Zzzz: Tiger reads selected fans questions
I’m a little hesitant to admit I actually watched what some media members have dubbed as “Tiger’s hostage video” (which is published here ) more than once without dozing off — and this is coming from a person who can barely see straight after driving through the night from New Orleans to Charlotte (yes, play those tiny violins, please!). It was a tough fight and touch-and-go at times, but I made it.
I only got through because I wanted to spare you from spending those precious 14 minutes and 18 seconds of your time in more interesting ways, like reading this post and sharing your insights/opinions.
In all seriousness, it wasn’t that bad, but it felt like Tiger was reading from a teleprompter. It certainly wasn’t the first time he had seen those questions and maybe I’m mistaken — I would ask him, but he’s not holding a presser! — but it appeared he had notes jotted down, like a cheat sheet, and there’s nothing wrong with that (most pros in the biz have note cards when conducting on-camera stuff).
Give Tiger credit for trying really, really hard to sound natural and act genuinely interested in the questions and trying to engage viewers. Well, it is Tiger and he actually kind of acts like that when he’s not just hanging out with his buddies.
I’ll also say Tiger this: there were glimpses of good answers, but when you don’t have a chance to ask a follow-up, well, that can be frustrating. Once again, this was for the fans, not the press! That’s debatable because the golf media sure is having fun mocking the 14-time major champ on Twitter, including links to YouTube videos of watching paint dry. Hey, Tiger and his people set themselves up for the backlash.
Look, I think it’s fantastic he took the time to “interact” with fans in recorded video — it is all about the fans, after all, and not a proverbial middle finger to the press because Tiger can’t handle fielding questions that he perceives as criticism — but here’s my original take on the whole concept: No reason why Tiger can’t do the Q&A and keep his routine visit to the press center. By trying to take control, it seems like he’s losing more control.
Now I took some time to transcribe *most* of the 14 minute, 18 second video, because I’m a masochist. I skipped a few, but you get the gist. This first question sure throws Tiger a curve ball!
*How many practice rounds will you play on each course?
“At Quail Hollow, I’ll probably play the Pro-Am on Wednesday, and at the Players, I’ll play Monday and Tuesday and be ready for both of them Thursday.”
*What have you been working on since Masters?
“I was struggling with my ball striking a little bit, and Sean (Foley) and I fixed it. It had to do with my posture. My set-up wasn’t quite right, along with my takeaway. We just did hundreds of reps to get it dialed in.” Hear that? Reps! To be fair, something as simple as the poor posture can indeed make a golfer throw fits and lose his confidence if it’s off…
*Which was your most memorable Players and why?
“Probably the one I won in ’01. That was a fun year. I had a nice putt on No. 17 that I made on Saturday. Also 2000, even though I lost, it was a fun duel between Hal (Sutton) and myself. It went into Monday. I was three down with three to go and I made eagle on No. 16 and made Hal have to work for it in the last couple of holes. Even though I lost, it was a lot of fun.”
*Favorite shot at Sawgrass?
“It’s gotta be that putt on No. 17 back in ’01 on Saturday afternoon…double-breaking putt quite a bit. What made that putt interesting was Fred Funk was in the group ahead of us and I watched him four-putt that hole. I knew how quick it was because I just watched him do the same thing, so I was just trying to make sure I kept my putt on the green so I could at least give myself a chance to two-putt and not lose any shots on the hole. For some reason, it was better than most putt and it went in.”
*What do you think is the coolest looking trophy of the four majors?
“For me, it’s the British Open. I just think the Claret Jug and the history and what it represents — every single great champion has played in the British Open. Not everyone has played in the Masters since it didn’t come around until the ’30s, but everyone has played in the Open Championship. And if you’re lucky enough to have won the Open Championship at St. Andrews, it’s as good as it gets. To come up the last hole at the home of golf — it’s the biggest fairway in golf, but just to have the R&A Building behind the green, the Old Town on the right, it’s one of the coolest sights in all of golf…” OK, fact, totally agree.
*What is in those little bottles you chug on the course?
“Electrolytes. I get them from Fuse and I drink them throughout the day and try to keep my electrolytes up and it’s hot out there usually.” Fuse sponsor mention! So sneaky.
*Enjoy watching your videos from the Oven, do you have any new products you’re testing coming out in the future?
“I’m still working on hitting the ball. I’m playing all Nike clubs. All 14 are Nike clubs. I do testing quite a bit throughout the year. I’m only doing testing when I’m hitting the ball well. I don’t think it’s a good time to test when you’re not hitting the ball well because it’s hard to get any kind of judge…I always make sure I’m dialed in before I’m testing, so we have a benchmark of what I’m testing…” All 14 are Nike! Here I thought they were Mizuno irons with Nike logos…
*You won Quail Hollow in 2007, how different would winning it this year be than winning it back then?
