Tiger's win in Dubai

[pingshack22]

What GUTS!!!

We are very fortunate as golf fans to be able to witness the talent of this man. Tiger, by his standards, is playing bad golf right now. His game and swing are all over the place and he continues to win routinely. He will fix these faults and start winning tournaments by wider margins. He will IMHO break all Jack's records and post historical numbers that will never be broken. He has the body of a 22-year-old and age is not going to be a negative factor, atleast not anytime soon. It will be fun to watch El Tigre bring home atleast two more major's this year. Enjoy it guys, this guy is a "freak" and his best golf is yet to come!

[Huskypride28]

I completely agree. He is just simply amazing. I am in aww every time I watch him play. I hate repeating this comparison but no one has captivated a sport like Tiger has since Michael Jordan. I feel blessed that I was able to witness Jordan's greatness and I feel lucky to witness El Tigre in his prime as well. Athletes like that don't come around often so feel lucky to see such great sportsmen in the same era.

[jportz]

I'll tell you what Tiger is teaching me....work on your short game. He missed most fairways and most greens today and won. I'm off to chip and putt..........

[animalistic]

I completely agree. He is just simply amazing. I am in aww every time I watch him play. I hate repeating this comparison but no one has captivated a sport like Tiger has since Michael Jordan. I feel blessed that I was able to witness Jordan's greatness and I feel lucky to witness El Tigre in his prime as well. Athletes like that don't come around often so feel lucky to see such great sportsmen in the same era.

 

i couldnt agree more...........the greatest golfer of all time and qiute possibly[in a few more years]the greatest sportsman of all time.two majors this year is even a conservative estimate if he gets his A game goin

[hacker17]

So true. Two weeks in row now that he's played "bad" and still came out on top. Granted, it was in a playoff both times but wins none the less.

[sergizmo]

His mental toughness, patience, scrambling, shortgame, and pressure putting really puts him ahead of the pack. He can spray it all over and still win.

 

I just wish his competitors would step it up a little. He's won both playoffs this year with pars.

[sandy]

It will be interesting to see how Tiger does getting near Nicklaus. Never forget that Jack had very poor scrambling and sand trap skills. Why?? Because although among the longest golfers of his time he wasn't all over the lot like Tiger is---very straight and accurate--with lousy out of round balls and tiny persimmon drivers. Tiger has had to develop those skills to survive his errant shots. When he was hitting 60-70% of the fairways you could see what he could do (best years). Even with the giant headed drivers and custom made balls, lately he has been mired in the mid to low 50% and he has had to rely more and more on his superb recovery skills. I don't think it really matters what MOI driver Nike supplies him he will probably be mired in the 50 to low 60% fairways for some time to come. He has demonstrated that it can get worse depending on his shaft (7% last week with the AXIS).

[madman]

Birdies on 17 and 18 to get into a playoff, and a safe par on the 1st playoff hole to win. What guts. This man is unbelievable. Most other tour players would have only birdied 1 of them if not none but not Tiger. He must have the most guts on the PGA Tour. How many of you agree with me?

[kkhere]

Tiger is absolutely amazing. He can do things on the golf course that NO one can match

[fpmdl3]

its crazy, i think he will win multi majors this year, and one will be pga

[Ty_Webb]

After having struggled with his driver and pretty much dumped it for his 3 wood on the back nine, to pull driver on 17 when he pretty much had to and drive the green is a demonstration of pure class. Stunning chip on 18 in regulation play too. Gotta get up and down, tough chip with the ball sitting down. Hit it to 2 feet, knock it in. He epitomises grace under pressure.

[Johnny]

After having struggled with his driver and pretty much dumped it for his 3 wood on the back nine, to pull driver on 17 when he pretty much had to and drive the green is a demonstration of pure class. Stunning chip on 18 in regulation play too. Gotta get up and down, tough chip with the ball sitting down. Hit it to 2 feet, knock it in. He epitomises grace under pressure.

 

 

Class ?...Balls.. yes.. Class no

[Frijj]

I think hes lucky with it too, no matter how many fairways he misses hes always got a shot, anyone else misses badly they are screwed :drinks:

[Ty_Webb]

After having struggled with his driver and pretty much dumped it for his 3 wood on the back nine, to pull driver on 17 when he pretty much had to and drive the green is a demonstration of pure class. Stunning chip on 18 in regulation play too. Gotta get up and down, tough chip with the ball sitting down. Hit it to 2 feet, knock it in. He epitomises grace under pressure.

