Top 10 in 2015: Tiger Woods moments
1 / 10
10. Swing struggles with Chris Como
A year ago, Tiger Woods talked about watching old videos of his swing with his new coach Chris Como and boasting "that’s kind of what we’re getting back into." But after another season plagued by injuries, Woods had little to show for his efforts, and clearly whatever Woods and Como were working on never stuck. Woods – he of one of the greatest short games ever – had to battle back from the chipping yips, and even in his final event of the season at the Wyndham, Woods's chipping was still shaky. If Woods can get healthy in 2016, and that's a big if, he still has plenty of work to do on his once-legendary swing.
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2 / 10
9. Toothgate
In January, Woods surprised his then-girlfriend Lindsey Vonn at one of her ski races. But his sweet gesture was overshadowed when Woods was photographed with a missing tooth. He said a camera man accidentally bumped into him and knocked the tooth out. An event staffer said otherwise. "I was among those who escorted him from the tent to the snowmobile and there was no such incident," said Nicola Colli, the secretary general of the race organizing committee, to The Associated Press. When asked for his response to his story not holding up, Woods said, "It is just what it is."
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3 / 10
8. Break up with Lindsey Vonn
They were the super couple of the sports world, but Woods and Vonn decided in May that their hectic schedules just didn't allow enough time for their relationship. A month before their split, Vonn walked alongside Woods and his two children as they caddied for him during the Par-3 Contest at the Masters, a rare public display of Woods's notoriously guarded private life. The superstar athletes seemed to have left on good terms. "I mean, I loved him and I still love him," Vonn told CNN's Alpine Edge show in November.
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4 / 10
7. Shoots 82 at Phoenix Open
The Phoenix Open is supposed to be a birdie-fest, where players can knock off that early-season rust and put on a show for the massive crowds that line TPC Scottsdale. And Tiger Woods planned on doing that as he made his first start in Phoenix since 2001. Instead he shot (at the time) his worst round as a pro, an 82 in the second round that left him in last place. Unfortunately for Woods, his first event of 2015 was a sign of things to come.
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5 / 10
6. Hero press conference / Time interview
Following not one, but two procedures on his back in the fall, Woods made his first public appearance at his Hero World Challenge in December. He didn't bring much good news and said there was no timetable for his return. Woods was even more open during an interview with Time ahead of his 40th birthday. He opened up about a variety of topics including his relationship with his ex-wife, how he will tell his kids about his 2009 scandal and why he's at peace with his career if he can't come back from his latest surgeries.
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6 / 10
5. Shoots 85 at Memorial
Woods broke the wrong kind of records in 2015. In January, he recorded his worst round as a pro, an 82 at the Phoenix Open. That lasted until the third round of the Memorial. On a course where he's won five times, including just three years ago, Woods shot an 85. He didn't talk to the media afterward, but Woods said before the first round, "I'm staying committed to what we're working on."
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7 / 10
4. WD from Torrey Pines
Less than a week after his 82 in Phoenix, Woods didn't even make it through the first round at the Farmers Insurance Open. During a 90-minute fog delay Woods said his glutes "never stayed activated" and caused tightness in his lower back. The next week, Woods announced he was taking a break from competitive golf to get his game and health in order. "Right now, I need a lot of work on my game, and to still spend time with the people that are important to me," he said in a statement on his website. "My play, and scores, are not acceptable for tournament golf."
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8 / 10
3. Three MCs at majors
Woods had trouble contending at regular PGA Tour events in 2015, so it should not have been a surprise that he struggled in three of the four majors. Still, it was a bit shocking that the 14-time major champion missed three straight cuts at the majors for the first time in his career. Outside of a respectable T-17 at Augusta in his first event back from a self-imposed break to get his game in better shape, there wasn't much to say about Woods' play in the majors except it was another example of how his once magnificent game had fallen.
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9 / 10
2. More surgeries
Woods started off the year saying his back was no longer an issue. By his final event of the season, the Wyndham Championship, it looked like Woods was favoring his back in the final round. He said afterward it was his hip, not his back. When he followed up with his doctors, Woods said he was surprised to learn it was his back, and he decided to have a second microdiscectomy surgery. Woods also had back surgery in March of 2014. He hoped to return in early 2016, but now there is no timetable after Woods had a follow-up procedure a month later to “relieve discomfort.”
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10 / 10
1. Chipping yips
You don't win 14 majors and 79 PGA Tour events without an excellent short game, and Woods had one of the best ever. That's what made it all the more shocking that his flubbed pitch shots at the 2014 Hero World Challenge were not a one-time event. At the Phoenix Open, Woods continued to flub, skull and duff routine short-game shots. He blamed it on being stuck between the swing patterns of his previous coach, Sean Foley, and his new coach, Chris Como. That may have been the cause, but Woods never found a permanent solution. At the Wyndham, Woods still hit some poor pitch shots, and a skulled pitch shot in the final round cost him a chance of winning his first event in more than two years.
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