Fellow golfers reveal what drives the ‘new’ Tiger Woods
In his pursuit of greatness, Tiger Woods had closed himself off to many friendships. But, his personal life laid bare and body broken, something had to change. Russell Gould on the new Tiger, through the eyes of fellow golfers.
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On the way to Royal Melbourne on Friday morning, Tiger Woods stood up on the team bus.
With his cap on backwards, chewing gum as he has all week, and, with everyone attentive, the captain of team USA singled out Rickie Fowler.
It was Fowler’s birthday which, Woods pointed out, he shared with music megastar Taylor Swift.
Everyone laughed. Tiger beamed too, flashing those big pearly whites which have been on show more in the past two years than at any time in his magnificent, achievement-filled career.
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Woods has become a people-person, an attitude forged from the depths of a despair which rendered one of the most dominant, single-minded athletes of all time human.
It wasn’t just the remarkable turn his personal life took after decades of extramarital trysts were laid bare. It was the breakdown of a body, so finely tuned for performance, which forced Woods to finally turn to others.
“You know, I don’t know the year, time flies pretty fast, but there was a year at Augusta where he barely sat down at the (champions) dinner,” American great Fred Couples, one of Woods’ closest friends, revealed at Royal Melbourne this week.
“I don’t sit that far away from him, and he was telling a few people he may never play again, and he just can’t move.
“And now, he’s got a little bit of a new life.”
A lumbar fusion operation was the beginning of that new life as it helped cure his body’s woes.
It was also an operation which demanded he step back from the golf routine which had dictated so much of his everyday life.
It was during that time when he couldn’t play that Woods realised how much he needed other people.
His solitary pursuit of greatness had closed him off to too many friendships.
But, unable to be the machine he was, to even hit balls, Woods had to find something else to do on the golf range he couldn’t stay away from.
At the Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Florida, you can’t turn around without running into a professional golfer.
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So Woods started talking to his fellow pros, the new, young brigade who were in awe of the man who inspired them to play. But they hadn’t been beaten into being intimidated by him.
“I think he’s understanding that, whereas when he was 25, 30, 35, all he wanted to do was maybe be to himself and beat everybody up that he played against, and he did it. Did it very well,” Couples sad.
“I don’t think he’s become soft by any means, but he likes being around people, and I think as he gets older, he realises people are … he has a lot of people that want to be around him.
“It’s very fun to be around him.”
The likes of Fowler, 30, and Justin Thomas, 26, playing on the Presidents Cup under Woods, were among those the 15-time major champion hung out with a lot.
But it wasn’t all golf either.
“I mean, to me, he’s a big golf nerd, as we all are. He loves it. He sleeps and breathes golf,’ Fowler said.
“But there’s times where he’ll shut off and he’ll go and he loves diving, free diving in the spring, so that’s a way he’s able to get away. We all have to have those kind of releases.
“But yeah, when it comes down to it, we spend a lot of our time either flying, practising or thinking about golf.”
Woods said his experiences as an assistant captain on Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams while he was recovering also opened his eyes to new relationships he could have with the fellow pros he only ever saw as obstacles to his pursuit of greatness.
“It was neat being around guys, getting to know them, and then a couple months later, I was starting to hit golf balls and started coming back,” Woods said.
“I think my relationships from the time in ‘16 at Hazeltine and then in ‘17 at Liberty, I think it helped probably post when I started hitting balls; and I started playing practice rounds with a lot of guys at home up at Medalist.
“It was great because I got to forge those relationships. Some of those guys are so young, when I was on the way out, they were coming in.”
Patrick Reed, who has felt the constant support of his captain during a tougher than expected week at Royal Melbourne, said the players now saw a different Woods than not just the one the public sees, but the one he saw as a kid.
“Growing up, we saw the Tiger Woods that didn’t really speak, was throwing fist-pumps and was out there intimidating everyone,” Reed said.
“Now we’re actually being able to get to know him off the golf course, which is amazing, to actually get to know the softer side of him off the golf course.”
Children are the ultimate softener too. Despite the breakdown of his marriage, Woods, 43, has remained a doting, heavily involved dad to Sam and Charlie.
When Tiger won his first US Masters in 1997, aged 21, he shared an emotional embrace with his own dad, Earl.
This year, after a win at Augusta not many saw coming, that emotional embrace was with Sam and Charlie next to the 18th green.
“With his kids, he’s a great dad,” Couples said.
“I have a caddie (Joe La Cava) for over 20 years that’s now caddying for him, and Joe tells me all kinds of things, and normally it’s about his son and daughter, not how good he hits a 3-iron, so I enjoy that, too.”
At the Presidents Cup gala on Tuesday night Tiger twirled his girlfriend, Erica Herman, for the cameras, smiling.
“Five years ago he just doesn’t do that,” one tour insider said.
Woods is the machine that life has made human.