Roundup: Don't Let Tiger's Chunked-Wedge Strewn 77 Ruin Memories Of Tuesday's Magnificent Press Conference

/

Okay, so he still a ways to go recovering the short game he mysteriously changed to match the Foley swing years and he was the worst player by a lot in round one of the Hero World Challenge, but at least Tiger has (A) his back intact, and (B) his upbeat press conference from Tuesday where he weaved through rallykillers and stuck the landing. 

As for a 77 that was four strokes worse than anyone else in the field, Dave Shedloski says the lone positive came in the form of new re-injury. Maybe. There was the explosiveness too.

Oh, sure, there was more. “Shot patterns were fantastic. And as I think all of you saw, I got my power back and I got my speed back. It’s nice to be able to start launching it again. That’s a very good sign.”

That said, his new-old swing didn’t do him many favors on his former home course, and his short game came up, well, considerably short of the standards of your average 20-handicapper, let alone the No. 24 player in the world.

“It’s weird,” said Woods, who mis-hit four chips and a bunker shot. “I didn’t think I hit it that bad. My short game was awful. It was just one of those days where really nothing went my way.”

The explosive chunk wedges were "shocking" (Steve DiMeglio in USA Today) and according to Doug Ferguson of the AP:

It was the 10th time in 12 rounds that he failed to break par since his first return in June.
Even so, some of the shots were shocking, especially around the green.

On the par-5 17th, he hit his second shot just left of the green, pin-high in a deep collection area. Woods no sooner hit his chip that he angrily swung back-handed toward his divot, knowing what was coming next. The ball didn’t come close to reaching the green, and Woods turned his back as the ball rolled back toward his feet.

Jason Sobel of GolfChannel.com noted that the ball striking wasn't so bad.

All told, he left five greenside wedge shots short of the actual greens, chunking four of them and leaving a bunker shot in the sand. If his ball-striking – which included 8-of-14 fairways and 11-of-18 greens in regulation – was a newfound bright spot during this latest comeback attempt, his short game was a dark crater of unfulfilled intentions.

Cameron Morfit of golf.com wondered about the chunks this way and called the start to Tiger 4.0 "inauspicious."

By this time people were starting to talk. Did he have vertigo? Had an optometrist botched his prescription? Watching Woods mangle all these chip shots was like watching Bobby Flay burn all the grilled cheese sandwiches.

After blistering a drive down the fairway at the par-5 17th, and getting up around the green with his second shot, Woods chunked his fourth chip of the day, this time recovering to save par. “It certainly is surprising that I could hit chip shots that poorly,” he said afterward. “I just flubbed ’em.”

Most disturbing of all the observations came from Jason Day, who saw none of the chunked shots in Monday's practice round, as reported by Golfweek's Adam Schupak.

“Monday, he was chipping fine. It was on point,” Day said. “It was surprising today to see him stub a lot of chip shots. Uphill and into the grain is very difficult, but to see that many out of Tiger Woods is very surprising.”

Robert Lusetich was the least forgiving after hearing Day's remarks, noting that Tiger "used to be able to score better than anyone who ever played this game" and "now Woods turns 72s into 77."

Why? He can't chip and he can't putt.

Chips into the grain are virtually guaranteed chunks. Woods hit four fat chips on Thursday, and not the PGA Tour-caliber chunks. These were like the handiwork of 20-handicapper Sunday hackers, laying-the-sod over chips that went a few feet and rolled back to his feet.

They were embarrassing.

Former instructor Hank Haney Tweeted a couple of interesting thoughts as the chunks unfolded...


No Laying Up Vined the chunked shots. Hat tip to Alex Myers for sharing at The Loop.

 

ESPN.com's Bob Harig predicted the reaction would look past health and to the wedge performance.

Woods actually was pleased, for the most part, with the way he hit the ball -- he didn't miss a fairway on the back nine after hitting just one on the front. And at this point -- four months removed from his last competitive round, at least a month prior to his next tournament -- that's a positive development.

Even more so was the smile Woods flashed when asked if he was in any pain.

"I have absolutely no pain," Woods said. "I haven't said that in a long time. It's very exciting to stand up there and hit some of the drives, especially on the back nine. It was nice to start launching it."

It should be noted Woods displayed similar wedge game issues at times in 2014, especially at Torrey Pines. It's an issue that's not going away, sadly. We've all been there in some way, but we were also never one of the greatest to play the game.