Tiger Woods spurns pals, do fellow golfers want him back?

Although sports media is quick to report splits between Tiger Woods and caddie, former swing coaches, management and friends, PGA Tour and European Tour golfers have been standing together to welcome the former number-one golfer back onto the fairway.

PGA Champion, Martin Kaymer said it best, "We need him, we really need him. He's the best player who ever played that game."

Darren Clarke, winner of the 2011 Open Championship and paired with Tiger Woods for the first round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, commented, "Tiger Woods could be a hard man to beat because of his record around this golf course. He loves it so much and has played so well here before. I wouldn't be surprised to see him have a really, really good week."

But Rory McIlroy, fresh off his latest twitter escapade involving golf writer Jay Townshend, appeared a bit ambiguous and on-the-fence about his true feelings regarding Tiger Woods taking center stage, "It’d be maybe a little intimidating if you knew for sure if [Woods] was going to play the way he did in 2000, 2001, but no one knows that."



With Tiger Woods' return to golf this week, internet sports have been abuzz with sorrowful tales of short-lasting unions between sports celebrities...sniff...

Could it be that Tiger Woods really wasn't great friends with sports legends like Charles Barkley and Roger Federer, or even really tight with caddie Steve Williams? As outsiders, fans tend to receive snippets of information as if we were playing "Telephone", an old game where a sentence is whispered to many, one-by-one, and is spewed out differently than it started. The media also enjoys photo-ops and creating buzz around sports superstars, so hanging out at a club "gambling and partying" could easily have been misconstrued.

A true friend, Charles, does not change his cell phone number without sharing it with you...as Barkley continued, "I’ve been trying to get to him and can’t get to him,” he said. “It’s very frustrating.” ..hint, hint

Convenience has a way of playing a role in many people's lives. Roger Federer, for example, was number-one in the world of tennis, Woods was the top golfer in the world; so easy to create a relationship built on similarities. With both Woods and Federer slipping from their respective perches, their friendship might have ended along with the "back-patting." This would explain the ease and apparent readiness in which Woods separated himself from his former "pack".

With Tiger Woods clearing his head and life of distractions, it is only a matter of time before the former champion shows signs of greatness. Champions are made, not born.

As the great golfer Sam Snead once said, "The mark of a great player is in his ability to come back. The great champions have all come back from defeat."



Voice your opinion on Twitter @Golf4Beginners and friend us on Facebook
Read more Golf for Beginners blogs here.

Posted via email from stacysolomon's posterous

 

Charles Barkley working to become the next Tiger Woods and how science can help you stop choking under pressure

Click here to listen.

To look at the golf swings of both Tiger Woods and Charles Barkley, one would have to admit that they are complete opposites from start to finish. Even with a gimp and a grimace at the 2008 U.S. Open, Woods' fluidity was still beautiful to watch. Barkley's movements, on the other hand, have been the fodder for everyone from amateurs on YouTube to Tiger Woods himself, who jokingly attempted to copy the infamous swing which has been compared to "a tornado on acid".

Charles Barkley has finally had enough ribbing and will allow himself to be guided by Hank Haney in which the master instructor will try and rid the former NBA star, once an 80's golfer, of his "spasmodic hitch". Haney believes this "hitch" is hiding the real quandary and will address problems of dropping the head through impact and the angle of Barkley's swing plane noting, "when you have a mess like he has, you're not going to fix it with a swing thought."

It should be interesting to see if Haney can not only create a new swing for Barkley but also rebuild his confidence. Barkley is ready for improvement mentioning recently that, "it sucks getting ridiculed and humiliated." Once a ten-handicap with great putting abilities, it has to hurt Barkley knowing that the reason he is in this position in the first place is because he didn't realize that his injuries were forcing him to practice incorrectly.

Small golf goals are important to long-term achievement and Barkley's initial step is to break 85. His second? To take on the guys who have mimicked him in the past, namely Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. On the other hand, with a mantra like, "What other sport can you play with friends for a few bucks, smoke cigars, drink beer, no phones, trash talk and be in the middle of nowhere?" does Barkley even have a chance against single-digit Jordan and Tiger Woods who is, well, perhaps the greatest golfer who has ever lived?

The Haney Project is a seven-part series on the Golf Channel with the first episode airing on March 2nd.



Also, on this week's Golf for Beginners show, we discuss an article in Scientific American which ponders the science of choking under pressure.

Congratulations to Phil Mickelson on his 35th career win at the Northern Trust Open!


Send your golf questions and comments to golfforbeginners@aol.com.

Subscribe to our weekly podcast through this RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/golfforbeginners or through iTunes.

Click Here to receive our archived podcasts and 100's of easy golf tips free and check us out on MySpace!

"Shiny Tech" courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)"

This podcast is supported by ResortsGolfandSpa.com, 866-643-6078.

Photo Credit: © Golf Digest/Thomas Fluharty

Don’t forget to check out our golf gift-giving guide!