Is Elin moving on from Tiger with a new gentleman? Could be

Disclaimer: This story has nothing to do with golf as a sport. Nothing at all. Knowing this, if you continue to read on and expect golf, you will be disappointed. Fair warning. OK? Let's roll.

In recent weeks, we've shown you Tiger Woods' shiny new $50 million bachelor pad. Woods also seems to be getting his game back, and the TV ratings show that millions are ready to forgive, forget and watch him challenge for wins in tournaments again.

Of course, Woods isn't the only one involved in all this, and he's also not the only one moving on. Reports are trickling in from various sources that Tiger's ex-wife Elin Nordegren is also putting the entire Escalade Incident in her rear-view mirror. The British newspaper The Sun has reported that Nordegren has met a new man, described as a "35-year-old South African," at the college in Florida where both are presently studying. (Nordegren revealed a few months back that she is studying psychology, and is a few dozen hours short of an undergraduate degree.)

The National Enquirer -- which demands at least a bit of credibility since, as you'll recall, it broke the initial story that set TransgressionGate in motion -- claimed that the man "suddenly and impulsively kissed her while walking her back to her car in the school parking lot." 

In fact, the Enquirer has gone a step further than that, saying that Elin wants to start a family and that Woods is "crushed that she is moving on so soon," according to one of those fabled "anonymous sources." Both stories are peppered with such sources, which means you should feel free to completely disregard any of this.

Still, Elin Nordegren is 30 years old and, thanks to a reported $100 million divorce settlement, wealthy beyond compare. Of course she's going to have gentlemen callers lining up for the pleasure of courting her. For their sake, it's probably better if they don't golf. No need to bring another set of clubs into the relationship.

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Stevie Williams says all's copacetic with Tiger Woods

Throughout the entire TransgressionGate, every single member of Tiger Woods' entourage came under the microscope, interrogated either in person or in absentia with Congressional hearing-like ferocity: What did you know, and when did you know it? One of the key members of Team Tiger is caddy Stevie Williams, and his close proximity to Woods led many to suspect that he knew more than he was letting on. (Yes, like he was covering for Tiger while Woods slipped off into the pines behind Amen Corner for a quickie. Come on.)

Anyway, with all aspects of Woods' life and game in flux last year, the relationship between player and caddy came under scrutiny. Waggle Room caught Williams in a reflective moment after the U.S. Open and speculated that the Kiwi could be looking for work at season's end.

The AP caught up with Williams, who laughed off the idea. "The speculation is incredible, how many people thought I would be fired or that I would retire," he said. "People just make up these stories. Look, I work as a golf caddy. It’s all I’ve ever done. I’m working for arguably one of the greatest players who ever played, who is fully committed to breaking Jack Nicklaus’ record. Why would I quit in midstream?"

While the AP and Williams can have their fun chiding Waggle Room now from a distance of six months, the speculation wasn't so "incredible" when Woods was throwing Williams under the bus for perceived mistakes at Pebble Beach earlier this year. Also, Williams ought to keep in mind that it may not be his decision to "quit in midstream."

Still, to hear him say it, all's right between him and Tiger. While he was frustrated with Woods' ups and downs on the course, he expects that Woods will return to form in 2011, new swing change mastered and new mindset established.

We shall see. No matter what happens, don't go taking unsolicited photos of Williams. He might just trash your camera no matter how well things are going.

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Is it possible that Thanksgiving '09 was good for Tiger Woods?

shanebacon. 

Fight, fire hydrant, floodgates. That was the order of events for Tiger Woods at this time a year ago, when he went from "most popular athlete in the world that everyone knew nothing about" to "golfer that was hated by most, because he tricked us all into believing something he wasn't."

He ruined his reputation. He tarnished his legacy. He mutilated his marriage. But, what if all this ends up helping Tiger? What if that horrible Thanksgiving a season ago ends up being the best thing that ever happened to Mr. Woods?

You're probably shaking your head, and I can understand that. Nobody would ever look at events like this and think positive about them. Tiger went from beloved superstar to scumbag in a matter of one measly fire device, but look at what we're being told is going on.

Tiger speaks of being more at peace. He mentioned on Mike & Mike that he's not sure he'd be any different if all these facts didn't surface. He has mentioned he was confused, and frustrated and mad at the way he was acting. Is any of that true? Who knows, Tiger never really gives us a straight answer, but it does seem that these types of things come from the heart (and we're assuming in this paragraph that Woods does, in fact, have a heart). He says he's thankful for his kids, which I'm sure is true. He comments that he's still got the fire to take down Jack Nicklaus' major championship record, something he used to pin on his wall when he was a kid.

