Putter, not swing change, is what's holding Woods back

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Once a strength for Woods, putting has become his Achilles' heel.

When Tiger Woods misses a putt these days, he'll pause and drag the bill of his cap over his forehead as a way to show his frustration. The length of the putt, the severity of the miss and the importance of the situation make an impact on the length of the "I can't believe that didn't go in" pause.

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This particular gesticulation has been more noticeable during the last year, because Woods has missed more putts that he might normally expect to make. It's especially true when it comes to those little 5-footers that have been seemingly automatic for him since he joined the PGA TOUR.

Perhaps you saw it on display at the Chevron World Challenge last weekend when Woods, leading by four shots entering the final round, sputtered early with a couple of three-putts that eventually derailed his last opportunity to break his 2010 winless streak.

That's not the only time it's happened this year. Woods has been more vulnerable from short range than at any time since the PGA TOUR began keeping detailed statistics in 2008. The difference in his success may be miniscule, but that's the difference between a winning Tiger (the old Tiger) and the non-winning Tiger (the 2010 Tiger).

Consider this: In 2008, Woods ranked first in putting success inside the 5-foot range. He made 98.01 percent of his tries, rolling in 148 of 151. That's robotic, which is amazing when you consider the pressure situations under which Woods works and his deteriorating physical condition that required knee surgery following his win at the U.S. Open.

His percentage was even better in 2009, up to 98.08 percent, but that was only good enough to rank second on the TOUR. He made 663 of 676 putts from inside 5 feet.

This year the story was different. He still made 97.35 percent of his tries inside 5 feet -- and that's an amazingly strong effort -- but it was only good enough to place 23rd on the PGA TOUR. Paul Casey was the leader with a Woodsian-like 98.68 percent mark; he missed only eight from that range all season.

The 2010 version of Woods made 663 of 676 from inside 5 feet, but that left him behind the likes of Jeff Quinney, Jarrod Lyle and Skip Kendall, none of whom were inside the top 125 money winners.

Now extend that distance another 5 feet. In 2010, Tiger made 480 of 550 putts inside 10 feet. That's a rate of 87.27 percent -- his worst percentage since ShotLink began tracking the statistic in 2002. That percentage ranked him tied for 84th on TOUR. The previous year? Woods led the TOUR in that statistic at 90.44 percent (776 of 858).

For all the discussion and focus on Tiger's swing change with new coach Sean Foley, it's clear that the final piece of the puzzle in this reconstruction process has yet to be solved. He's managed to fix most of the problems with his full swing -- that much was evident last week at Chevron. In the end, though, it was putting problems that derailed the effort, which Woods admitted.

"I'm proud of today, even though I lost, because I putted awful starting out," Woods said after Sunday's final round. "I missed three short putts, which I don't do. "

He certainly didn't used to do that, particularly with the lead going into Sunday. But all the drama about his change in swing coaches, from Hank Haney to himself then to Foley, has cloaked the bigger problem of his performance on the green.

Tiger himself has shown the true sign of a player searching for putting answers -- he's used three different putters in competition this year. His latest one is the Nike Method 003, which he put in his bag at the JBWere Masters in Australia last month and continued to use at the Chevron World Challenge.

There are no guarantees it will remain his club of choice when he cranks up his 2011 season, though. Just like there are no guarantees he will return to his prior dominance of the PGA TOUR.

But Graeme McDowell, who became the first player to come from four shots behind to beat Woods in the final round, said the old Tiger appeared ready to emerge from its leave of absence.

"Just the putter was cold," McDowell said. "Like I say, I think he'll be back winning golf tournaments in 2011. I'm in the camp that says golf needs Tiger Woods back."

Woods will definitely be back. He's as close away as a 5-foot putt with a little left-to-right break.

That used to be a gimme for Tiger. For now, though, it remains his biggest question mark.

Stan Awtrey is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent those of the PGA TOUR.