For Woods, any major win will do
Web posted
Monday, April 5, 2004
Tiger Woods (Stats | Bio) wants to win this Masters Tournament, obviously. There's an interesting rumor out there that he wants to win this week more badly than usual.
Woods is hungrier than ever, the theory goes, because he's winless in his past six major championships.
He's more focused than ever because an ill-advised, errant driver on the third hole of last year's final round destroyed his chance to be the first player to win the Masters three straight times.
He's angrier than ever because of all the chatter about the erosion of his dominance being linked to the separation from his swing coach.
Woods is chapped and charged up to catch four-time winner Arnold Palmer (Stats | Bio) on the Masters leaderboard and resume his quest to catch Jack Nicklaus (Stats | Bio) as the all-time Masters and majors winner.
It's a sound theory, at least until you mention it to Woods. Then he simply shoots a hole in it big enough fit the head of his Nike driver.
"A major's a major," he said. "Plain and simple. It's all the same."
Woods said he has prepared no differently this year than he has for any of his previous seven Masters starts as a professional. He said he feels comfortable with the way his game is coming together.
But the critics have been quick to declare Woods off his game.
After Woods won his second-straight WGC-Accenture Match Play in February, scrutiny of him mounted when he posted his worst tournament finish since before his majors slam run in 1999, a tie for 56th in the Bay Hill Invitational - an event he'd won the previous four times.
After an opening 76 at The Players Championship a week later, Woods came closest to ending his record streak of 120 consecutive cuts since getting to the weekend on the number at last year's Masters. With wild-right driving leading to penalty shots and more frequent bogeys, analysts and peers are questioning the wisdom of Woods not working with swing coach Butch Harmon. It was with Harmon's help that Woods won all eight of his majors, and he's 0-for-6 since serving as his own swing doctor.
NBC analyst Johnny Miller said Players champion and Harmon pupil Adam Scott (Stats | Bio) is employing Woods' swing better than Woods. He's not alone in that thinking.
"I think people are catching up with him," veteran golfer Scott Hoch said. "I feel Tiger needs to get back with Butch to be on the pedestal he was on before. He hasn't been nearly as consistent since they've been apart. He played much better before than he has recently."
While talk of a slump is absurd, Woods' recent major history isn't up to his unusual standards. Since cruising to his seventh major win in a four-season stretch at the 2002 U.S. Open, Woods has hit a slight hiccup in his title consumption.
His vulnerability has never been more exposed than during this major drought.
It started with his worst finish as a pro at the 2002 British Open, a career-high 81 in a third-round gale that doomed his single-season Grand Slam quest. It continued at the 2002 PGA with back-to-back bogeys spoiling a four-birdie finish in a one-shot loss to Rich Beem (Stats | Bio).
Last year, Woods posted his worst round at Augusta National with an opening 76. After climbing back into contention Saturday, his comeback effort self-destructed with a driver on the short par-4 No. 3 that sliced underneath an azalea bush, leading to double bogey.
In the U.S. Open at Olympia Fields, Woods wasn't much of a factor, posting another professional high with a third-round 75.
He was in the hunt at the British Open despite losing a ball on his opening tee shot, finishing two shots behind unknown Ben Curtis (Stats | Bio) .
In the PGA Championship at Oak Hill, Woods shot over par in every round for the only time in his career to tie for 39th, his worst showing ever.
The dry spell is more of a fascination with the media and fans than it is with players, who understand how tough it is to contend in any major, much less win them in bunches. That Woods completed only his second season in seven as a full-time professional without a major triumph is hardly remarkable.
"I wouldn't worry too much about Tiger Woods (Stats | Bio) not winning a major for a year," said Tom Watson (Stats | Bio) , who is tied with Woods on the all-time majors list with eight victories. "How many years did Jack Nicklaus (Stats | Bio) go without winning a major?"
The answer is eight times, including stretches of 12, 10 and 20 majors between victories. The longest Woods has gone without a major triumph was 10 majors between his first and second career wins - the 1997 Masters and the 1999 PGA.
While favorites to win this year's Masters include Phil Mickelson (Stats | Bio) , Darren Clarke (Stats | Bio) , Vijay Singh (Stats | Bio) , Ernie Els (Stats | Bio) and Scott, his peers don't think Woods should be overlooked too quickly. Padraig Harrington (Stats | Bio) , who played with Woods in the final round at The Players Championship, said Woods' thinking, imagination and short game appear as good as ever.
"If there's something up with his long game, you know, that can be fixed pretty quickly," Harrington said. "He'd be right there anyway, but I think he's got three-quarters of what he needs to do well at Augusta going for him at the moment. He's doing pretty well. I don't think it's a big case to worry. He's still the No. 1 guy, probably by quite a bit."
Even Harmon, despite pointing out a couple of flaws in Woods' current swing, agrees.
"Tiger Woods (Stats | Bio) gets his game in shape, he'll be the guy to beat," Harmon said.
MAJOR PAIN
Since his win at the 2002 U.S. Open, Tiger Woods (Stats | Bio) has struggled in the majors. He has just two top-10 finishes and nearly missed the cut at last year's Masters Tournament:
| EVENT | STROKES BACK | WINNER | FINISH |
| '02 BRITISH OPEN | 6 | Ernie Els (Stats | Bio) | T28 |
| '02 PGA | 1 | Rich Beem (Stats | Bio) | 2 |
| '03 MASTERS | 9 | Mike Weir (Stats | Bio) | T15 |
| '03 U.S. OPEN | 11 | Jim Furyk (Stats | Bio) | T20 |
| '03 BRITISH OPEN | 2 | Ben Curtis (Stats | Bio) | T4 |
| '03 PGA | 16 | SHAUN MICHEEL | T39 |
