For a few years I always wondered how Tiger would fear if he took the driver out of the bag. We usually consider Tiger as the power guy who gets the advantage with his long game. In recent years I don't really think so. His putting and mental game is what separates him from everyone else. I think his guaranteed number of wayward drives which get him in trouble, help keep some players in the hunt. If he chose to play fairways and GIR's, combined with his putting while sacrificing some distance, I think he could still win at his typical ratio if not even more.
Remember, he would still be reaching most par 5's in two, so he could still somewhat dominate the par 5's.
With tiger's new knee, I consider his point in his career to be like a dominating starting pitcher in baseball who was a power pitcher, then had reconstructive surgery on the arm or elbow and had to become a finesse pitcher who still was able to dominate.
We are now entering the finesse years of Tiger, don't worry he will still be better then ever.

Very good points Roy, but I had to vote "Keep the Driver". I just cant take that club out of his hands. IMO, he could very well win without it, but it is a key on several of the short par fours.

Couldn't have stated it any better, his putting and "Mental" game are second to none.

I don't think he can or will take it out of the bag. You raise a good point of discussion, as I think he could win without it, but it boils down to him wanting it in play. He still does not like the 5 wood.............

Fare instead of fear? It will be interesting to see what happens with the new Tiger. The surgery may have stabelized his base so he will drive more consistantly. Sure striped that drive on 18. But his short game is what has separated him. A couple of spectacular bunker shots yesterday showed that and also that his knee is solid.

Some good points made on why he should keep the river in the bag. Yes, I cringed a couple of times wondering how the knee like that shot he just took. LOL

Just my opinion but I think he could put a strong 3 in the bag and really kick some arse.
He'll keep the driver cause "Chicks dig the long ball" but he certainly doesn't need it.

Later,

Thats "Power" !!!!!

Nike might have $omething to $ay about him atlea$t carrying a driver

Lots of good points on driver/no drive. I voted that he would still win at about the same clip.

I know we've all heard long and wrong is not good, and that's probably very true for us amateur average golfers, and even most pros, but based on Tiger's performance, it is not the case for him. "Bomb and gouge" really does work for him (though we've all seen, when the course dictates it, he can play without the driver).

Tiger has always hit the driver all over the planet since his youth. He's just learned to play well anyway, unlike someone like Phil, who sprays it everywhere but just does not have the incredible escape ability that Tiger does from the rough and elsewhere. It's actually one of the many things that separates Tiger from the pack. On average, Tiger saves strokes from the rough while other players lose strokes.

Part of his success in this regard is trying to miss in the right spots. Part of it is his incredible strength which helps him extricate the ball from bad lies in the rough.

The field averages hitting the fairway 64.6% of the time, while Tiger averages 59.9% (actually better than I thought). However, on average, the field scores about 2 over par from the rough, left or right, while Tiger averages 1 under par from the rough, about even par from the right rough and -2 from the left. From the ruogh, the field hits the green on average 49.8% of the time, while Tiger hits the green from the rough 57.7% of the time. When combined with his incredible putting, it's a no-brainer that being in the rough is not a situation which hurts Tiger compared to the field.

Based on those numbers, no, I don't think he will take driver out, and if he did, it may not help anyway.

Good insights