While 2010 wasn't really a good look at what the "new" Tiger could be (he was dealing with all of this, plus a divorce, and other personal stuff the entire season), 2011 might give us a better idea of exactly what this guy could be again, free from all the things that were floating in his head (and on his cell phone).

Since his knee surgery in 2008, Tiger hasn't won a major championship, and while it was easy to blame that on the injury before last Thanksgiving, it's easier to see now that maybe Tiger wasn't completely invested in these events like he used to be.

Now, am I naive enough to think that Tiger wasn't chasing women and texting multiple females at all times during his entire career? No, of course not. I'm sure as both a single and married man, Tiger spent a lot of his time balancing his "perfect" life with that other side, filled with porn stars and waitresses and whoever else made the cut.

But, free from that (and again, I'm assuming he isn't doing this as much anymore), maybe Tiger could be great again. Maybe 2011 is a year that Woods could approach with a free mind. Maybe that Buddhist bracelet thing he sold us on earlier this year could be true. Maybe he just needed to push all this behind him, move into a new home, get a new teacher, and re-create the talent we were used to seeing pre-Torrey Pines.

Or maybe not, but as a golf fan, I'm hopeful ... hopeful that the guy that we used to root for can once again be good at this sport, even if he can't be good at being a human. Does the Twitter campaign and the radio show appearances and the Newsweek article do anything to people that really follow this guy? No, we get that it's a PR push. But we can sit back, around a holiday set for thanks, and give thanks that at least Tiger is somewhat understanding what was missing for all these years.

If he changes it, we might see a different type of golfer next season. If not, we might be stuck with the watered-down version we got this season, and the PGA Tour, golf fans and sponsors alike don't want anything to do with that.

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Can Tiger Woods still catch Jack's 18?

It was the only number that meant anything to Tiger Woods since he was a kid. Forget the 100-plus PGA Tour wins. Forget the cut streak. Forget all of it. Tiger's career is measured in majors and majors only. When he won the Masters in 1997, people started to look at Jack Nicklaus' major championship record of 18 and think if Tiger could surpass it.

It seemd for a while that it wasn't even a question, but his recent troubles have caused us to reconsider. So, can Tiger get past his current number of 14 and do it? 

Here are some facts we examined back in August when Tiger used Ben Hogan as an example of the age he's at, and how many more he could win before it's all over. Tiger noted that Hogan won all of his majors at the age Tiger's currently at. 

You can take that point two ways. The first is to talk about how hard it is to examine a golfer that played in the '40s and '50s, but Phil Mickelson was very much like Hogan. 

People talk about Tiger's age, and how he is 34 and is sneaking past his prime. The thing is, Mickelson didn't start winning majors until he was 33, and has claimed four in the last six years. He's 40 now, and still very much a threat to take down a few more before his career is done. Also, Nicklaus won majors up to the age of 46, and we had a 59-year-old Tom Watson nearly sneak out of Turnberry with a British Open a year ago.

Is it likely that in 20 years, Tiger will be competing at majors? No, not really. What I am saying is that yes, it seems that at 34, Tiger can still win five majors before his career comes to a close. We've seen him win majors in bunches before, and while he is in a major slump (his last win was at the '08 U.S. Open), he still finished in the top five twice this season, with a chance at both the Masters and U.S. Open.

Tiger is still a great talent, but it takes a certain ability to win majors. He hasn't showed that lately, and if he went 2011 without another one, it would be really hard to imagine he could cash in on five more before his career really sputtered to a halt. 

It's weird that something off the golf course might have actually stopped Tiger at taking down one of the most famous (and unreachable) numbers in sports. If Woods can't beat Jack's record, it seems that nobody will ever be able to.

That is, until the next Tiger really shows up.

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Tiger Woods' stint in Australia spells out his season

In the third round of the Australian Masters, the uber-famous golfer in the fitted Nike golf shirt and flawlessly clean golf shoes walked to the first hole hoping to make up some ground. He hit two good shots on the first hole and was hoping to make birdie for the third straight day, but missed a 5-footer. Then Tiger Woods three-putted the second hole, and so on, and so on, until he was in the clubhouse with a disappointing 71, falling 10 shots behind a leader nobody's heard of.

