Tiger Woods: This Is Not Your Average Slump

Over the past year, we have seen words such as “worst” and “highest” appear in the same sentence as the name Tiger Woods more times than we ever thought possible.

Call it what you will: a slump, a transition period to a new swing, etc.

And tell yourself that it’s happened before: 1998-1999, 2002-2004, etc.

If you’re a Woods fan and your middle name is optimism, then go ahead and keep on believing that this current slump is normal and that it’s only a matter of time before he snaps out of it.

But if it’s reality that you’re after, just take a look at some of these words again—“worst,” “highest,” etc.—and then decide whether you truly believe that this is a normal slump.

The fact of the matter is that Woods has a problem, and it’s a lot bigger than just his transitioning to a new golf swing.

Here is the no holds barred, cold hard truth about the current state of Woods’ game:

• His driving is terrible.
• His iron play is even worse.
• His golf swing is hideous compared to what it used to be earlier in his career.
• His short game is as bad as it’s ever been.
• He has now been struggling on the greens for more than two years.

There’s not just one aspect of his game that he’s struggling with; Woods has somehow managed to lose control of every single aspect of his game, including the two facets that made him arguably the most consistent player the game has ever seen: his short game and putting.

Woods sprayed the ball all over La Jolla, California for much of last weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open. But that alone isn’t all that out of the ordinary. Aside from his amazing stretch in 1999-2000, Woods has never been a great driver of the ball and has occasionally struggled with his iron play throughout his career.

What was out of the ordinary last week, and has been for quite some time now, was Woods’ inability to use his short game and putter to rescue two terrible ball-striking days.

Woods is probably the greatest of all time at taking 74s and turning them into 70s and 69s and turning them into 65s. Heck, prior to last weekend, Woods had only recorded two over-par rounds in his entire career at Torrey Pines. Last Saturday and Sunday, he doubled that stat.

Woods got up and down just 58.33 percent of the time last week at the Farmers Insurance Open, needed 30 putts or more during three out of his four rounds, looked as if he hadn’t hit a bunker shot in years and appeared downright bewildered by those six-foot putts he used to sink like clockwork.

Woods’s exceptional short game and steady putter was the main reason why he could still contend and would often manage to finish within the top 10 at tournaments where he appeared to be playing terrible golf.

Take away the short game and putter, and now those 74s are remaining 74s and those 75s are remaining 75s, which, as strange as it is to say, makes Woods just another golfer.

Three years ago, Woods beat 156 of the best players on the face of the planet at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines while playing on a broken leg.

Prior to last week, Woods had won the last five tournaments he played Torrey Pines and had never finished outside the top 10 at the picturesque oceanside municipal track since turning professional.

You could have placed a blind fold on this guy three years ago and he would have shot two-under-par at Torrey Pines.

But this is not the same Tiger Woods we’re talking about here.

Last week Woods recorded his highest 36-hole score ever at Torrey Pines, which led to his worst finish as a professional at Torrey Pines.

And there are those pesky two words making their way into the same sentence as the name Tiger Woods yet again.