Tiger Woods: ‘I’m A Lot More At Peace Now’

Tiger Woods seemed right at home during his news conference Monday at Sherwood Country Club, site for the Chevron World Challenge late next month. Possibly because SCC is in the home area for Woods, or due to the fact that Woods is the host of the golf tournament.

Woods, conducting the interview via video conference, touched on a number of topics.

The 2010 Ryder Cup: Woods appeared to be in old form on the final day of the Ryder Cup, going 9-under in an 11-hole span and blowing out Francesco Molinari (5 and 3).

"I just put it together for that one match. It was nice. It was nice to keep it rolling. It was nice to make a few putts and just keep the momentum going. "

Working With Foley: Woods is showing no signs of a Hank Haney hangover, and seemed very happy with the steps both he and Sean Foley have made remodeling his swing.

"What happened was as I've gotten into this system working with Sean, when I get it going well, I'm really starting to swing well and I'm hitting the ball farther. Hitting the ball farther than I ever thought I would."

A New Game: A notable question touched on the type of golfer Woods wanted to become (a question asked during the Masters, to which Woods said he wanted to be a more peaceful golfer) and if he now feels more at peace.

"Certainly I'm a lot more at peace now. Everyone's getting used to the new living conditions. The kids are adjusting. I think everyone's certainly more at peace, and so am I, too. I learned a lot about myself, and I learned how things went wrong, why they went wrong, and had to take a pretty deep and introspective look at myself, and there weren't a lot of things I liked about it. But I had to do it, and I did it and grateful that I did. I think that I come from a much better place, much more grounded place now than I ever have before."

Coming Home: It's no surprise Woods has had so much success in Southern California, seeing at it is where he grew up. Woods discussed the gratitude he gets from playing in lower California.

"As far as coming back, I'm always excited to come back to So Cal. This is where I grew up and where I lived most of my life. So for me to come back is always fun. Fun to see friends and go out to dinner with people that I haven't seen in a long time, so I always enjoy that about coming back home. Then playing in front of the hometown fans, it's always fun."

Winning For a Fifth Time: Woods, who is a four time winner at this tournament, won't have an easy time getting his fifth victory. The stacked 18-player field (not including Woods) has a combined 65 career wins, and seven of the top 10 players in the world.