US TOUR BAY HILL INVITATIONAL:ARNOLD PALMER says he is surprised Tiger Woods has decided to rework his swing but says the 14-time major winner is still capable of winning at any time.
“I am a little surprised that he is changing his game or doing what he is doing to his game, which I am really not sure what it is,” Palmer said ahead of his tournament, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which starts today at his Bay Hill course.
“I’m not going to claim to be an expert about his swing. The first few times that I played with him on the Tour, way back when he first came out, I thought he had a great swing and I thought he had a great posture in hitting the golf ball. Obviously it was, because he didn’t win all those tournaments without having those things.
“So changing? Well, that is up to Tiger.”
Woods is a six-time winner at Bay Hill but goes into his final preparation before next month’s US Masters at Augusta in indifferent form, although he finished his last tournament, at Doral, with an impressive round of 66.
Four-time Masters winner Palmer, who had 62 PGA Tour wins between 1955 and 1973, said Woods was capable of producing his best at any time.
“I’ve been watching his game like everyone else has. I feel like Tiger has a golf game that can come to the surface at any time. I think that is certainly a possibility here. He likes the golf course. So I would not count him out at all . . . I think he is capable of winning any time,” he said.
Woods’ swing has become a controversial issue given the public spat between his swing coach Sean Foley and his former guru and, while steering clear of that dispute, Palmer said he had not used any sort of coach in his career.
“I really did not make any swing changes in my career. I started with a pattern when I began playing the tour and I stuck with it until today.
“My father was my swing coach and I saw him at least once a year for about 70 years and he never changed anything. He watched me for five minutes and then went home.
“He put my hands on the golf club grip when I was six years old and he said: ‘Boy, don’t you ever change it’. Well, I haven’t changed it and I’m 81 years old.”
The Lowdown
Course: Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Florida.
Length: 7,400 yards. Par: 72.
Architect: Dick Wilson, Joe Lee (1961), Arnold Palmer (2009).
Course record: 62 – Andy Bean 1981, Greg Norman 1984.
Prizemoney: €4.2 million, €765,000 for the winner.
Field: Limited to 120, strong.
Irish: Graeme McDowell.
Defending champion: Ernie Els.
First played: 1966 (Florida Citrus Open)
Most wins: Tiger Woods (6).
On TV: Sky Sports 3, 7-10pm.
Weather: Sunny each day, 30C.
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