Woods Takes to Video to Answer Questions


Instead of having a sit-down Q&A with reporters in advance of his first tournament since the Masters - the Wells Fargo Championship, which starts Thursday at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, Tiger Woods took questions via a video session with fans.

Woods answered 19 questions Monday during a 15-minute video posted on his website (for the full interview, visit http://web.tigerwoods.com/video/20946851). The questions were submitted through his Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Some pundits believe that Woods didn't want to face the media in light of the poorest performance of his career at Augusta National, where the four-time champion tied for 40th and finished 15 strokes behind winner Bubba Watson after rounds of 72, 75, 72 and 74. Woods became so frustrated with his performance that in the second round he kicked a club following a poor tee shot on the par-3 16th, much to the dismay of fans and observers.

But his agent Mark Steinberg said that Woods' decision to answer questions via social media was not in response to that criticism. "The media will continue to have access to him," Steinberg reassured the Charlotte Observer. "This isn't anything more than a couple of times a year to interact with the fans. They deserve that. This isn't intended to make a statement.

"This is intended to be more inclusive. This isn't a statement whatsoever. Some in the media might interpret it that way, but that's not the intent."

One of the questions involved the work Woods and his swing coach, Sean Foley, had been putting in since the Masters. "At the Masters, I was kind of struggling with my ball-striking a little bit," he said. "Sean and I fixed it. It had to do with posture. My setup wasn't quite right, as well as my takeaway. I just needed to do hundreds of reps. I'm getting dialed in."

As for his chances at victory this week at Quail Hollow, Woods responded: "I feel like I do, yes," Woods said. "I feel like if I do the things that we've been working on, and get my posture and takeaway dialed in, then yes, I feel like I have a good chance. I'm going to a golf course I like in Charlotte. I've won there before.

"The very next week is a tournament [the Players Championship] that I've also won at. They're two ball-striking events. You've got to hit the ball really well there at those two tournaments to give yourself a chance, and make a few putts at the same time. I'm looking forward to that."