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 Looking more like a struggling amateur than the greatest player
of his generation, and arguably of all time, Woods was out-of-sorts
in every phase of his game as he laboured to a mind-boggling
11-over-par 82 at the TPC Scottsdale.
His chipping, in particular, was poor and many pundits are now
pointing to Woods, a 14-times major champion once renowned for his
magical skills around the green, as being a sufferer of the 'yips'
when it comes to that component.
Dottie Pepper, who won 17 times on the LPGA Tour, including two
majors, tweeted on Friday: "Never fun seeing, let alone reporting
on, 2 dreaded topics in golf: shanks & yips. Sadly, #Tiger has the
latter. Nerves not mechanics."
Arron Oberholser, a PGA Tour player who also works as an analyst and
commentator for Golf Channel, said: "I think the greatest player
that I've ever seen has the yips.
"Whether that's because of a release pattern or whether it's not
enough reps, it's flat out the disease. He's got the yips."
Woods had also struggled with his chipping in his previous
tournament, last month's Hero World Challenge in Orlando where he
tied for last place, and at Scottsdale he hit chips fat and thin
while occasionally resorting to a putter instead.
 Before any rush to judgement is made, however, it is worth
emphasising that Woods was competing at Scottsdale in only his
second event in five months, having endured back problems for much
of last year after undergoing surgery.
REQUIRED COMFORT LEVEL
He is also still adapting to the fifth swing change of his career,
this time with new consultant Chris Como, and history will recall
that Woods took a long time to reach the comfort level he wanted for
each of his previous four overhauls.
"He's really revamping his golf swing and just seems like he needs
some more repetitions," American world number nine Jordan Spieth
said after playing the first two rounds at the TPC Scottsdale with
Woods.
"From the looks of it, he looks very healthy, looks like nothing was
bothering him, so he should be able to get out there and get a lot
of practice in. I would look for him to make a strong comeback this
year."
Others were not so optimistic on Friday after Woods, for the first
time in his career as a professional, missed the cut in consecutive
PGA Tour events, his previous one having occurred at the PGA
Championship in August.
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"I think he needs to get rid of Chris Como," Oberholser said on Golf
Channel. "He needs to get rid of all of these biomechanic guys. You
don't go to a biomechanic guy when you're the best guy who's ever
played the game practically."
Woods, limited to just nine tournaments worldwide last year due to
his back issues, has often struggled to take his game from the
practice range to the golf course, and fellow PGA Tour player Colt
Knost believes this is once again the case.
"I watched tiger hit balls for 30mins yesterday on the range and he
absolutely striped it! Something is going on in that head of his,"
Knost tweeted on Friday.
After missing the cut at the TPC Scottsdale, Woods conceded that his
chipping problems stemmed partially from a mental block.
"To an extent, yes it is, but I need to physically get the club in a
better spot," said the 39-year-old Woods. "My attack angle was much
steeper with (previous instructor) Sean (Foley).
"Now I'm very shallow, so that in turn affects the chipping. I'm not
bottoming out in the same spot."
Time and again during his remarkable playing career, Woods has
successfully overcome assorted challenges -- many of them
injury-related. If yips are in fact his latest challenge, it would
be foolish for anyone to write him off any time soon.
(Editing by Patrick Johnston)
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