After a three-month lay-off following back surgery, Tiger Woods turned up to play last week at a PGA Tour event outside Washington.
Turned up, as distinguished from tuned up.
He came nowhere near to making the cut, then sent forth the sort of vague signals that have left fans to study Tiger tea leaves for most of two decades.
His message was hardly interpreted as a prediction of future success. Woods insisted that he "felt great", though he shot a four-over 75 in the second round. He clearly was addressing his physical state, because there was nothing notable about his execution.
“I missed the cut by four shots; that’s a lot,” he said. “But the fact that, what I was able to do physically, and the speed I had and distance that I was hitting the golf ball again, I had not done that in a very long time.”
Fair enough, though the degree to which the injury heals is only part of the picture.
For years, the adjectives summoned to describe his play have been some variation on reverence and awe: driven, nonpareil, unrelenting. The analytical thesaurus is well-worn.
Another term has been added of late and it is a complete shock to the system: apathetic.
It has become increasingly clear that Woods is not working as hard as he once did and that his tachometer no longer always runs near the red line.
Woods, who turns 40 next year, chopped it around the greens so badly last week he dropped 2.9 strokes per round from inside 100 yards (91 metres) when compared to the rest of the field.
It is instructive to recall that Woods earlier called the surgery a backdoor blessing, because it would allow him time to hone his short game.
He saved par on three of the 16 greens that he missed.
“I probably should have spent more time chipping over on the chipping green than I did, but that’s the way it goes,” he said, all but shrugging.
Nonchalance is anathema to our ears when it comes to Woods, who has two weeks to prepare for the British Open, which begins July 17 at Royal Liverpool, where he won in 2006. Woods has not won a major in six years.
The clock is loudly ticking in his quest to match Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 majors and, even though Hoylake is a venue where he has already soared, Woods expressed not a lick of urgency.
“Well, I’m going to take my kids on a nice little vacation, which will be nice, next week,” he said last Friday.
His holiday from the major tournament winner’s circle will likely be extended, too.
selling@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
