One tournament changed the perception of Tiger Woods‘ golf game. It just so happened to be two weeks ago at the Memorial.
And now, there’s this from NBC golf analyst Johnny Miller:
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“He almost reminds me of his year from 2000,” Miller said. “You have to watch out. É Not many defending champions defend and that could be broken this week.”
A quick reminder of Woods’ 2000 season: He won three major tournaments and captured nine events overall.
Only two golfers have won the U.S. Open in consecutive years: Ben Crenshaw (1988-89) and Ben Hogan (1950-51). If Woods hits 87.5 percent of the fairways again in regulation, as he did two weeks ago, he’ll join the list.
“His swing is the best I’ve seen it in quite a while,” Miller said.
The good thing for Woods is that Bethpage Black has a graduated rough this week, which should allow him a chance to recover from an errant tee shot.
Fellow NBC analyst Gary Koch said on the conference call that Woods’ backswing with the long clubs was in better position at the Memorial than even a couple weeks prior.
Again, two words: Watch out.
“One thing I’ve seen from Tiger all this year,” Koch said, “is that when he’s had his practices on the range, his rhythm and tempo have been quite good. He’s had a difficult time continuing that on the course. At the Memorial, he was able to maintain that same rhythm and swing.”
We know Phil Mickelson is the sentimental favorite, with his wife Amy’s cancer news. And that he’s playing in front of fans who love him. But Woods still controls the story.
Another golfer who hasn’t gotten much attention is Padraig Harrington. Here’s his problem: Last year’s double-major winner tinkered with his swing and has missed three straight cuts.
“The easiest way for a guy who is a fader to get into a slump is to decide he wants to get 10 more yards and start hooking it,” Miller said. “That’s the kiss of death.”
But the real kiss of death for everyone else is not Harrington’s swing, it’s Woods. It appears to be back in place.
