NO says Equipment Writer Andy Roberts

Will the World No.1 get that elusive 15th major? Charlie says yes. Andy says no. What say you?

Charlie Lemay's picture
Charlie Lemay and Andy Roberts
Tue, 10 Dec 2013
NO says Equipment Writer Andy Roberts

NO!

[Yawns] I've heard it all before. No, not how Arsenal are finally ready to win the league but how Tiger is finally ready to win a major, writes Andy Roberts.

I'd hardly call 18 previously failed attempts spanning more than five years temporary form. That's permanently awful major form for someone so domineering as Tiger. Almost as bad as eight years without silverware.

Yes, I take your point he looked somewhere near his best, rising back to the top of the world following a season that brought five wins, but there's no question there are now much more classier and fearless players in his rear view mirror.

Tiger knows that, he even said it for himself last week: “I think it's deeper now than it ever has been. There is more young talent. There are more guys winning golf tournaments for the first time.

“If you look at the major championships, how long did we go from basically Phil winning to Phil winning? I mean, how many first time winners did we have during that stretch? It's deeper. It's more difficult to win events now, and it's only going to get that way."

Of course five wins in a season is impressive and the Players Championship win and WGC double will no doubt have given him a much-needed confidence that he can still mix it with the big boys. 

But I believe the sole reason for his current demise in the majors is because he can't drive the ball as well as other leading names. I honestly believe that's the only reason why he hasn't contended in the majors for the past five years.

There's arguably nobody better for a clutch putt, or a must make up-and-down in a major championship, but there are certainly much better drivers of the ball in the game today. While I wouldn't necessarily class Open champion Phil Mickelson as a great driver of the ball, I most certainly would Adam Scott, Justin Rose and Jason Dufner - winners of the remaining three majors of 2013. 

Okay Augusta is an exception - and that's probably why Tiger is always a threat for the Green Jacket - but you can't get away with winning the other three majors these days by driving poorly. While TW might get away with the odd stinger 2-iron at Royal Liverpool, he most certainly won't get away with errant drives at Pinehurst and Valhalla where the rough will be up.

And is Tiger really as clinical on the greens as he once was? I don't believe so.

Five years is a long time. It's playing on his mind and he knows that fear factor has gone. Anyone in the top-30 today, in my honest opinion, is as good a match for Tiger. I reckon that number was probably down to about five or six players some five years ago. And again, as Tiger says, a lot of that has to do with the advancements in golf equipment and in particular, golf ball technology.

The gap has narrowed, just as it will do in the Barclays Premier League young Charlie.

What do you think?