GOLF:AFTER MONTHS of hush, the silence was broken by Tiger Woods – still the world's number one ranked player despite a five-month enforced hiatus from the sport – at August National yesterday, ahead of his return to competition and a quest, as unlikely as it may seem after such an absence, for a fifth green jacket.
The master of deceit, who lived a secret life away from his home life and the golf course, has undergone therapy for his sexual addiction problem and has also vowed to be a different person on the golf course. No more cursing. No more club throwing. More of a role model, if you will, for his legions of fans. If he does that, though, what sort of player will we get?
He explained: “I’m actually going to try and obviously not get as hot (under the collar) when I play. But, then again, when I’m not as hot, I’m not going to be as exuberant either. I can’t play one (way) without the other, and so I made a conscious decision to try and tone down my negative outbursts . . . I’m just trying to be more respectful of the game and acknowledge the fans like I did today,” adding that he had “underappreciated the fans in the game of golf” in the past.
Woods yesterday continued his build-up to the Masters by playing a full practice round with former champion Fred Couples, and the pair were joined by former US Open champion Jim Furyk for six holes. Through it all, Woods acknowledged the spectators and, when his round was completed, even spent a considerable amount of time signing autographs – an aspect which he had neglected in more recent years.
Although he hasn’t played since winning the Australian Masters last November and only started hitting shots again in late-February, Woods claimed that he was here, like always, to win. “I’m obviously going to try to get the ball in the hole as best I can.”
Woods also claimed that the knee injury, which forced him to undergo a fourth knee operation after his US Open win in 2008, was now healed – “it’s explosive again, which is great,” he said – and that the torn Achilles heel, which afflicted him in 2008 and again last year, was also mended. Those injuries, though, led to Woods using a Canadian doctor, Anthony Galea, who is now under investigation by the US federal authorise for HGH (Human Growth Hormone) and anabolic steroids.
In denying that he had ever received HGH treatment, Woods yesterday outlined that he had received PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) injections which are legal, whereby doctors use components of a person’s own blood to stimulate the natural healing process. It is claimed to encourage healing of soft tissue and bones and the procedure has been used for years in plastic surgery and for such as tennis elbow or Achilles tendonitis.
Woods also insisted that he was never addicted to pain killers, although he admitted using prescription drugs “when my dad was sick and my dad died, that was a tough time in my life”.
Although his treatment is on-going, and he pointedly refused to say exactly what the addiction was other than to claim it was personal, Woods admitted to having a different perspective on his return to golf. “You know, when I went through that period when my father was sick and my father passed away, it put things in perspective real quick. And when my kids were born, again it put it in perspective. And then what I’ve done here, it puts it (golf) in perspective; it’s that it is not about championships. And you know how to live your life and I had not done that the right way for a while, and I needed to change that. And, going forward, I need to be a better man than I was before.
“And just because I’ve gone through treatment doesn’t mean it stops. I’m trying as hard as I possibly can each and every day to get my life better and stronger and if I win championships along the way, so be it. But along the way, I want to help more people that haven’t quite learned to help themselves, just like how I was (helped).”
Woods, as he put it, “fooled” himself before he actually went to the point of getting treatment. Before then, he had been exposed as having a series of extramarital affairs and was involved in a single car crash outside his Orlando home in November which led to a police investigation. “I lied to a lot of people, deceived a lot of people, kept others in the dark,” he said of his secret life. “I acted terribly, poorly, made just incredibly bad decisions and decisions that have hurt so many people close to me. That’s enough.”
In his time away, he has lost a number of corporate sponsors – among them Accenture, Hag Heuer and Gatorade – and it was noticeable yesterday that the Tiger Woods name and “TW” logo – aka Nike – are now the prominent endorsement on his bag.
And, yet, despite all that has gone on in his life, and the turmoil it has caused within his family and circle of friends and on a business level, Woods is back. What does he expect? “Nothing’s changed. (I’m) going to go out there and try to win this thing.”
