Winter League Golfers Opine On Tiger Woods' Back Issues
Tiger Woods endured his third back surgery recently – that coming after four knee operations – and New Jersey golfers had definite opinions on whether the future PGA Hall of Famer could win again on Tour.
“I don’t think he’s done. I’m sure he was in a lot of pain. I was a big Tiger Woods fan 15 years ago,” said amateur Mike Paduano at the Caliendo Winter Golf League event on Dec. 3 at Suburban Golf Club in Union.
“I remember announcer Ken Venturi saying at the 1997 Masters: ‘We never said you couldn’t swing that hard. We said you shouldn’t swing that hard. We’ll see how he holds up in the future.’
Said Paduano: “The only guy I can think of who won again after back surgery was Lee Trevino.”
“I thought he came back too soon from his first back surgery. Now, he has no time limit, which is good,” said Ken Pridgen, head pro at Suneagles. “I think he’ll win again. Greatness never goes away.”
“He’s a fighter. He doesn’t quit,” said caddie John Doherty.
In Thursday’s Winter Golf League play, Robert Hugus was low net winner with a 70, beating Bill Dittmann by one shot. Jeffrey Wall and Larry Powell tied for third at 72. Bobby Errianne was low gross winner at 76, followed by Tim Macken at 77, and Anthony Fioretti and John Capra at 78.
Among the professionals, Andy Brock, Joe Galan and Derek McDonald each shot 73.
“Tiger has to lay low until he gets better. I don’t think he’s feeling good. He won’t be playing again any time soon,” said pro Joe Galan of Alpine. “I think most of the injury came from his workout regimen. I think he hurt himself that way.”
“I think he’ll rehab for 2017 where I predict he’ll win The Masters,” said Manasquan River head pro Chris Dymek. “He got very caught up in trying to be an athlete, and train like a football player. He took it to whole ‘nother extreme.”
“I think it will be tough for him to play competitively,” said amateur Walter Sartorius, an NJSGA volunteer. “I don’t think he’ll let his legend be tarnished by four or five mediocre years on the Tour. If his back kicks up again, we may not see him until he’s 50 and ready for the Champions Tour. That would be a game-changer for him.”
“I think the injuries started in the beginning because he was swinging so hard,” said Joe Pack, president of the Weequahic Golf Club. “He was crushing the ball. Each time he made a swing change, he was trying to correct something that may have been related to back issues.”
“I’m not surprised that 2016 will be his year off. I’m the son of a physical therapist and my mom always said the last resort for back troubles in surgery. I think it’s a combination of his ultimate workouts and his desire to be longer and better than everybody else,” said Andy Brock, head pro at Metuchen. “His golf swing has been bad for four or five years.
“I hope we see him again, but we won’t see that dominance again. I hope he comes back in a couple of years with that real desire to win. He’ll be 42 at the end of 2017. Jack Nicklaus won four majors after the age of 40, but two of them came when he was 40. Whether Tiger comes back or not, golf is in good hands with all these great young guys on Tour.”
