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What We Learned in Tiger Woods’ Rare Interview with TIME

By Matt Cochran

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What has gotten into Tiger Woods? Days after opening up to the media in a somber press conference, he’s opened up even more in a rare one-on-one interview with TIME.

Woods sat down with Lorne Rubenstein at his new restaurant in Jupiter, Florida and talked about a variety of things including his career, his kids, and ex-wife Elin Nordegren. Tiger opened up on a level golf fans have never really seen him do before and he gave some very real responses.

A lot can be learned about Eldrick from what he had to say in the interview titled “Tiger’s Private Struggles” and it provides some incredible insight of a guy we’ve been trying to figure out for 20 years.

It’s a rather lengthy interview, but if you time I highly recommend checking it out. If you don’t have time, here are some of the things we learned from Tiger’s rare sit-down.

He’s Prepared to Never Play Competitive Golf Again

"Absolutely. But this one, I can’t. There’s no timetable. And that’s a hard mind-set to go through. Because I’ve always been a goal setter. Now I had to rethink it, and say, O.K., my goal is to do nothing today. For a guy who likes to work, that’s a hard concept for me to understand. I’ve learned a little bit of it, I think. I know that, one, I don’t want to have another procedure. And two, even if I don’t come back and I don’t play again, I still want to have a quality of life with my kids. I started to lose that with the other surgeries."

Tiger was asked about his recovery goals and, as hard as it may be for him, has come to realize the how serious his injuries truly are. Not only that, but he’s thinking about his kids before he thinks about himself. Woods has found a new appreciation for Charlie and Sam now that they are starting to grow up.

Woods tells a scary story when he was practicing alone at his home in Jupiter when he hit the injured nerve in his back and collapsed. His daughter, Sam, came out to hang out with him and found him on the ground. It was a moment that changed his perspective.

He’s Really Good at Blocking Out the Media

"There’s no accountability in what they say. And what they say, it’s like it’s gospel, there’s no source behind it…Like my dad said when I was young, Were any of these guys there? If anybody has any kind of perspective on it, it would be the caddy. He saw the shot, he understood what the circumstances were. Other than that, there’s nobody else. So what’s their take on it? Who cares? They weren’t there. They didn’t see how difficult it was, what’s going on."

Tiger discussed how he never gets online to read about what’s written about him and explains that it’s done wonders for his career.

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He also opened up about how unfairly the media criticizes him. Woods told a story about the first time he missed post-round interviews after doing them for over 10 years and was hounded by reporters for doing so.

Woods’ entire life has been under a microscope and he’s handle everything pretty well considering the conditions. It’s time we start having some perspective and appreciating everything he’s done for the game.

He’s Still Best Friends with His Ex-Wife Elin Nordegren

"In hindsight, it’s not how I would change 2009 and how it all came about. It would be having a more open, honest relationship with my ex-wife. Having the relationship that I have now with her is fantastic. She’s one of my best friends. We’re able to pick up the phone, and we talk to each other all the time. We both know that the most important things in our lives are our kids. I wish I would have known that back then."

Woods showed a lot of regret for how he handled the 2009 incident, but says he’s still very close with his ex-wife, going so far to say that they are still best friends.

He also talked about his relationship with Lindsey Vonn and said that they broke up because they never had time together. Two world class athletes who are as dedicated to their sport as Lindsey and Tiger make for a complicating relationship. The scheduling to be together while focusing on training was too difficult to maintain.

He Peaked When He was 11 Years Old

"I didn’t play for any attention. I played for the hardware. I wanted to know that I beat everyone in this field, and I wanted them to know that they got their butt kicked. That to me was the absolute pure pleasure of competing. But then, I got noticed for that. But when I first started playing, I was a little kid, say, in the nine and unders, and 11 and under, there was nobody there, but I still want to kick your butt. That never changed. Then people started to take notice of those wins. But I had been doing it since I was very little. By the time I was 11 years old, I had already won 113 tournaments. I peaked at 11, to be honest with you. I went 36 and 0 that year, never lost a tournament, all in California. And I probably had the cutest girlfriend in all of sixth grade. And I had straight As. No A-minuses. They were all perfect A’s. I peaked at “. I’ve been trying to get back to that since."

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Tiger still managed to show some humor throughout his interview with Lorne Rubenstein. He did reveal that he is at most peace when he’s inside the ropes and that he found this peace at a very young age.

His drive for competition has always been instilled in his personality. No matter how big the tournament was, Tiger also wanted to beat his opponents as badly as he could.

Probably one of the best quotes of the interview came when he was asked about being given the name “Tiger”.

"Put it this way. I’m glad my dad didn’t name me Richard. That would be a long day. Tiger is O.K., but Richard would have been tough."

Next: Is This the End for Tiger Woods?

You can find the interview over at Time.com.

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