A spring ago, with the Masters near, golf awaited the return of Tiger Woods from the island of fallen stars.
As another Augusta Pollen Festival begins Thursday, there’s still no sign of Woods. Not the real one, anyway. Just some stranger playing out of his bag, whose trip through the world rankings has become all chutes, no ladders. He’s that guy tinkering obsessively with a swing once considered purer than a BYU point guard. A lost soul who is one more missed five-footer away from putting with a frying pan.
If the real Woods is ever going to show up, it’s about time, don’t you think?
The coming of another Masters — Woods’ 17th, can you believe it? — signals the official beginning of Tiger Watch 2011. That little patch of heaven off Washington Road is supposed to prime his pump. He has won there four times. He has finished no worse than sixth in the five Masters since his last victory (2005), including two seconds and a third. This place always has sustained him.
And, indeed, Woods says he is “definitely looking forward” to this year’s first Major — this time minus all the hubbub of personal scandal.
Just weeks ago, during some pressers in New York, Woods repeated his determination to break Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships — “Absolutely. I believe in myself,” he said.
Nicklaus — who is marking the 25th anniversary of No. 18, a glorious Masters at the age of 46 — sort of agrees. “[Woods] has got such a great work ethic. He’s so determined to do what he wants to do,” he said earlier this year. “I’m very surprised that he has not popped back by now. I still think he’ll break my record.
“We’ll see. You probably can ask me that same question at the end of this year and we’ll see what the answer is. [How this season goes] will probably define a lot of what will be the answer.”
Back to golf
But we get ahead of ourselves. Before Woods can win the five majors that would catapult him past the Bear, he must demonstrate he can win just one again. He hasn’t claimed a PGA Tour event of any stripe since September 2009, the winless streak reaching 18 events after a 24th-place tie at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. That’s the longest drought of his career.
The healing water of Rae’s Creek has its work cut out for it this week.
The prurient interest in his personal life has subsided from a year ago, when he authored his version of “Adultery for Dummies.” During the 2010 Masters, planes towed banners above the course ridiculing him. And Augusta National chairman Billy Payne took the unheard of step of publicly chastising one of the tournament’s past champions like he was a wayward frat boy.
Still Woods shot four sub-par rounds and finished tied for fourth. That’s just how at home he is at Augusta National.
As he has said, “I’ve always loved playing there. It’s as good as it gets.”
His divorce is final, and mostly the world just wants to get back to golf.
The computer gamers have said so. “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters” has just been released to positive reviews, a significant step in the decontamination of his image.
His relationship with Sean Foley is the hot topic today. The new swing coach, Woods’ third practice range Yoda, not counting his late father, is installing new hardware in the player. To the unschooled eye, there are no dramatic alterations — Woods has not gone left-handed, nor has he added tai chi to his pre-shot routine. But apparently every tweak to a precision instrument like this is a risky adjustment.
Butch Harmon, who worked with the young Tiger, was somewhat incredulous at the beginning of the process. He told NBC, “This is Tiger Woods. This isn’t somebody on the Nationwide Tour that’s just trying to get a card. This is the greatest player that ever lived.”
To another old school champion, all this fiddling around is a bafflement. Arnold Palmer recalled that his father was his only swing coach, a man who placed his 6-year-old son’s hands on a club a certain way and commanded, “Boy, don’t you ever change it.” And Arnie didn’t.
“Well, I’m a little surprised that he’s changing his game — which I’m not really sure what [the change] is,” Palmer said last week.
Like much else in golf, change is borne out slowly. Thus far this season, Woods has been unable to sustain his former brilliance over multiple rounds.
There have been promising moments the past four months: Rounds of 65 and 66 in his own tournament, the Chevron World Challenge. A 66 during Day 2 in Dubai. A 68 at Palmer’s tournament that put him in second-round contention.
And each time, there has been an unraveling: Woods wasted a three-shot, third-round lead at the Chevron, losing to a Graeme McDowell in a playoff. He blew up in the winds of Dubai, finishing with a pair of 75s and being fined for spitting on the green. And that Friday round in Orlando last week was his only under par round of the tournament.
At Doral, he hit one smother-hooked drive that was measured at 122 yards. That same day, he popped up a 3-wood that had coffin corner kick written all over it.
Even if he does straighten out the problems off the tee, none of that will matter at Augusta if he does not improve a putting average that now ranks 105th on Tour.
Nevertheless, Woods left the Palmer Invitational, his final Masters tuneup, singing a hopeful song.
“It’s getting better every week I’ve played,” he said. “I just need to keep progressing and hopefully it will peak two more Thursdays from now.”
As for his problematic putting, he said he has returned to a practice routine that his father developed. “I don’t know what that dude saw in my game, but he really knew putting and he knew my stroke.”
“I think [improving on the greens] is more practice, plain and simple,” Woods said. “I had not practiced my putting as much as I had in years past, and consequently, I became more of a streaky putter. I’ve never been that way. I’ve always been a pretty consistent putter, day in and day out, and I’m getting back to that.”
Game changing
There is more to the challenge facing Woods than just his own game. Golf has not stood still awaiting the return of its former No. 1-ranked player (now downgraded to No. 5). A new generation of players weaned on his example is breaking through. During the first two rounds of the Palmer Invitational, he was grouped with a pair of young limberbacks — Dustin Johnson and Gary Woodland — who both rank ahead of him in driving distance. While trying to find his own game, Woods has lost the ability to pound the field into submission.
Indulging in a bit of greenside psychology, England’s Ian Poulter suggested that many of Woods’ ills can be cured by an infusion of confidence. It’s in his head, not in his swing. All he needs is to consistently contend until something in him clicks into place, Poulter reasons.
“I think if he puts himself in the mix, I would know where my money is going,” he said.
The real Woods will signal his return — if it is to come — with a series of significant Sundays. No more of these last-round tee times that get him home before the start of “60 Minutes.” He needs to play again into dusk, battling for a lead. Like he always used to do at the Masters.
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