For the first time all summer, Tiger Woods showed up at a PGA Tour
event knowing that his day would not include phone calls from a lawyer
or divorce documents to approve.
He is only married to his golf
now.
"This is my job," Woods said Wednesday. "This is what I do."
Even
so, Woods slowly shook his head when asked if he felt relief that his
divorce became official two days ago.
"I don't think that's the
word," he said. "I think it's just more sadness. Because I don't think
you ever go into a marriage looking to get divorced. That's the thing.
That's why it is sad."
Woods still could not avoid talk about the
end of his nearly six years of marriage to Elin Nordegren, brought on my
numerous extramarital affairs that were exposed last Thanksgiving.
As
he was teeing off in the rain during the pro-am, People magazine
released an interview with his ex-wife in which she spoke openly about
how her world fell apart and that she has "been through hell."
Before
he completed the first hole, his agent and spokesman were outside the
rope, each talking on a cell phone.
Then, after Woods hit his
approach to the green, a tabloid columnist walked out into the fairway
with notepad and pen to ask him questions. She had never been to a golf
tournament and was not aware that reporters are to stay by the ropes.
It
took five questions on his game before Woods was asked about his
divorce and his ex-wife's interview, although Woods handled both
questions with the same, measured tones, not revealing much.
"I
wish her the best in everything," he said. "You know, it's a sad time in
our lives. And we're looking forward in our lives and how we can help
our kids the best way we possibly can. And that's the most important
thing."
They have two children, 3-year-old daughter Sam and
18-month-old son Charlie. The divorce allowed for "shared parenting,"
and Woods completed a four-hour program on family stability the day
before he left for the British Open.
The process of getting a
divorce consumed most of his summer, not only on the golf course, but
during his weeks at home when he was practicing and preparing for the
majors. Ten majors now have passed without Woods winning, matching the
longest drought of his career.
Asked to describe how the details
of divorce affected his practice, Woods said, "It was a lot more
difficult than I was letting on."
"My actions certainly led us to
this decision," he said. "And I've certainly made a lot of errors in my
life. That's something I'm going to have to live with."
As for the
job? That's not going so well, either.
Despite a tie for fourth
in the Masters in his return from a five-month hiatus, and a tie for
fourth at the U.S. Open, Woods has played so poorly that he comes to The
Barclays at No. 112 in the FedEx Cup standings, with no guarantee he
will make it to the next playoff event.
For starters, he has to
make the cut at Ridgewood Country Club, a course he saw for the first
time Wednesday. Then, he likely has to finish somewhere around the
middle of the pack to move into the top 100 and qualify for next week's
playoff event outside Boston at the Deutsche Bank Championship, which
benefits his foundation.
Woods asked coach Sean Foley to look at
his swing during the PGA Championship two weeks ago, and he met with
Foley twice in Orlando, Fla., last week. On several holes during the
pro-am, Woods tucked a golf glove under his right armpit during a full
swing, a technique aimed to keep his arms connected.
Whether he
hires Foley as his next coach has not been decided. Woods is not sure he
wants to revamp his swing again, knowing how much time it will take and
how much time he has lost already.
"It's an undertaking that I
have to wrap my head around, because it's going to take some time," he
said.
He drove the ball great at the AT&T National and British
Open and couldn't make a putt. He hit the ball all over Wisconsin
during the PGA Championship and kept in the game by making putts. And
then there were weeks like Firestone, where he did nothing right and
shot the worse score of his career, an 18-over 298.
For the ninth
time this year, Woods can lose his No. 1 ranking to Phil Mickelson. His
solution for staying at the top and getting a tee time next week on the
TPC Boston is the same. "Winning takes care of everything," he said.
"I'm
trying to get my game in order — work on some new things, working with
Sean," Woods said. "And I'm trying to put that together and hopefully
play well for the rest of the year. As of right now, I need to play well
to make it to next week. So that's kind of the focus right now."
Even
now, though, the focus is not entirely on golf.
"As far as my
game and practicing, that's been secondary," he said. "We're trying to
get our kids situation to our new living conditions and how that's going
to be. That's where our focus is going to be right now."