Tiger Woods can win again, analysts say
We take a look at Tiger’s extensive history of injuries.
Tiger Woods hasn’t won on the PGA Tour in more than 40 months.
NBC Sports and Golf Channel analyst Mark Rolfing said Wednesday the winless drought could end in the next 12 months.
“Can he win? I think it’ll be difficult, but I would say yes,” Rolfing said. “All the stars are going to have to align, and I think it’s going to have to be the kind of a golf course where he really isn’t trying to overpower it.”
Rolfing, along with Johnny Miller and fellow NBC Sports and Golf Channel analyst David Duval, spoke in a conference call previewing the upcoming year in golf. Much of the conversation dealt with Woods, the former world No. 1 a record 683 weeks who is now ranked No. 652.
Due to recurring back problems — he had two back surgeries in the fall of 2015 — Woods hasn’t played on the PGA Tour since finishing in a tie for 10th in the 2015 Wyndham Championship.
He made his return to competitive golf in December at the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas. While Woods finished 15th in the field of 18, he and winner Hideki Matsuyama did lead the field in birdies with each making 24.
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“The things I liked most were the 24 birdies,” Rolfing said. “I liked the way he looked physically, a little bit leaner, a little bit thinner up on top, and I liked his feel. The moment I remember is when he hit the iron shot on the par-3 5th hole, and I knew it was on line, and he just said, ‘Go another yard, be another yard farther.’ When he’s got that kind of feel and knows where his shots are going, and can be within a yard of the right distance, that says a lot to me.”
Duval, a former world No. 1, also liked a lot of what he saw from Woods in the Bahamas.
“I like that he seemed to have a successful week health-wise,” Duval said. “Making a lot of birdie speaks to quality golf shots and quality putting. … Golf-swing-wise, I really liked the iron swings, kind of the knock-downs again, the controlling of the club face. Even with some of the like kind of punch 3-woods I saw him hit. I remember one on the par-5 particularly he laid up with. Beautiful motion, controlling the rotation of the club face, limiting it.
“The driver I think is going to be a question mark. You know, he was not ever the straightest but certainly seemed to always hit them that way when he needed to, and it’s a little bit different golf swing. The hands are a little bit higher as he swings the driver going into impact, which lowers the club face and opens it, and that means you have to have a lot of timing going into the golf ball to have a square, consistent hit. If he could work on that a little bit, I wouldn’t be shocked at all to see him win in 2017.”
Miller said “everyone is interested in (Woods).” And that poses a challenge.
“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. “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.
“I was really impressed with his putting. I was impressed with his irons. I was impressed with his slower tempo. … 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. And I still think he’s got the heebie-geebies chipping around the green, the little pitch shots, and I’m not sure if he has a lot of confidence or not.
“ … You’ve got to be happy with 24 birdies, though. You know, he’s going to be a lot of fun to watch. He’s going to really help the TV ratings.”
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