good enough to win prolifically under the new Haney swing, he had to wreck that and go rebuild again. It wasn't good enough to get back to #1 with Foley so he had to wreck that and do whatever he is doing now which he has described as going back to his junior swing. After all that he is admitting his original natural swing was fine but its too late. His muscle memory and destroyed body has no idea what to do over the ball. Tiger had a deep hole inside him he could never satiate and it got the best of him. If he sat down in 2000 and devised a plan to destroy his career he couldn't have done a better job than what we have seen play out. As a huge tiger fan its sad and a true sports tragedy.

Hubris.

[jmck]

Tiger outsmarted himself and it blew up in his face. It wasn't good enough to win the masters in a route in 1997 at 21. He had to rebuild, then it wasnt good enough to play the greatest golf ever seen in 2000. He had to wreck that swing and start over. He had the best body for golf possible at 21, he had to wreck that and get thick and beefy. It wasn't good enough to have a beautiful model wife and kids he had to wreck that with hundreds of affairs. It wasn't good enough to win prolifically under the new Haney swing, he had to wreck that and go rebuild again. It wasn't good enough to get back to #1 with Foley so he had to wreck that and do whatever he is doing now which he has described as going back to his junior swing. After all that he is admitting his original natural swing was fine but its too late. His muscle memory and destroyed body has no idea what to do over the ball. Tiger had a deep hole inside him he could never satiate and it got the best of him. If he sat down in 2000 and devised a plan to destroy his career he couldn't have done a better job than what we have seen play out. As a huge tiger fan its sad and a true sports tragedy.

 

Agreed. Give it a little more time and he'll be viewed as a cautionary tale. Amazing to think of his career as something that squandered a huge amount of potential, but there it is.

 

I understand what you mean by cautionary tale, but everyone who has ever touched a golf club in the world outside of Jack Nicklaus would love to have had Tiger's career. Might br cautionary for Day and Rory only because they might be risking longevity for short-term gains.

 

Oh, I agree. That's what makes it so crazy. Imagine the career he could've had if he stayed with Butch, doesn't try to join the SEALs, keeps swinging rather than try to force a marriage, etc etc etc. There's an alternate universe out there where he's won 150+ tournaments and 40 majors. Way back when, circa 1997-2000, that's what people were projecting as his ceiling and it didn't seem far fetched at all.

 

40 majors and 150 tournaments? That's a little high even for an alternate universe. I thought Tiger's max would be 22 or so majors, 100 PGA Tour wins and those numbers would be forever untouchable in golf.

 

Meh. I think those numbers are high too, but that is quite literally what well respected golf sages were predicting when TW first hit the scene.

[bscinstnct]

Tiger outsmarted himself and it blew up in his face. It wasn't good enough to win the masters in a route in 1997 at 21. He had to rebuild, then it wasnt good enough to play the greatest golf ever seen in 2000. He had to wreck that swing and start over. He had the best body for golf possible at 21, he had to wreck that and get thick and beefy. It wasn't good enough to have a beautiful model wife and kids he had to wreck that with hundreds of affairs. It wasn't good enough to win prolifically under the new Haney swing, he had to wreck that and go rebuild again. It wasn't good enough to get back to #1 with Foley so he had to wreck that and do whatever he is doing now which he has described as going back to his junior swing. After all that he is admitting his original natural swing was fine but its too late. His muscle memory and destroyed body has no idea what to do over the ball. Tiger had a deep hole inside him he could never satiate and it got the best of him. If he sat down in 2000 and devised a plan to destroy his career he couldn't have done a better job than what we have seen play out. As a huge tiger fan its sad and a true sports tragedy.

 

Agreed. Give it a little more time and he'll be viewed as a cautionary tale. Amazing to think of his career as something that squandered a huge amount of potential, but there it is.

 

I understand what you mean by cautionary tale, but everyone who has ever touched a golf club in the world outside of Jack Nicklaus would love to have had Tiger's career. Might br cautionary for Day and Rory only because they might be risking longevity for short-term gains.

