Tom Edrington – AHN Sports Reporter
Windermere, FL, United States (AHN) – “Yep, it’s me,” he twittered.
“I’m not the same man I was a year ago,” he wrote on Newsweek.com.
“It’s about time I basically made a connection to the fans who have been incredible to me over the past year,” he said on ESPN radio Thursday.
He is Tiger Woods and he’s suddenly thrown himself into the open as the one-year anniversay of his Thanksgiving “incident” is a week away.
He’s twittering away on Twitter. He’s composed a mea culpa for Newsweek and he’s been chatting away on ESPN radio. He’s out ahead of what will surely be re-hashed over Thanksgiving, the holiday that turned his life sour a year ago.
His Newsweek.com short was titled “How I’ve Redefined Victory.” And he needs to redefine it as he’s now gone a year without a victory on the PGA Tour or anywhere else for that matter.
“I’m learning that some victories can mean smiles, not trophies and that life’s most ordinary events can bring joy. Giving my son Charlie, a bath, for example, beats chipping another bucket of balls. Making mac and cheese for him and his sister, Sam, is better than dining in any restaurant,” he wrote.
Woods spent about 20 minutes Thursday morning with Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic of ESPN’s Mike and Mike radio show.
His thoughts included these:
He said he’s glad at what happened a year ago. “Had it not happened, I wouldn’t be as blessed and balanced as I am how. Best thing for me.”
“Everything is in a much better perspective now.”
This year: “Difficult for me, more difficult for my kids. I take responsibility.”
On telling his children about his indescretions one day: “I will tell them the truth — face to face, eyeball to eyeball.”
On healing: “I will have to earn the trust and respect of my kids.”
When Tiger vanished from the public eye following Thanksgiving 2009, he said he relied on a few close friends. “People I’d known the longest. If you have three people like that in your life, you are blessed.”
Tiger cited his golf course behavior in the past as a result of his lifestyle. “While playing, I was frustrated and angry becaue of the way my life was, when you go against your core values….”
Woods did touch on his golf game, which is also in the rebulding process. “I can’t get better as a player unless I get better as as a person,” he said. As far as chasing Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships? “I still want to get to 19.”
He says he’s still a work in progress with new swing coach Sean Foley. “Anytime you move to a new coach — what are the fixes for the misses? That’s something I’m getting toward.”
Woods gave short answers when he was questioned about his visits from Dr. Anthony Galea and the public scolding given him at the Masters by Chairman Billy Payne.
“Dr. Galea performed PRP,” Woods said. “I had torn my achilles.”
As Woods moves on with his life on and off the golf course, he says his top priority is his children.
“Thankful to have my kids, spend time with them. Priorities? No. 1 the kids, they mean everything to me. I want to spend time with them and teach them something every day I’m with them. It’s just a blast.”
Woods also says he’s grateful at how well he’s been received everywhere this year. “People have been respectful and it’s amazing how good and supportive they’ve been.”
Read what he writes and listen to what he’s saying and Woods is campaigning to rebuild his tarnished image. “One way to rebuild is to come to grips with who I am,” Woods said.
No one can be sure who Tiger Woods really is these days.
His golf game and the struggles surrounding it are unfamiliar territory to the man who dominated golf the past six years.
Woods admits that when all is said and done, he’s a happier man.
“Infinitely,” he emphasized. “Infinitely.”
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