Omega Dubi Desert Classic

Tiger Woods is well in the hunt for his first title in 15 months at the Omega Dubi Desert Classic.  Looking at the leaderboard Tiger is a -7 with a total of 209 and only one shot behind leaders Anders Hansen, Thomas Aiken and Rory McIlory.  Tied with Tiger is Sergio Garcia and the world number one Lee Westwood is a -5 due to some unfortunate bogeys, and only two birdies during his third round.  So Tiger has his work ahead of him to win his first title in 15 months.

Tiger insists his game is coming together and it is just a matter of time before he is in the winning circle again.  We have all been waiting and wondering if one of the greatest golfers can and will ever return to his winning and form of the past.  All great golfers, including the all time great Jack Nicklaus, have had winless periods.  

So has Tiger just gone through a normal winless cycle, being the great golfer he is, or is he in a downward spiral due to his personal problems?  Setting aside all of Tiger's swing changes, coach changes, etc, one ability he has had in the past is to focus and put himself "in the zone" when playing tournament golf.  

This incredible ability Tiger and other champions have to focus and block out all distractions and negative mental thoughts is why champions are champions.  There are a lot of people who can play a great game of golf, but when the pressure is on, such as a major golf tournament, they make poor decisions and careless mistakes.  One of the most recent examples of loosing focus during championship golf was Dustin Johnson at the Pebble Beach U.S. Open where he went from three strokes up on Graeme McDowell to three strokes off the lead.  Johnson carded triple bogey/double bogey/bogey on holes 2-4.  He had lost focus, filled his mind with negative thoughts and could not recover. 

Tiger appears to be hitting the ball well and on the winning trail.  The Omega Dubi Desert Classic will certainly be a good early 2011 tournament test.  To be the champion he has been in the past, I believe he will have to again be able to put himself "in the zone" again. Can he do that as successfully as he has in the past?  I believe we would all like to see Tiger in the winning circle again.  However, on the other hand it is nice to see new and different players in the champions circle.