Golf Swings: Tiger vs. Tom
Both Tiger and Tom Watson had surgery in 2008 (Tiger in June for his acl and Tom in October for a hip replacement). By my calculations, they both started hitting balls in the January to February time frame.
You have to wait longer for the knee to heal, so maybe Tiger started a little later than Tom, but Tiger is a lot younger and in terrific physical shape so you’d suppose his body in general would be in better condition to speed his comeback. So what’s my point?
It seems to me that Watson found his swing a lot faster if you take the British Open as the yardstick. Tiger had some wonderful ball striking prior to the Open, but he never achieved any lasting consistency. Tom Watson looks to be the picture of consistency.
He’s hitting the ball just as well at the Senior British Open this week as he did at Turnberry. His problem is he still can’t putt.
Tiger’s swing has always looked to me like it lives on a razor’s edge – an eyelash away from running off the rails. Tom Watson on the other hand, has a swing you feel you could make yourself when you’re, well, 59. Maybe Tiger’s swing has outlived its usefulness.
He needs something for at least another 18 years that will hold up as he ages. Tiger has already won 3 times on tour this year, which is stellar by any other golfer’s standards, but, he’s also lost three golden opportunities for a major this season with only the PGA left. He may never beat Jack’s record if he has to rely on his streaky hitting showing up for the Majors.
My advice to Tiger? Forget Hank Haney and hire Tom Watson to help you build one of golf’s sweetest swings. In return, you could help Tom with his putting. With a smoother swing, Tiger would give himself at least 20 more years to beat Jack’s record and, in the process, help all of us duffers. When Tiger and John Daley were enticing us with 300+ yard drives, we tried to follow. If Tiger went to 300- yards and in the fairway, we’d probably change as well.
Tom Watson has shown us all that consistent, controlled shot making is more important to golf than raw power. The modern golf game has fallen in love with distance and we have all suffered for it. The amateur golfer has spent a fortune on new equipment, but has very little to show for it. Average scores have been basically flat for 30 years.
The pros, for all their distance, just aren’t as good as Nicklaus, Trevino and Watson. Instead of 15 yards more and the ball all over the place, we all should be looking for 10 yards less and the ball where it is supposed to be!
The golf course architects could stop lengthening courses and start using classic course design to give us a more enjoyable, and in most ways more challenging, experience. Who knows, with more golfers in the fairway you might be able to finish a round in less than 4 hours!
Related posts:
- The Beauty of Tiger Losing
- Tiger Needs To Retool His Game
- Surprised Tiger is in the Hunt? – Not Me!
- Is Tiger TOO Pumped Up?
- Could It Be That Tiger Smells Blood In The Water
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[...] his superb play at the recent Open Championship. And as John has mentioned in his terrific article Golf Swings: Tiger Vs. Tom there is a lot we can learn from the solid mechanics of Mr. [...]