Tiger Woods: Season slipping away?

Special Column by Anand Datla

A second round 71 at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational just did not cut it for Tiger Woods. The forlorn look on Woods visage yesterday spoke eloquently of his keen desire to get on track and an acute awareness that the clock was ticking. The injury and surgery, his undulating form and issues with the swing are combining to steal 2014 from the determined golfer.

Woods is ten behind Sergio Garcia, badly in need of a great weekend to not only make the Fedex playoffs but also bolster his Ryder Cup case. The legendary American is so far down the pecking order, lost in some very unfamiliar alleys of golf.

The top 125 men make the playoffs, Woods is down in 215 in the Fedex standings currently. There are just nine automatic selections to the Ryder Cup, even on that count Woods is far too down for an automatic selection, languishing as he is in the 70th spot.

An intriguing element to this is that Woods is perhaps not even accustomed to the oblivious neighbourhoods in which he is living now, considering that he has lived in hallowed space ever since his professional debut in 1996.

While the state of the game is a concern, it would be even more interesting to learn and understand how he might be dealing with the situation in his mind. Does the short term implications bother Tiger enough to upset his rhythm and thoughts?

Or is it that Woods is focused on the long haul, just happy to get his groove back as he works his return from back surgery. Speaking to the media at the Bridgestone Invitational, Woods elaborated upon the gravitas of dealing with a back injury.

“There’s no comparison between a knee and a back,” he asserted. “The knee is so much easier to deal with and rehab from than coming back from a back. I’ve had Achilles injuries, obviously knee surgeries, but this thing is just way different. It’s way more debilitating than I thought.”

Since his return to the circuit at the Quicken Loans Invitational, Woods has missed a cut and finished 69th at the Open Championships. Unless Tiger establishes his value in the next two weeks with respectable results – read top ten finishes – Tom Watson, the Ryder Cup captain might have no choice but to pick him on the weight of his past accomplishments.

More importantly for Woods, poor results at Firestone this week and at the PGA Championship next week the season could meet with an early end, leaving the 38 year old plenty of time to ponder over his misbehaving swing and an uncertain future.