Tiger says 'proven I can win after injuries'

[Sportsguy9695]

Given his lack of competitive golf in the past four months due to back surgery, Tiger Woods would be excused if winning was not on his mind this week at the Open Championship.

But that's far from the case.

As he has typically throughout his career, Woods is not offering much in the way of concessions to rust at Royal Liverpool, where he played an 18-hole practice round Tuesday morning after first arriving here Saturday.

"I've been in circumstances like this," Woods said during a 30-minute news conference. "If you remember in '08 I had knee surgery right after the Masters. I won a U.S. Open. I didn't play more than nine holes, and the Sunday before the U.S. Open I didn't break 50 for nine holes and still was able to win it in a playoff, with an [torn] ACL and a broken leg.

"I've proven I can do it. It's just a matter of putting my game and giving myself the best chances this week to miss the ball in the correct spots, to be aggressive when I can and obviously to hole putts. That's a recipe you find for every major championship, but I've just got to do it this week."

Whether Woods will be able to put himself in that position will be of great interest when the Open begins Thursday. The 14-time major champion has played just two competitive rounds since March 31 back surgery, shooting 74-75 last month at Congressional Country Club to miss the cut at the Quicken Loans National.

Source: ESPN

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

"I've been in circumstances like this," Woods said during a 30-minute news conference. "If you remember in '08 I had knee surgery right after the Masters. I won a U.S. Open. I didn't play more than nine holes, and the Sunday before the U.S. Open I didn't break 50 for nine holes and still was able to win it in a playoff, with an [torn] ACL and a broken leg.

Wait..wut?

 

[HUBSTER]

Tiger's living in the past instead of facing up to the present.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Yeah, but he ain't 30 y/o now either.

He'll win a tourney agains for certain, but I need to see it when it comes to the majors...the Masters 2 years ago was the closest he's been in a while.

 

[HammerDown]

who?

 

[SFNL]

Tiger's living in the past instead of facing up to the present.

He's got a helluva past to pull from though. Hard to tell if he really does have confidence because his shtick will never change. At their level, confidence is 90% of the battle which equates to only a few shots which can be the difference between missing the cut & winning.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

He's got a helluva past to pull from though. Hard to tell if he really does have confidence because his shtick will never change. At their level, confidence is 90% of the battle which equates to only a few shots which can be the difference between missing the cut & winning.

Assuming his health is fine, and from all indications it appears to be at least sufficient to play...he needs a much sharper SG to win this week...lag putting, the whole 9....I don't think he can ball strike the field into submission this go around.

 

[SFNL]

Lots of ways to win, especially in an Open championship.

Something unique to this tourney is that everyone starts on #1 and tee times go all day. It gets dark at like 10:30. I've heard the weather shouldn't be a factor though but you never know over there.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

If this was the Masters I would say he has a shot. His game could be a mess and he could still contend there. Augusta fits him perfectly.

But this is not the Masters, It's the British Open. Hands down the worst place to be if you have a couple of weak links in your chain (no pun intended)

Tiger is good at taking out the long irons, keeps the ball low and let it run onto the green. That is how he won here in 2006. I don't think he ever took out his driver.

What changes everything here is his accuracy. From the tee to green he is all over the place.
And this is not the PGA tour were they have removed the deep rough, sand traps, water and anything else that make the big hitters look bad. This is links golf, wind, rough, deep bunkers. What you would call a golf nightmare they would call it a typical Saturday.

 

[beardown07]

Tiger was roiding and taking an illegal substance that calms you(cant recall the name). The heat was closing in on him, he stopped using and his body started to fall apart.

Sometimes i think the whoring around scandal was a distraction from the roids scandal. Kinda like jordans baseball was a diversion from his gambling.

 

[HUBSTER]

He's got a helluva past to pull from though. Hard to tell if he really does have confidence because his shtick will never change. At their level, confidence is 90% of the battle which equates to only a few shots which can be the difference between missing the cut & winning.

Six years since his last major win though.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Tiger was roiding and taking an illegal substance that calms you(cant recall the name). The heat was closing in on him, he stopped using and his body started to fall apart.

Sometimes i think the whoring around scandal was a distraction from the roids scandal. Kinda like jordans baseball was a diversion from his gambling.

I wouldn't put it past him, but I've seen people on roids up close, and have stood within 5' of Tiger a couple of times actually @ the Masters (...it would have to be some unique shit b/c he didn't have that roid look at all).

 

[ATL96Steeler]

If this was the Masters I would say he has a shot. His game could be a mess and he could still contend there. Augusta fits him perfectly.

