Tiger Woods remains a longshot to win the U.S. Open, but he remains one of golf’s most fascinating figures as he struggles against time to regain his mastery of the game.
UNIVERSITY PLACE — Despite it all — the injuries, the infidelities, the indignities — Tiger Woods still exudes an aura. And, to some extent, he always will.
You can’t be a mega-star of Woods’ caliber for two decades and then completely fade into irrelevance. Never mind that he hasn’t won a major since the 2008 U.S. Open, nor a golf tournament of any kind since August 2013.
The Tiger galleries will still swell larger than just about anyone else’s when the U.S. Open begins Thursday at Chambers Bay. His news conference Tuesday was jammed with media probing his most recent swing change, the latest effort at reinvention. The first score you’ll check in the morning, if you missed the live play, is probably Tiger’s.
Yet the aura that matters most, the one on the golf course, the one that made the rest of the field quaver at the sight of Woods in the field, and nearly capitulate when Woods was in the lead, has almost completely vanished. The intimidation factor of Tiger Woods is a relic of a bygone era. And that’s what has to eat away at him the most.
Woods is fighting to get it back, but so many factors are working against him now, not the least of which is the relentless passage of time.
Woods matters, no matter how much you’re driven to mock him and his foibles. And no matter how many opportunities he gives you to do so.
Tour Chambers Bay
Take a tour of the links-style course using our 3-D flyover, including videos featuring U.S. Open Championship Director Danny Sink.He is 39 now, and his body is breaking down before our eyes. Since he beat Rocco Mediate in a playoff for the 2008 U.S. Open — 17 months before the fateful collision with the fire hydrant in Florida that started his life, and career, into a downward spiral — Woods has had reconstructive knee surgery and back surgery, as well as injuries to his left Achilles tendon and elbow.
His marriage disintegrated, and just last month his high-profile relationship with skier Lindsey Vonn ended. This year has been particularly rocky on the course for Woods, with an 82 round at Phoenix that spawned a lengthy sabbatical, and a career-worst 85 in his most recent tournament, the Memorial, earlier this month.
Oh, Woods has had his successes, including a surprising 17th-place finish at the Masters in April. Woods was named PGA Player of the Year in 2013 for the 11th time, and was still ranked No. 1 in the world as recently as May 2014 (he now sits at 195 in the World Golf Rankings).
But that cocksure Woods persona that often had golfers psyched out before the tournament even started? Well, that evaporated with his decline and the inevitable emergence of a new field of young superstars, like Rory McElroy and Jordan Spieth (with whom Woods shared a practice round Tuesday).
I've got three of these.” - Tiger Woods on his past U.S. Open success
Woods spoke affably Tuesday for most of his 30 minutes at the podium, but he bristled on a couple of occasions. And when he did, his clipped answers spoke volumes, most tellingly when he was asked what makes him believe that he can actually win at Chambers Bay.
“I’ve got three of these,’’ he shot back.
Can Woods get a fourth U.S. Open title, which would be his 15th major, and re-invigorate his quest to surpass Jack Nicklaus’ mark of 18, once thought to be a mere formality?
Jason Day, who played with Woods on Monday, raved about his iron play (“it’s just ridiculous how good it is right now; it’s really special”), and said the key for Woods will be how successful he is in keeping the ball in the fairway.
Beyond that, however, Day pondered whether Woods’ motivation to be the best, which once was unquestioned, is still at that same level.
“It’s very difficult because you can have all the tools in the world,’’ Day said. “But if you really don’t want to be there, or if there’s something that’s off course that’s playing on your mind, the game of golf is so mental, and if you don’t have everything in the right order, it’s very difficult to win golf tournaments.”
Hunter Mahan told Reuters last week he’s sensed the enjoyment of golf has left Woods. “It seems to be more of a chore to him now than it used to be,’’ Mahan said.
But Woods insists his motivation to win majors is no different than when he won his first, the 1997 Masters, in nearly revolutionary fashion.
“It feels the same,” he said, once again with a slight edge in his voice. “I want to win these championships. I love them. I love playing them … There’s pressure; of course there’s pressure. You’re trying to win the biggest events against the best fields — and that’s the fun part.”
For what seems like the umpteenth time, Woods has revamped his swing. He says that’s what the Memorial debacle was about, a necessary “shift” in mechanics that could only be perfected in action. “Short-term suffering for long-term gain,’’ is how he put it.
This incarnation of Woods as a mere golfing mortal has a lot of the former, and he’s yet to see the big payoff. But Woods likes where his game is and claims to be in a good place mentally, despite the tribulations.
“Obviously, I’ve got to do it in front of the world, and sometimes, it’s tough,’’ he said of his swing adjustments. “I’ve got to suck it up and do it.’’
For Woods, it’s always been done in front of the world — the glorious and the ignominious. It’s the life he carved for himself by virtue of sweeping golf success unlike any seen before. And the life we still care about, even as the distance from his days as the king of golf grows.