Tiger Woods Showed His Humanity in Very Open and Emotional Interview

Tiger Woods sat down with Lorne Rubenstein of TIME and gave a very lengthy interview. The tough Tiger Woods that a lot of us grew up watching appears to have softened in his old age and has been humbled both on and off the course. Woods is now ranked 400th in the Official World Golf Rankings, which is telling of how his game has slowly deteriorated through injuries and his quest for the perfect swing.

However, after his breakup with Lindsey Vonn, which he addresses in the interview, Woods appears to be in a much better place mentally, enjoying time with his kids that he obviously wasn’t getting while putting in many hours attempting to make a run at Jack’s major championship record.

The whole interview is definitely worth your time and is a fascinating read because it’s a look into a guy that has kept the media at bay for so many years, but there were a few nuggets that I thought were worth mentioning.

"By the time I was 11 years old, I had already won 113 tournaments. I peaked at 11, to be honest with you. I went 36 and 0 that year, never lost a tournament, all in California. And I probably had the cutest girlfriend in all of sixth grade. And I had straight As. No A-minuses. They were all perfect A’s. I peaked at 11. I’ve been trying to get back to that since."

"Put it this way. I’m glad my dad didn’t name me Richard. That would be a long day. Tiger is O.K., but Richard would have been tough."

Many, including myself, wonder if Tiger even watches golf.

"I can’t remember the last time I watched golf. I can’t stand it. Unless one of my friends has a chance to win, then I like watching it. I watched Jason [Day] win the PGA. But it was on mute. It’s always on mute and I have some other game on another TV."

Woods addressed a question that everyone wants to know, if his career is actually over, is he satisfied with the way it ended.

"Put it this way. It’s not what I want to have happen, and it’s not what I’m planning on having happen. But if it does, it does. I’ve reconciled myself to it. It’s more important for me to be with my kids. I don’t know how I could live with myself not being able to participate in my kids’ lives like that. That to me is special. Now I know what my dad felt like when we’d go out there and play nine holes in the dark."

On Jack’s record of 18 majors and if he still has dreams of reaching that number, he currently has 14, but if he cannot continue playing golf, is he ok with it.

"I don’t want it to happen. Without a doubt. I do not. With all my heart, I do not want to stop playing golf. But the flip side is, my kids’ lives are much more important to me. Now, if I can do both, that is an ideal world. It’s a win-win. If I can only do one, it wouldn’t be golf. It would be my kids. That’s still a win-win."

Woods also proved that Davis Love selecting him to be Ryder Cup Vice Captain was a great idea, which I completely agree with. Woods said that the young guys at the top of the game call him for advice all the time.

"Absolutely. They all have, when they first came out on tour, especially. And probably one of my closest buddies now is Jason. I’m still really close with Rory, and I’ve gotten a little bit closer to Jordan over the years, ever since we played on the same Presidents Cup team. Now we’re able to speak to each other. I didn’t even know who he was. I’d seen him play but never really got the chance to know the kid. Getting to know him, he’s a great kid."

But because this is Tiger Woods we’re talking about, he still believes he can get back to the top of his game, and I believe that to be true. Davis Love just won a tournament at the age of 51, While Tiger may never win another major, he should certainly be able to contend some weekends.

"Absolutely. I have to get healthy in order to do it, though. I don’t think I’ll ever be 100% healthy, but as close as you can to that point, that would be nice. As long as I don’t have the pain, then I don’t think there would be an issue. I will probably play through a little bit of pain, aches and pains, as you get older, you have more aches and pains. But I don’t need another surgery, period. Let’s just not go down that road ever again. No more surgeries. Seven’s enough. Four knees, three backs, that’s enough."

Get it back Tiger. Find your game. We, well I, want to see you out there, your peers want to see you out there, the young guys at the top of the sport who call you for advice want to see you out there and want to play with one of the greatest, so even if a full year off completely away from golf will help that happen, DO IT!

Golf wants Tiger Woods on the course as many weekends as possible.

Read the full interview at TIME.