Opinion & Analysis
A master professional’s thoughts on Tiger’s comeback
Ever since Tiger Woods was a little boy, he has excelled at golf. His junior, amateur and collegiate career is the stuff of legends. The record speaks for itself. Consider this one alone: from 1991-1996, Tiger Woods was 36-0 in all USGA amateur events. He was the ultimate prodigy. Golf came easy to Tiger and at every age, in every level of competition, he was the best by any measure. Winning was all Tiger ever knew. “Second is the first loser” he was quick to remind us. And sure enough, he was rarely second. And this trend continued right into the first 12 years of his professional career.
Fast forward to the 42-year-old professional attempting a comeback on the PGA Tour. We have the obvious differences: older, injured, battle worn, and some say distracted; yet at times, still capable of producing a very high level of golf. Good enough to win again? Who knows, but one thing seems clear; probably not capable of dominating again, not capable of producing anything like what we all became accustomed to for so long. We took his greatness for granted in a sense, and it’s quite possible that Tiger did, too. According to Hank Haney, Tiger even considered walking away from professional golf for a more “exciting” career in the military. He got “bored” being on top of the golf mountain and considered new mountains to climb.
And therein may be the issue with the comeback. This might be the first time that golf is anything resembling difficult for Tiger Woods. And clearly, it is the very first time he cannot beat the competition almost at will. If that seems unusual to us, one can only imagine what it must be like to Woods. At the ripe golfing age of 42, the greatest winner the sport has ever known no longer wins. At times, he does not even seem competitive.
The real questions to be answered about his comeback is this: How long can Tiger accept not winning, not dominating? How much inner drive does he still have to get back to the top? Or near it. How long can he actually tolerate golf being a struggle? Can he accept being a middle of the pack PGA Tour pro? Does he have the level of self-belief he once had, or has all this new adversity diminished it to an “also ran”level? We don’t know, and he doesn’t know because this situation is new to everyone.
Let’s face it, Tiger has nothing left to prove and he is wealthy beyond imagination. One would have to assume that getting back to the top might be a battle Tiger may ultimately not be willing to fight. Having always succeeded as he did, he very likely underestimated this comeback. Who could blame him for assuming he’d win again just by showing up? Now halfway through the comeback season, he has come to the realization that there is a very long way to go, a huge mountain to scale. Who knows what he’ll decide to do?
I’m writing this on the day he tried a new putter in competition. Changing a golf club, THE golf club, that has won more than 100 events worldwide indicates a lack of confidence as much as a need for more modern equipment. If the putting stroke has changed and the new putter is more adapted to the new stroke, that is understandable. But nobody in his camp has mentioned anything changing about the putting stroke. So why the need for a new club?
In any case, all the analyses of his comeback seem to deal with his poor putting, erratic driving, proximity to hole etc., and I’m not saying it isn’t these things. I’m merely suggesting that those struggles are not in the swing or of the physical nature. Possibly, the cause of those unusual errors starts before he even draws it back.
As the editor-in-chief of this website and an observer of the GolfWRX forums and other online golf equipment discourse for over a decade, I’m pretty well attuned to the grunts and grumbles of a significant portion of the golf equipment purchasing spectrum. And before you accuse me of lording above all in some digital ivory tower, I’d like to offer that I worked at golf courses (public and private) for years prior to picking up my pen, so I’m well-versed in the non-degenerate golf equipment consumers out there. I touched (green)grass (retail)!
Complaints about the ills of and related to the OEMs usually follow some version of: Product cycles are too short for real innovation, tour equipment isn’t the same as retail (which is largely not true, by the way), too much is invested in marketing and not enough in R&D, top staffer X hasn’t even put the new driver in play, so it’s obviously not superior to the previous generation, prices are too high, and on and on.
Without digging into the merits of any of these claims, which I believe are mostly red herrings, I’d like to bring into view of our rangefinder what I believe to be the two primary difficulties golf equipment companies face.
