You can probably count the number of one-on-one interviews Tiger Woods has done away from the golf course on one hand. It simply does not happen. But it happened this week as Woods talked to Time magazine about his life and his future.
Here are 23 things we learned from the monster interview.
1. He hates watching golf on TV
"I can’t remember the last time I watched golf," Woods told Time. "I can’t stand it. Unless one of my friends has a chance to win, then I like watching it. I watched Jason [Day] win the PGA. But it was on mute. It’s always on mute and I have some other game on another TV."
2. He's worried about having future surgeries
This was a stunner to me. Old Tiger tried to win at all costs. This is certainly Tiger 2.0.
"I know that, one, I don’t want to have another procedure. And two, even if I don’t come back and I don’t play again, I still want to have a quality of life with my kids. I started to lose that with the other surgeries."
3. His daughter had to peel him off the ground at his house
This was also stunning. Woods said he fell over hitting flop shots in the backyard of his house when his daughter walked out.
"She came out and said, 'Daddy, what are you doing lying on the ground?' I said, 'Sam, thank goodness you’re here. Can you go tell the guys inside to try and get the cart out, to help me back up?'"
4. He's OK with retirement because of his kids
This is something Woods has been insinuating for a while now. And it's true.
"Prior to that, when I didn’t have kids, it would never enter my mind. Are you kidding me?What am I going to do, go bass fishing? No. But now to watch my kids and play sports and to grow up and participate, and even teach them how to become better, oh my God, it gives me so much joy. I can’t imagine not being able to do that as I get older.
"I’ve reconciled myself to it. It’s more important for me to be with my kids. I don’t know how I could live with myself not being able to participate in my kids’ lives like that. That to me is special."
5. Even Tiger is impressed with Tiger
All the FIGJAM!
You won 14 majors by the time you were 32. "I know. It’s frightening. I’ve had a good run."
6. He's not impressed with golf media
"There’s no accountability in what they say. And what they say, it’s like it’s gospel, there’s no source behind it. It’s just, some of the announcers, they don’t even go on the golf course. And they look at a pin sheet from the booth, but they’ve never surveyed the golf course, even though the television coverage doesn’t come on until the afternoon."
7. He doesn't go online to read about himself
This is, I'm betting, not true.
8. He thinks he shouldn't have to do every post-round interview
He's right about this one. Dead on. He's the best and most consistent about doing post-round interviews and doesn't get enough credit for it.
"I went through a stretch, I think it was eight years ago, where I never missed a post-round interview. And the first time I did, they crucified me. I said, Realize I’ve done this for almost a decade. No matter what I shot, I always did a post-round interview. I did that for like eight years in a row, every round I played in, and when I don’t do it, they just killed me for it."
9. He has a security detail for his kids
Also smart.
10. He has a "fantastic" relationship with ex-wife Elin Nordegren
Wow!
"Having the relationship that I have now with her is fantastic. She’s one of my best friends. We’re able to pick up the phone, and we talk to each other all the time. We both know that the most important things in our lives are our kids. I wish I would have known that back then."
11. He and Lindsey Vonn broke up because they couldn't hang out
Two high-profile athletes dating and not having enough time together because of their respective sports and one of them has two kids to take care of? You can see why that didn't work.
"It’s a relationship that was fantastic, but it just can’t work on that level. It just could not work. It was doing an injustice to both of us."
12. He would choose his kids over golf
"Now, if I can do both, that is an ideal world. It’s a win-win. If I can only do one, it wouldn’t be golf. It would be my kids. That’s still a win-win."
13. He said it was never about Jack Nicklaus' 18 majors
"OK, here’s the major misconception that people have all gotten wrong. It’s what was posted on my wall, about Jack’s records. It was not the majors, OK. It was all age-related. To me, that was important. This guy’s the best out there and the best of all time. If I can beat each age that he did it, then I have a chance at being the best."
14. He knows exactly how many cuts he has missed
"I think I’ve missed only 15 cuts in my career."
Correct, and six of them have been in the past two years.
15. Jason Day was scared to ask him to play a practice round
"Colin [Swatton, Day’s longtime friend, coach and caddy] told me that he’s afraid to ask you go to play a practice round with him because it was me who got him started in the game, winning the ’97 Masters. And that’s the guy hitting balls right next to you."
16. He's proud of winning with a torn ACL
And he should be.
"If you look at the US Open in ’08, I played on no ACL, I’d ruptured my ACL in ’07, but I still won five of the last six tournaments I played that year, and the following year, I played six tournaments, I won four and finished second in the Masters. And so, understand that I can play through it, and I can still win, I can be successful, but along the way I’m just doing damage."
17. He shot 54 on nine holes before the 2008 US Open
Then he went out and won the 2008 US Open.
"I think I’m a pretty good golfer—you know what, I think I’m a damn good golfer—but when I went out there on my home course and I lost eight balls in nine holes. I shot 54, not long before the US Open, and I’m grinding my butt off, and I said, OK, you’re the No. 1 player in the world, and you just lost eight balls on a home course that you could play blindfolded, and I shot a 54. This is going to be an interesting week."
18. He's struggled putting because of a bad back
This explains a lot.
"Well, here’s the deal. When my back was bad, anytime I bent over, my whole upper body and neck would start to cramp up, and so, putting was the most painful, and so I never practiced it. It hurt too much."
19. He wants to not be remembered?
"The greatest thing that could happen is to not be remembered. What I mean by that is, the kids right now, they don’t know that Michael Jordan played. They see a Jumpman [logo] and they think, that’s so cool. I’m talking young kids, really young kids, single digits in age, they have no idea who Michael Jordan was, but the Jumpman logo is cool. Now, for me, they don’t understand who that is. My learning center, kids go through it and they don’t know who I am. They don’t know what I’ve done. But it’s a safe haven for them to learn and grow."
20. He accidentally wore shorts at Augusta once
OK, how many clubs do you have to put a sport coat on, to go into the clubhouse? Or you can’t wear a hat on backward. Or shorts. At Augusta, you can’t wear shorts. I made the mistake myself. I know. I had shorts on, but thank God I had rain pants in my golf bag.
21. He has one place where he finds peace
This is sort of sad to me.
"I would have to say that, probably, my only peace has been in between the ropes and hitting the shots."
22. He's glad he's not named Richard
"Put it this way. I’m glad my dad didn’t name me Richard. That would be a long day. Tiger is OK, but Richard would have been tough."
23. He peaked in middle school
"I peaked at 11, to be honest with you. I went 36 and 0 that year, never lost a tournament, all in California. And I probably had the cutest girlfriend in all of sixth grade. And I had straight As. No A-minuses. They were all perfect A’s. I peaked at 11. I’ve been trying to get back to that since."
Go read the entire thing. It's insanely good.
