He’s back!….But did he ever leave?
By Herschel Caldwell
I am constantly amazed at the pundits, so-called golf and sports experts
who have been quick to write Tiger Woods off as a “has been” or a factor on the 2009 PGA Tour.
Consider; since coming back from major knee surgery, Tiger has won twice (including today’s memorial victory in Columbus) and has never finished higher than the top ten.
Four shots back before he teed off on Sunday, Woods put together his most polished round since his return to the game, shooting a 7-under 65, his best final round score since the BMW Championship in 2007.
The win goes back to one thing — ball striking, and Woods was as good as he may have ever been off the tee. Tiger hit 87.5 percent of the fairways at Muirfield Village including a Sunday round where he didn’t miss a fairway (only the sixth time in his career he has accomplished such a feat). If the image of Tiger’s first six tournaments of 2009 was a disgusted look as his ball sailed away from the fairway, this week was a simple twirl of the club as he watched tee shot after tee shot find the short grass. Just how much better was he this week than earlier this season? In his other win, at Bay Hill, Tiger hit 60.7 percent of his fairways, nearly 30 percent less than he did at the Memorial.
Jack Nicklaus, tournament host, mentioned as Tiger stripped a long iron off the 18th tee, “This may be his best week driving, ever.”
It also was a pretty good week for his short game.
On Wednesday at the Memorial, fans got to see the very rare occurrence of Tiger and Jack competing against each other. What wasn’t so rare was how the match ended, when Tiger chipped in to win the match and force Nicklaus to muster, almost in disbelief, “You chip in more here than anyone else.”
On Sunday, with Woods looking up a busy leaderboard, he produced yet another “how does he do it” moment on the par-5 11th, when he opened up the face of his lob wedge and hit a chopped-down, one-handed flip that landed on the green, and rolled directly to the hole, dropping for an eagle and some much-needed momentum.
Tiger fought off Team Polo, as Jonathan Byrd and Davis Love III put up a good fight but couldn’t quite match Tiger’s magic. Jim Furyk hung around but a short missed birdie putt on the par-5 15th did him in.
In the end, it was Woods, who carded seven birdies and an eagle on Sunday. Tiger finished second in driving accuracy at the Memorial this week. When was the last time Tiger was in the top seven in driving accuracy? At Bethpage Black, in 2002. I bet you can guess where Tiger’s next tournament is being hosted. The U.S. Open just got a lot more interesting.
I note the question is right/left arm .For a right-hander its got to be right arm .why??The left arm don’t relaly bend as much as the right arm throughout the swing.At the impact area1) Your left elbow is already straight so there’s little power you can add to it2) Your right elbow is still bent and must be straighten to hit the ball. .