Yesterday, as I was doing something I often do, skimming the Internet for golf articles, I came across one that made me scratch my head.
Kyle Porter, an experienced golf writer, was singing the praises of Tiger Woods at the Greenbrier Classic because he shot 32 during a nine-hole Tuesday practice round. He made it sound as if all of Woods' problems were over because he happened to hit every fairway that day. It reminded me of something Scott Hoch used to tell me when we played some of our dozens of practice rounds together.
"Man, you're tough on Tuesdays," he would say. Which in all honesty, is a nice way of saying, "Boy, you sure stink when the tournament starts!"
Let me say before I'm labeled a Tiger hater that I am a huge fan of his. Always have been. The story of a young kid with a Green Beret father who trained him to be the best in the world in a predominantly white sport is better than any Rocky movie. Tiger overcame an immense amount of adversity to become the most famous athlete in the entire world. How could you not be a fan of that guy? Hell, one of the highlights of my life is being able to play with him in his prime. The problem is that guy is long gone.
Everyone who has ever held a club in his hands believes he knows the answer to Tiger's problems.
"It's his swing," say some.
"He's a multimillionaire who's lost his edge," say others.
"He needs to practice his way through it," say the old-school players.
I won't pretend to know exactly what is going on in Tiger's head as he now regularly shoots in the 80s , but I can tell you that the problem is none of those things. When someone tells you he can fix Tiger's game, don't believe it. You see, on a much smaller scale, I went through the exact same problems. And for me there was only one way out ... I retired.
August 6, 2013 was the first round of the Kentucky Open golf championship in my home state. I pulled a few strings to even be able to play there. I used to live in Bowling Green, Ky., with my girlfriend (now wife), and the tournament was going to be held there. I was eager to go back to the town I had spent so much time in, but more important, I wanted to get my confidence back. Surely beating a bunch of Kentucky club pros who would love to have the success on the PGA Tour that I had would get my ego back to where it needed to be in order to play my best golf.
Wrong.
After playing great in the practice rounds -- being "tough on Tuesday" as Scott Hoch so eloquently put it -- I was confident I would win the tournament running away. Then came the first round, and my game disappeared. I couldn't drive it where I wanted to. The yips were back.
After shooting an opening-round 76, I made a life-changing decision: I called my wife and told her my career as a professional golfer was over. It just became too hard, and I wasn't willing to try anymore.
Since I was 6 years old, all I ever wanted to do was be a PGA Tour player. Through high school and college I never wavered from my dream. My goal from the first time I watched the Bay Hill Invitational in 1979 until the day I quit was the same: to be a PGA tour professional. Now, after reaching that goal for 10 years, I was scared to death to let it go ... but I had to.
My game just wouldn't allow me to play at the top level anymore.
And Tiger may possibly be looking at the same decision I had to make.
This week at the Greenbrier Classic, Tiger is doing the right thing. He's playing tournament golf, and his first-round 4-under -- and his made cut -- can be seen as a glimmer of hope. His problem doesn't lie on the range, so he has no business there. His swing isn't the problem because if you watch him on the range as much as I have, you realize he can still be the greatest player in the world.
No disrespect to Chris Como, Sean Foley or Hank Haney, but they can't help him at all. The mechanics of his swing simply mean nothing when it comes to Tiger Woods' golfing troubles. It's all in his mind. He can't take those beautifully executed shots from the range or the practice rounds to the tournament. It's a problem I know all too well. I promise that being "tough on Tuesday" means exactly zero once the tournament begins.
Now I certainly don't think Tiger will hang up his clubs any time soon, but one thing I'm sure of is that he won't tolerate missing cuts for long. Honestly, I truly hope he finds his game and hangs around the Tour until he's 60 years old because there is no one golf fans love to watch more. Still, I can't help but worry about a day when he throws his hands up and says "I don't have it anymore -- see you later," and walks away from the game he used to dominate.
Former PGA Tour pro Robert Damron is a regular contributor to FOXSports.com's golf coverage. Follow him on Twitter @RobertDDamron.
