Tiger Watch 2012

which is why many tour pros and pundits are so high on Rory today (close to over rating him). He has the long game, the short game and good putting. Like a twenty something Tiger

except that Tiger had the intimidation factor back then, and maybe Tiger was a bit more stronger mentally than Rory is now (this is before the hydrant accident, before the knee injuries, before Hank Haney)

Yes, Rory is indeed highly impressive, especially in terms of how well-rounded his game is.

Meanwhile, thinking about it, I think Tiger going all out on day 4 after carefully picking his way around during the first 3 days makes perfect sense.

He's already pocketed the appearance fees, this was not a major yet featured many of the world's top players. So what better venue to put his new swing to the test after working on it all these months in the off season?

If it worked, the swing gets better because it's been put under pressure. And he wins as a bonus.

If it did not, the experiment flushes out remaining flaws and old swing muscle memories. This yields valuable data for him and Sean to work on, early in the season, giving him time to prepare for the majors.

Tiger is used to dominating, and he needs a swing that can stand the pressure on day 4. Almost there, still some work to do, and I look forward to an interesting season from him this year.

There are some noticeable changes to TW's dressing and mannerism, not sure if i am too sensitive...
(1) His dressing is not as immaculate as before i.e. nicely ironed top and pants, without crease. Especially his shoes... the colors, the build etc... just dun seem to be what he would wear.
(2) During some of the close up shots during his pre-putt routine especially, he was seen chewing something or was moving his jaw non-stop, which i dun see this very often in the past.
(3) He did not do the trademark fist-punch when he holed a few of the long putts... he looked less motivated or maybe like what bro lee pointed out, he's desire to win this tournament is not there...

Hmm... but still, he played well for 3 days, even not driving well...

I did notice a single fist pump when he holed a crucial long putt to save par after missing the green (again!) and chipping out well past the downslope pin.

His shoes are a prototype specially made for him by Nike based on the Nike FREE running shoes model, customised for golf. There is an eager anticipation among golfers waiting for Nike to release this to the public, which is expected to by in the spring of this year.

I think low number of putts may not mean Tiger putts well.
There was one day I hit 26 putts per round because I miss lots of green. Score was not pretty too.
Putt per GIR is a better indication. My 2 cents.

sandkie wrote:

I think low number of putts may not mean Tiger putts well.
There was one day I hit 26 putts per round because I miss lots of green. Score was not pretty too.
Putt per GIR is a better indication. My 2 cents.

Yes, which is why I said...

Lee36328 wrote:

Look at Tiger's putts, he took only 24 putts, compared to Robert's 30 and Rory's 29. This is impressive, but remember Tiger missed 12 GIRs, so many of those putts were 1-chip 1-putts just to make par. His short game is tremendous but he simply missed far too many greens.

But interesting as you pointed out, to look at Putts Per GIR.

Day 4 Stats

..........GIR....GIR Putts...Putts per GIR
Robert .14.......23..........1.642857143
Tiger .....6.......10..........1.666666667
Rory ....15.......26..........1.733333333


Tiger is not as good as Robert but better than Rory on this measurement.

So, putting wasn't Tiger's weakness on day 4. It was hitting fairways and hitting greens.