This is just one man’s opinion, but I believe I am correct because I predicted this in his game when he started working with Haney.
The knee injury, the crooked driving, the band aids necessary and all of that would lead to problems in the short game.
To me, bad putting just happens to everyone, even to Tiger. Fans and analysts alike have been blaming it on bad putting when Tiger doesn’t win.
I have a different spin. Tiger is the greatest short game player and clutch putter of all time. Bad for him is the norm, or even above average for most PGA Tour players.
I don’t think Tiger ever loses because of his putting, as much as his putting wasn’t fantastic enough to overcome what has become often spectacular, but inconsistent ball striking.
As far as his chipping was concerned, I think all of the band aids he has had to practice for hours a day to get himself to strike it better, started to ruin the pace and plane of his chipping motion.
He has been underneath the plane for a long time because he is diving at it and pulling off it. The muscle memory that he has created by practicing the hand manipulation that is required to square the club in that situation is creating problem for his chipping…which is the greatest I have seen in my lifetime.
Many of the things I have said here are debatable because they are my opinions, although I even predicted his knee injury before it happened.
What is not debatable and is a fact…if your spine angle moves down at the ball vertically and then horizontally away from the ball all during the split second of a downswing, there must be hand and arm manipulations to square the club. Those manipulations will cause inconsistent ball striking and cause short game excellence to diminish.
Tiger is doing all of this and I believe he will still be #1, but won’t dominate in the fashion we saw in 2000-2001 in the majors until he rectifies these issues.
My last piece of evidence that he has major swing issues affecting him. When have you ever seen Tiger bleed so many strokes away at the ends of rounds in majors? I believe he is so mentally exhausted from his golf swing being stuck, that he runs out of gas at the end of some of these rounds.
Streaming Video Series
Hey Monte,
Have you gotten any feedback from Tiger or any other pros on your opinions? It seems that predicting Tiger’s knee injury should have made an impression somewhere. Or, do your opinions just fall into the noise. Are other pro golfers as free with their opinions? Do they keep it private with their peers?
Good stuff…
You’ve heard interviews on the Golf Channel. Very canned and PC most of the time and the press goes wild when someone says something mildly controversial. Predicting Tiger’s knee injury was only to a few friends who respect what I have to say about golf, but most of my opinions fall into the noise, as you say.
I did write Tiger’s agent a letter, with a letter to Tiger enclosed telling him that I feel like I have a handle on his swing issues, as I went through some of the same issues and he can contact me at any time.
Not many people know what if feels like to generate 130 mph of club head speed while stuck underneath the plane. Certainly not Hank Haney, but I have had that problem for a while and have some suggestions on how to rectify it.
Interesting Tiger fact:
He won at Bay Hill in his final tournament before the Masters, then shot 280 at Augusta National and tied for sixth, four shots out of the lead. He won at Memorial in his final start before the U.S. Open, shot 280 at Bethpage Black and tied for sixth, four shots behind.