Early exit of tiger woods have raised question over his fitness
Tiger Woods winces after tee shot on the sixth hole during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Valhalla Golf Club (Photo: AP)
Louisville: The early exit by an ailing Tiger Woods from this week’s PGA Championship prompted widespread debate about his immediate playing future, with many suggesting he shut down for the rest of the year.
Woods has been a shadow of his former self since back surgery in late March and he missed the cut at Valhalla Golf Club on Friday after struggling for form and rhythm while clearly not at full health.Though he pronounced himself fit to compete in the year’s final major after recovering from back spasms that forced him to withdraw from the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, the 14-times major winner played poorly in both rounds.
“He has gone from the artist to the engineer,” former PGA Championship winner Paul Azinger said on Saturday. “It is difficult to watch a Vincent Van Gogh paint by numbers. We want to see Tiger come back and get all of this stuff out of his head. The golf swing takes a second and a half. What is running through his head in a second and a half that has caused him to lose face and path awareness?
“Something is happening in the strongest and greatest mind that golf has ever known that is different.Butch Harmon, who previously worked as a swing coach for Woods, felt he should have quit midway through Friday’s second round at Valhalla instead of battling on. “I was surprised he played the back nine. He looked really sore on the front nine; he looked like he was in a lot of pain,” Harmon said. “I think Tiger wanted to show ‘I came here to play, I’m going to finish my round’. I hope he goes home and gets healthy and comes back because the game is in a better place when Tiger Woods is at the top of the leaderboard.”
( Source : reuters )
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