Tiger Woods insists that he is still hungry for success at the highest level - and sees himself competing for tournaments and Major championships in the future.
Writing a review of 2015 on his official website, tigerwoods.com, the former world number one admitted that it had been a frustrating and physically tough year on the PGA Tour.“Where do I see myself in the next five to 10 years?” he wrote, in the final paragraph of his 1,200 word long message. “I am still playing golf at the highest level and winning tournaments and major championships.”
A favourable observation considering it’s been seven years since he won the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course, his 14th and last Major title, but interesting - and far more positive - than the injury-plagued Woods who just a few weeks ago admitted he had no timetable for a playing return and had “nothing to look forward to”.
The 39-year-old has not swung a golf club since operations in September and October. He is still recovering from back surgery.
But Woods said: “The thing I’m looking forward to the most about 2016 is getting back out there again. I’ve missed it, and I would like to do it pain-free. I haven’t done that in what seems like a long time. I’ve had it in spurts the last few years and have done some pretty good things, but I’d like to have sustained health.”
“Hopefully, I’ll be able to play my way onto the Ryder Cup Team. Either way, I’m excited about being named a vice-captain. It will be new, fun and special. To have Davis Love appoint and trust me is pretty special.”
Talking about his personal struggle with the game, Woods admitted: “As far as 2015, it was a tough year physically and took a toll on my body.
“I had to battle through a swing pattern change and get that organised, because it was awful at the beginning of the year. I didn’t play for the longest time because I was stuck. To come back on the hardest venue of any course on the short game at Augusta National and tie for 17th, was pretty special to get myself back into it.
“The frustrating part was not being able to build on it throughout the year. To finally have it switch and turn in the last event I played at the Wyndham Championship, and then lo and behold, I can’t physically do it anymore. I’ve had two back surgeries since then, so it’s been a roller-coaster ride the entire year, from being down to some pretty darn good highs.
“The thing I’m looking forward to the most about 2016 is getting back out there again. I’ve missed it, and I would like to do it pain-free. I haven’t done that in what seems like a long time. I’ve had it in spurts the last few years and have done some pretty good things, but I’d like to have sustained health.”
Woods also believes that golf, spearheaded by greater player focus on fitness and technological advancement, has given the game a major lift and attracted a new generation of younger players.
“I think the biggest change on the PGA Tour from when I started playing is the level of focus on day-in and day-out fitness. Now, we have trainers and sports psychologists that travel with the guys,” he points out.
“Also the technology. When I beat Davis Love III in a play-off at the Las Vegas Invitational in 1996, he had a 43-inch persimmon head driver. The transition to metal to where we are now with 460 cc drivers and 45-inch shafts being the norm, and the ball going from wound to solid construction … the technology has changed dramatically.
My friends keep asking me how it feels to be turning 40 at the end of the month and my response is, ‘It depends when you ask me’. Mentally, people who know me know I’m like a five-year-old. Physically, sometimes I feel old and sometimes I feel like a teenager. I don’t like the polar opposites of the two. I’d like to be somewhere in the middle where I feel 40.
“What I love and appreciate the most about playing golf is the internal struggle. The fact that the ball is not moving; it’s just looking at you and laughing at you. You have to make it move 400 yards in let’s say four shots, and that to me is without a doubt one of the toughest mental struggles there is in sports. There are more physically demanding sports, obviously, but the mental task of golf is so hard. It is basically a physical chess match.”
