Dudes
Tiger is wild off the tee. He stinks with the driver lately.
It gets him into trouble. On some courses he can overcome. Apparently at TPC he cannot.
At Riviera I'm not sure that's a problem. Last year's winner hit 46% of the fairways. This year's winner hit 51.8%, and the guy he beat in the playoff hit 53.6%.
Accuracy off the tee is not necessarily crucial at TPC either. So far, Phil has hit 39.3% of fairways. Green, currently in 2nd place, has hit 42%. Tiger has hit MORE fairways than either one. He's also hit the same number of greens as Phil.
Two big differences so far. Phil is averaging 1.611 putts per GIR; TW is averaging 2.0. Also Phil is 100% in scrambling so far. TW has gotten up and down 60% of the time.
That points up Tiger's problem at Riviera. He's putted terribly. Here's the article PGATour.com did on this...
"Analysis of Woods at the Nissan Open
By Mike Vitti
PGA TOUR staff
Since turning pro in 1996, Tiger Woods has played in the Nissan Open eight times. The native Californian also played in the tournament twice as an amateur.
Yet, the Nissan Open is the only tournament that Woods has played at least three times and not recorded a victory. It is intriguing to ponder why.
Seven of the eight years in which Woods has played in the Nissan Open the tournament was held at Riviera Country Club. The lone exception is 1998 when Valencia Country Club hosted the event and Woods finished second to Billy Mayfair in sudden death -- his only loss in 10 playoffs on the PGA TOUR.
So since Woods almost won at Valencia -- and it was a one-time move, I focused on his seven starts as a professional at the Riviera Country Club.
It is truly difficult to say that Woods has struggled at the Nissan Open or that the course confounds him in any way. In three of his starts, Woods placed in the top 10 and he has an average finish of 11th overall. The worst finish he has ever recorded in the tournament was a tie for 20th in 1997 -- his first start at Riviera as a pro.
Woods' scoring average on the par-71 layout is 69.07, and 16 of his 30 rounds have been in the 60s. Still, 1999 is the only year in which Woods put four rounds under par together in the same tournament, and as well as he has played at Riviera, Woods has never finished less than two shots behind the leader.
Woods at the Nissan Open
Year Winner Score to Par Woods' Finish Woods' Score
2005 Adam Scott -9 T-13 -5
2004 Mike Weir -17 T-7 -10
2003 Mike Weir -9 T-5 -6
2001 Robert Allenby -8 T-13 -5
2000 Kirk Triplett -12 T-18 -5
1999 Ernie Els -14 T-2 -12
1997 Nick Faldo -12 T-20 -3
As with most courses, Woods takes advantage of the par 5s -- making birdie or better roughly 57 percent of the time. Some of this strong play on the par 5s has been tempered, though, by his scoring on the par 3s where he has recorded more bogeys (19) than he has birdies (14). This par-3 difference, while interesting, cannot be the sole reason for Woods' victory drought at Riviera.
Where is Woods losing ground? The answer lies on the greens.
While many of his statistics in the ball-striking categories rival and exceed the same stats for the winners, his putting averages have usually lagged behind that of the eventual champ. The one exception to this came in 1997 when Woods' putting statistics were close to the winner, Nick Faldo, but he hit seven less greens in regulation than the Brit.
Nissan Open 1997-2005, Winners Putting Statistics
Year Winner Putting Average Putts per round 3 putts One Putts
2005 Adam Scott 1.615 26.00 0 18
2004 Mike Weir 1.543 24.75 0 39
2003 Mike Weir 1.717 27.00 0 30
2001 Robert Allenby 1.712 28.75 0 28
2000 Kirk Triplett 1.661 29.50 0 26
1999 Ernie Els 1.574 26.50 0 34
1997 Nick Faldo 1.652 26.25 0 37
Nissan Open 1997-2005, Tiger Woods Putting Statistics
Year Putting Average Putts per round 3 putts One Putts
2005 1.815 30.00 3 15
2004 1.633 28.00 1 33
2003 1.729 28.50 4 30
2001 1.850 27.75 1 20
2000 1.882 29.50 4 29
1999 1.729 27.75 0 33
1997 1.744 26.75 1 34
Often putting issues are the result of poor positioning on the greens, but in the two four-round, ShotLink-era events (2003 and 2004) Woods ranked in the top 20 in average proximity to the hole on approach. While this is a subset of his appearances at Riviera, it tends to point more to a lack of comfort on the greens than issues with attacking the pins.
None of the winners ever three-putted during the week, while Woods only managed to go without a three-putt in 1999 -- and that year he averaged more than one extra putt per round, yet still finished only two shots out of first place. Add up the strokes left on the greens, and that would have put Woods in a tie for the lead or even given him the outright victory.
Once Woods solves the mystery on the greens at Riviera Country Club, look for him to add at least one more trophy to his ever-expanding collection."