Tiger Still Struggling Off Tee

If you've ever played more than a couple of putt-putt holes, then you've heard the antediluvian saying, "You drive for show and you putt for dough." While this saying does emphasize the importance of getting the ball in the hole on the greens, it forgets just how important getting off the tee box can be. Don't believe me? Just ask Tiger Woods.

Woods is currently 139th on tour in driving accuracy and 185th in total driving, which isn't exactly jarring since Woods has struggled with these stats before, but normally makes it up with such impressive "greens in regulation" (GIR) stats. This season he's a disappointing 91st in GIR, a stat he led the tour in each of the last three seasons.

The problems with his driver can be pinpointed on a few things (including a swing that appears to be too flat, for starters), but a telling sign is his recent tinkering with his club shafts. After the Masters, Tiger was shipped eight different driver shafts to test out. This was a process that was usually reserved for Tiger's offseason, but he couldn't really do it with the recent knee surgery.

At Quail Hollow last week, Tiger used different shafts in the pro-am, his Thursday round and then his Saturday and Sunday rounds. This shows that Woods realizes a few things. First, he isn't dominating off the tee in distance like he used to (currently 29th in tour with a 293.5 yard average). He could live with the lack of distance if it meant he was hitting more fairways, but that isn't the case either.

Another thing is his inability to control his misses. When Tiger was really swinging the club well, he'd miss his tee shots one way, high and right. This was a controlled block that Woods created to avoid nasty snap-hooks. As Lee Trevino once said, "You can talk to a slice but a hook won't listen."

Lastly, it's apparent that Woods is just rusty. His Thursday 65 at Quail Hollow was the Woods of old, but the number one golfer in the world couldn't break 70 the rest of the week. He was quoted when the tournament ended as saying, "It's been spotty, streaky. I just need to get a little more consistent."

If he plans to compete at The Players Championship this weekend or the U.S. Open, Woods will have to start finding the fairway, end of conversation. Some courses allow you to spray the golf ball and still scramble around the course. TPC Sawgrass and Bethpage Black do not.

We have been waiting for a Tiger return, and with all due respect to Bay Hill, I think we're still waiting. A breakthrough at this week's "Fifth Major" or a triumphant return to Bethpage would be all we've wanted. The problem is, his game isn't ready for either.