Tiger Woods :: A year to forget

Although it seems, at the moment anyway, that Tiger Woods is unlikely to play for a while – maybe even the whole of 2016 – it’s hard to see how the 14-time major champion could possibly endure a year that was as tough as his 40th.

And a month since Woods turned 40, we’ve taken a look back at his past year which has got us thinking, and hoping, that things can only get better – because it surely can’t get much worse than it has.

January 30

A month to the day after turning 39, Woods shot his worst round as a professional – an 11-over-par 82 – in the second round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open. It was only his second round in the 80s as a professional and in more than 1,000 rounds, with reckless driving and a mental block in his short game to blame.

February 5

The Farmers Insurance Open marked Woods’ third mid-round withdrawal in eight starts after he walked off the course on the 12th hole citing a bad back. He was in visible pain throughout, with playing partner Billy Horschel having to pick up some of his tees.

“It’s just my glutes are shutting off,” he said afterwards. “They don’t activate, hence it goes into my lower back. It is frustrating that I just can’t stay activated. It just got progressively tighter.” Whatever that means…

February 9

Following his wretched display in Phoenix and withdrawal in California, the American dropped to No.62 in the world rankings – his lowest ranking since October 13, 1996!

February 12

Woods released a statement on his website saying he’d be taking an indefinite break from the PGA Tour because recent performances were ‘not acceptable for tournament golf’. He did, however, hint that he’d like to play at the Honda Classic just two weeks later.

February 24

Tiger’s former coach Butch Harmon revealed he’d be willing to help him out after saying on Sky Sports at the Farmers Insurance Open that Woods was ‘getting harder and harder to watch’. But the 72-year-old wasn’t holding his breath.

“Tiger probably wouldn’t ask,” he said. “I’m kind of on the end of my run anyway. I’d be more than happy to spend a couple of hours and give him my opinion. I don’t think he would ask because it goes against his pride.”

March 17

After missing the Honda Classic, Woods also said he’d be missing the Arnold Palmer Invitational – a tournament he’d won eight times. His absence was having an effect on some of his peers, with Bubba Watson saying: “The game of golf is obviously missing something without Tiger Woods. He’s created jobs all around the game of golf, such as media and security, so when he shows up, it’s a bigger party.”

March 25

US Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III said Woods still has an excellent chance of making the team at Hazeltine, saying: “He is expecting to make the team. He still has a good attitude and he’s working hard. He’s anxious about getting back to plan so he can get some points for the Presidents Cup and then get back to the Ryder Cup. I wouldn’t count him out quite yet.”

March 30

Tiger continued to tumble down the world rankings, exiting the world top 100. A pretty sharp decline considering he’d ended 2014 at No.32.

April 3

After much speculation, Woods confirmed that he would play in the Masters – his first tournament appearance since withdrawing from the Farmers Insurance Open. “I’ve worked a lot on my game and I’m looking forward to competing,” he said. “I’m excited to get to Augusta and I appreciate everyone’s support.”

April 13

Woods completed four rounds at Augusta and finished a respectable T17. “Considering where I was at Torrey and Phoenix, to make the complete swing change and rectify all the faults and come here to a major championship and contend, I’m proud of that part of it,” he declared.

But his final round wasn’t without an injury concern, where he hit a tree root before claiming ‘a bone kind of popped out and the joint kind of went out of place, but I put it back in’.

May 4

After three years together, Woods announced he had split from girlfriend of three years Lindsey Vonn. “Unfortunately, we lead very hectic lives and are both competing in demanding sports. It’s difficult to spend time together,” he said.

May 21

Shortly after finishing a lowly T69 at the Player Championship, best-selling author and highly respected sportswriter Dan Jenkins stuck the knife into Tiger, claiming he beat ‘a lot of nobodies’ to win his 14 majors. “Go back and look who was second to him in those majors and tell me where they are now,” he said.

June 6

For the second time in 2015, Woods recorded his worst round as a professional as he shot 85 in the third round of the Memorial Tournament. However, Woods wasn’t too concerned. “You have moments where you go backwards and then you make big, major strides down the road,” he said. “That’s just the way it goes. You have to look at the big picture.”

June 18

Shot a round in the 80s (again!) in the first round of the US Open. “Not very happy, that’s for sure. It was a tough day,” he said. Unsurprisingly, he went on to miss the cut with a 76 on day two, finishing 151st out of the 156 players.

July 5

Woods reflected on a ‘very positive week’ at the Greenbrier Classic, where he completed three rounds in the 60s en route to finishing T32. “I hit the ball the best I’ve hit it in a long, long, long time,” he said. “And I’ve made some nice strides heading into the Open.”

July 13

Ahead of the Open, leading golf coach David Leadbetter laughed off Tiger’s chances at the tournament. Speaking to bunkered.co.uk, he said: “I think it’ll be almost impossible to see the old Tiger where he was just dominant. He’s certainly not one of the biggest hitters anymore but sometimes egos get in the way don’t they? Maybe he wants to prove that he can still do it.”

July 14

Tiger rocked up to his pre-Open press conference and came out fighting, saying there was still a lot of life left in him yet. “I’m still young, I’m not 40 yet,” he said. “I know some of you guys think I’m buried and done, but I’m still right here in front of you.”

July 17

But by Friday evening, it was curtains for Woods as he missed consecutive cuts in majors for the first time in his career and only his second missed cut at the Open in 21 appearances on a course which he’d won at so impressively in 2000 and 2005. Only seven players had a worse 36-hole score than him.

August 2

Bounced back with another solid, if uninspiring, finish at the Quicken Loans National, coming T18 with another three rounds in the 60s.

August 14

But again, he couldn’t deliver in a major. Rounds of 75 and 73 saw him exit the US PGA Championship on Friday, where he blasted his putting performance as ‘one of the worst in a very long time’.

August 23

After two rounds of 64 and 65, Woods co-led the Wyndham Championship with only a win needed to make it through to the FedEx Cup play-offs. Alas, he shot 68 and 70 over the weekend to finish T10, his best and final appearance of the year, and a performance he later described as his ‘highlight’ of the year. How the mighty have fallen.

September 16

Woods underwent a second microdiscectomy on his back – a follow-up to the one he had in March 2014 – which was hailed as a ‘complete success’. Outlined the Hero World Challenge in December as a possible return date.

October 30

Woods had a further operation on his back to ‘relieve discomfort’ with no timetable given for his PGA Tour return. “It’s one of those things that had to be done,” Tiger said. “I have an outstanding team of doctors, and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

November 2

As if the year couldn’t get any worse. Woods’ former caddie Steve Williams released his autobiography, ‘Out of the Rough’, which heavily criticised the former world No.1, with the Kiwi saying that at times ‘it was like I was his slave’.

November 18

Tiger was named a 2016 Ryder Cup vice-captain by Davis Love III alongside Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker and the previously announced Tom Lehman. And still, he hadn’t given up on a playing berth. “I will continue to do whatever I can to help win the Ryder Cup back,” he said. “Once I’m fully healthy, I’d like to try to make the team too, but either way, I’m very excited to work with Davis, the other vice-captains and the players to get a US victory.”

December 2

Ahead of the Hero World Challenge, an event Tiger hosts to aid his charity, the world No.400 was far more downbeat about his recovery and admitted for the first time that his career had maybe reached its heights.

“I think pretty much everything beyond this will be gravy,” he said. “For my 20 years out here, I think I’ve achieved a lot, and if that’s all it entails, then I’ve had a pretty good run.”

Tiger Woods :: When will we see him again?

Do you think we’ll see Tiger Woods out playing tournament golf in 2016? Leave your thoughts in the ‘Comments’ section below.