Tiger Woods continues to struggle on the PGA Tour, but former great Jack Nicklaus says his problems are truly all mental.
Tiger Woods won five PGA Tour events in 2013, building confidence in his fan base as well as himself only for everyone to be harshly let down with a struggling 2014 season riddled with injuries for the greatest player of the game.
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After Tiger received back surgery after the 2014 PGA Championship, Tiger Woods returned in 2015 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open where he missed the cut. Tiger then tried again the next week at the Farmers Insurance Open, where he had to withdrawal due to a back injury.
The former world No. 1 has decided to take a leave of absence until his game is “tournament ready.” He decided to not play in this weekend’s Honda Classic, which means he won’t be eligible for the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral in two weeks either.
Jack Nicklaus, a golf legend who owns the major championship record that Tiger chases, said that Tiger’s problems are physical, but mental.
“Tiger’s struggling, I don’t think there’s any question about that. We all know that, he knows that,” Nicklaus said Friday on Golf Channel’s “Morning Drive.” “I think he’s struggling more between his ears than he is any place else.”
Nicklaus went through struggles of his own during his career including his short game struggles in 1979.
“I was actually putting it around bunkers. I couldn’t chip it,” he said. “I was terrible, I was just awful. “You go through things, and you have to have a positive thing happen to you to turn it around.”
Tiger Woods has gone through three swing coaches now in his career and has moved onto his fourth in Chris Como, but Nicklaus said it’s time for him to ditch the coaches.
“Personally, I think he needs to figure it out himself, because a teacher can’t teach what’s inside your head,” Nicklaus said. “You’ve got to be able to put that positive thought into your head yourself.”
This seems to be a common theme in Tiger, as if he needs coaches and caddies to be optimistic for him. Tiger struggles with momentum issues on the course, when he misses a shot, like most golfers, he’ll show his anger, but then he struggles to hit another good shot.
I have no doubt that Tiger Woods still has plenty of time to at least tie Nicklaus’ record, as long as he can work on his mental issues on the course. Woods is the greatest golfer to have ever lived, he just needs to find his head again.
You can anticipate that Tiger will most likely make his return at the Arnold Palmer Invitational Mar. 19, a tournament he’s won eight times in his career including in 2013.
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