With the PGA Championship on the horizon, all eyes in the golfing world will be on Oak Hill CC in Rochester, NY. And, a large number of those eyes will be on Tiger Woods as he continues his now almost sisphean quest to tie and break Jack Nicklaus’ record number of golfing major championships.
The question that used to be when will Tiger break Jack’s record has now become is there any real possibilty that Tiger can reach the magic number. With each passing golf season yielding another goose-egg in his quest, it sure is looking more and more like Tiger will definitely fall short.
But, if you are a Tiger fan there is still hope for the future.
In the last two years, 40-somethings Ernie Els and Phil Mickleson have won majors. Using that as a yardstick, Tiger should have a good 5-6 years left to garner more hardware.
In a majority of the recent majors, Tiger has been in contention on the weekend and often on Sunday. It stands to reason, that if he keeps knocking on the door often enough, he’s bound to break through.
While Tiger’s ball striking has been spotty at times, it seems to be getting better and looks to be on par with most other players on tour. After his last swing overhaul, it looks like all he needs is a tweak here and there to push him over the edge.
The last factor may be the trickiest of all. Over the years the one thing that Tiger did better more often than anyone else on tour was make clutch putt after clutch putt. For whatever reason, his ability to drain the crucial putt has all but disappeared from his game. Can he turn his putting woes around? I don’t see any reason why not, but, only time will tell.
Hosting the tour’s final major is going to be a boost to the entire WNY region in general and Rochester specifically. No matter what the outcome, I’m sure there will be great shot-making aplenty and ample drama to go around. And, maybe, just maybe, this will be the week that Tiger gets the monkey off of his back.
