Tiger Woods, Starting Slow?
After coming off from his disastrous finish of his career at Firestone last week, several golf fans are unsure of Tiger Woods’s chances this weekend at the PGA Championship.
However, before writing him off, here’s what might save Woods: With England’s Lee Westwood sidelined due to injury, Mr. Woods has the best average finish (10.3) of any player in the field in the first three majors.
Earlier struggles aside, the major reason he isn’t running for a second or third major of the year at Whistling Straits is that he keeps getting off to slow starts.
During the Masters, Mr. Woods’s average score was on the first six holes of his rounds was slightly worse than the field over the course of the event (+1.98 for the field vs. +2 for Tiger, according to Stats Inc.).
Still he was able to control the competition on holes 7-18, going 13 under par while the field averaged about 2.2 over par.
Likewise, it was difficult for him at the U.S. Open over the relatively benign opening stretch at Pebble Beach, going +4 for the week while the field averaged just 1.8 over par.
However, from 7-18 he was almost as impressive as he was at the Masters, playing the holes one under for the week while the field ballooned to a +14.1 average for the event (although he started one round on the 10th hole).
The numbers weren’t as bleak at the British Open, but Mr. Woods still played better than the field on the final 12 holes.
If he had played the first six holes of Pebble Beach as well as his final 12 holes relative to what the field averaged, he would have gained victory at the U.S. Open by six shots.
If he will be able to pull the same exercise for Augusta then he would have turned a fourth-place finish into a fifth green jacket. In addition to that, he will also break his own four-round Masters record with a -19.
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