Open 2014: Tiger Woods playing off-key?

Only eight summers ago, Hoylake was witness to an outpouring of emotion as  Tiger Woods collapsed into the arms of  Steve Williams, overpowered by the weight of his astounding victory at the  Royal Liverpool. It was the great golfer’s eleventh major, one that came through a majestic performance just weeks after the demise of his father. But the tide of time is a cruel monster that has no real value for romance.

A host of issues have beset Woods since – personal misdeeds and a ravaged body have steered him off course. Returning from yet another surgery – this time on his back – Woods is no longer a favourite. Instead, keen observers are beginning to believe that the great man may be singing out of tune even as he attempts to recreate the symphony that not too long ago had him jiving with the angels.

Woods, normally in the league of favoured men, walks into Liverpool dealing with a cloud of questions about his form and attitude. Curtis Strange, the 2002 Ryder Cup captain expressed his reservations about Tiger’s chances at The Open, in an interaction with Tony Jimenez of the Reuters.

“We learned a long time ago never to say never about Tiger because he’s such an incredibly talented player but you have to look at a couple of things,” said Strange.”Even before his surgery, and his form was obviously hampered by his physical condition, he wasn’t playing well so when you have an operation and you’ve been out for three months, you’re not going to be a better player after doing that.”

“If that was me I would want to play at least one more tournament before the Open to get my game in better shape, to get more strength in my golf muscles,” added Strange, “I don’t care how much practice you do, it’s not the same thing as playing in competition.”

Hank Haney, former coach to Woods, has been among his most vocal critics since parting ways in 2010. He wondered if Tiger doesn’t care as much anymore, “that he isn’t going to play competitively in the two weeks running up to the Open speaks to the fact that he doesn’t care as much as he used to,” surmised Haney.

“Still, you can’t win if you don’t enter. Maybe he will catch lightning in a bottle,” Haney added in a wistful afterthought. “But I really think he is using the Open to get ready for the PGA at Valhalla next month. That’s a much more realistic target for him.”

Woods has also been dealing with revelations that came in a  book that got released yesterday. The book details how Anthony Galea, the doctor in the midst of the human growth hormone controversy surrounding Alex Rodriguez made several paid visits to Woods between 2008 & 2009, around the time of his knee surgery and rehabilitation.

Fortunately though, for once, he has Haney on his side on that one. “I was there and watched the whole procedure,” Haney said. “There was never anything that went into Tiger Woods’s body that didn’t come out of his body. They take blood out, they spin it, they inject the plasma back in. I totally believe that Tiger Woods has never taken any performance-enhancing drugs.”

Woods will need some good irons and strong putting next week to deflect some of the grey text that is beginning to tarnish his legacy these days.

Report by Anand Datla

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