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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