Tiger Woods might not be playing this week’s Hero World Challenge, but the tournament host still showed up Tuesday for his annual pre-tournament press conference in the Bahamas.
For about a half-hour, Woods fielded questions, mostly about the state of his game, while also offering comments, albeit general, on the PGA Tour’s ongoing negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and impending changes to Tour field sizes and eligiblity.
Here are the highlights:
Q. You said I think it was last year … that you hope to play once a month going forward. Is that still the goal?
WOODS: Well, I didn’t think my back was going to go like it did this year. It was quite painful throughout the end of the year and hence I had another procedure done to it to alleviate the pain I had going down my leg. So whether my commitment going forward is once a month, yeah, I could say that all over again, but I truly don’t know. I’m just trying to rehab and still get stronger and better and feel better, really give myself the best chance I can going into next year. This year was kind of — I had to toss it away and I wasn’t as sharp as I needed to be and I didn’t play as much as I needed to going into the major championships and I didn’t play well at them. Hopefully next year will be better, I’ll be physically stronger and better. I know the procedure helped and hopefully that I can then build upon that.
Q. How would you characterize the negotiations right now between the Tour and the PIF, and there seems to be a level of frustration that it’s taken this long. Would you share that or would you feel it’s going pretty much right as expected?
WOODS: I think all of us who have been a part of this process would have thought it would have happened quicker than this. Even if it did, we’re still at the regulations of the DOJ saying it’s giving us hominus dominus that it will go through. Even if we had gotten a deal done by now, it’s still in the DOJ’s hands, but we wish we would have had something more concrete and further along than we are right now. But things are very fluid, we’re still working through it, it’s happening daily. From a policy board standpoint or from an enterprise standpoint, things are moving and they’re constructive. But yes, definitely moving.
Q. You’re part of the PGA Tour policy board. Recently the board approved a change in field sizes and exemptions for players from 125 to 100. Why do you as a board member feel like that is good for the PGA Tour?
WOODS: Well, I think the entire — I’ll say the majority of the Tour felt the same way. The PAC was involved, the subcommittees on the PAC were involved and it was unanimous across the board what we need to do to present a better product and something better for our fans, for our events, our sponsors. Redefining what a Tour pro is, streamlining that. Yes, playing opportunities have been reduced at certain parts, but also then again we also have player equity in this as well — involved as well, which has never happened before. So the players who are playing, they’re going to get well compensated going forward, which that was never the case.
Q. Tiger, what is your opinion on the possibility of American players being paid to play in the Ryder Cup?
WOODS: Well, I would have to say that going back to my playing days, we had the same conversation back in ’99 and it was we didn’t want to get paid, we wanted to give more money to charity, and the media turned it around against us and said we want to get paid. No, the Ryder Cup itself makes so much money, why can’t we allocate it to various charities? And what’s wrong with each player, 12 players getting a million dollars and the 6 ability to divvy out to amazing charities that they’re involved in that they can help out? It’s their hometowns, where they’re from, all the different junior golf associations or endeavors that the members are involved in. It’s never really been about getting paid, it’s how can we allocate funds to help our sport or help things that we believe in back home, because it’s so hard to get onto that team, there’s only 12 guys. What’s wrong with being able to allocate more funds?
Q. So do you think again now the issue is one of messaging, that the players should make it clear whatever money they get will going to charity?
WOODS: I hope they would get $5 million each and donate it all to charity, different charities. I think it’s great. What’s wrong with that?
Q. Tiger, what influence did your dad have in terms of what you thought about the golf swing in terms of preparing it for competition? Specifically I kind of think back to ’97 after you won the Masters you still decided, hey, I need to change my swing, it’s not going to hold up. What kind of spurred that decision?
WOODS: That was on me to make that move. That was a conversation I had with Butch and I wanted to make a golf swing that was going to compete week in, week out. At that time I still thought I had good hands and I could time it up, but the problem is timing that golf swing at that particular time, I’m going to hit some serious foul balls, too, and I need to get the foul balls in the position where I can play and compete, make it through the weekend, make it to the weekend and then possibly give myself a chance every single time I teed it up. At that particular time, I didn’t feel like I could do that, so we went to work on slowly integrating pieces of the golf swing and it took the better part of a year and a half or so to where it got to where I thought it was where I would like it to be. I had a good run in ’99, 2000, 2001.
But as far as my father, my father turned over all the keys to a golf swing, that wasn’t his 7 thing. My father understood more the mental side of it from his operational days in Special Forces and the mindset that it took to do what he had to do, but as far as golf mechanics, no. I still remember the days my dad still teaching me how to putt, but as far as the golf swing, he never really did much. I worked with Rudy and I worked with John Anselmo and then to Butch. My dad never really — he said that’s between you and your coach.
Q. What is your confidence, Tiger, that a deal will get done?
WOODS: I think something will get done. In what form or shape, I don’t know yet.
