Now Comes the Easy Part

It was something Tuesday when Tiger Woods said “I really had no desire to get back to the game of golf.”

It was like Kraft announcing it no longer wanted to be involved with cheese.

For almost every day of his 30 years, Woods’ life had been equal parts “golf” and “desire.”

It’s the only way you can win 10 majors in your 20s and become the preeminent player of your era and maybe any other.

Woods has emerged from his self-imposed bereavement leave, prepared as he can be for the 106th U.S. Open at Winged Foot.

He returns a changed man.

Emotions are still raw, the speaking voice still catches, as it has been only a bit more than a month since his father, Earl, died May 3 after a long bout with cancer.

Woods hasn’t played a tournament in nine weeks, not provoking a competitive shot since his putter failed him during the final round of the Masters in April.

There was a time -- before, during and after Earl’s death -- that Tiger went a month without touching a golf club.

When he did get back on course, the feelings came in waves. Happiness, sadness, grief, joy.

“All these things come rushing back at you,” Woods said in his first public comments to reporters since his father’s death.

There was the first time, for instance, that Tiger beat his dad in a round.

How do you forget something like that?

Tiger was 11.

It was Nov. 28, 1987.

“I shot 71 to his 72 at the Navy Golf Course” in Cypress, Woods reminisced at a news conference Tuesday. “I birdied 16 and 18, made about a 15-footer, a little right-to-left. I gave it the fist pump walking off the green and everything. It went in, and we celebrated.”

Earl Woods never beat Tiger again.

Earl Woods, of course, was more than a dad. He was a legacy enabler. He gave Eldrick Woods his nickname, nurtured his talent, predicted and promoted his greatness and then watched it all come true.

When Earl died last month, a passing that had been anticipated, the golf world showered Tiger with condolences -- e-mails, flowers, cards, and even a pay of respects from the man Woods is trying to catch in the record books.

“Yes, Jack did make a phone call,” Woods said of Nicklaus. “Awfully nice.”

Everyone then waited to see what Woods would do next.

He said he paid no attention to the PGA Tour and put aside all extraneous thought.

Returning to work after a family death is tough under most circumstances and is only complicated when you recently surpassed Michael Jordan in a Harris Poll as most popular male athlete.

Woods is an intensely private person and knew his comeback would create substantial media noise.

He decided on playing in the U.S. Open a couple of weeks ago, and then came to realize it made sense for him to make the Open his post-mourning debut.

“I’ve had plenty of time to get ready,” Woods said. “I just didn’t feel that I was ready to deal with all this and also try and prepare for the Open. I’d much rather kind of deal with it all at once and get it over with and not have to worry about ‘What are you going to do for the Open?’ ”

How much of the old Woods shows up will be determined, starting Thursday.

History suggests that long layoffs have not really bothered him.

He played in the Target World Challenge on Dec. 11 and then took time off to be with his dad, returning in late January to win the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines.

Woods also took considerable time off in 2002 after having knee surgery and came back to win.

Some players, Phil Mickelson to name one, like to play the week before they compete in a major.

“Some guys like to play a lot prior to events and play their way into shape,” Woods said. “I’ve always practiced my way into shape.”

Woods will receive plenty of sympathy this week from players and fans, but that’s not why he came back now.

“I’m there to compete,” he said. “I’m there to win the tournament and all my energy is going towards that. We’ve gone through a lot already. Hitting a golf ball around like this is actually the easy part.”

Mickelson, who has emerged as Woods’ chief rival after winning the last two majors, said he has no doubt Woods will be ready.

“I’ve never seen a tournament where he has not been prepared to win, unfortunately,” Mickelson joked.

Michael Campbell, the defending champion and one of Woods’ opening-round playing partners, says Woods can use any pent-up emotion to his advantage.

“We obviously feel for Tiger,” Campbell said. “I believe he’s going to benefit from it. He’s going to say, ‘OK, look, he’s still with me, not in the physical space but somehow connected,’ with him so it’s going to empower him somehow more than anything else.”

Sunday, no one has to be reminded, is Father’s Day. Starting today, in fact, a Nike ad will air throughout the tournament featuring Woods honoring his dad, and all fathers.

As a kid, in the Woods household, Father’s Day always revolved around golf.

“It was always a great day when I beat my dad, and then we’d go home and watch the U.S. Open,” Woods said. “It wasn’t always a great day when he beat me and then we’d go home and watch the U.S. Open.”

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Woods in U.S. Open

Tiger Woods has won the U.S. Open twice and finished two strokes behind winner Michael Campbell last year. How he has fared in the Open since turning pro, and his score to par:

*--* 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Tie 19th Tie 18th Tie 3rd 1st Tie 12th 1st Tie 20th Tie 17th 2nd +6 +10 +1 -12 -1 -3 +3 +10 +2

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