That is the thing about Tiger this season. Like a basketball player that loses his legs, or a baseball player that doesn't have the same pop on his throws to first, we don't totally grasp what is happening until it has happened for a long, long time. Finally, we collectively realize they aren't the same player anymore, a "doh" moment that happens to the best of athletes (think Michael Jordan on the Wizards). Do we want to keep seeing them perform? Of course, they're legends. Is it a JV version of what they used to do? Absolutely, no chance that guy would make varsity.

All season, I've been a big advocate for Tiger being fine, just needing a season to find his game, get his life back on pace, and work everything out with his new instructor. But, the past couple of weeks have made me doubt my stance, and this week has been the cherry on top to my thinking. Maybe Tiger won't ever be the same. For golf, that's a scary thing.

Look at just a few of the obvious factors in this. Tiger is currently tied in a tournament with names like Aaron Townsend, Paul Sheehan and Kurt Barnes. At an event he won last season by two strokes, Tiger isn't even in the hunt.

He will end 2010 without a win for the first time in his career. It's the first season ever that Tiger didn't win a World Golf Championships event, dating back to their inception in 1999. This is only the second time in his career that Tiger finished outside the top 20 in the last two majors in a season.

But all that you know. He has had a HORRIBLE year, probably the worst of his life. He's been called names, heckled, divorced, berated, and for the first time in his career, questioned.

Still, when you see this Tiger walk the golf course, it just isn't the same guy. His confidence seems shot. His ability to let the round come to him seems gone. He is grinding like a guy that knows it isn't there. He doesn't seem like he even believes he can do it anymore.

Tiger will turn 35 at the end of next month, and while he keeps hiding behind the fact that Ben Hogan didn't win all his majors until after 34, the fact is, it isn't 1946 anymore, and Tiger isn't the most dominant golfer in the game like Hogan used to be. He has become just another good golfer, that has the ability to woo audiences with his shot-making, yet crush our hearts with his missed putt that would have taken his round from good to Tiger-y.

I expect on Sunday, Woods will close with a good score in Australia, just like he opened with an impressive number in the first round at Augusta, which seemed like a decade ago. He will toy with us once more, make us think he found something, and possibly leave us from competitive tournaments for the season with a taste in our mouth like he could be back in 2011.

But what if he's not? What if he's done? That's scary, but for the first time ever, I'm talking myself into it.

UPDATE: Australian Stuart Appleby won the Australian Masters at 10-under. Tiger Woods shot a 6-under 65 and finished three shots back.

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Check out Tiger Woods' sparkly new $50 million bachelor pad

jaybusbee.

If you happen to be a single dude in south Florida and you think you're going to impress the ladies with your car or your oceanfront condo, you might just want to pack it in now. Tiger Woods is in town, friends, and his place has room to store yours in a forgotten corner of the attic.

Behold Tiger Woods' personal Xanadu, the recently completed $50 million estate in Jupiter Island, Florida. In this aerial photograph, commissioned by Jeff Lichtenstein Realty, you can clearly see not only the $35 million original estate but much of the $15 million sunk into improvements. As FanHouse noted when Woods purchased the property in 2007, the original estate was 9,729-square feet on a 12-acre lot. The additions included a 6,400-square-foot gym/media room/bar, as well as an elevator, a reflecting pond, and a slim lap pool.  

Tiger Woods closes with 65, all smiles in Australia

Glimpses. That's what Tiger Woods gives us. He toys with us at times, coming out on a random day in Australia, posts an absolutely glorious 6-under 65 just so we know, "Yep, I'm still not dead."

I wrote on Saturday that Tiger would probably do this. He'd probably close strong in Australia just so we all wouldn't forget him before his competitive season ends. Starting on a hole he had birdied the first two days, Tiger made a bogey, and added another bogey on the eighth, before he turned his game to another notch. He turned in an even-par 35, making it seem like it would be another forgettable Woods round to add to this long season, but he did something we were used to in the past, not so much anymore: He turned. it. on.

Tiger closed with two birdies and two eagles, posting a 6-under 30 on his final nine holes in Australia to move to fourth place, a respectable finish for Woods this season (I say that because a year ago, a fourth-place finish would be means for red lights and sirens, but at this point is a step in the right direction for Tiger).

What can we take from this? Nothing, really. He played well in one round to finish high enough in a watered-down event that was so B Team to the Singapore Open that Adam Scott, an Australian, decided to play in Singapore instead of his home country.

But, still, it's progress, and Tiger will again let the media know in his next press conference that he really feels he's going in the right direction, or whatever else cliche phrase he feels like pulling out that day.

