Tiger Woods withdrawal: What they said

A round-up of what experts and fellow professionals have said about Tiger Woods' golfing future.

After Tiger Woods’ withdrawal from the Farmers Insurance Open, there has been considerable speculation about what the future holds for the former World Number 1. Is it all over for Tiger, or is there a way back, not only from the injuries, but also from the seemingly total loss of form and confidence in his short game?

Here below we round up what some of the experts and his fellow pros have to say:

Nick Faldo: “Physically he has got to get this right again. He has got to go back to the drawing board on the swing. He has got to find a way to swing a golf club - especially the driver - where the spine is not putting so much tension and torque on it. That is his absolute must… It indicates that he doesn't have the residual strength right now if something like that can happen.”

Brandel Chamblee: “From now until he changes his golf swing, he's going to continue to have back pain. ... He's impinging his right side now because of his golf swing. And it's not going to go away, not as long as he's doing this.”

Notah Begay III: “It begs some very difficult questions. In his last eight tournaments he has more missed cuts and withdrawals than he does finished events, much less getting into contention.”

Billy Horschel: “I think he’s doing a lot of good things in his game… I think he’s not that far off, considering where everyone else is thinking, but from my eye I feel like he’s really close to playing well. It’s just a matter of getting some reps and staying healthy so he can work on his game…. “Not to criticise you all, but I have a golfer’s eye, it’s what I do as my profession, and I have a better eye than what you all do.” .... So there!

Rickie Fowler: “It’s just tough not seeing him have his best, whether it's with his game or with his health.”

Rickie Fowler swing analysis
Phil Rodgers (Short game guru who cured Jack Nicklaus of the yips in the late 1970s) talking to golf.com: “I think he’s damaged, but I don’t think he’s done… Throughout Tiger’s career he’s played the right shot at the right time, virtually every time, around the green. I’m not sure if he’s able to able to commit to those same shots now. I don’t see that he has that confidence.”

Phil Mickelson: “I think that Tiger’s going to have the last laugh… His short game, historically, is one of the best of all time. His golf game is probably the best of all time. The short game, when you haven’t played, is the first thing to feel uncomfortable and it’s the quickest thing to get back.”