“It’d feel just as good. (Big smile) Winning is winning. It’s been a few years since I’ve won and I’d like to get back in that winner’s circle there. I love the golf course and I love what John Harris has done for the event. He’s getting a PGA there and maybe a Ryder Cup down the road. What he’s done for golf in general is just phenomenal. That’s why all the players go and support the event. It’s a great golf course but also what John does for the game of golf.”
*What is the difference between Bay Hill and the Masters?
“I hit the ball well at Bay Hill. I drove it great. I was really consistent with my irons. My speed on my greens was pretty good. At Augusta, I just wasn’t quite there. My posture was just a little off. My takeaway was hands off because my posture was off. I fixed those little things in the past couple of weeks.” Get outta here!
*Anxious about returning to competition?
“Yeah, absolutely. I took a full week off, I didn’t touch a club for a week. Last couple of weeks I got back into it, gradually, and started to ramp up my practice schedule and practice time. I feel very excited about playing. The things Sean and I have been working on I just need to implement and get more comfortable with it and that just comes with reps. I hit the ball great yesterday when I was out practicing, so I’ll go out today and improve on it.”
*Do you have a good chance of winning?
“I feel if I can do the things we’ve been working on, yes, absolutely. If I can get my posture and takeaway dialed in, then yes, I feel like I have a good chance. I’m going to a golf course I like in Charlotte and I’ve won there before. The very next week is a tournament I’ve also won at, so I’m looking forward to those two events. They’re two ball striking events. You have to hit the ball really well there to give yourself a chance and make a few putts at the same time and I’m really looking forward to that.”
*What do you think about the U.S. Open at Olympic?
“I know they’re putting in a new bunker on No. 17 at Olympic — a little close to tournament time. Playing Nos. 17 and 16 as par-5s is something I haven’t done before. It’ll be different to play 17 as a par-5. When I played in ’98, it was a par-4. It’ll be interesting to see it as a par-5, and I never played it as a par-5 even all my years at Stanford..”
***
There were a few more questions asking about his most memorable putts, whether he’s had an albatross, whether he rotates between a 2-iron and 5-wood in his bag and why, and how much of his swing is designed to protect his knee, etc.
Here’s the link to the video on TigerWoods.com.
I know many of you watch his pressers online and on Golf Channel. Did that video Q&A suffice your appetite? Or would you like it complemented by Tiger gracing us with his presence in the interview room, where he can’t hand-pick questions? C’mon, *The Glare* is such a nice touch, and when he’s in good spirits, we actually learn something. Or when he feels like sounding off on a topic, he will, albeit rarely.
So many unanswered questions!
[...] to her credit, not only watched the whole video several times (I have watched it once) but also transcribed some of the answers. She also seems to have reversed field a little bit from her original take, no longer seeing this [...]
If he was actually asked stimulating, thought-provoking, questions…and was allocated time to reflect on the import of the questions and to answer comprehensively, maybe we would all be enriched, informed and happier.
But he doesn’t get asked such questions: see, for example, the crass idiocy of the ‘Haney / Seal’ farce with the fat fool ‘probing’.
TW and the others owe no one anything, but still give ‘us’ pleasure in watching them.
Zzzzzzzzzzz.
“By trying to take control, it seems like he’s losing more control”
- this would matter only if Tiger cared about the media, which thankfully he doesn’t. He is reaching out directly to the fans instead of the media, which asks such inane non-golf questions such as whether he wanted to be a Navy SEAL. Every question, by my count, is about what happens on the golf course rather than salicious stuff that the media asks (but tries to pretend it doesn’t).
Philosophically I am opposed to any player skipping per-tournament press conferences when they are asked to do them (looking at you Phil). I think the media serves a role, and they have a job to do.
I think this would have been great, and a pr win for team Tiger if he’d just done both. That being said I don’t think there’s any real extra information that we would have gotten out of his press conference.
I’ll admit I prefer his twitter q&a’s bc he’ll thrown in a few non-golf things. He gave a little more effort in this than he does in his typical press conf, but it was pretty boring
It’s striking that about 50% of this interview features Tiger reflecting on his better days. Listening to him talk about his victory at The Players in 2001, his albatross during Walker Cup practice, and his victory at The Masters in 1997 reminded me of Arnie, Jack, and Gary discussing old times during their Masters press conference. He sounds like an athlete whose success is well behind him, not in front of him.