Tiger Woods. Sixty-five. Australian Masters. Hey, it's something!

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Quietly, Martin Kaymer becomes best young talent since Tiger

In four weeks, Martin Kaymer will turn 26. Young for any sport not named women's tennis, Kaymer has put together a pretty respectable resume for himself since turning pro in 2005.

Kaymer has shot 59 in a professional event, won seven European Tour events, been a member of a winning Ryder Cup team, moved up to third in the world rankings, won a major championship and, on Sunday, took home the Race to Dubai, the award given to the top European Tour member.

Along with that, Kaymer became the first European to win three successive tournaments since Nick Faldo did so in 1989, and just this season, went from "solid golfer that is on a short-list to win big events" to "greatest young player since Tiger Woods."

Yep, as us golf writers spent months and months rambling on about Rory McIlroy, Ryo Ishikawa, Anthony Kim and Rickie Fowler, Kaymer was going about his business. He finished in the top-eight in the last three majors in 2010 after missing the cut at the Masters, and his win at the PGA Championship really solidified his position.

Could Kaymer get to number one in the world at some point next season? Absolutely, he has all the tools to move there, and has played well enough in the past to keep the momentum going. He led the European Tour in stroke average this year, along with finishing in the top-35 in all the major statistical categories.

So why is it so easy to forget about Kaymer? Maybe it's because a lot of these other young players have a bit more appeal. While Martin appears to be a genuinely nice guy, you can't help but root for the McIlroys and Kims of the world.

Kaymer is just another quiet, solid player that could win six or seven majors before this is all said and done. Like I've written before, at this point, for a young player to win a major, they're probably going to have to fall into it. There is so much pressure on the leaders as they head into the final day, that without the experience of a win at one of the big four, it is really tough to control your emotions.

Kaymer got lucky at the PGA Championship, but if not for his solid play to end, he wouldn't have been there to land in a playoff to begin with. His win just means he's a step up on all the other young players, and he's now a force in golf that won't be going away anytime soon.

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Tiger Woods' Dubai golf course plans are on shifting sand

There was a time when the touch of Tiger Woods was finer than Midas, bringing wave upon wave of profit and adulation to whatever product or service bore his name.

But all that changed a year ago, and nowhere is the change more visibly apparent than in Dubai, where Woods had planned to build his first golf course. "Had" being the key word there. As The Guardian's Lawrence Donegan tells us, all is not right in Dubai for Mr. Woods: 

Drive for a mile over the speed bumps, past an abandoned security hut, until Tarmac becomes gravel and then another mile until the gravel becomes sand, and there it is: The Tiger Woods Dubai. The first golf course in world designed by the man many consider, or at least considered, the greatest ever to play the game.

Read the three-year-old press releases and gasp at the numbers. Fifty-five million square feet. Two hundred "residences" – £7m villas, £10m mansions and "palaces". A boutique hotel, a spa and a Michelin-starred restaurant. And then the centrepiece: the Al Ruwaya Golf Club. Eleven thousand imported trees; 22m cubic meters of earth to be moved; and 3m square feet of water. An 18-hole masterpiece hewn from the sand. All hail the winner of "best golf development" at the 2008 Arabian Properties Awards. Estimated total cost on completion: $1.1

For the first time ever, Tiger Woods will end a season winless

Here are some astonishing facts about Tiger Woods since he turned pro in 1996; he has 71 PGA Tour wins, including 14 majors. He has finished a season with nine wins (2000) and just one win (1998). He won twice his rookie season, despite turning pro in September.

All of these things are incredible impressive, and might be the foundation of a career bettered by no one, but 2010 will not be one of those seasons we will talk about when praising Tiger.

This week, at the HSBC Champions, Woods opened with a 68. Talk of him getting back to his tireless practicing regiment seemed to be very true, and he was back in the hunt at an event he has finished second in twice. But, much like his season has gone, it was only a glimpse of the old Woods.

Tiger made five bogeys in his second round, and four more in the third round, after a birdie on the opening hole looked like it might help vault him up the leaderboard.

Unless a typhoon blows in on Sunday and wrecks the leaders chances, Tiger will not be a winner on the PGA Tour for the first time in his career, and as sad as that is to think, it really should be the way it is. Tiger has never looked comfortable all season. Not with the press, not with his game and never when he was in the hunt.

He got people chattering at the Masters when he played solid to start, but for every good round Woods pieced together, a nasty, frustrating one was lurking in the shadows.

