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Tiger Woods needs to lower his expectations, says Gary Christian

Gary Christian reflects on his entertaining first stint in the Sky Sports Golf studio and looks back on the lows for Tiger, and the highs for Brandt Snedeker and Davis Love.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first experience with the Sky Sports Golf team, and there was certainly no shortage of talking points during the West Coast Swing.

Tiger Woods shot his career-worst round on his return to action in Phoenix before withdrawing after 11 holes of the Northern Trust Open, while Brandt Snedeker showed a rare display of emotion after ending his 18-month winless run in some style at Pebble Beach.

It’s great having Tiger in the field at the moment, because you just don't know what is going to happen next. It could be genius, it could be a train wreck. At both Scottsdale and Torrey Pines, it was the latter.

His swing is the least of his problems, it’s the causes he needs to address, especially the lack of confidence. I think his problems are 100 per cent mental at the moment, and all the greats of the time have said likewise when asked to analyse Tiger's troubles.

Schoolboy error

He made a schoolboy error at Torrey, where a two-hour delay for fog infamously led to him being unable to "reactivate his glutes". He struggled on for 11 holes before limping off the 12th green and heading straight for the car park.

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Image: Tiger Woods needs to lower his expectations and repair his confidence a piece at a time

If you’re 39 and you’ve had knee surgeries and back surgeries, you’ve got to keep active during a delay, otherwise you run the risk of your muscles getting cold and tight. There’s no excuse for not hitting the treatment trailer and getting stretched and ready to go.

So for someone like Tiger, who never leaves anything to chance, that was a strange one. He couldn’t wait to get off the course, and I’m not sure if the health problem was as bad as he made it out to be.

Tiger Woods doesn’t enter a tournament just to make the cut, he plays to win. If he thinks he can’t win, his levels of interest drop dramatically. He doesn’t want to mess up the legacy he’s worked so hard to create.

He needs to lower his expectations. He’s got to be honest with himself and work to regain his confidence a small piece at a time. If that means making the cut, that’s a huge step in the right direction. Then he can look at a top-25 finish and so on. To me, those are more legitimate goals for him right now.

Tiger Woods does not enter a tournament just to make the cut, he plays to win. He doesn’t want to mess up the legacy he’s worked so hard to create
Gary Christian

He can’t keep coming out and saying how he’s hitting it better and further than ever, and then play that badly, but he’s just not used to the thought that a good week for him is simply making the weekend.

However, while he has gone to great lengths to assemble his best team around him, there is one important exception, and that is his dad Earl. He was the only person he could truly trust who had Tiger's best interests at heart. It's telling that since his dad passed away Tiger has lost that aura, he looks vulnerable both physically and mentally.

"I'm not sure anyone can replace Earl, but Tiger could do with a older, wiser head to steer him through this period in his life. Golf needs Tiger Woods desperately, anyone else struggling like this would be done for their career, but we are dealing with arguably the greatest player of all time, so don't write him off just yet. 

Away from Tiger's troubles, we enjoyed three excellent finishes and impressive wins for Brooks Koepka, Jason Day and Brandt Snedeker, and there were some other notable performances along the way.

I said at the start of the year that we should keep an eye on Harris English. After a quiet period, he’s looking like he could produce something special this year.

Validation

He’s simplified his swing a little and got himself back to where he needs to be at Torrey Pines, and although he was a touch wayward in the last round, he hung in there and gave himself a chance to win the tournament.

Obviously the result wasn’t what he wanted, but he’ll take an immense amount of pride out of the week and it was validation that he is on the right track.

As for Snedeker, validation was the most important word he used after winning at Pebble Beach. He took a huge risk in switching coaches to Butch Harmon after all the success he had previously, but you could tell how much it meant to him when he tapped in at the last to win.

 Brandt Snedeker celebrates his three-stroke victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach
Image: Brandt Snedeker was highly emotional after winning the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

It’s rare to see Brandt overcome with emotion like that, but when you see someone risking a lot to try and win that first major, that shows he has the kind of positive, forward-thinking mentality that not everyone has. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to win majors and break into the elite bracket of players in the world.

One bogey in 72 holes was a telling statistic. Over the course of a tournament, no matter what the conditions, you’re going to have a couple of wayward tee shots or maybe some poor pitches and you’ll normally make bogeys.

But just one dropped shot in four rounds showed him the track he’s working on with Butch is working from the top to the bottom of his game and making it better and better. It really was a very impressive performance indeed.

The Harmon effect

Butch Harmon can be selective over what players he takes on, and they are proven players who can compete at the highest levels. But what he does is keep it simple, and it’s refreshing to see his methods in an age of biomechanics and scientists trying to be golf coaches.

Butch Harmon: Golf coach
Image: Butch Harmon's coaching methods are refreshing compared to modern techniques

He’s given thousands of lessons using the most important equipment available to him – not a computer – his eyes. Some modern coaches don’t even look at where the ball is going, they’re looking at a computer screen and all the data regarding angles, swing speeds and spin ratios.

Butch has got that unshakable belief in his technique, based on his experience - passed down to him from his father - and no shortage of success.

Captain Love

The big news from the States last week was the appointment of Davis Love III as Ryder Cup captain. I was moderately surprised by this, as it's rare that a losing captain gets another chance in America.

But Davis is a wonderful guy to have as captain if you're a player, The main problem the team had last year seemed to be the lack of communication between Tom Watson and the players, which you won’t get with Davis Love.

But for the Miracle at Medinah, he would have won the Ryder Cup. It's a safe choice from the PGA of America and everyone is on board with it. Sometimes, it pays to think outside the box.

Looking forwards, I'm really looking forward to rejoining the Sky Sports team for the Valero Texas Open at the end of March. I think my first stint went very well and it was incredibly enjoyable. I got the impression even before I started that it was a wonderful team concept - the team ethic is obviously one of the main themes at Sky.

Gary Christian: Sky Sports Golf
Image: Gary Christian will return to the Sky studios for the Valero Texas Open

I can’t thank everyone enough. Robert Lee, Sarah Stirk, Simon Holmes and Denis Pugh all helped me along, and the production team were fantastic as well. I learned so much from all of them.

The format is so well suited for my role. Being asked direct questions, based on my PGA Tour experience, my goal was to give that extra insight as I've played those courses with some of those players that we see week in, week out.

I've played college golf, the Web.com Tour and the PGA Tour, so I'm well aware of what players are going though at every level and every age. I’ve experienced it all and I’m happy to bring that to my commentary.

So I’m looking forward to the next stretch, and - of course - the build up to the Masters.

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