Golf’s Tiger Woods on his comeback: ‘It’s a process’

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After a tumultuous year that included a sex scandal, divorce and a shortened, winless season on the PGA Tour, Tiger Woods said Tuesday that he’s continuing to improve his game and his life.

‘As a golfer I learned so much more this year than any other year, and as a person infinitely more,’ Woods said after practicing for the Chevron World Challenge, an 18-player tournament at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks that benefits Woods’ charities.

‘So it’s been a very successful year even though it was a very painful year as well,’ said Woods, 34, a winner of 14 major championships who’s made major changes to his golf swing to help him win again.

Woods has won the Chevron World Challenge four times but has missed the tournament the last two years. He was recovering from knee surgery in 2008, and last year he withdrew because the event came only days after his Thanksgiving night car accident in Florida that set in motion his sensational sex scandal.

Woods also lost golf’s No. 1 ranking -- a position he held for more than five consecutive years -- last month when Lee Westwood of England took the top spot.

‘My goal is to win every tournament I tee it up in and be prepared for every event,’ Woods said. ‘But that does entail right now learning a new golf swing that requires a lot of work, some new motor patterns. It’s not exactly easy, but it’s a fun challenge.’

Asked if his inability to win this year was mainly due to his swing, his putting, his late start in April or his mental approach to the game, Woods replied, ‘It’s been all of the above.’

‘I’ve dealt with a few things off the golf course, and on the golf course I’ve had to make some changes in my game,’ he said. ‘You combine all that together, it’s very hard to be effcient for 72 straight holes.’

But Woods said he’s changed his swing before and, with the latest alterations, he’s ‘showed some good signs’ over the last three tournaments. ‘It’s a process,’ he said.

--Jim Peltz