Tiger Woods Not Far From Back

This weekend I watched Tiger woods surge to the top of the leader board at the AT&T Pro/Am at Pebble Beach only to fall short on the final day.  It was a sight that was eerily similar to the last tournament that Tiger played in in which he played well for the first 3 days and had a sub-par Sunday.  Unlike most who saw this weeks tournament, I see the performance by Woods as a step in the right direction.

Last season I saw Woods struggle to put 1 good round of golf together let alone be in contention on the last day of a tournament.  He was dealing with physical problems, mental problems, and family problems.  His private life was being thrown out into the public and his family was dissolving.  He was dealing with a knee injury and rehab for most of the year.  All of that mess lead to the fragile psyche that we saw last year and is still evident on Sundays this year.  The good news is that 75% of his mental toughness has returned.

Physically Tiger has been looking very good on the course so far this year.  He is hitting fairways and greens on a regular basis.  He came out a few weeks ago and said that he is finally back to a place where he can train instead of just rehab.  He is capable of putting in the work that made him the best in the world and once he gets comfortable with his game, it will be fun to watch him on Sundays again.  The question now is how long will it take?

Woods seems to be getting better every week, but the fact is he will probably never be as dominant as he was.  That has more to do with the talented golfers in the game today than Tiger's diminished skills.  Honestly, I'm not sure Tiger's skills have diminished.  We haven't seem him at 100% in last 2-3 years so if he is healthy, then he could be just as good as he was.  What is lost from Tiger's game is the mystique that surrounded him.  He no longer holds that mental edge over other players since they have seen him as an average golfer.  It was that feeling that you couldn't beat him that actually made him unbeatable for at least a decade and though he can still win without that, it might prove to be more difficult.

Tiger will win a tournament this year, probably more than 1.  His game is progressing and with the added time he will put in training I believe that he will get to a point where he is in contention on a regular basis.  The more success he has the better his game will get and if he can continue to put 3 solid rounds together in the next few tournaments then he will get the all important 4th to show up as well.