With all due respect, Tiger isn't afraid of anyone.....he is making a swing change on top of all the piling on for the last 2 years from people who made millions off of him, that is no short feat!
This is how it works: Process - get the driver down, then the approach (and that is the one that gave him all those 10' putts), short game and then putting. 3 of the 4 days in his last tournament he was above average off the tee and on Sunday was not far into the rough.
As far as the other players, as witnessed today DJ doesn't have a short game, Phil choked and once again we start out the year with a playoff - no front runners. Anyone that steps back on the course after being demonized like Tiger has and continues to be MOTIVATED as far as I'm concerned. As we watch from the comfort of home, we don't see the private planes with derogatory remarks or hear most of the language thrown at him still. I have been to watch him play and it still goes on. These young kids certainly don't have the work ethic, all they need to become a millionaire is to finish in the top ten or twenty and then comes the purse (Jack Nicklaus's first was $39.33) along with a sponsorship. Hmmm.....wonder why the purses became so large.....Tiger!
In the two plus years that Tiger has been going through all of this Phil couldn't break through when he had the chance. In these last 2 tournaments he was given information from Butch Harmon on how to beat Tiger. Personally, I would like to see Tiger hire Butch (everyone has a price) for one training session and Phil would be a head case.
If you really look at Rory, he really isn't a great putter.....misses a bunch just outside the cup consistently.
Finally, get rid of the anchored putter and a true talent will emerge and my guess would be that still would be Tiger. Tiger finishes 4th for the last 2 Masters while going through all this. Most of those others would crawl under a rock if they went through the scrutiny that Tiger has. Tiger didn't go out of his way to make his image that of a family man......TGC and media did! Anyone know how many kids Arnie or Jack has? Use that as a measure and they need to start having the NBA, NFL, NHL and Tennis stars have their families run out after a win! Suddenly, TGC refers to other players that have fallen off the radar for unknown reasons to us as personal problems. Two winners have gone through divorces and one of those was because the wife walked in on her husband in the act with another woman but that is just a personal problem. Honestly, I don't care what any of them do in their private lives but I do question the motive of TGC and media.
This says it all: Tiger Woods - 73 PGA wins and 14 majors, Phil Michelson - 40 PGA wins and 4 majors. Just let the man play golf and be himself. I heard today at Riviera that one of the commentators was going to have to talk to Keegan Bradley about spitting, what, no uproar?! JMHO