Tiger collapses after strong start

Tiger had four birdies in his first eight holes, including three in a row on holes 6 through 8. And at that point, he was tied for the lead at four under.

Then Tiger started to struggle, with two bogeys over his next three holes. He steadied the ship with three pars and a birdie over the next four holes to stay in the mix at three under with three holes remaining.

But then the wheels started to fall off. Woods double-bogeyed twice during the final stretch to finish the day at one-over-par 73 and in 17th place out of 18 players.

And he’s nine strokes behind leader J.B. Holmes and just one shot ahead of Justin Rose, who is currently placed last.

"I didn't play the par fives well in the middle of the round and consequently got it going the wrong way,” Woods said after his round.

The expectation on Tiger has, of course, been out of all proportion, and the pressure on him massive.

As Jack Nicklaus rightly said, it’s all about "The five inches between his ears that is the part that he's having trouble with.

"And has got to re-evaluate that and find out what's going to happen to him and how can he mentally get himself back into the idea of playing golf again.”

It’s probably a round that he just needs to get out of his way, and then calm down and refocus. Of course he’s not going to be fully match fit going into his first competitive round in 16 months, and to think otherwise is crazy.

So let’s all draw breath, be grateful that Tiger is back as he is still a totemic figure for the game, and then see how he gets on over a proper period of time.

We all got over–excited about the Wydnham in 2015, when he was challenging until derailing in the third round. Manage expectations, and don’t scare the horses is our mantra, and Tiger should follow that.

GP Verdict: don’t ignore Jack’s judgment, and give him time to work himself back in.

Related:

Jack Nicklaus thinks Tiger can still beat his major tally