He was the toast of the tees for a very long period of time; he had so much endorsement contract all over which brought him to limelight and with peace of mind at the home front, his game kept improving with every championship as he kept recording victories with fantastic finishes.
Alas, all that change with the snap of a finger and the man Tiger Woods who was thought to have the magic wand started dwindling after the collapse of his cherished marriage after he was discovered to have been having extra-marital affairs by his wife and his game? Suffered along with it as he became a shadow of himself when it comes what he does best.
Now in England at the wet Royal Lytham & St. Annes this week with several strategies that were not planned with the present condition but the golf superstar is beginning to show signs of such super recovery thus reminding golf pundits of his 2006 victory at Royal Liverpool, where he hit irons off the tee all week and shot 18 under par and won by two shots as he sliced through 36 holes of this Open Championship.
But It is only if Woods wins claret jug No. 4 and major championship No. 15 as he plays conservatively, can he then be referred to as Hoylake 2.0 because so far the strategy has been brilliant save for criticism which will be at the end of the championship depending either he wins or losses as he birdied two of the last three holes Friday to shoot a second consecutive 67 and is alone in third place at 6 under par,meanwhile Brandt Snedeker is the leader at 10 under followed by Adam Scott at 9 under.
While Woods is playing a version of hit-and-giggle, Snedeker and Scott have been more aggressive and haven’t been afraid to go flag hunting. Granted an iron off the tee rolls miles here but Woods has often left himself more than 200 yards into greens, making it difficult to hit the ball within birdie range.
The weather conditions hasn’t really stopped Tiger Woods as he has hit driver precisely three times in two days – twice on Thursday, once on Friday. He’s content with hitting his “spots” and staying away from danger, a noble option. Woods confided Friday that he’d love to hit driver on both par 5s but the shot doesn’t suit his eye.
Meanwhile, Snedeker has hit many drivers off the tee and has made 10 birdies and zero bogeys. He also hasn’t found one bunker. He’s hit a couple wayward drives but each time has been able to put a good strike on the approach. Scott has done much the same and played impressively Friday despite his lead being wiped out before he ever hit a golf ball.
It is hard to hammer Tiger Woods as he has won 14 majors including three jugs on this side of the pond and he’s done it with different methods. Through two rounds, Woods has hit 26-of-28 fairways and 29-of-36 greens and has taken 58 putts. He’s found only one bunker and that ended in birdie when he holed out from the side of the 18th green Friday, sending the British gallery into a roar.
We have no clue where Woods would be if he took more chances hitting driver from the tee box. More than perhaps any other time in his career, Woods is driving the ball on a rope so it’d be fun to see him test those skills here.
Part of the noise too is a competitive deal. We’re so used to watching Woods overpower a course during his heyday that it’s difficult to watch playing partners Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose consistently bomb it 50 yards past him even if they did both miss the cut by a shot.
On the par-4 15th hole, Woods hit iron off the tee and was left with 222 yards into the green, too long a distance to expect anything better than par. Iron worked off the tee at 16, where Woods drained a 20-footer for birdie and it worked off the last only because he holed out a vintage Woods bunker shot.
Woods made it clear that the leaders are not going to change his strategy, no matter how well they play or what the conditions are like over the next 48 hours.