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Ian Baker-Finch: Tiger doesn't have the yips, his problems are mental
Take it from a former major champion who lost his battle with the yips: Tiger Woods does not have the yips.
That's the verdict of 1991 Open champion Ian Baker-Finch, who missed 32 consecutive cuts from 1994-97 because of the yips and caused him to walk away from professional golf.
"I would hit 50 perfect drives on the range, and snap-hook it off the first tee," Baker-Finch said on SEN Radio in Australia. "[Woods] does exactly the same thing. At the first tee at Augusta every year he’s so nervous he hits it 100 yards off line, and he’s just hit 50 perfect drives on the range. You can’t tell me that that’s a bad back, or a swing flaw. It’s totally mental. It’s a fear. And it's not the yips. It's not a spasm. ... It's a fear."
Several of Woods' peers observed the same thing as Baker-Finch, including Colt Knost, who has echoed those sentiments on Twitter.
Woods missed the cut in his 2015 debut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, including carding a career-worst 82 in Round 2 at TPC Scottsdale. He withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open last Thursday after 11 holes, citing back pain. Woods has struggled mightily off the tee, often spraying the ball way right off his target line. He also is struggling to find any semblance of a short game. Both issues have led people, including Woods' former teacher Hank Haney, to suggest Woods has the yips.
Baker-Finch would like to see Woods eschew his apparent obsession with mechanics and get back to feel golf.
"I'd like to just see him go play and shoot a score every day and enjoy golf again and maybe even learn to play again, if that's the right terminology," he said. "I think [Woods has] forgotten how to play golf. I think he's trying to play with a perfect swing every day, every time."
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
