T1B

It is starting to look as though he can't put together more than about 2 rounds before his back blows up.

Is this it?

Backs don't tend to get better over time and I am sure he has already had the best back dudes in the world take a look.

Seems to me that there is only one chance he has. Rebuild his swing into a kinder gentler swing. His current swing is limited hip turn, lots of shoulder turn. He twists his torso like a torsion spring. It generates a lot of power. Trouble is, it also generates a lot of jacked up back. Go to a smoover swing that maybe has a little more hip turn. Of course, that will fukk his knees. Who is that skinny fukker who was pretty good about a decade ago. Dude had an absolutely effortless swing. Maybe tiger should talk to him.

Maybe he's just done.

In anothe 12 years he can join the old timers where 350 yd drives are not as critical.

Eldrick has fought through pain before, he'll do it again. I do think for his own sanity he will scale back on his schedule to resemble Jack's later career schedule. He'll play 7-12 events a year depending on how he feels and focus even more completely than before on just the majors. Think about it, if El Tigre plays like shit in every tournament but two, and those two are the US Open and the PGA, he's had a fabulous year. And he will have tied Jack for most US and PGA wins, but since this is just idle speculation, why not?

The New Schedule

Torry Pines
Doral (WGC)
Arnie's Tournament
Masters
Players
US Open
Eldrick's Tournament
Open Championship
Akron (WGC)
PGA

That's 10 events with enough time in between for his back to heal. I never thought I'd say it, But E.T. Woods needs to dial down his schedule.

Tiger is toast. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

Dude didn't look so good walking off the course the last 2 weekends. I've been that guy using the putter to brace myself to get the ball out of the cup.

This past weekend, he made it through 3 rounds -- posting the best round of the tourney Saturday. Decent start Sunday, then the gimping began, and the score headed north.

His physical therapists (and I'm quite sure they know) need to isolate which muscle groups are causing the problem, and fix it. Dude's problem is that he's continued to work out way too heavily, since at one time he redefined what a "power game" was. But he's kept on going, and now resembles a NFL linebacker. He's just too big to play a game that requires so much flexibility.

If he can get firmly healed, his game is just fine -- great, in fact. But if he can't get his back right, he's coasting to the Champions Tour.

And lest we forget -- he still won more events over the previous 2 seasons than anyone else, and is still sporting the #1 ranking (which takes a while to lose)... there is that.

Is his back problem as simple as sore muscles? Muscles generally heal themselves pretty well. I suspect he has some sort of nerve issues going on. And they can be more annoying and tough to get rid of than moving fail.

Eldrick out of the Master's.

Stick a scalpel fork in him. He's done.

Eldrick out of the Master's.

Stick a scalpel fork in him. He's done.

The answer to the title question is: Hopefully.

the reality of it is simple, back problems are the most common ailment affecting world class players.....30 percent of PGA players have suffered from back issues at one time or another.....the more torque you have in your swing, the more likely you are to suffer injury.....Nicklaus didn't have much trouble until after he turned 40, but he had a very rhythmic swing....Fred Couples suffers from back trouble, Norman had back issues.....the motion of a golf swing is such that it's inevitable that you'll suffer an injury if you play long enough....I blew my meniscus out and have had some issues with my lower back, but nothing to the extent that el tigre has.....he's just going to have to learn how to swing with less torque, otherwise his back issues are not only going to continue but will get worse....players these days are so much more fit then players of yesteryear....but being fit is not going to change the fact that the lumbar spine isn't designed to forcefully rotate, laterally flex and extend....do that 40 to 50 times a round and it's easy to see how back injuries can happen, especially to guys that go after the ball hard......

is he done? I don't think so, but he's never going to be close to being the player he once was.....

There are successful players that don't come out of their fukking shoes every time they swing. Tiger needs to become one of those dudes. He will lose 30 yds of his drive, but, he can make it up elsewhere. Rumor has it, is short game is respectable.

Predicting knee and back problems for by far the most "violent" player in the history of the game doesn't make one a psychic.

He's good because he brought physical conditioning to a new level in the sport. This allowed him to wail the driver with impunity, since being a linebacker, he could gouge it out of any grass. This model led to the new generation of Bomb-and-Gouge players... Bubba being by far the best of the bunch (see also: Camillo Steroidess, JB Holmes, etc). Bomb it as hard as possible off the tee, rough be damned, then use the newfangled sandwedges to gouge it back out, which give enough spin to have a chance at stopping on the green. Bubba is the only one who has had any success gouging from Major rough(besides the Original). But mostly because that POS swing has been hitting fairways, and he hasn't had to do much gouging.

But let's not compare his rough game to Tiger's. Eldrick is the God of playing from the rough. Not even worth discussing.

God is dead.

Dinsdale wrote:he could gouge it out of any grass.

yep, and I've played courses that had long thick rough and I damn near broke my wrist trying to extract it from long thick rough....I'm no where near being a physically fit as those pros are, but I take care of myself....I routinely practice yoga designed for the golf swing (and that shit is hard) and lift weights......I don't have enough strength to launch the ball from that kind of rough.....I'm always amazed that the PGA guys do it so routinely.....nothing says "this is going to hurt" like 5 inch thick Kentucky blue grass wrapping around the hosel and wrenching your wrist in ways that joint was never meant to go.....

I don't even try to hit out of that shit unless I've got a great lie.....I'll take my medicine, try and advance it as far as I can without hurting myself, and take my chances trying to get it up and down.....

I try to lock my wrists and take the club back as far as locked wrists will let me. Then when it gets hosel-wrapped, it doesn't rip all the tendons to shit.

And it ends up where it ends up. Preferably behind the mower.

Dinsdale wrote:I try to lock my wrists and take the club back as far as locked wrists will let me. Then when it gets hosel-wrapped, it doesn't rip all the tendons to shit.

And it ends up where it ends up. Preferably behind the mower.

that's pretty much what I mean when I say advance the ball as far as I can......we've got this course here called Shadow Valley, nice course, pretty short but requires accuracy (fucking canyons are filled with poison ivy and oak)....on the par 4 10th hole, they've got this area to the left of the green where they simply let the grass grow as high as it will grow.....I hit a ball in that shit last year and whiffed on two attempts to get it out.....the club simply slid underneath the ball....finally had to take an unplayable lie and ended up taking a nine on the hole because the nearest relief area was hardpan and I skulled the sixth shot.......

Hey, finishing dead last only means one thing: nowhere to go but up.

TIGER'S BACK BABY!!!

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:Hey, finishing dead last only means one thing: nowhere to go but up.

TIGER'S BACK BABY!!!

Apparently he didn't even finish the first round today...

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:
TIGER'S BACK!!!

Prophetic.

Ponderous.

Dinsdale wrote: and is still sporting the #1 ranking (which takes a while to lose)... there is that.

He's had plenty of time, I guess. I heard he's #52.