 

Oh, I agree. That's what makes it so crazy. Imagine the career he could've had if he stayed with Butch, doesn't try to join the SEALs, keeps swinging rather than try to force a marriage, etc etc etc. There's an alternate universe out there where he's won 150+ tournaments and 40 majors. Way back when, circa 1997-2000, that's what people were projecting as his ceiling and it didn't seem far fetched at all.

 

Sure, but if TW wasn't TW and act like TW, he wouldn't have 14 Majors and 79 tour wins. Not like him to just be content with anything, it seems.Overly intense, easy to see in retrospect that NO WAY can anybody play with that intensity forever. Amazing he did it for 10 years.

 

So, what now?

 

I think he should just practice all year for the Masters and just play that. Heck, he should build a replica of Augusta and just play it everyday until April ; )

[Soloman1]

1. No way an agent makes 20%. 2%-5% is closer to reality.

 

Yes way they certainly get 10-20% of endorsement deals. Your numbers are for team sports and restricted on playing contracts only.

[chippa13]

The only way Tiger "plays" at Augusta will be as part of the ceremonial first group. His body has given up on him. Just like Nomar, he put too much muscle onto a frame that couldn't handle it for the type of movements it was doing and it broke down on him.

[BillyZ2]

If you think about it, it is best for golf if he doesn't play anymore. Now we can get a fair view of all the players on tour not just Tiger Woods. There are some great up-and-coming young players who I would rather see than Tiger Woods.

[vwgolfer]

Roids are not good for your body long term.

[Holy Moses]

Tiger outsmarted himself and it blew up in his face. It wasn't good enough to win the masters in a route in 1997 at 21. He had to rebuild, then it wasnt good enough to play the greatest golf ever seen in 2000. He had to wreck that swing and start over. He had the best body for golf possible at 21, he had to wreck that and get thick and beefy. It wasn't good enough to have a beautiful model wife and kids he had to wreck that with hundreds of affairs. It wasn't good enough to win prolifically under the new Haney swing, he had to wreck that and go rebuild again. It wasn't good enough to get back to #1 with Foley so he had to wreck that and do whatever he is doing now which he has described as going back to his junior swing. After all that he is admitting his original natural swing was fine but its too late. His muscle memory and destroyed body has no idea what to do over the ball. Tiger had a deep hole inside him he could never satiate and it got the best of him. If he sat down in 2000 and devised a plan to destroy his career he couldn't have done a better job than what we have seen play out. As a huge tiger fan its sad and a true sports tragedy.

 

Agreed. Give it a little more time and he'll be viewed as a cautionary tale. Amazing to think of his career as something that squandered a huge amount of potential, but there it is.

 

I understand what you mean by cautionary tale, but everyone who has ever touched a golf club in the world outside of Jack Nicklaus would love to have had Tiger's career. Might br cautionary for Day and Rory only because they might be risking longevity for short-term gains.

 

Oh, I agree. That's what makes it so crazy. Imagine the career he could've had if he stayed with Butch, doesn't try to join the SEALs, keeps swinging rather than try to force a marriage, etc etc etc. There's an alternate universe out there where he's won 150+ tournaments and 40 majors. Way back when, circa 1997-2000, that's what people were projecting as his ceiling and it didn't seem far fetched at all.

 

Sure, but if TW wasn't TW and act like TW, he wouldn't have 14 Majors and 79 tour wins. Not like him to just be content with anything, it seems.Overly intense, easy to see in retrospect that NO WAY can anybody play with that intensity forever. Amazing he did it for 10 years.

 

So, what now?

 

I think he should just practice all year for the Masters and just play that. Heck, he should build a replica of Augusta and just play it everyday until April ; )

 

I think Rory is in the same position. He feels that he has to workout like he does to get the distance and power he needs to win. Without that, he can't be great. Rory is OK with bearing the consequences of a shorter career to accomplish what he could never have had without physical strength.

