Tiger Woods Putting Woes (problems)

I have been following the Frys(dot)com Open being played at CordeValle Golf Club and am fascinated that Tiger’s round was described as “Tiger Woods’ Putting Woes”.

The man had 27 putts! Wouldn’t I love to have Tiger Woods’ putting problems?

For me a round of 27 putts would quite satisfactory - thank you - but for the pros, and particularly someone of Tiger’s ability, it is considered mediocre.

To put it in perspective 27 putts is 9 one putts and 9 two putts in a round.

The interesting thing about Tiger is that he said he had a hard time hitting his lines. That means he is not unhappy with his green reading or the weight of his putts but rather a concern for just starting the ball on the right line.

Is it possibly because of the distractions of the recent past, his new caddie or the pressure of not having won since 2009? Maybe, maybe not – the rest of his game seems to indicate he is over all that stuff, or at least headed in the right direction.

However it could be that Tiger is not in his usual “zone” despite seeming to have put all the other issues behind.

Tiger has reportedly said that he will put some lead tape on his putter. He has stated, “It’s always worked in the past.”

Lead tape adds weight to the putter and this helps to keep the wrists firmer through the putting stroke. Reading between the lines I think his tiny little muscles (known in golf terminology as “twitch muscles”) may just be impacting on the stroke.

To putt well you need to eliminate the twitch muscles and putt with the big muscles.

A lot of amateurs use their hands to putt instead of their shoulders. This leads to inconsistency and a lot more putts per round than Tiger’s 27.

At tour level a difference of even half a putt per round on average over the season can translate to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and possibly one’s tour card.

Tiger is well aware of this and knows that tournaments are won on the green.

As I write this Tiger has just completed his second round and improved with a 68. But………….he took 29 putts in his second round (yet still gained on the field) and has made the cut. I wonder if he added that lead tape.

So how did he score better despite taking more putts?

Well for one thing he hit 14 greens in regulation rather than the 9 greens he found on the first day.

This tells us that although putting is very important it does help to have an all round game. As if you didn’t know that already.