But this is not the Masters, It's the British Open. Hands down the worst place to be if you have a couple of weak links in your chain (no pun intended)

Tiger is good at taking out the long irons, keeps the ball low and let it run onto the green. That is how he won here in 2006. I don't think he ever took out his driver.

What changes everything here is his accuracy. From the tee to green he is all over the place.
And this is not the PGA tour were they have removed the deep rough, sand traps, water and anything else that make the big hitters look bad. This is links golf, wind, rough, deep bunkers. What you would call a golf nightmare they would call it a typical Saturday.

Holylake was hard, dry and fast when he won there hitting 1 driver all week...right now it's looking pretty green, and the rough is thick...not the long whispy stuff that's sparse down by the ball...I expect him to make the cut, but not factor...too many things to fix, and too many guys playing well...I think Scott takes this one.

 

[beardown07]

Assuming his health is fine, and from all indications it appears to be at least sufficient to play...he needs a much sharper SG to win this week...lag putting, the whole 9....I don't think he can ball strike the field into submission this go around.

He sure got ripped quick over the course of what seemed like a year? There was a couple seasons there where he had some guns!?

 

[R.J. MacReady]

Holylake was hard, dry and fast when he won there hitting 1 driver all week...right now it's looking pretty green, and the rough is thick...not the long whispy stuff that's sparse down by the ball...I expect him to make the cut, but not factor...too many things to fix, and too many guys playing well...I think Scott takes this one.

I don't know ...I'm thinking the guys who played the Scottish open would have a leg up.

Phil & Rory played pretty well. The guy to beat has to be Rose. Just off a major win and last week. The man is dialed in.

 

[HizzleRocker]

Tiger doesn't have a swing anymore.

Reverse pivot with a 1-lever takeaway; followed by lack of transferring your weight; a flat laid off plane; having your head left of the ball at impact; forcing a pull up and out of it move; and an "oh shit" hold on for dear life follow through...

Is not a recipe for success.

 

[SoCalWizFan]

Tiger doesn't have a swing anymore.

Reverse pivot with a 1-lever takeaway; followed by lack of transferring your weight; a flat laid off plane; having your head left of the ball at impact; forcing a pull up and out of it move; and an "oh shit" hold on for dear life follow through...

Is not a recipe for success.

Pretty good round for a guy that doesn't have a swing anymore! Not saying that he will continue to do well this weekend - who knows - but he looks alright for someone that should still have rust.

Let's be honest. I see all these folks come on this & similar boards and throw out all of these theories and - no offense - but most of them are pulled out of everyone's rear end. The truth is we don't know all of the reasons for his ups & downs & nobody here really knows what the future holds for him. He may fall short, but he very well could have some big comebacks within him. Unlike others here - I will be honest & state that I don't have a clue how it will turn out.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Pretty good round for a guy that doesn't have a swing anymore! Not saying that he will continue to do well this weekend - who knows - but he looks alright for someone that should still have rust.

Let's be honest. I see all these folks come on this & similar boards and throw out all of these theories and - no offense - but most of them are pulled out of everyone's rear end. The truth is we don't know all of the reasons for his ups & downs & nobody here really knows what the future holds for him. He may fall short, but he very well could have some big comebacks within him. Unlike others here - I will be honest & state that I don't have a clue how it will turn out.

Great round after dbl, dbl...Hizzle gets techie with the swing stuff, I think that's his thing, but at the end of the day IMO is his SG is why he didn't make the cut in DC, and if he contends here on the weekend, it will be because he's making putts....possible, I don't think he's going to ball strike his way to a win here.

 

[SoCalWizFan]

Great round after dbl, dbl...Hizzle gets techie with the swing stuff, I think that's his thing, but at the end of the day IMO is his SG is why he didn't make the cut in DC, and if he contends here on the weekend, it will be because he's making putts....possible, I don't think he's going to ball strike his way to a win here.

True & this tourney could turn in a completely different direction over the next several days. For starters - it will be very interesting to see if Rory will continue his trend of blowing up on Fri or if he will finally shoot a good round on that day. Also - will be interesting to see how everyone plays if the weather turns bad over the weekend. Fun stuff.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

Pretty good round for a guy that doesn't have a swing anymore! Not saying that he will continue to do well this weekend - who knows - but he looks alright for someone that should still have rust.

Let's be honest. I see all these folks come on this & similar boards and throw out all of these theories and - no offense - but most of them are pulled out of everyone's rear end. The truth is we don't know all of the reasons for his ups & downs & nobody here really knows what the future holds for him. He may fall short, but he very well could have some big comebacks within him. Unlike others here - I will be honest & state that I don't have a clue how it will turn out.

This is a message board, it's life blood is speculation.