He smiled and laughed and even traded jokes with the vultures holding notepads.
He slipped comfortably into the role of the nice old man telling stories on the front porch (“I won the Masters when Jordan (Spieth) was still in diapers”) and openly shared his recent frustrations on tortured golf courses (“There were a few clubs that flew — they suddenly slipped out of my hand, and pretty good distances, too”).
Tiger Woods, at 39 years old and two decades removed from his first Masters, no longer comes off as some pre-programmed, robotic lab creation who moves through the day and from hole to hole with little fireballs in his eyes and sparks flying off his spikes.
In short, now would be a great time to have him over for a barbecue.
But to win a tournament, which he hasn’t done since September 2013? To win a Masters, which he hasn’t accomplished since 2005? To even complete four rounds, which he has managed twice in his past seven tournaments over 12 months?
Woods won the room at his pre-Masters news conference Tuesday. He has won fans this week at Augusta National, signing autographs, waving at fans, even doing the most down-to-earth human of things by entering Wednesday’s Par 3 tournament (with his daughter and son as caddies).
But there’s a significant difference between re-inventing oneself off the course and becoming a factor again on it.
“In the last seven years he’s probably only played golf three of those years total,” Hank Haney, Woods’ former swing coach, said. “If you take any athlete out of their sport four of seven years, whether it’s health or motivation, you can’t expect that nothing is going to happen to them. There’s been a deterioration of skills.”
Some cover their ears when Haney speaks, believing he has an axe to grind. After splitting with Woods in 2010, Haney wrote a book on his time with Woods, “The Big Miss,” in which he expressed that the golfer seemed to lose his motivation and work ethic in 2007.
Woods’ career drop-off and the eventually spiraling of his personal life suggest as much. There have been struggles with injuries and confidence and the dreaded golf pox known as the “yips” (think quivering hands and mental meltdowns during chipping and putting).
Haney doesn’t discount the possibility of Woods winning again. Maybe even this week. “He’s got the memory of greatness. He’s got the memory of winning. If things can turn around just a little for him, he’s the kind of guy who can turn on the switch quickly.”
But Woods is older now. Others in most tournament fields can’t match Woods’ resume, but they’re stronger and they’re no longer intimidated by his presence. If they are, they certainly don’t play like it.
Woods said he wants to get back to his level of greatness. But saying it isn’t the same as showing that level of commitment, particularly when one is so far down the hole and has already achieved so much in the way of wealth and stature.
“He’s missed so much time,” Haney said. “Ben Hogan used to say, ‘You hit 500 balls today to get back to where you were yesterday.’ That might be an exaggeration, but there’s also some truth to that.”
Some talk about Woods’ pursuit of Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 majors, as if it’s an obsession. He needs four to tie him. But Haney said it’s a media creation, that Woods told him it’s not a big deal to him.
“Even if he retires and doesn’t break Jack’s record, Tiger will be in the conversation for the greatest player ever,” Haney said.
Woods is all about positivity now. He oozed it Tuesday, and media members lapped it up like Labradors.
He maintains that it’s just a delicious coincidence that he only now feels healthy and confident enough in his game to play in a tournament, nine weeks after he withdrew in the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open. Seems dubious. The man still embraces center stage. Certainly, his relative banker, Nike, does.
But that really doesn’t matter. There will be ample evidence either to support or contradict his claims Thursday and Friday. (And we’ll just stop right there.)
“I worked my ass off — that’s the easiest way to kind of describe it,” he said. “People would never understand how much work I put into it to come back and do this again. It was sun-up to sundown, and whenever I had free time. If the kids were asleep, I’d still be doing it, and then when they were in school, I’d still be doing it.”
When somebody prefaced a question with Woods being the most scrutinized golfer on the Tour, Woods interrupted with perfect comedic timing: “Really?”
He then said he gives little thought to the scrutiny, the criticism, the doubts.
“It’s anyone’s choice whether they use the Internet or not,” Woods said. “So I refuse to go on and read what you all write, good or bad, whether you’re friends of mine or not. Just choose not to go down that road. I’ve come to the understanding that I live it. I know exactly what I’m doing out here, and I’ve hit the shots. I don’t really need someone else’s second-hand opinion of what I was thinking.”
Woods doesn’t have to say another word all week. His play will take it from here.
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