 

 

Class ?...Balls.. yes.. Class no

 

I'd say class was a fair word for it. When form disappears (as Tiger's did today) it is class (or lack of it) that shines through under pressure. To hit that drive that he did on 17 took class as well as balls. Just my humble opinion.

[franmel123]

Tiger is undoubtebly the best golfer of all time, or at least will become. I am very much a tiger fan, but when Els snap hooks his tee shot into the desert, and then knocks it in the water it does help. But its els' fault not tiger's he's the man to beat everytime he is out, even if his D game is on and he can't stop throwing up!

[jzatl04]

All I can say is April won't come soon enough!! I can't wait for the Masters and I hope, by then, two or three other top players will be at the top of their games as well as Tiger!

[Johnny]

After having struggled with his driver and pretty much dumped it for his 3 wood on the back nine, to pull driver on 17 when he pretty much had to and drive the green is a demonstration of pure class. Stunning chip on 18 in regulation play too. Gotta get up and down, tough chip with the ball sitting down. Hit it to 2 feet, knock it in. He epitomises grace under pressure.

 

 

Class ?...Balls.. yes.. Class no

 

I'd say class was a fair word for it. When form disappears (as Tiger's did today) it is class (or lack of it) that shines through under pressure. To hit that drive that he did on 17 took class as well as balls. Just my humble opinion.

 

CLASS =elegance in dress or behavior... so taking out driver on 17 is elegance.. must have been his followthrough you are taking about... it was gutsy..not class.

[Gooze]

Ernie really is my hero, love his swing rhythm and everything...

 

Iwas very angry when he gave the tournament away because I would like to see someone win the tournament actively. The last three titles were handed to tiger on a silver tray...

 

Having that said i agree with you guys, this is history in the making and I'm proud to be watching it " LIVE "

 

Go Tiger ! I need some stories I can tell my grandchildren in some 50years...

[Angenend]

After having struggled with his driver and pretty much dumped it for his 3 wood on the back nine, to pull driver on 17 when he pretty much had to and drive the green is a demonstration of pure class. Stunning chip on 18 in regulation play too. Gotta get up and down, tough chip with the ball sitting down. Hit it to 2 feet, knock it in. He epitomises grace under pressure.

 

 

Class ?...Balls.. yes.. Class no

 

I'd say class was a fair word for it. When form disappears (as Tiger's did today) it is class (or lack of it) that shines through under pressure. To hit that drive that he did on 17 took class as well as balls. Just my humble opinion.

 

CLASS =elegance in dress or behavior... so taking out driver on 17 is elegance.. must have been his followthrough you are taking about... it was gutsy..not class.

 

careful guys. i assume what you mean by disagreeing with class is not an ethical thing, but rather a literal discrepancy? I guess technically class doesn't make sense in that sentence, but Tiger is a classy player, and that can't be denied. He knows what needs to be done, so he does it.

[Ty_Webb]

http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/class?view=uk

 

"adjective: showing stylish excellence"

 

That's sort of what I mean. I've never said "a classy golfer" and meant someone who dressed well. My mistake I guess. When I said class, I meant it to mean the same thing as "quality". High class golfer = high quality golfer

 

A saying I've heard over here a few times is something along the lines of "form is temporary, class is permanent". What I've always taken it to mean is that some people aren't that good, but get on a hot streak, while some people are just good. Hence, my suggestion that when form disappears class shines through.

 

In any case, it appears that our disagreement is one only of semantics.

[VTHOKIES]

First let me state I am not a huge Tiger fan but I admire is game nonetheless. Think what he did and how many other players could do it. He wins the Buick, then flies across the globe and wins 7 days later on another continent. That is just unbelievable, even if he flies on his own private jet.

[DemolitionMan]

http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/class?view=uk

 

"adjective: showing stylish excellence"

 

That's sort of what I mean. I've never said "a classy golfer" and meant someone who dressed well. My mistake I guess. When I said class, I meant it to mean the same thing as "quality". High class golfer = high quality golfer

 

A saying I've heard over here a few times is something along the lines of "form is temporary, class is permanent". What I've always taken it to mean is that some people aren't that good, but get on a hot streak, while some people are just good. Hence, my suggestion that when form disappears class shines through.

 

In any case, it appears that our disagreement is one only of semantics.

 

If TW was a horse and we were handicapping him, sure he has CLASS. I can agree with all the definitions, but not sure how pulling driver out on 17 shows class, he was doing it earlier in the week too and making only a par. So if he has the length to drive the green and fails to make birdie, does that mean he has no class?