This season was never going to be about his golf, as weird as that seems. It was always about his personal life, and his marriage, and his kids and the mistresses. We spent way too much of our time analyzing things we knew nothing about, and as glad as we are that this season is soon to be over, I'm sure Tiger couldn't be boarding his private jet quicker when his final competitive putt drops and he can sneak away for a few months.

Nobody will look back at 2010 as the year of Tiger's failed wins, it will be about all his losses both on and off the golf course.

(And yes, we know he has two events left to play, but neither count as PGA Tour wins.)

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Tiger Woods stint in Australia spells out his season

In the third round of the Australian Masters, the uber-famous golfer in the fitted Nike golf shirt and flawlessly clean golf shoes walked to the first hole hoping to make up some ground. He hit two good shots on the first hole and was hoping to make birdie for the third straight day, but missed a 5-footer. Then Tiger Woods three-putted the second hole, and so on, and so on, until he was in the clubhouse with a disappointing 71, falling 10 shots behind a leader nobody's heard of.

That is the thing about Tiger this season. Like a basketball player that loses his legs, or a baseball player that doesn't have the same pop on his throws to first, we don't totally grasp what is happening until it has happened for a long, long time. Finally, we collectively realize they aren't the same player anymore, a "doh" moment that happens to the best of athletes (think Michael Jordan on the Wizards). Do we want to keep seeing them perform? Of course, they're legends. Is it a JV version of what they used to do? Absolutely, no chance that guy would make varsity.

All season, I've been a big advocate for Tiger being fine, just needing a season to find his game, get his life back on pace, and work everything out with his new instructor. But, the past couple of weeks have made me doubt my stance, and this week has been the cherry on top to my thinking. Maybe Tiger won't ever be the same. For golf, that's a scary thing.

Look at just a few of the obvious factors in this. Tiger is currently tied in a tournament with names like Aaron Townsend, Paul Sheehan and Kurt Barnes. At an event he won last season by two strokes, Tiger isn't even in the hunt.

He will end 2010 without a win for the first time in his career. It's the first season ever that Tiger didn't win a World Golf Championships event, dating back to their inception in 1999. This is only the second time in his career that Tiger finished outside the top 20 in the last two majors in a season.

But all that you know. He has had a HORRIBLE year, probably the worst of his life. He's been called names, heckled, divorced, berated, and for the first time in his career, questioned.

Still, when you see this Tiger walk the golf course, it just isn't the same guy. His confidence seems shot. His ability to let the round come to him seems gone. He is grinding like a guy that knows it isn't there. He doesn't seem like he even believes he can do it anymore.

Tiger will turn 35 at the end of next month, and while he keeps hiding behind the fact that Ben Hogan didn't win all his majors until after 34, the fact is, it isn't 1946 anymore, and Tiger isn't the most dominant golfer in the game like Hogan used to be. He has become just another good golfer, that has the ability to woo audiences with his shot-making, yet crush our hearts with his missed putt that would have taken his round from good to Tiger-y.

I expect on Sunday, Woods will close with a good score in Australia, just like he opened with an impressive number in the first round at Augusta, which seemed like a decade ago. He will toy with us once more, make us think he found something, and possibly leave us from competitive tournaments for the season with a taste in our mouth like he could be back in 2011.

But what if he's not? What if he's done? That's scary, but for the first time ever, I'm talking myself into it.

UPDATE: Australian Stuart Appleby won the Australian Masters at 10-under. Tiger Woods shot a 6-under 65 and finished three shots back.

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Tiger Woods isn't quite pulling 2009-level mobs in Australia

That shot above was from last year's triumphant Tiger Down Under Tour, a.k.a. The Last Time We Thought Of Woods As Just A Golfer. Back then, Woods stormed his way around the continent, commanding (and justifying) seven-figure appearance fees and generally getting treated like a conquering hero.

This year? Not so much.

In a Tuesday report (it's news from the future!) the Sydney Morning Herald notes that demand for tickets is way, way down from last year, when Tiger won the Australian Masters. In 2009, the 20,000 general-admission tickets for each of the event's four days were sold out six weeks in advance. This year? Good seats will still be available as of game day.

Australian Masters officials said that familiarity, not scandal, is the reason for the reduced demand. Last year was Woods' first visit to Australia in 11 years. This year is his first visit in, uh, 12 months. 

Still, Tiger is Tiger, and he'll draw plenty of attention even when he's tossing grass in the air to test the wind. He'll have plenty of company there, as Camilo Villegas, Sergio Garcia, Geoff Ogilvy and Robert Allenby have all agreed to appear. It's not a star-studded field, but it's a solid one.

