YIP YIP HOORAY!
TIGER SAYS CHIP WOES FIXED, EYES FIFTH GREEN JACKET
AUGUSTA, Ga. — If body language and demeanor count for anything, then Tiger Woods might very well have a chance to win his fifth Green Jacket this weekend at Augusta National.
Far from the mental mess that withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines and took an eight- week absence from the Tour to get his body and game together, Woods exuded a confident demeanor on Tuesday during his first press conference since announcing he was going to play in the 2015Masters.
“I’m trying to beat everybody out there,” Woods said. “That hasn’t changed. I prepare to win and expect to go and do that.”
Of course, it’s easier to feel confident and optimistic sitting behind a desk and speaking into a microphone. The real proof whether he can contend for the year’s first major will come during Thursday’s opening round, when Woods has the second- to- last tee time, paired with Jimmy Walker and Jamie Donaldson at 1: 48 p. m.
Then the world will see whether the 14- time major winner has overcome the short- game woes that plagued him earlier this season when he missed the cut at the Waste Management Phoenix Open after a second- round 82 before withdrawing at Torrey Pines. Analysts used the dreaded word “yips” to describe his chipping and some went as far to suggest Woods might never again be among the game’s elite players.
Woods would have us believe he has conquered his problems.
“I worked my [ butt] off,” he said. “People would never understand how much work I put into it to coming back and doing this again. But it was sunup to sundown, and whenever I had free time.”
Forever tinkering with his swing, Woods said he was “stuck right between two release patterns,” a problem that affected his entire game. His surgically repaired back was not an issue.
“I needed to have all facets of my game come around,” he said. “They all have. We’ve spent a lot of time, a lot of work on this and it’s finally paid off.”
That might be a bit premature, considering we’ve heard Woods pronounce his game and body healed before only to watch him struggle. But if there’s any place that brings out the best in Woods, it’s Augusta National. Though the last of his four Masters wins came in 2005 — in a playoff against Chris DiMarco — Woods has finished in the top six in eight of his last nine appearances. He did not play in 2014 because of back surgery.
“We as players love [ the Masters] because it’s basically a players’ tournament,” Woods said. “You go out there and it’s just a player and a caddie and that’s it. There’s something special about that.”
Entering his 20th Masters, Woods seems different than the intense, guarded and ultra- competitive machine he was in past years. There were times Tuesday when he looked like he was closer to the world’s greatest dad than the world’s greatest golfer, taking a break from practicing his short game to hug his 7- year- old daughter Sam and 6- yearold son Charlie, who were hanging out with girlfriend/ world champion skier Lindsey Vonn. They will serve as his caddies for the Par- 3 tournament Wednesday.
Woods also smiled and joked more than normal, saying his 20 Masters appearances leave him just 30 behind Gary Player, and that playing with his kids is making him feel his age ( 39).
“The good news is my soccer game has gotten a lot better,” he said.
Woods was also sentimental, noting the absence of the Eisenhower Tree on the 17th hole, which was removed before last year’s tournament, and realizing his Masters journey began with his late father Earl and now includes his own children.
“To now have come full circle and to have a chance to have my kids out there and be able to share that, it’s special,” he said.
Woods clearly appears healthier, happier, and friendlier. But as one on- looker noted, “That’s the Tuesday Tiger. We’ll see what the Thursday Tiger has to say.”
george. willis@ nypost. com