Fowler’s success should be a wake up call to Woods

The back pain may have gone. Scar tissue might be all that is left of his other injuries, but Tiger Woods seemingly still has a monkey on his back.

Whether that is from golf issues or

personal issues is a matter of opinion.

Certainly the former World No. 1 could not have missed the fact his one-time coach and mentor, Butch Harmon,

preparing Players Championship winner Ricky Fowler for his first win under his tutelage.

“Oh Butch certainly has to get a lot of credit for what he has done with Ricky this year,” says US TV pundit Brandel Chamblee.

“Ricky started the year on a quiet note after finishing in the top five of last year’s Majors, so Butch had to say: ‘Hey, last year is last year. You gotta wake up because we are in 2015 right now’.

“Butch can say these sort of things and players don’t take it to heart. It’s tough love,” quipped Chamblee.

Harmon dismisses the compliment.

“Ricky has worked so hard, and he worked even harder than he had to. That’s what I like about Ricky, he has no quit in him,” he said.

Woods quit with Harmon to go with Hank Haney, then proceeded to drop Haney for Sean Foley before moving on again to current coach, Chris Como.

Relations between Harmon and Woods are said to be on the cool side, and Woods has a reputation for dropping associates down through the years.

But no sooner had Woods finished the Players Championship when rumours surfaced that his recent break up with Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn was due to a reincarnation of the type of behaviour that brought about his divorce.

Now there has been no real evidence those allegations were indeed remotely true, but it was Chamblee Woods’ ongoing critic of his work with former coach Sean Foley who rose to the 14-time Major winner’s defence!

“If you are looking for the good news for Tiger Woods, you are looking at the player who leads in putting shots over 200 yards in length nearest to the proximity of the hole, and is also No. 1 in approach putts.” he points out.

“He averages sticking these shots 37 feet four inches away whereas the field averages 52 feet three inches away.

“He is miles better than the rest of the guys out there over 200 yards exactly what he was when he was the best in the world.

“As he finished his final round, he looked more like the old Tiger to me.”

Woods has not broken par in the final round of a USPGA Tour event since the Tour Championship in 2013 which is proof, if proof were needed, that Tiger Woods should pick up the phone and dial Butch Harmon’s number.