The brilliant comment Tiger Woods once made on the range at Torrey Pines when he was struggling with his driver

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While there were times when Tiger Woods seemed to play like the most perfect machine, one of the main reasons he was so dominant for so long was the fact that he was never afraid to completely change his game-plan in the hope of simply finding a way to win.

Of course, Tiger Woods could have weeks where he would not miss a fairway, or where the putts would not end up anywhere else but the bottom of the cup. But many of his most memorable shots actually came when he seemed to be in trouble.

In positions where most players would look to take their medicine, Woods still had the ability to steal the show – and often did. Obviously, his talent was crucial, but his competitive spirit was unrivalled.

Woods lost one playoff in his PGA Tour career, while he failed to win one major after leading after 54 holes. He knew what it took to get across the line.

How Tiger Woods reacted when hitting his driver poorly on the driving range at Torrey Pines

And what was particularly remarkable was how Woods would get himself across the line even when he was not firing on all cylinders.

Woods had an incredible understanding of his own game as shown by Tripp Isenhour on X. Isenhour shared a story of how Woods reacted on the driving range at Torrey Pines once when he simply could not get his driver behaving as he wanted.

“Quick story about how Tiger Woods thought during his prime and why he was so much better than everyone else,” he said.

“I was hitting balls next [to] Tiger on the back of the range at Torrey Pines after the third round. Tiger was struggling with his driver. Clearly not hitting it the way he wanted. He tried to fix over and over with not very good results. He put the driver away and pulled out a 6 iron or so.

“He hit the ball straight up over the nets that border the range on both sides (they are very high). I would have had to hit at least a 9 iron to clear the net like he did. Then the ball started to curve back into the middle of the range and flew about 170 yards while curving about 40 yards or so. The very next shot was with the same club and was a low punch cut that never got much higher than the flagsticks and carried about 140 yards before rolling out. I said to him, ‘geez Tiger you planning on starting a trick shot show’.

“He looked at me and simply said if this is where I am going to be tomorrow then I might need these shots.

“While every other Tour player including myself would probably have left the course worried about their technique and carried that into the final round and could hurt their confidence, not the GOAT! He was simply going to beat you with what he had at that moment.“

Tiger Woods’ outrageous record at Torrey Pines

Obviously, Woods’ record at Torrey Pines is one of the most incredible in golf. His most famous performance there came in 2008 when he won the US Open on essentially a broken leg – and had to play more than 90 holes to win that trophy.

But he also won the Farmers Insurance Open seven times in 19 appearances. He finished outside the top five on one occasion between 1998 and 2008 – and that was a tie for 10th.

And it was that tie for 10th which marked his worst finish in the four appearances Isenhour made at the same event. That arguably tells you everything about the standards Woods set himself, as well as the success he could still have when he no longer felt able to rely on plan A.