12/21/24
May 12, 2011
Tiger Woods Injury Forces Withdrawal From Players Championship 2011 : On Thursday, Tiger Woods' start to the 2011 Players Championship was an abysmal one. He shot a terrible 6-over through the front nine at TPC Sawgrass, which put him at the very bottom of the leaderboard. And now, we may have an explanation for his play: citing multiple injuries.
Interesting you should mention that, rcade. It occurred to me at the time of the press conference that some deal must have been struck between Woods and the PGA - and maybe the TPC in particular - when it came to allowing him to use the home of the Tour as the venue for that press conference. It suggested an air of offialdom to the announcement (or it did in the build-up to it, before he hauled out the polished turd that was the actual announcement itself), so I wouldn't be surpirsed if he committed to playing Sawgrass every year for a decade or something in exchange.
I was surprised he played this week. He doesn't have B-game at the moment - never really has done actually - and he clearly wasn't fit enough to be swinging at his most ferocious. He'd hardly hit a ball since the Masters.
Peter Alliss said in BBC commentary in 1997 as Woods destroyed the field at Augusta that his performance was incredible and that one felt he'd win many more Masters and majors in general "If he can stay healthy. I'm not trying to jinx him or anything, but it's an incredibly athletic action and I wonder how he'll cope in years to come with what must be inevitable - either his joints will suffer or his game will suffer as he tries to change his swing to avoid doing himself some damage." (I'm paraphrasing.)
Alliss actually got slagged off for saying that at the time, but he was spot on. I wonder how much of the work Woods is doing with Sean Foley is aimed at developing a swing that is sustainable and puts less pressure on his body - his left knee and ankle in particular.
posted by JJ at 05:08 AM on May 13, 2011
I was there last year when he dropped out mid-round. The Players is the place he held that glassy-eyed press conference revealing that he had renounced whoring. Maybe it's cursed for him now.