Inside the Ropes: Woods must regain major aggressiveness

Inside the Ropes: Woods must regain major aggressiveness
Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange August 5, 2013The SportsXchange








Will Tiger Woods ever win another major?



In his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 titles in the Grand Slam events, Woods has been stuck on 14 since winning the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in an epic 19-hole playoff against Rocco Mediate.



"So I've won some tournaments in that stretch and I've been in probably about half the majors on the back nine on Sunday with a chance to win during that stretch. I just haven't done it yet. And hopefully it will be in a few weeks (at the PGA)."



That wasn't the case last weekend, when he cruised to a seven-shot win in the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. However, it seems Woods is playing more conservatively in the Grand Slam events than he did before, rather than going out at taking charge.



The trick is, trying to figure out exactly when to go for broke.



Lefty might not admit it, but he never wanted that ball to hit on the right side of the green. He had to be aiming for the ridge on the left side of the green and got a little fortunate, but sometimes a little luck is needed.



The point is, Mickelson figured it was time to take a chance and pulled it off.




Lefty reached the par-5 17th hole with a one-stroke lead in the final round and figured it was time to go for it. He didn't have a driver in his bag, so he hit two shots with his nuclear 3-wood and reached the green to set up a birdie that basically locked up his first victory in the oldest championship in the world.



Those are kind of things Tiger used to do in the majors when the time came.



After laying back with an iron off the tee, he tried to reach the green or at least get close to it with his 3-wood, but his shot ballooned in the wind and wound up in a cross bunker.



Had he been aggressive off the tee with his driver or 3-wood, even if he hit his ball into the rough, he could have laid up in the fairway on his second shot before going for the green with a relatively short iron.



Steve Williams, Woods' former caddie who now works with Adam Scott and seems to have made up with his boss after their 2011 breakup, was asked about Tiger after watching him up close in the final round at Muirfield.



Another area in which Woods has become more conservative in the majors is on the green. He said at Muirfield that he never got used to the speed of the greens, which became slower every day.



One more thing about Woods in the majors is the claim made over and over again that he has never come from behind in the final round to win one, which is absolutely untrue.



In the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, he came from behind with a birdie on the final green on Sunday, on a putt that he got to the hole, to tie Mediate and force the playoff.