Tiger’s daily routine begins with a left turn out of his Jupiter Island home and a left turn onto Bridge Road, a beautifully maintained street with a canopy of Banyan trees totally covering both the sides and sky.
From there he heads north on US 1 to Greg Norman’s Medalist Golf Club where he practices (if he’s not practicing at his home course) and then plays. A typical day is 9 hours honing his game.
When he cuts his time short, or arrives late, Tigers practices his short game at home on his exqistively maintained short game practice area in his own backyard facing the Intercoastal.
His 15.1 mile treck to PGA National Championship Course will have him traveling south on US 1 to Indiantown Road and south on the Turnpike to PGA Blvd. From there he’s just a mile from the players tent.
The Jack Nicklaus Championship Course at PGA National is a new event for Tiger at the Honda Classic and will prove to be a real test of his readiness to return to prime time and his preparation for this years Masters. One of the most difficult tracks in the past, especially if the wind blows, last years winning score was just 5 under. In the past few years, Tiger has rarely been seen in the Jupiter-Palm Beach Gardens area. Regardless of how he finishes, it’s nice to see Tiger finally play in his new hometown.
The Famous ‘Bear Trap’
The weakness in Tiger’s game appears to be with his short stick. Once one of the greatest putters of all time, the past three years has shown the decline of that part of his game the most. In his last tournament, he missed 5 short putts in the final round and looked more like your 20 handicapper from 4 feet than the formally invincible player of the past.
His dominant past is way behind him, his stubbornness not to go back to his great teacher Butch Harmon shows a tail tale character flaw, and his isolation from the world makes him a sympathatecti figure.
Is the golf world rooting for or against Tiger? Great question, maybe 50/50 but time will tell. Personally, the golf world would love to see him dominant again.
