2010 PGA Tour Betting – Why Tiger Woods Is Done

August 11, 2010

Online betting players would have never thought they would see the likes of this: is Tiger Woods done?  His -18 at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational was the worst score of his professional career, and while it is completely possible he could come back, here are five reasons why it isn’t likely (and none deal with his marital life directly).

1) Lack Of Mental Strength

This is the most surprising aspect of this entire situation.  For years, we talked about how mentally tough Woods is, but it may have just been a hoax.  Everything is fine when Woods is winning: all 14 of his major championships have come when Woods was leading after 54 holes.  But he showed a chink in the armor when Y.E. Yang came back to win at last year’s PGA Championship, then the “accident” on Thanksgiving, and it’s been pretty much downhill since.  At Firestone last weekend, we watched Tiger Woods give up on the course for the first time in his career.  And it could still get worse.

2) Age

Woods will be 35 on December 30th, so he’s no spring chicken and not even in the prime of his career anymore.  He isn’t the first golfer to see his game deteriorate with age, and he won’t be the last.  He can overcome this, but it’s tough.  Vijay Singh had a good run as he got older, but age has definitely caught up to him.  Phil Mickelson is 40 and possibly playing the best golf of his life, but that could come to an end at any time.  Even Jack Nicklaus struggled as he got older, and golf betting players know that it’s going to come eventually for Woods, maybe just a bit earlier.  

3) No Coach

Woods won eight majors with Butch Harmon, and another six with Hank Haney, but since he split with Haney in May, it’s been terrible.  Woods may know his swing better than anyone, but it always helps to have an extra set of eyes on you, watching for things you can’t see.  It’s one thing to know how to swing a club, and one thing altogether to be able to fix a swing, and Woods has no idea how to fix his.

4) Injury

Woods has had a lot of injuries in the last few years.  His knee problems have been well documented, along with back and shoulder ailments, and he had to withdraw from the Players Championship earlier this year with a neck injury.  This ties into the age factor from above, because as you get older, your body breaks down more easily, and it doesn’t recover as easily. These injuries could be playing a bigger role in Woods’ decline then he lets on.

5) The Tour Has Caught Up To Him

The loss to Yang showed that Woods wasn’t invincible, and that is a trend that has been coming for the last couple of seasons.  The rest of the PGA Tour, thanks to technological advances in equipment, and the fact that players are just getting better, which catching Woods in a downward spiral.  Woods also exploded on the scene as a 21-year-old phenom with his win in the 1997 Masters.  Now it’s guys like Rory McIlroy, Anthony Kim, Ryo Ishikawa and a host of other kids that grew up watching Woods.  These kids are now trying to chase down their idol. 

However, for all of these reasons we’ve discussed, we wouldn’t be surprised in the least to see Woods boost his sports betting chances within the next year.