[Holy Moses]

If you think about it, it is best for golf if he doesn't play anymore. Now we can get a fair view of all the players on tour not just Tiger Woods. There are some great up-and-coming young players who I would rather see than Tiger Woods.

 

It's not best for golf for Tiger to go out this way. Pretty much everyone wanted one more run from Tiger. The Tour, the media, Tour players, equipment manufacturers, fans, and TV executives all wanted one last Tiger run.

[chippa13]

Rory was bombing it out there pretty good when he was chubby.

[Holy Moses]

Rory was bombing it out there pretty good when he was chubby.

 

Yes, but he went up another level

[hurricanes7]

Has one of his tournament ending injuries ever happened after a good round?

 

i feel the exact same way, he was hobbling around at the usopen and managed to finish because he was playing well. when was the last time he withdrew while actually playing well?

[BoogieThumper]

If you think about it, it is best for golf if he doesn't play anymore. Now we can get a fair view of all the players on tour not just Tiger Woods. There are some great up-and-coming young players who I would rather see than Tiger Woods.

I totally respect your opinion but it TW retires do you think that the 297th ranked guy will get more TV time? Nothing much will change except fewer tickets sold and lower TV ratings at certain tour stops. The idea that TW is holding golf back somehow is crazy talk.....in my humble opinion.

[Holy Moses]

Has one of his tournament ending injuries ever happened after a good round?

 

i feel the exact same way, he was hobbling around at the usopen and managed to finish because he was playing well. when was the last time he withdrew while actually playing well?

 

Maybe, but at this point can he play well and win? No, so that's not even a possibility. Tiger can't do that so we never know if it could even happen.

[DrSchteeve]

Am I the only one who thinks he is not injured and just pulls out of the tournament because he does not want to embarrass himself more this week?

He had no pain yesterday and does not have pain today, he can make full swings without a problem. The spasms sound for me like "let's find some small thing to get us out here without loosing face". I don't condemn him for that, I can understand.

 

We will see him again, but he really has to improve his game. I don't understand how critical most people here talk about his back. Seems like everyone analyzes each swing in detail in slo-mo and trying to see a glimpse of pain. We have seen only three rounds, but the truth is, he played golf for months now without pain, otherwise he would not be there. The back/pain issue is not as big, his game is just off!

 

Clueless.

[Wardell Stone]

Really strange that he would chase an appearance fee on the other side of the planet. Even with his divorce/recent poor play, he's got to have a quarter of a BILLION dollars in the bank. Why risk it? Why not just go play Phoenix, try to have fun/stay healthy? Really odd choice.

Rich people never think they have enough...ever. So that argument makes perfect sense for some of us but not to him.. Same reason the guy who builds the 10 million dollar company won't sell it and retire. He's always off to start his next thing. Stupid decision to get on a flight.

[chippa13]

If you think about it, it is best for golf if he doesn't play anymore. Now we can get a fair view of all the players on tour not just Tiger Woods. There are some great up-and-coming young players who I would rather see than Tiger Woods.

I totally respect your opinion but it TW retires do you think that the 297th ranked guy will get more TV time? Nothing much will change except fewer tickets sold and lower TV ratings at certain tour stops. The idea that TW is holding golf back somehow is crazy talk.....in my humble opinion.

 

They won't show the nobody about to not make the cut but they will show more live coverage of guys a lot further up the leaderboard once they stop cutting to every moment of Tiger's 77. For any sport to thrive it needs to promote a host of top players and constantly be replenishing that stock of recognizable faces.

[djmohab2]

Rory was bombing it out there pretty good when he was chubby.

 

When the hell was Rors ever chubby?

[Pat du Golf]

Source is telling me that a Major press conference is in the works for TW retirement. ....breaking news!

[Holy Moses]

Rory was bombing it out there pretty good when he was chubby.

 

When the hell was Rors ever chubby?

 

Not chubby, but not fit

[chippa13]

Rory was bombing it out there pretty good when he was chubby.

 

When the hell was Rors ever chubby?

 

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2010/jul/13/rory-mcilroy-ryo-ishikawa-open