Image via Complex Original
Tiger Woods doesn’t grant many 1-on-1 interviews these days. Part of that is because he has seemingly become a very private person in light of the scandal that rocked his world back in 2009. Part of it is because he hasn’t played well in recent years, which means that anything that would be asked of him during an interview would no doubt focus on the negative. And part of it is because, well, what does Tiger really have to gain by sitting down and talking about all the struggles he has endured, both on and off the golf course? As a result, Tiger’s media availability has been limited to press conferences and informal post-round Q&As with large groups of reporters.
Tiger is less than a month away from turning 40, though, so recently, he agreed to sit down for a 1-on-1 interview with Time at a restaurant that he opened in Jupiter, Fla. He also agreed to answer just about any question that was thrown his way, including inquires about his ex-wife Elin Nordegren, his ex-girlfriend Lindsey Vonn, and his children. The entire interview—which you can check out here—is worth a read because, as we said, you don’t see Tiger sitting for 1-on-1 Q&As like this often anymore. But if you don’t have time for it, scroll down to see the five most important things we learned from it.
Tiger’s golf career might be over.
The Q&A starts off with golf journalist Lorne Rubenstein asking Tiger, “Where are you right now with your recovery?” in reference to the back surgery he underwent last month. It seems like a softball question meant to get things warmed up, but Tiger’s answer is surprising. “I have just started walking,” he says. “That’s it.” That’s it?
Later, Tiger also admits that his current rehab doesn’t involve long hours in the gym or intense physical therapy. Instead, it includes walking for 10 minutes on the beach everyday. Yes, that’s it. Which is to say that Tiger is a long, long, LONG way from getting back on the golf course and that, ultimately, there’s a chance his golf career could be over. At this point, he's just not sure.
Tiger is now “best friends” with his ex-wife Elin Nordegren despite, well, you know.
Tiger’s extramarital affairs are well documented. But despite his troubled past and his broken marriage, Tiger says that he is now “best friends” with his ex-wife. They “talk to each other all the time,” and Tiger thinks he knows why their marriage didn’t work out, outside of the obvious.
“In hindsight, it’s not how I would change 2009 and how it all came about,” he says when asked what he would have done differently before and after the end of his marriage. “It would be having a more open, honest relationship with my ex-wife.”
Tiger is prepared to tell his kids the truth about why he is divorced from their mother.
One day, Tiger’s kids Sam and Charlie are going to start using the Internet. When they do, Tiger is going to have a looooooot of explaining to do. He says he’s ready for it.
“I’ve taken the initiative with the kids and told them up front, ‘Guys, the reason why we’re not in the same house, why we don’t live under the same roof, Mommy and Daddy, is because Daddy made some mistakes,’” he says. “I just want them to understand before they get to the Internet age and they log on to something or have their friends tell them something. I want it to come from me so that when they come of age, I’ll just tell them the real story.”
Tiger doesn’t like most of the media and doesn’t go online much.
It’s kind of hard to blame Tiger for feeling some kind of way about the media, seeing how there are so many negative stories out there about him. Some involve golf, most don’t. But his way of getting around it is by ignoring the stories and staying off the Internet.
“One, you don’t listen to it,” he says. “And two, in today’s world, you don’t go online.”
He also says that, while he is friendly with some members of the media, there are plenty of reporters that—without naming any names—he doesn’t like.
“I have a lot of good friends in the media,” he says. “Guys I’ve gone out to dinner with on countless occasions. With respect. There’s also a flip side of people that I really don’t care for. Hey, they made their career being negative and being outlandish. They’ve made a career out of it. But that’s their take. They’ve almost created a character, per se.”
Tiger has a strange outlook on his legacy.
At one point, Tiger is asked about whether or not he thinks about his legacy, and his answer is not what you would expect. He tries to use Michael Jordan’s legacy as an example of how he wants to be remembered, which is to say he wants people to remember what he created rather than remember him as an athlete.
“The greatest thing that could happen is to not be remembered,” he says. “What I mean by that is, the kids right now, they don’t know that Michael Jordan played. They see a Jumpman [logo] and they think, ’That’s so cool.’ I’m talking young kids, really young kids, single digits in age, they have no idea who Michael Jordan was, but the Jumpman logo is cool. Now, for me, they don’t understand who that is. My learning center, kids go through it and they don’t know who I am. They don’t know what I’ve done. But it’s a safe haven for them to learn and grow.”
