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PGA TOUR: Despite layoff, Woods is ready to tackle demands of U.S. Open

/noticias.info/ By Dave Shedloski
PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent

MAMARONECK, N.Y. -- He wasn't going to enter if he didn't think he could win. Tiger Woods is vying for his third U.S. Open title this week because he believes he is ready. He believes that his golf game is sharp enough after the long layoff he chose to take after the death of his father, Earl, last month.

Only Woods knows how much he'll battle himself emotionally this week, given the famously close relationship he shared with his dad and their interconnection through golf. But the No. 1 player in the world could say with certainty Tuesday that he was ready to battle the renowned West Course at Winged Foot Golf Club, which hosts the 106th U.S. Open beginning Thursday.

Woods, 30, has not competed since he tied for third at the Masters Tournament, and he went nearly a month without touching a club after his father died May 3 of cancer -- the second such hiatus from golf he has taken in the last six months. Some might argue that Earl Woods, who introduced his son to golf when he was an infant, would have wanted his son to return earlier, to be more prepared for the toughest major in golf on one of America's most cantankerous courses.

But Tiger has returned on a timetable his father would have recommended.

"Dad was always adamant of whenever you're ready to play, play. If you're not ready, don't play," Woods said Tuesday in his first extended press conference since the Masters. "He was always adamant for my entire career as a golfer to take more time off. He thought I always played too much. For this stretch, he certainly would have approved."

Earl Woods certainly approved of all that his son achieved thus far. The 48 PGA TOUR titles, including two this year, and 10 major championships, are testimony to his son's skills, but of equal importance has been Tiger's status as an exemplary role model and philanthropic force outside the ropes.

Long layoffs have not been a detriment to Woods' game in the past. Following knee surgery in 2002 he came back to win his first event, the Buick Invitational of California. He won the same event to open his campaign this year, and followed up with victories at the Ford Championship at Doral and the Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour.

"It's just one of those things where it's your preparation, your practice, your attention to detail," Woods said. "That's something I've learned and I've done very well, I think, in the past, and it's applied to this stretch. I've had plenty of time to get ready; I just didn't feel that I was ready to deal with all this and also try to prepare for the Open. I'd much rather kind of deal with it all at once."

Woods said he is excited about the way he is playing and how his play has translated into getting around Winged Foot in practice. His ball-striking ability came back to him almost immediately. The putting that plagued him at the Masters he's had to work on much harder.

"It's funny because every time you come back from a layoff, you always hit it great the first day. You never miss a shot the first day back," Woods said. "The second day it's some idiot with a club; you hit it all over the planet. But it's always the third day, how you are doing on the third day. Pleasantly surprised, I actually hit it pretty good the third day, and then it got progressively better. It was nice to see that, for my game to come back that quickly.

"It wasn't like I was not thinking about my swing for this time because every once in a while I kind of would think about my game a little bit, as a reprieve," he added. So I kind of had, basically, a game plan for what I wanted to do when I came back."

Woods pointed out that some players enjoy playing their way into shape, but he always prefers to get his game peaking without tournament exposure, so his recent absence from the PGA TOUR hasn't been a radical departure from his normal routine.

But this has been far from a normal time for him. And for the first time in his life, Woods discovered that getting into the swing of golf felt a bit awkward -- and for good reason.

"In all honesty, one of the hardest things about getting back to the game of golf was because all of the great memories I have of the game are with my dad at the golf course," Woods said. "It was hard at times going out there late in the evening like I always do. … Any time you take time off and start back, you always work on your fundamentals -- grip, posture, stance, alignment. Well, that's what I learned from Dad. So from that standpoint it was certainly more difficult than I expected. But it also brought back so many great memories." notas_de_prensa_archivo