One: As Terry Koehler, back when he was the CEO of Ben Hogan, told me at the time of the Ft Worth irons launch, if you can’t regularly hit the golf ball in a coin-sized area in the middle of the face, there’s not a ton that iron technology can do for you. Now, this is less true now with respect to irons than when he said it, and is less and less true by degrees as the clubs get larger (utilities, fairways, hybrids, drivers), but there remains a great deal of golf equipment truth in that statement. Think about it — which is to say, in TL;DR fashion, get lessons from a qualified instructor who will teach you about the fundamentals of repeatable impact and how the golf swing works, not just offer band-aid fixes. If you can’t repeatably deliver the golf club to the golf ball in something resembling the manner it was designed for, how can you expect to be getting the most out of the club — put another way, the maximum value from your investment?
Similarly, game improvement equipment can only improve your game if you game it. In other words, get fit for the clubs you ought to be playing rather than filling the bag with the ones you wish you could hit or used to be able to hit. Of course, don’t do this if you don’t care about performance and just want to hit a forged blade while playing off an 18 handicap. That’s absolutely fine. There were plenty of members in clubs back in the day playing Hogan Apex or Mizuno MP-32 irons who had no business doing so from a ballstriking standpoint, but they enjoyed their look, feel, and complementary qualities to their Gatsby hats and cashmere sweaters. Do what brings you a measure of joy in this maddening game.
Now, the second issue. This is not a plea for non-conforming equipment; rather, it is a statement of fact. USGA/R&A limits on every facet of golf equipment are detrimental to golf equipment manufacturers. Sure, you know this, but do you think about it as it applies to almost every element of equipment? A 500cc driver would be inherently more forgiving than a 460cc, as one with a COR measurement in excess of 0.83. 50-inch shafts. Box grooves. And on and on.
Would fewer regulations be objectively bad for the game? Would this erode its soul? Fortunately, that’s beside the point of this exercise, which is merely to point out the facts. The fact, in this case, is that equipment restrictions and regulations are the slaughterbench of an abundance of innovation in the golf equipment space. Is this for the best? Well, now I’ve asked the question twice and might as well give a partial response, I guess my answer to that would be, “It depends on what type of golf you’re playing and who you’re playing it with.”
For my part, I don’t mind embarrassing myself with vintage blades and persimmons chasing after the quasi-spiritual elevation of a well-struck shot, but that’s just me. Plenty of folks don’t give a damn if their grooves are conforming. Plenty of folks think the folks in Liberty Corner ought to add a prison to the museum for such offences. And those are just a few of the considerations for the amateur game — which doesn’t get inside the gallery ropes of the pro game…
Different strokes in the game of golf, in my humble opinion.
Anyway, I believe equipment company engineers are genuinely trying to build better equipment year over year. The marketing departments are trying to find ways to make this equipment appeal to the broadest segment of the golf market possible. All of this against (1) the backdrop of — at least for now — firm product cycles. And golfers who, with their ~15 average handicap (men), for the most part, are not striping the golf ball like Tiger in his prime and seem to have less and less time year over year to practice and improve. (2) Regulations that massively restrict what they’re able to do…
That’s the landscape as I see it and the real headwinds for golf equipment companies. No doubt, there’s more I haven’t considered, but I think the previous is a better — and better faith — point of departure when formulating any serious commentary on the golf equipment world than some of the more cynical and conspiratorial takes I hear.
Agree? Disagree? Think I’m worthy of an Adam Hadwin-esque security guard tackle? Let me know in the comments.
@golfoncbs The infamous Adam Hadwin tackle ? #golf #fyp #canada #pgatour #adamhadwin ? Ghibli-style nostalgic waltz – MaSssuguMusic
Episode #16 brings us Cliff McKinney. Cliff is the founder of Old Charlie Golf Club, a new club, and concept, to be built in the Florida panhandle. The model is quite interesting and aims to make great, private golf more affordable. We hope you enjoy the show!
Last week, I came across a reel from BBC Sport on Instagram featuring Scottie Scheffler speaking to the media ahead of The Open at Royal Portrush. In it, he shared that he often wonders what the point is of wanting to win tournaments so badly — especially when he knows, deep down, that it doesn’t lead to a truly fulfilling life.
