tiger showing his sof t side
LA JOLLA, Calif. — Tiger Woods had just finished his pre-tournament press conference Wednesday in advance of Thursday’s opening round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, and afterward he actually stuck around and chit-chatted with a few reporters.
When the audience filed out of the standing-room-only interview room, one reporter asked another, “Who was that man?’’
It was not an imposter. It’s a kinder, gentler and more humbled Tiger Woods we’re witnessing right now, a 41-year-old former dominator who used to eat his fellow competitors and reporters for lunch, yet now seems to be trying reinvent himself and his image.
Woods used to snarl at reporters who asked him things like, “What are your expectations this week?’’ with terse, condescending answers like, “to win,’’ as if to say, “Why would you even ask me such a stupid question?’’
Now, Woods sounds like a guy who will be happy just to keep up with the new young guns who have taken over the game he once owned. Woods sounds like a former flame-throwing pitcher whose fastball once touched 100 mph, but now is trying to win games with craftiness, trying to become a pitcher more than a thrower.
Woods will tee it up in the first two rounds with two guys whose length off the tee equates to 100 mph pitchers — Jason Day, ranked No. 1 in the world, and Dustin Johnson, ranked No. 3. So it should not take long for him — and everyone else — to have a pretty good idea about where his game stands.
Woods said he’s jacked up about the pairing, but he, too, talked about tempering his expectations — an exercise that was never a consideration for him back in the day.
“I’m trying to remind myself, ‘ Hey, I haven’t played in a while. Hey, it’s just the first two days and get yourself in contention, build your way up, it’s not Sunday,’ ’’ Woods said. “I’ve got a long way to go to get to that point and build myself into a position where I have a chance to win this event.’’
When he was asked about trying to “keep up’’ with Day and Johnson, two of the longest bombers off the tee in the game, Woods said, “Oh, hell no.’’
“I can’t carry the ball 320 yards out here,’’ he said. “Those guys will bomb it out there. That’s fine. I’ll just play my game. The name of the game is low score. It’s not a long-drive contest.
“I was looking up a stat the other day and I saw that I averaged, I believe, 296 [yards off the tee] in ’97 and I was second longest to John Daly, and I think Jason last year averaged 305 and he barely cracked the top 15. So it’s a different game. I’m longer now than I’ve ever been, but it’s all relative. Everybody’s bombing it out there now.’’
Woods, having played only one tournament in the last 17 months (his own 17-player Hero World Challenge in December in the Bahamas) because of multiple back surgeries and subsequent rehab, is delving into the unknown right now as he embarks on four tournaments in the next five weeks.
Woods, never exactly known for his candor with the press, was as honest as he could be when he was asked what he expects from himself this week in his 2017 PGA Tour debut.
“I don’t know,’’ Woods said. “I haven’t played a full schedule in a very long time, so this is an unknown. One of the reasons why I’m playing four out of five [weeks] is to get into the playing rhythm of playing competitive golf again. I’ve been away from it for so long.’’
Asked what he has missed most about competing on the PGA Tour, Woods got uncharacteristically warm and fuzzy and nostalgic again.
“I miss trying to beat these guys, I really do,’’ he said. “We’re a fraternity out here. We see each other all year and some of us have seen each other for decades out here. It’s just fun to be competitive and fun to go out there and compete at the highest level and against the best.’’