Tiger Woods is considered one of the greatest golfers of all-time. However, his recent form hasn’t shown as much. Nevertheless, a golfer of Woods’ caliber can never be counted out as he is always capable of springing a pleasant surprise.
Read on for the keys to Tiger Woods’ performance when he returns to the Valhalla Golf Club, and for more on the tournament check out our complete preview of the 2014 PGA Championship.
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Three Keys to Tiger Woods’ Performance at the 2014 PGA Championship
Tiger Woods has won the PGA Championship Four Times
Tiger Woods won the PGA Championship in 2000 at the Valhalla after defeating Bob May by one shot with an 18-under par 270. Aside from the win in 2000, Woods also won the tournament in 1999, 2006 and 2007.
[sc:Golf240banner ]Not only did he win the PGA Championship, Woods was basically unstoppable as he collected grand slam after grand slam back in his prime. He has won the Masters four times, while recording three wins each for the U.S. and British Opens. With all the major tournament wins under his belt, Woods knows what it takes to win championships. His wealth of experience makes it hard to count him out especially in an enormous event such as the PGA Championship.
Recovering from Back Injury
However, the Woods that won 14 major championships is not the same as the one playing today. The Woods of the previous decade had the privilege of being hailed as the best golfer in the world. He had an air of invincibility, as well as youth on his side. Also absent was the controversy caused by his extra-marital affairs which surfaced late in 2009.
The Woods of today has not won a major tournament since 2008. This year, Woods also had a bad back that required surgery and led him to miss three months of competition. Since his return, he has failed to produce the results expected of a multi-majors champion. Gone is Woods’ swing that had him driving the longest off the tee.
Woods has only hit 56.70% of fairways off the tee in 2014, about four percent less than the tour average. He missed the cut at the Quicken Loans National and was only 69th at the Open Championship, his worst performance in a major tournament.
The 38-year old golfer’s return to strength is still in progress with explosive training recently introduced to his regime. If the change in his training works out for the better, we may be in store for some classic, explosive Tiger Woods swings.
Not only is Woods inaccurate off the tee, he’s also been misfiring all over the course. He has been struggling with important putts and short shots that he used to be his bread and butter.
This season, Woods has only hit greens 59.03% of the time (the tour average is 64.04%) and has only gained 3.515 putts in 11 measured rounds. Woods will need a drastic change in his game if he hopes to win another major championship.
With Woods’ struggling to hit the greens and hit important putts, he’ll need to be cautious with how he approaches Valhalla’s sixth hole, a 495 yard par four. The green on the hole was pushed back 80 yards and approaches need to be played over water. It requires a perfect tee shot just to have a chance at hitting the green. Anything less puts you in bogey trouble before you even make the green.
Writer’s Prediction
Tiger Woods cannot be easily brushed away as only an afterthought in the PGA Championship. On a good day, Woods has the ability to add yet another PGA Championship to his storied golf career. At +1,200 to win the event, there’s some value to be had on the best golfer of the past decade.
