There was a time during the latter half of Woods' PGA Tour career when he had a streak of - I think it was about - 150 straight made putts within three feet. Golfers know that this is an astounding number, one that no other PGA tour player has ever even approached.
The problem with 3-foot putts is that the greens have invisible imperfections, caused mainly by golfers walking around on the greens, and especially in the immediate area of the flag. They stand there, bend down to pick up their balls from the cup, and create tiny indentations in the turf that are concealed by the grass, short as it is. And when you have a short putt, you strike the ball very softly, which makes the path of the ball very susceptible to diversion because of these imperfections. It is for this reason that golfers are advised to strike the short putt as though the cup were 12-18 inches farther away, to "putt through the break," and not have your ball diverted. Again, this is all stuff that golfers are aware of, and those who only watch it on television are probably not aware of, wondering why those professionals take time to carefully examine putts that seem so short as to be "automatic."
But missing a three-footer on an artificial green in an enclosed stadium should never happen. Those microscopic indentations would not occur if the undersurface is cork or a similar substance.
All in all, I'm glad Tiger missed one. It adds to the illusion that he is human.
golf.com