View this post on Instagram
“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about it because I’ve literally worked my entire life to be good at this sport,” Scheffler said. “To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world, because what’s the point?”
Ironically — or perhaps perfectly — he went on to win the claret jug.
That question — what’s the point of winning? — cuts straight to the heart of the human journey.
As someone who’s spent over two decades in the trenches of professional golf, and in deep study of the mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the game, I see Scottie’s inner conflict as a sign of soul evolution in motion.
I came to golf late. I wasn’t a junior standout or college All-American. At 27, I left a steady corporate job to see if I could be on the PGA Tour starting as a 14-handicap, average-length hitter. Over the years, my journey has been defined less by trophies and more by the relentless effort to navigate the deeply inequitable and gated system of professional golf — an effort that ultimately turned inward and helped me evolve as both a golfer and a person.
One perspective that helped me make sense of this inner dissonance around competition and our culture’s tendency to overvalue winning is the idea of soul evolution.
The University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies has done extensive research on reincarnation, and Netflix’s Surviving Death (Episode 6) explores the topic, too. Whether you take it literally or metaphorically, the idea that we’re on a long arc of growth — from beginner to sage elder — offers a profound perspective.
If you accept the premise literally, then terms like “young soul” and “old soul” start to hold meaning. However, even if we set the word “soul” aside, it’s easy to see that different levels of life experience produce different worldviews.
Newer souls — or people in earlier stages of their development — may be curious and kind but still lack discernment or depth. There is a naivety, and they don’t yet question as deeply, tending to see things in black and white, partly because certainty feels safer than confronting the unknown.
As we gain more experience, we begin to experiment. We test limits. We chase extreme external goals — sometimes at the expense of health, relationships, or inner peace — still operating from hunger, ambition, and the fragility of the ego.
It’s a necessary stage, but often a turbulent and unfulfilling one.
David Duval fell off the map after reaching World No. 1. Bubba Watson had his own “Is this it?” moment with his caddie, Ted Scott, after winning the Masters.
In Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, reflecting on his 2011 Super Bowl win, Rodgers said:
“Now I’ve accomplished the only thing that I really, really wanted to do in my life. Now what? I was like, ‘Did I aim at the wrong thing? Did I spend too much time thinking about stuff that ultimately doesn’t give you true happiness?’”
Jim Carrey once said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”
Eventually, though, something shifts.
We begin to see in shades of gray. Winning, dominating, accumulating—these pursuits lose their shine. The rewards feel more fleeting. Living in a constant state of fight-or-flight makes us feel alive, yes, but not happy and joyful.
Compassion begins to replace ambition. Love, presence, and gratitude become more fulfilling than status, profits, or trophies. We crave balance over burnout. Collaboration over competition. Meaning over metrics.
Interestingly, if we zoom out, we can apply this same model to nations and cultures. Countries, like people, have a collective “soul stage” made up of the individuals within them.
Take the United States, for example. I’d place it as a mid-level soul: highly competitive and deeply driven, but still learning emotional maturity. Still uncomfortable with nuance. Still believing that more is always better. Despite its global wins, the U.S. currently ranks just 23rd in happiness (as of 2025). You might liken it to a gifted teenager—bold, eager, and ambitious, but angsty and still figuring out how to live well and in balance. As much as a parent wants to protect their child, sometimes the child has to make their own mistakes to truly grow.
So when Scottie Scheffler wonders what the point of winning is, I don’t see someone losing strength.
I see someone evolving.
He’s beginning to look beyond the leaderboard. Beyond metrics of success that carry a lower vibration. And yet, in a poetic twist, Scheffler did go on to win The Open. But that only reinforces the point: even at the pinnacle, the question remains. And if more of us in the golf and sports world — and in U.S. culture at large — started asking similar questions, we might discover that the more meaningful trophy isn’t about accumulating or beating others at all costs.
It’s about awakening and evolving to something more than winning could ever promise.
