TURNBERRY, Scotland, (Reuters) – Tiger Woods’s premature exit from the British Open, where he was bidding to lift the Claret Jug for a fourth time, raised immediate questions about his progress since returning from knee surgery.
The American world number one was sidelined for eight months after winning last year’s U.S. Open at Torrey Pines and has failed to add to his grand slam tally in three attempts this season.
He tied for sixth at both the U.S. Masters and last month’s U.S. Open before missing the cut at Turnberry last week by a stroke.
However Woods has raised expectations to such a high level that the post-mortems began well before he boarded his plane to fly back to his home in Orlando, Florida.
Former European Ryder Cup captain Mark James suggested the 14-times major champion should consider changing his swing coach Hank Haney, despite having won three times in 10 PGA Tour starts this season.
“He will be thinking all the way home about his swing and what he needs to do next,” James told the BBC. “He will be wondering whether to continue working on what he has been working on, or whether to ask advice from somewhere else.
“It’s difficult when you are used to working with one coach like he is with Hank but I think maybe they have got to take a slightly different direction.
“In my opinion there is too much movement of the head. It goes down a lot at the start of the downswing, and up at impact, which is too soon.”
American Mark O’Meara, a double major champion and Woods’s long-time friend and mentor, disagreed.
