Monday Backspin: Tiger's telling words; more on Mahan

text size

Tiger Woods is used to putting up staggering numbers -- just not ones like these:

• Bogey or worse on 25 holes (the most of any tournament in his career on the PGA TOUR).

• 18-over par (the highest score in relation to par in his pro career).

• A T78 finish at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational (the worst finish in Woods' career in which he has played all four rounds at a tournament he's won in seven of 11 appearances).

• A final-round 77 (his highest final round as a professional).

Woods is still the No. 1 player in the world, but he's obviously not playing anything like it.

Champion's Replay

Want to hear what Hunter Mahan had to say about winning the Bridgestone Invitational? Click here Bridgestone Invitational: Final Leaderboard More coverage: • Highlights • Mahan interview • Complete tourney coverage

The most shocking statement, to me, that Woods made Sunday in Akron, Ohio, was that his performance didn't surprise him at all.

He's always said he doesn't enter a tournament unless he thinks he can win. Sunday, he finished two shots out of last place and admitted to not being shocked by it.

How different has this season been for Woods, not just in the W-L category but in perception? It's just a small snapshot but when I asked the Twitterverse last week whether Tiger would win a tournament this season, the response was a unanimous 'no.'

Forget about the Ryder Cup right now -- "I wouldn't help the team if I'm playing like this," Woods said. Woods might not even make the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. Sunday, he fell from 111th to 119th in the standings with only two weeks to go (only one of which he will likely play).

Up next for Woods is the PGA Championship. Beyond that? Who knows. His year began with so many questions and so few answers, and it looks like it will end that way, too.

Stock up

Jeff Overton: Overton is having the best season of someone who hasn't actually won a tournament with a half-dozen top-6 finishes, all of which have come in the last three-plus months. That also puts him in excellent position to make a run at the FedExCup title. FedExCup rank: 6 (6 last week) Jim Furyk: In what is still a very murky Player of the Year picture, Furyk could be the one who emerges. He's won twice already this year and has finished in the top 10 each of the last two weeks, which is exactly the kind of momentum you want going into a major and into the Playoffs. FedExCup rank: 3 (3 last week) Steve Stricker: Mr. September is starting to heat up early with two top-10s in his last three starts and a major in the PGA Championship that is in his home state of Wisconsin. Given that, and his past Playoffs performances, I think Stricker makes a big run over the next month. FedExCup rank: 2 (2 last week)

Stock down

Ian Poulter: His win at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship seems like a long, long time ago with 16 straight rounds in the 70s and just one top-10 since that inaugural TOUR victory. FedExCup rank: 43 (42 last week) Mike Weir: The Canadian has never missed the Playoffs since its inception, but he's currently on the outside looking in after three missed cuts in his last five starts and a T55 at Firestone. FedExCup rank: 126 (124 last week) Tiger Woods: The two-time FedExCup champion is in serious danger of missing the Playoffs for the first time in his career. In his last 16 rounds, he's failed to break 70 14 times, which includes a couple of venues he's had a history of dominating. FedExCup rank: 119 (111 last week)

THE BACK NINE: 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. Lost in everything last week, sort of, was Hunter Mahan's second victory of the season, which came seemingly out of nowhere -- especially when you consider he'd missed four straight cuts at one point this summer. That's what happens when you get engaged, though, and other priorities take over. Mahan now has more wins in the last six months than he did his first six years on TOUR.

2. The other big non-winner story of the week? The decision by Sergio Garcia to shut it down for two months after the PGA Championship. With Garcia 19th in the Ryder Cup standings and it being highly unlikely he is chosen as a Captain's pick by Colin Montgomerie, it's hardly a surprise. Garcia has just one top-10 on TOUR this season and admitted it's been a "long" year.

3. Stat of the week (or season): In 35 TOUR events, there have been 30 different winners. What does that tell you about the depth of the game right now? However, it also shows how perhaps more than any other season this has been one of total parity.

4. Great idea of the week: Free admission to the 3M Championship. Obviously you can't do this for every tournament, but for the second year in a row it paid off with golf-crazy Minnesotans turning out in droves.

5. Is Phil Mickelson ever going to be No. 1 in the world? Maybe not. But inconsistency has always been a trademark of his career and his style of golf. That said, it wouldn't shock anyone if he went out and won at Whistling Straits. He sometimes wins (or disappoints) when we least expect it.

6. How bad is Anthony Kim's wrist still hurting? Well, rust was to be expected given a three-month layoff, but he also admitted last week that he's not hitting the ball as hard as he normally does and that his drives don't seem to have the same pop.

7. Speaking of injuries, Lee Westwood's ankle has him on the shelf for at least this week. Westwood said the ankle is only about a 6 ½ or 7 right now and that he has four more weeks of rehab to go.

8. Does anyone out there think the U.S. can retain the Ryder Cup, especially given the various states of Woods, Mickelson, Kim, etc.?

9. Just a quick side note that I'll be on vacation next week, but a guest columnist will be filling the void for Monday Backspin. No, it won't be Wally Pipp (I hope).

Last week's Kodak Challenge hole

HOLE: The par-3, 177-yard 16th at Atunyote Golf Club LAST WEEK: Troy Merritt moved within one of the Kodak Challenge lead thanks to a final-round birdie Sunday at Turning Stone. Click here to tour the Kodak Challenge holes | Current Kodak Challenge standings

The Forward Spin

This might be the most interesting year for the PGA Championship for a couple of reasons. First, Tiger Woods isn't the favorite for the first time, I think, since prior to the 1997 Masters. Second, no one is a clear-cut favorite. Third, there's a lot at stake for a lot of guys -- whether it's trying to win the season's last major, earn a spot in the top 125 on the FedExCup points list, make a push for Player of the Year honors or move up in the Official World Golf Rankings/Ryder Cup standings.