Woods must conquer ‘yips’ – Jacklin

Tony Jacklin says Tiger Woods must overcome his “chipping yips” in order to challenge for another major title.

Woods made his first competitive appearance for almost 16 months at the World Hero Challenge in the Bahamas last week after completing his recovery from back surgery.

There were positives and negatives to take from the four rounds and the future looks a lot brighter than it previously had.

He ended the tournament as the leading birdie-maker although he also recorded eight bogeys and six double-bogeys, resulting in a 15th-place finish in what was a high-class field.

The 14-time major winner did show signs of weakness in the chipping department and Jacklin, who won the 1969 Open and 1970 US Open, believes this needs to improve before he can achieve more success.

“One comment from Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee attracted my attention. I know he’s a bit outspoken at times but he talks a lot of sense as well,” he told Reuters.

“Brandel maintains he’s not seen anybody really come back from the chipping yips. He cherry-picked a number of situations from the four days in the Bahamas where Tiger had delicate shots he didn’t do well with.

“If he’s ever going to get back to the level of being able to win on the PGA Tour, never mind a major, there’s no room for a weakness.”

Woods’ last major triumph came at the 2008 US Open and the closest he has come to adding a 15th title to his collection was at the 2009 PGA Championship, where he ended up second.

Tagged Tiger Woods, Tony Jacklin