To be fair, some of the questions did prompt that reflection. But it’s interesting that Tiger and Steiny chose to respond to those questions instead of others. Better to focus on victories than on losses, I suppose. It wound up being a stark reminder, though, that he’s getting further and further from his old self. He’ll be playing in his own shadow for the rest of his career, and I’m shocked that no one in his camp has urged him to focus his rhetoric on the future.
And here’s a two-part question I’d love to hear Tiger answer…
Prominent players, analysts, and instructors have suggested that you’re focused on swinging the golf club, not on playing golf. Even fans could see evidence of that throughout The Masters. Where would you draw the line between refining technique for the sake of improvement and becoming obsessed with technical perfection? Have you crossed that line, shifting your primary focus from beating Jack’s record to executing the “correct” shot in every situation?
And here’s how he’d answer, when you’re working on something, esp when it’s not working, you’re trying to fix it. But when he’s out on course he’s trying to execute a shot. (variations on this question have been asked, the dude has done a LOT of press conf over his career, and three swing rebuilds)
You’re right. And that answer would be just another empty response like “you’re always trying to improve,” “it’s a process,” “I revert to old motor patterns,” and the others. Of course players are always working on things to stay sharp and improve. No one disputes that. But as Curtis Strange argued after The Masters, Tiger appears to have lost his natural feel for the game. Any good player knows that when things start to go awry on the course, especially in a tournament, you’ve got to set aside what you’re working on and rely on your natural swing to put the ball in play. In his heyday, Tiger could do that and win major championships. I think he’s become so obsessed with mechanics that he no longer has a natural, go-to swing that he can trust. And if he does, then he won’t let himself trust it. His putting is a great example. Between 2000 and 2006, how often did you hear him talk about the faulty mechanics of his stroke?
To your last? Plenty
As to the “natural” swing thing, he’s had like 5 coaches (sequentially) since he was 2. Once a swing feels instinctual that’s what he goes to. You’ll notice he struggled in majors esp in 98 and 04, and even masters of 99.
Not making excuses but this whole Tiger’s natural swing thing & now he’s analytical is bunk. Tiger has always been super analytical and technical about his swing.
I’m loving you Shoshana. You are doing a great job has Tiger’s spokesperson. I agree with you that tiger has answered just about every conceivable question that can be asked by a lazy media. Of course exceptionally talented bloggers (Like Steph) are excluded from the “lazy media” tag.
@Shoshana — Have you ever played tournament golf?
Look many of us want Tiger to be THAT guy again, the one who never seemed to struggle and made it look easy. But 1) that was never as true as we remember and 2) there’s no magic bullet. This whole natural swing thing is just a magic bullet theory.
I’ll take that as a no.
Because if you had played or do play tournament golf, you’d know that under pressure what you’re working on gets exposed. And when that happens, you have to be able to trust your natural patterns. Why else do you think two players with the same instructor swing the club in idiosyncratic ways? Jack has observed that Tiger forgets mechanics altogether when he’s really under pressure and has suggested that Tiger should play that way all the time. Jack’s not talking about a magic bullet; he’s talking about Tiger’s natural, inherent skill for swinging a golf club without focusing on the path of the downswing. Tiger’s natural swing included a big arc, unbelievably fast hip rotation, and an astonishing amount of torque. Yes, it’s probably helped destroy his knee, but I contend that in his effort to build a better, healthier swing he’s lost the ability to play the way Jack has referred to.
I don’t deny that Tiger has always been technical or that he struggled during previous swing changes. Of course he has been and did. Nor would I dispute the fact that fans and media have exaggerated his prowess. But you can’t seriously deny that his obsession with mechanics hasn’t intensified and negatively affected his game. Take putting, where solid fundamentals and trust in your instinct are all that really matter. That’s most of what Dave Stockton teaches and for good reason. Tiger talks more now about the mechanics of putting than he ever did — rebuilding his stroke to match the full swing, releasing the toe, etc. And you want to tell me that this hasn’t hurt his putting? If so, then play $20 skins next time you play. When you’ve got an important putt, think not about the ball dropping in the hole but about shaft angle, the path of the putter head, and whether the toe fully releases throughout the finish. Do that and let me know how it goes.
Ding, ding, ding!
This is the smartest Tiger post on this message board in the last 12 months.
Please, people, before you write your own half-baked assessment of Tiger, you should read, understand, and internalize the contents of this post.
@Frankie dang bc I don’t think a guy who has the best scoring avg on the pga tour is playing awful golf this year I’m his spokesperson? I mean his behavior doesn’t bug me, and I do like watching him play golf. OTOH I did spend ost of the afternoon mocking the video (and you clearly missed the philosophically opposed comment, shrug).