 

A win is a win, so congrats to TW, but I am not going to get all drunk and crazy over a birdie-birdie finish on a driveable par 4 and an easy birdie par 5. A great player winning with a less than A game performance does not make the great player even better, it just means that week, and that week only, everyone else in the top 20 or so played their less than A game too.

 

What it looks like more than anything is the rest of the tour is back to getting choked up when going toe to toe with TW in R4 or the playoffs. Daly, Sergio, Ollie, Els, Goosen, DiMarco - all top players with a chance to win giving it up on what are normally easy holes/putts for these guys. Oh well......there is still Tivo and the volume button, so life is good.

[martineli69]

I have to agree... Tiger is impressive, long, though mentally like no other and has arguably the best putting under pressure ever seen. He proves it time after time... Just look at last Year's Masters playoff or 17th hole at the british open... He is always making the putt when it matters... It seems like we are seeing the same "Tiger Effect" that happened a while back when everybody was backing up and look scared of playing with him. I like to watch Tiger win, but I dont like when other players hand him tournaments. Hopefully the young guys like Holmes, Villegas, Donald, the veterans like Els, Vijay, Mickelson get it together and start playing to beat Tiger, no just hand him tournaments... I would like to see tiger break all the records, but I also like to see other players challenge him, it just makes it more interesting and not just a blowout....

[Ty_Webb]

If TW was a horse and we were handicapping him, sure he has CLASS. I can agree with all the definitions, but not sure how pulling driver out on 17 shows class, he was doing it earlier in the week too and making only a par. So if he has the length to drive the green and fails to make birdie, does that mean he has no class?

 

When I said that, I didn't mean that the action of pulling out driver was class. The fact that he'd taken driver earlier in the round and made what looked like normal swings without his "trying to save it with the hands" look, only having the ball land 40 odd yards left of the fairway, meant that his driver was a real struggle that day. His confidence with his driver can't have been that good, but he must have felt that taking driver at 17 was the right play. He trusted himself to pull it off and he did, landing the ball in the middle of the green. That's what I was meaning was the classy play. The fact that he succeeded, not that he tried.

 

The thing was that with having hit driver so badly all day, taking driver on a hole where he could probably hit 5-iron, wedge and make birdie easily enough, but not succeeding with the driver play would suggest a rather poor decision. But, he also knew that if he layed up and didn't make birdie, he'd be struggling at the last. You could say he took a chance and got lucky, but I choose to think that he would have hit that green 10 times out of 10, in spite of his earlier poor play. I guess that's what I really mean by the class comment. That I can't envision him doing that and failing. That may be severely misguided, but it's my view.

 

The other three alternatives were that he hit driver and hit it way off line, in which case it would have been a foolish decision (not particularly classy), he laid up in the fairway and made birdie - probably considered a good decision in light of his driving earlier, but not an aggressive play and not really in character, or finally that he laid up and didn't make birdie. Chip Beck got some pretty serious grief for such a decision in the 1993 Masters (not that I think Tiger would have got that), but he wouldn't have made 3 at the last I suspect and he wouldn't have won the tournament. What he did was the only one that would result in me saying that was a class play.

 

Phew...

[DemolitionMan]

If TW was a horse and we were handicapping him, sure he has CLASS. I can agree with all the definitions, but not sure how pulling driver out on 17 shows class, he was doing it earlier in the week too and making only a par. So if he has the length to drive the green and fails to make birdie, does that mean he has no class?

 

The thing was that with having hit driver so badly all day, taking driver on a hole where he could probably hit 5-iron, wedge and make birdie easily enough, but not succeeding with the driver play would suggest a rather poor decision. But, he also knew that if he layed up and didn't make birdie, he'd be struggling at the last. You could say he took a chance and got lucky, but I choose to think that he would have hit that green 10 times out of 10, in spite of his earlier poor play. I guess that's what I really mean by the class comment. That I can't envision him doing that and failing. That may be severely misguided, but it's my view.

 

 

I highly doubt top tour pros put even 1/10th of thought into this as you would suggest. We can't give the guy credit for not taking the more conservative route with 5 iron because it was never a consideration.

 

Tiger had his game plan for the 17th hole on Wednesday, and being the mentally tough player he is, nothing was going to change that plan no matter how he struggled with driver. He sees the width of the green, knows his distance with driver, end of story. If he cannot sustain the confidence he needs to go to that club no matter how many times it has failed him that day, then he would not have ten majors. It's that simple.