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INTERVIEW: Tiger Woods sets his sights on the big one

Tiger Woods has been described as a freak of nature and his rivals could certainly be forgiven for thinking that he's super-human. Having thrashed the rest of the field by eight strokes at the Buick Invitational last month, Woods jetted east through a dozen time zones for the Desert Classic in Dubai, arriving in the morning and declaring that he wasn't even tired.

He went on to win the Desert Classic for the second time. Unlike California, he triumphed by just a single stroke; but he did so by making six birdies on the way back to the Emirates clubhouse, pulling off his biggest comeback in some eight years. However he does it, it's exciting; and this year could be his best yet.

Tiger reckons his swing is better now than ever before, better even than 2000 and 2001 when he won four consecutive majors.

"I think I'm a much better golfer now than I was, I've got a better understanding of how to get around a golf course. I've got more shots now than I did. I've a better understanding of how to fix my game when it's not going right and how to manage a round so that I don't let it slip away and shoot a high number.

"You're not always going to have your best stuff but you've still got a chance to win each and every week. Then, when you do have your good stuff, that's when you win by larger margins. I think that's the difference," he said.

His margins of victory these days might not be as big as the glory days of a decade ago when he could win majors by as many as 15 strokes, but his overall dominance now is greater than ever. Following the victory in Dubai, the gap between Woods and world No. 2 Phil Mickelson was as big as the gap between Mickelson and the player ranked 1,000th in the world.

Tiger won eight events last year -- banking over US$10 million in prize money -- but despite all the wealth, the fame and the acclaim, he remains as focused and dedicated as ever.

"Tomorrow is a chance to become better than I am today, that's the beauty of life. And the only way to become better tomorrow is to work your tail off today. And I enjoy that. I enjoy work. I always have," he said.

WORK ETHIC

For the source of his work ethic, Tiger says we should look no further than his Mom and Dad. And he acknowledges that the death of his father and mentor Earl, in May 2006, took a heavy toll on him personally and professionally.

"I tried to block it out; thought I was fine. But as everyone saw at the British Open, it hit home a lot deeper than I thought," he said.

Having won the Open at Hoylake in 2006, Tiger was inconsolable, crying into the arms of his friend and caddie Steve Williams. But by the time he'd won seven consecutive events in January last year, many assumed that the mourning was over.

Talk had turned to the imminent birth of his daughter and his thoughts on Byron Nelson's record winning streak.

Dark days were to follow, though. His once-feared killer instinct was notably absent at the Masters and the US Open and he was indifferent at the Wachovia and The Memorial. South Africa's Rory Sabatini said that Woods was "more beatable than ever, I like the new Tiger."

Williams talked of Tiger's loneliness, impatience and mood swings, and the man himself even confessed to a journalist in North Carolina that he'd spent the night staring at his hotel room clock, marking to the minute the anniversary of his father's death.

It wasn't until the birth of his daughter last summer that the pain of his loss began to subside. And since then, he's been noticeably different -- winning seven of his eight events up to and including Dubai. And the only tournament he didn't win -- the Deutsche Bank Championship -- he came second.

"I'm so much happier as a person now, especially since I lost my Dad the year before. When I became a Dad, it totally flipped how I was as a person," Tiger said.

And does being a Dad make him a better golfer?

"Without a doubt, without a doubt," he said.

Woods talks so fondly of his daughter that it's easy to forget the ruthless and intimidating manner in which he tames the world's best courses and destroys his opponents upon them.

Before his daughter was even born, Tiger had told me that he wanted a child who was brought up to "care and share." Woods himself continues to live by that code, investing so much energy in a fundraiser for his foundation in California that he missed his daughter's christening.

THE MAN TO BEAT

Even during his "slump" at the start of last year, Tiger remained the man to beat. And he's certainly the man to have at your golf tournament. He plays in less than 20 per year, and his lack of involvement can lead to the extinction of an event -- The International in Colorado, for example -- and even competitions with whom he has longstanding agreements will sadly recall "the year he didn't come."

Then there is the grand slam, the feat of winning all four major tournaments in a single season. Only the amateur Bobby Jones has ever done it -- in 1930 -- and no professional has done so in the modern era. Woods did complete his own "Tiger slam" in 2001 by winning The Open, The US Open, The PGA Championship and The Masters consecutively, but golf purists want to see it done in a calendar year.

"I've always said it is possible. You just have to win the right four tournaments. Can you have it peak four times a year? Conceivably yes but you also need to be lucky because you might have your game peak and somebody just outplays you. You may have one marginal shot and get a bad break and that costs you the tournament. Everything needs to go your way and hopefully one day that will happen," he said.

Woods doesn't take chances, but he might take the occasional calculated gamble. At the time of writing, the odds of him achieving the grand slam were listed as an extremely short 12 to 1. If he beats the bookies this year, he'll be just one major victory behind the all-time record set by Jack Nicklaus.

Don Riddell's full interview with Tiger Woods airs on CNN's Living Golf at 8:30pm on Saturday, March 1; 4:30pm and 10:30pm on Sunday, March 2; and 10:30pm on Monday, March 3.
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