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Woods peeps into past as he prepares for a comeback

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Press Trust of India Orlando (Florida)
Struggling for form and plagued by injuries, Tiger Woods is exploring his past to rediscover himself and his once ferocious swing as he prepares for a comeback at the Hero World Challenge, starting tomorrow.

Sir Nic Faldo had said that Woods must change his swing if he wishes to prolong his career. Analyst Brandel Chamblee had even gone to the extent of saying that the technique of swing taught to him by coach Sean Foley was faulty and root cause of his back problems.

Woods fired Foley in August after withdrawing from WGC- Bridgestone Invitational at Akron and recently hired Dallas-based Chris Como as his swing consultant.
 

Woods said his and Como's vision on how his swing should be going forward was the same.

Asked how different it would be, Woods said, "It's new but old."

"We looked at a lot of videos from when I was a junior and playing amateur golf. And it was interesting to see where my swing was then and how much force I could generate with a skinny frame.

"How do I generate that much power? That's kind of what we are getting back into it," Woods said while addressing a press conference at the Isleworth Golf and Country Club.

The 38-year-old said he needs to hit more balls to be game ready but the sharp pain in his troubled back is surely gone.

Woods' back was operated in March to alleviate pain caused by a pinched nerve. But the lower back problem came back to haunt him in August at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, where he withdrew only after eight holes.

The 38-year-old said his rehab was complete and he does not need to pay attention to his back on a daily basis.

"It feels great. It feels fantastic. I have gotten stronger. I've gotten more explosive. I've gotten faster," Woods said ahead of the PGA Tour tournament, hosted by him.

"All of the things -- I just now need to hit more balls, but the body is good. I don't have the sharp pain like I used to at the beginning of the year. I still have some aches and pains, just like anybody else who is my age and older," he said.

"Am I game ready? Probably not quite as I would like to be. Well, I haven't played a tournament since August. That's a long time. It will be interesting to go out there on Thursday. How long does it take me to get back into the flow of a round, sometimes it takes me a shot, sometimes it takes me three or four holes after a long layoff. I don't know. We'll see on Thursday," he said.

Woods said he has realised that his body was not the same anymore but getting old would not stop him from winning Majors. With 14 Majors, Woods is the second highest winner in the history of the game with Jack Nicklaus standing at the top with 18 trophies.

It's now six years that Woods has won a major title with his last coming in 2008 at the US Open. Injuries, loss of form and turbulence in his personal has impacted his results.

"I can't blow it out there with some of the longer guys anymore. Back when I was younger, a long ball was 290 in the air. That was a big ball. Now it's 320,325. That's the new standard out here. Some of the longer guys, Bubba, Woody, Dustin, they carry 325. That's the number they carry over bunkers. I don't quite have that.

"But there are other ways to go around a golf course, and I think that's when it's really neat to be part of a sport in which you can play for such a long period of time, and you can win at a very late age because you don't have to physically dominate anybody. You don't have to physically beat anybody. You just have to beat the golf course.

"And one of the reasons why you saw Sam Snead win at age 54; looked like Tom was going to win the British Open at 59; Greg was part of the lead in the British Open when he was 54, you can do these type of things in golf.

"I'm not quite 40 yet, not till next year so I've still got some time.

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First Published: Dec 03 2014 | 9:50 AM IST

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