Tiger Woods’ Divorce Causing Poor Play?
It’s no secret that Tiger Woods life took a sudden and abrupt down turn after late night one-car accident unraveled his alleged string of illicit affairs. There was much speculation on how this would affect his golf game, and after a strong first outing back, he has been on a downward slide which has included his worst 72 hole performance as a professional.
A recent article in the Los Angels Times explores the reasoning for Woods’ incredible decline.
It is impossible to know exactly what is affecting Woods’ game, but it seems relatively easy to assume that at least some of the stress from his personal life is affecting his golf game.
The titles of the article, Too many lawyers, too little practice means his game won’t change anytime soon, seems to muse that the lack of practice due to his divorce proceedings are the cause of his decline.
The article states that “[Woods is] hardly the first guy whose job performance took a nosedive in the middle of divorce proceedings, and he won’t be the last to get his bearings back, either. The only question is when not if.”
Echoing this confidence that Woods is likely to get his game back at any tournament he enters, are the odds makers in Las Vegas.
Tiger Woods has still been listed as the most likely to win the golf tournaments that he has entered, as high as 6-1 favorite in PGA event at Brigdestone.
The article talks about a change that has occurred in Woods’ practice time.
There was “a time when his practice time was almost sacrosanct, when business and everything else had to be put on hold for two weeks or more at a time, if that’s what his playing schedule demanded.”
Woods’ has been admittedly practicing less than he has. His personal life has become a large factor that weighs on him. Because he has been so distracted by his family life and divorce proceedings, Woods has had less time to prepare and focus on his goals.
There seems to be little confidence that Woods will be able to rebound completely until his personal life is finalized. This means that until Tiger Woods can finish his divorce proceedings, he will very likely be less than his potential on the golf course.
However, it is surprising just how certain both the odds makers and the article are that Woods will be a dominant force in the golf world again. In sports, when there are never any guarantees, it is unexpected to see this much certainty that someone like Tiger Woods will be able to regain such an extremely high level of play.
The only way to see of the confidence people have in Tiger Woods is misplaced or accurate is to see how he responds after his divorce is finalized.
