Tiger Woods, in Philly for PGA event, seeks normalcy

Tiger Woods had a busy Tuesday. He flew into Philadelphia, went to Aronimink Golf Club, tried to eat some lunch between interviews, headed to the media tent for his general pretournament news conference, and fit in nine holes of practice late in the afternoon.

Woods is making his first visit to the area for the AT&T National, a tournament he founded, one that benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation and local charities. But his name is no longer part of the event title since he was dropped by AT&T as a spokesman Dec. 31 after his personal issues became public.

It has been seven months since Woods made headlines around the world after the crash of his SUV sparked disclosures of adultery. Yet the world's No. 1 player for this, the 264th consecutive week, remains the subject of much curiosity.

"What's it like? It's not what I thought it would be," Woods told The Inquirer in an exclusive interview. "Do I like it? No. Has it subsided? Uh, no . . . maybe a little bit but it's still" difficult.

Woods is doing his best to move ahead trying to get his routine with practice and competition back to normal, getting his game close to the level that has helped him win 14 major championships and 71 PGA Tour events.

He feels the normalcy returning to his life "a little bit," but not much.

"We still have paparazzi sitting out front of our gates, so it's not really all that normal yet," he said. "On the golf course, that part has. At tournament sites, it's as back-to-normal as normal can be."

"The game part is actually pretty easy because I can still practice. Isleworth [where he resides] is just a great community. The members there are fantastic. So many tour players are there. There's always some good matches, you can always play with anybody you want. The other day I played with J.B. Holmes. You always got good players around to play with."

Woods' eyes then beamed with warmth as he talked about how his children, Sam, 3, and Alex, 16 months, like to accompany him to the range sometimes during his practice sessions. He said he has compared notes with a frequent practice partner, West Chester's Sean O'Hair.

"Being with my kids out there has been incredible," he said. "It's hard to describe just how much fun it really is. I was talking to Sean O'Hair the other day. It's as cool as it gets when the kids want to go out there and practice with you. He was saying that's as great as it gets, and I have to agree."

Woods said both of them like to go to the range and swing cutoff clubs.

"They're not using mine, that's for sure," he said. "They're taller than them."

Woods hadn't played Aronimink before Tuesday. He went out around 3 p.m. for nine holes. But he thinks that brief tour of the course, plus the 18 holes he'll play in Wednesday's Pro-Am, will tell him all he needs to know.

"Obviously, the nine holes I play [Tuesday], I will do my homework quite a bit," he said. "That'll be the front nine so when I play the front [Wednesday], I'll basically just play it. But I'll play the back nine like [Tuesday]. I'll be very serious about what I'm doing to try to make sure I get all my lines and locations, things like that."

In his most recent tournament, Woods tied for fourth at the U.S. Open. He went into the final round trailing the leader, Dustin Johnson, by 5 strokes, but he had no finishing kick to challenge the pacesetters after Johnson faded with a final-round 82.

Other than the back nine of his third-round 66, Woods didn't seem to enjoy himself much. He complained about the greens and indicated a disagreement or two with his caddie, Steve Williams.

Woods said there is no tension between him and Williams. As for the fun factor, hey, this was the U.S. Open.

"I'm having a great time playing and competing," he said. "I've never really smiled that much when I played. I'm focused on doing what I'm supposed to do. At the U.S. Open, guys aren't smiling a lot. They aren't making a lot of birdies [or] a bunch of eagles out there. It's a different type of event. You see a lot of guys with their heads down and with blinders on."

Still, Woods was encouraged by his week, which marked only the third time this season he has put together a full 72-hole tournament. He said having played 17 rounds this season is "the same amount of rounds I normally would [play] through March."

Woods has won his own event twice, and would love to add a third title this week. He said he has no problem not being the official host, that he continues to work behind the scenes, and that raising money for charity is "all that really matters . . . whether my name is part of the title or not, that's irrelevant."

Another important part of it for Woods is honoring the military, remembering the service of his late father, Earl.

"What we're doing for the military and appreciating them, I think the people will come and see that, and it'll be a very special week," he said.

Though he had been on the grounds at Aronimink only a few hours, Woods senses a buzz in the air, and from text messages he had received from friends on the tour who are here. He hopes to attract a lot of attention - with his game.