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Dave r
Jul 4, 2018 at 7:27 pm
He’s DONE . ITS GOLF GET OVER IT!
Dennis
Jul 4, 2018 at 3:52 pm
First of all, no one is a bigger fan of or has any more respect for what Tiger has done for professional golf than I. This article says that perhaps for the first time, the inner self belief that he possessed to a greater degree than any player ever, he does not currently have. Simply that nothing more. I had the wonderful opportunity to meet and play with Tiger, and can tell you first hand he’s the consummate professional and all around good dude. I hope his comeback is successful and breaks every record on the books, because he is the best I’ve ever seen. To do that he’ll need to get back to thinking the way he did when he was winning.
If you differ my with my opinion, please feel free to do so. I’d love to hear anyone else’s opinion, but to attack me personally says absolutely nothing on the subject.
Mario
Jul 4, 2018 at 1:49 pm
After Dennis gives a couple lessons he likes to come into the men’s locker room at Southpointe Golf Club and eat all of the candy that Mike purchases with his own money and then leave the wrappers all over the place.
This article doesn’t surprise me.
Ed Young
Jul 4, 2018 at 11:30 am
I would have expected more from someone in your position. Your comments & thoughts are grossly premature. The guy is 6 months into his comeback from what would have been a career ending situation for most…and he’s already had a great year by most tour pros standards.
Yes, Tiger is far from most tour pro’s and has set the bar so high, people like yourself lose sight of what this guy has been through the last few years. The fact that he’s even playing is incredible never mind knocking on the door of winning again. Which, he no doubt will. It’s not a matter of if…it’s when.
moses
Jul 4, 2018 at 10:03 am
This has got to be an all time low. Congrats on the 1% approval rating.
Andrew Cooper
Jul 4, 2018 at 4:35 am
Excellent article Dennis. Whether Woods can return to the top will depend on more than just his swing and putting stroke and stats, it will be a matter of whether or not he has the strength and energy, physically and mentally, to grind his way all the way back. At 42, and with all he’s accomplished and been through, he’s not going to be content being an also ran.
Jack
Jul 4, 2018 at 3:25 am
It’s not like Tiger is playing like a regular tour pro. He’s actually playing very well. He’s up to OWGR 67 now. Most guys would be ecstatic a few tournaments in coming for OWGR 1000+ when he first came back. Keep going, he will probably win a tournament here and there and that would be a solid 2018 come back for him. Then in 2019 people would start expecting more again.
The criticism on Tiger not changing his putting stroke? I don’t know if he did, but the master pro didn’t even bother to look at any film to check. Pro’s change putters just like amateurs do. It’s to get a new putting feel and to putt better.
Kool Aid
Jul 4, 2018 at 1:59 am
Feel sorry for the Author, don’t quit your day job, whatever that is
8thehardway
Jul 3, 2018 at 6:44 pm
“And therein may be the issue with the comeback. This might be the first time that golf is anything resembling difficult for Tiger Woods.”
This sentence illustrates a major difference between facile observation and actual insight… had you compared his current struggles with those of one of your students there might have been something instructive to impart; don’t ignore what it is to be human, striving and struggling – regardless of outcome, that’s the song of us.
CrashTestDummy
Jul 3, 2018 at 6:21 pm
Tiger definitely has the game to win again. He has been contending in quite a few tournaments of late while beating a lot of top 20 players in the fields while he has some obvious flaws in his game (putting issues and ball striking mainly off the tee with a few errant shots). If he gets stuff cleaned up, he will be contending a lot.
The putter switch is just testing stuff for the British. If he is sinking a ton of putts with the new putter, you may see it at the British. However, sometimes you need to mix things up to get a different feel in order to reinforce what is the putter you really like.
Deejaymn
Jul 3, 2018 at 3:58 pm
A healthy season is a success, so far, check. Then a win is gravy on top this year. He’s obviously getting there, he had as many birdies this week as the eventual winner. Has to clean up the mistakes but that takes more rounds and cleaning up his putting, specially from 10 feet and in. But if he’s healthy it’s a success. Enjoy the climb, crab in a bucket.
dat
Jul 3, 2018 at 3:52 pm
In to the trash this goes.
