It’s been an interesting year for Tiger Woods to say the least. After shutting it down last year to rest his back after having surgery, he returned to competitive golf at his Hero World Challenge. It was there that we first saw his “new, but old” golf swing developed with swing consultant, Chris Como. Although the full swing looked good, it was his short game that failed him.
The short game woes continued into his next starts at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. After those two horrendous starts, Woods took a self-imposed leave of absence to work on his game until he felt it was tournament ready – he returned to The Masters and showed that his short game was still one of the strengths in his game.
He would finish T17 at The Masters and is expected to tee off at The Players Championship in his next start where he hopes to join Jack Nicklaus as the only three time winners of the event. Before that, Woods made a visit to Asia for a Nike Golf event over the past week. He spent some time with Yao Ming at the Nike Campus in Shanghai, China and also worked with about 40 junior golfers, providing insights on different aspects of the game. The second leg of his Asia Tour was spent in Tokyo, Japan, where Woods conducted a clinic for 72 lucky golfers at the Hanz Golf Club in Yokohama. In the video above, take a look behind the scenes at the clinic in Japan.
“I have a passion for coaching,” said Woods. “It’s always fun for me to share my insights and see an immediate improvement in those who want to learn. It’s like watching a light bulb switch on. It’s a cool feeling.”
With visits like these, the aim is to grow the sport of golf and to inspire a new generation of young golfers, much like how Tiger inspired the current generation of young golfers making their mark on the PGA TOUR, particularly on current world number 1, Rory McIlroy.
Source: Golf Digest TV Japan, Nike Inc.