@Stanford no, otoh I have played multiple competitive sports that required making a repetitive motion under pressure (basketball free throws are a good one).
But here’s a question for you, Matt Kuchar. Once US Am made it to the tour with one swing. Had some struggles, totally revamped swing, on the Nationwide tour. Now he’s a pretty good player. When he’s missing it do you think he goes back to his US Am swing? No, bc at some point the new swing became the “natural” swing. It just takes time esp as you ratchet up pressure.
THOSE WERE THE QUESTIONS FANS ASKED? WTF? All the set-up/hype and this is what we get? Who chose which questions to answer?
“Do you have a chance of winning?”
Seriously now. The media somehow asks more interesting questions than this bunch. I hate the golf media too for being boring, but shoot, they could probably get better answers out of Tiger than this. What was the point?
Max, are you kidding me. Every time Tiger plays they ask him “what are your chances of winning.”
I’m waiting for this very unstable Tiger to throw a punch at someone on the course. It’s obvious he can’t control his emotions at all. Nicklaus, Palmer, Watson, never, ever threw a club, or smashed one against their bag, take a purposeful divot, not talk to the reporter after a loss, swear out loud, etc. To compare Tiger to one of these guys is impossible. Tiger is the biggest bum in sports today. The puke couldn’t keep his thing in his pants while his devoted wife was giving birth. Go out with a few women while your wife is pregnant? Hey, way to go Tiger! Only reason his remaining sponsors haven’t dumped him is because of money. They have the same ethics as Tiger.
I bet the 5th-grade class that sent those questions in to him must be very excited right now.
“all my years at Stanford”? All two of them? All two falls? All six cumulative months?
I love Tiger.. but dude this is pretty lame. Buy a backdrop and get mic’d up.
Tiger seriously man..a third grader could have prep and done a better job than this..
Tiger Fail on this one ..u still my dawg..
You know… I was prepared to hate it – but it was kind of interesting in a weird way. And I’m not a fan of Tiger. I got the weird feeling that he was being as honest as he could be. I know he picked the questions and all, but I think it really seemed like he was making the effort. I’m shocking myself here..
I watch the whole interview and I thought it had a rather organic feel to it. So fine with me.
But of course the “Pillsbury Dough Boy brothers” — AKA Alex Miceli and John Feinstein- will be whining about this all week.
Seriously, after running away from a press conference and then producing the weenie of a substitute, Tiger is turning into one of the biggest pussies in sports. He should be embarrassed by this. One would have thought that he might have learned from “The Apology” – blue curtains and all.
What I find most interesting is that people cannot ignore Tiger. I can see this video is going to be a complete waste of time, so I don’t bother watching it, but so many people just can’t help themselves. Some people that dislike Tiger the most are the ones who are obsessed with following his every move.
The media isn’t much better. They act like this is such a joke, but they all cover it, because they need the eyeballs on the story. Talk a tough game about Tiger but if he offered any golf scribe 10 mins for a Q&A they’d all jump at the chance and turn over their questions for approval.
He gets all this heat for trying to “control the story,” but that behavior is cultivated by the media. They’ll latch onto any scrap and run with it because he’s still the biggest business. Tiger isn’t good with the media because he doesn’t have to be, and that makes the journos bitter because they know they have to keep covering him.
You gotta take the good with the bad, if it wasn’t for Tiger there’d probably be a lot less people making a living covering golf.
Finally Tiger usurps the media’s useless middlemen job. Most articles that result from the press conference are not more insightful than just reading the transcript from asap. With twitter and social media, their job is becoming less relevant which is why they are so angry at Tiger for doing this.
I really liked the Q & A. You get some good answers from some albeit vetted questions instead of curt one-liners from questions that are asked to fit the scribe’s narrative or are just there to get the usual cold stares and non-answers out of the way.
By the way, I hope more tour pros do this. Especially ones that the media deems not worthy to talk to pre-tournament. Give me Q & As from Steve Elkington and Adrian Gonzalez.
The media has an agenda, even Robert Luseitch admitted it: “Woods, with very few exceptions, was estranged from the media that covers him, and when he needed their restraint at the end of 2009, he instead got their revenge.”
So it should not be surprising when Tiger wants even less to do with the media.
You know what I also find a double standard is this: Phil gets away with not doing them at the Shell or the Humana and you guys don’t criticize him? Should TW had just not done a video Q&A at all and follow Phil’s example? I don’t blame him either. I hope he does a video Q&A for his fans too.
TL; DR
BETTER THAN MOST!
17 at Olympic will be a par-5
What’s your point Marky Mark?
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