Phil D. Snuts
Jul 3, 2018 at 2:25 pm
You know as a kid I wondered what it was like to watch Babe Ruth play baseball. So let’s stop all the pre-toldyaso arguments, sit back, and watch what could be the greatest come back in golf maybe even sports history. We can enjoy the expert analysis from has been, never was and never will he’s later.
K
Jul 3, 2018 at 9:27 pm
You CANNOT judge a person before they are done. Heck from most the interviews ive seen Tiger seems to mostly just be having fun playing with the guys.Yea he shows frustration sometimes but thats what this game does to all of us. Hes had 3 top 5 finishes and is currently 47th on FedEx list. Not too bad considering about a year ago he couldnt even put a full swing on a club.
Chuck Barkley
Jul 4, 2018 at 2:37 am
Ok, if we are NOT to JUDGE a person, especially golfers before they are done, WHY are we HALL OF FAMING them before they are DONE? DUMBEST thing I have EVER heard of!!
Jim Mcfarlane
Jul 5, 2018 at 6:13 pm
I believe we’ve seen the greatest comeback already. Doctors said Ben Hogan would not walk after his accident with a bus and he won Eleven times including six majors!
kevin
Jul 3, 2018 at 2:04 pm
You know what’s worse that a shank?….. This article
Sean
Jul 3, 2018 at 1:18 pm
You contradict yourself. The substance behind this article is nothing but fluff gut opinions.
orangeology
Jul 3, 2018 at 12:44 pm
tell this master professional sir to keep on what he’s been the master like those achievements in his intro that is nearly longer than the article. and pls tell him to stop writing a pointless junk and stop wasting ppl’s time. please. like-shank ratio will tell.
Phil D. Snuts
Jul 3, 2018 at 2:28 pm
Master huckster if you ask me. Sounds like a range pro I know that won’t give lessons until someone buys their latest and greatest $2,500 set of last years painted clubs. Yeah I know a master pro with merchandiser of the year cred.
Joe
Jul 3, 2018 at 12:38 pm
Its almost as if this guy isn’t watching Tiger at all. He is playing top ten golf only 10 tournaments into his comeback- making cuts and showing up on leaderboards. He’s obviously good enough to win again you moron. Laziest article I’ve seen on here in a while.
Lefty
Jul 3, 2018 at 12:28 pm
The narrative on Tiger is ever-changing. A few months ago he was never coming back. Shortly into his return – when will he win again? Fast forward a few more tournaments and some great play… he will never be the same.
Tiger is great. He has been great. He will be great. His iron and wedge play is fantastic. The PGA has talent has changed over the last few years. There are a ton of really good players capable of winning each week. Never before has the PGA had this many great players. It is going to be tough for him to win, but does he not have the talent to do so? How can anyone say that? His swing speed is off the charts, his short game is tremendous, his iron/wedge play is top notch.
He will win again and once he wins the first time the flood gates will open for more wins. Will he win another major? Who knows… but him coming back to golf is a great thing for the sport.
This piece is pure garbage.
s
Jul 3, 2018 at 11:55 am
Articles like this are nothing more than a stroke of the ego in case Tiger doesn’t win again. That way the author can tell all his buddies “I told you so”.
moses
Jul 3, 2018 at 11:54 am
In poker lingo this article is a DONK move.
RP
Jul 3, 2018 at 11:15 am
This will probably be the article with the biggest shank to likes ratio. Amazing how some people get paid to write things like this. Smh
Carson Henry
Jul 3, 2018 at 11:32 am
My thoughts exactly…We are half a season into his return and people are wondering if he will ever compete again. Our expectations speak to how great he actually was, we expect him to win. Four back surgeries is something that takes adjusting to, in the swing AND routine. He has to start warming up HOURS before he used to, and with early start time on some days that can take its toll. Tiger can and will dominate again, he is just learning his new body and what its limits are. Give the man more than 6 months geeze.