And if Woods should happen to get out and claim a lead? Let's just say that whole unsold-ticket problem will cease to be a problem pretty much immediately.

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Tiger Woods' days at No. 1 are at an end; who's next?

For those that worry about such things, we're in the final days of Tiger Woods' reign as No. 1 in the world. The Official World Golf Rankings have finally caught up to reality, and come this weekend, Woods will be dethroned as the world No. 1.

So who will take over? Lee Westwood, according to the numbers, but if Martin Kaymer can manage a win at the Andalucia Masters this week, he'll be No. 1. Can you hear the cheers? Yeah, me neither.

We've discussed this topic before, and we've come to the same consensus as Jack Nicklaus: The world No. 1 ranking means little in and of itself, and because of the supreme lag time, it doesn't take into account more recent swings in a golfer's play. 

Tiger fans will say this is all irrelevant, that Woods is still the best player in golf. (Right now, he's not.) Could he get back to the top? Absolutely. But he's not going to be there for five-year stretches any more, you can bet on that.

Once the switchover happens, fans of Kaymer and Westwood will take justifiable pride in their guy's accomplishments. But really, it's yet another ranking system that generates more headlines than actual news.

Still, what this also means is that for the foreseeable future, Phil Mickelson's window to take over the No. 1 spot has slammed shut. Kaymer's amazing play this year -- four wins, including a major -- far outdistances anything Phil accomplished, and Westwood's steady game, when he's healthy, is likewise the equal of anything Phil can do right now.

So, just for the heck of it, have your say. Who, in your opinion, is the No. 1 golfer in the world right this very minute? And 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... go!

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Tiger Woods will head to Thailand for one-day skins event

Tiger Woods will return to his mother's home country for the first time in 10 years next month. He's scheduled to play in a one-day skins tournament on Nov. 8, part of ongoing celebrations for King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 60th year of rule. 

"The last time I played in Thailand was in 2000. I am really looking forward to coming back and hopefully win it all!" Woods "said" in a statement that Woods himself probably never even came within a thousand miles of saying. (The exclamation point was the dead giveaway.)

Publicity gimmicks aside, this ought to be a fun tournament. Woods will be playing with Paul Casey, Camilo Villegas and Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand. Total prize money will be $300,000, and the players all agreed to donate their winnings to charities overseen by King Bhumibol. (I find nothing unsual in that at all.) The golfers will wear pink shirts in deference to the ailing king.

Woods will drop in and drop out, spending about 24 hours in Bangkok after completing play in the HSBC Champions in Shanghai. He'll bolt from there to Australia to play in the Australian Masters, an event he won last year. 

Related: Camilo Villegas, Paul Casey, Tiger Woods

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At least Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson dominate at ping-pong

By Jay Busbee

Here's a fine little behind-the-scenes shot from the post-Ryder celebrations, courtesy of Rory McIlroy's Twitter feed. Seems that everybody's favorite lone-wolf golf rivals can apparently play well as a team in at least one sport -- ping-pong:

Tiger Woods likes his chances to win again this year

Another week, another Tiger Woods press conference, this one for the Chevron in December. (For the nitpickers, this was a teleconference; he wasn't actually at The Open Championship again, as the picture shows.) Still, it looks like they're settling back into the same basic routine of softball questions and by-the-numbers answers.

Even so, that kind of comforting familiarity has to be good news for Woods fans, who will no doubt eat up answers like this, to the question of whether he can win again this year:

"Well, my game's coming around," he said. "I know I have two more events prior to the Chevron event. Hopefully, I can get two more W's before I get to Chevron and see what happens."

And looking ahead to 2011, with all that nastiness of 2010 behind us? More good news, Tiger fans: "I will play more times than I did this year. I didn't quite play that many events this year, and I'd like to get back to a full playing schedule next year and be ready for the big events again. Certainly, hopefully, get more W's than I did this year."

Oh, and there was this: One journalist actually said "we miss you." Tiger, surely breaking that earnest journo's heart, did not in fact reply "I missed you too, snoogums." (He also didn't thank Brett Favre for taking some of the heat off him, but he probably should have.)

Finally, Woods noted that he's "at peace" now following the separation from former wife Elin. "Everyone's getting used to the new living conditions," Woods said. "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."

Yes, yes, that's all well and good. But why will nobody ask the real question: Is Tiger Woods going to be in "The Hangover 2" or not? 

Related: Tiger Woods

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