Tiger Woods, who snapped a two-year win drought last month, said on Friday on his Twitter account that he was fit and practicing well ahead of his 2012 debut next week at Abu Dhabi.
The 14-time major winner, chasing the all-time record 18 won by Jack Nicklaus, spent about 20 minutes answering questions from fans following a practice session before saying he had to stop to practice his putting.
Woods said, “Yes! Ready to go,” when asked if he was fit and said he is practicing well with swing coach Sean Foley, tweeting, “Preparing like any other event, Sean and I working efficiently.”
Paul Azinger, captain of the triumphant 2008 US Ryder Cup team, asked Woods about a line from legend Byron Nelson, who said there were only two kinds of players, those that need to know a little and those who need to know it all.
Woods replied he was “the latter” and added, “how are going to fix something if you don’t know what’s wrong?”
Woods has had plenty of experience at trying to fix swing woes, having made changes with Foley as well as with former coach Hank Haney, whose upcoming tell-all book Woods ripped as a “self-serving” money grab on Thursday in an interview with ESPN.
‘Next level’
Asked if more steps should be taken to limit the impact of technology over skill, Woods replied, “Natural progression of golf, look at how ball has changed.”
A college golfer at Woods’ former school, Stanford University, asked advice for getting to the “next level” and Woods tweeted, “1 thing you learn at S: time mgt.”
Asked about his partner at next month’s Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the first US PGA start of the season for Woods, the former world number one said Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has the skill to have hope in US Open qualifying.
“I know he can shoot in the 60s, a matter of shooting them when it counts,” Woods tweeted.
Woods said the celebrity he always wanted to meet, and has, is South African icon Nelson Mandela and said he was excited about the upcoming Batman film “The Dark Knight Rises.”
Asked about the craziest things he has eaten, Woods mentioned a meal in his mother Kultida’s homeland — “Brains in Thailand, haven’t had it since.” — AFP