Tiger turning the corner thanks to Dad’s methods

TIGER WOODS hopes to become a winner by returning to the methods his late father taught him.

Without a victory for 16 months, Woods plays in this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill after returning to some old putting drills.

“I went back to all of my old stuff that my dad and I used to work on,” he said yesterday on the eve of his last event before The Masters in a fortnight.

“And that’s when I felt that my stroke started becoming more sound, more solid, my speed became better.

“It feels natural, because I’ve done it for so long. I just got away from it and now I’m going back to it.

“I don’t know what that dude saw in my game, but he really knew putting and he knew my stroke. My dad really knew my stroke.

“I miss him for a lot more reasons than just the putting, but as far as bouncing ideas off of him and what I was feeling and what he would say, I do miss that certainly.”

Earl Woods died five years ago and his son reckons he has become a streaky putter virtually ever since.

“I would get on runs for two or three tournaments in a row where I would really putt well and then I would just lose it. It goes back to not practising as much. I took for granted my putting and didn’t really spend a lot of time doing it.

“I expected to go out there and putt well every day. I’ve got to log in the hours, so I went back to doing that and this year I’ve putted much better.”

Under new coach Sean Foley the 14-major champion has also embarked on what he admits are the biggest swing changes of his career — to the surprise of many.

“It’s taken a little bit of time, but then again I’ve showed some good signs of late,” said Woods, who charged to 10th in the WGC-Cadillac Championship after a closing 66 in Miami two weeks ago.

“That was back to what I know I can do. I’ve had good practice sessions, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

He is a six-time winner at Bay Hill, lifting the title twice in a row before missing last year’s event.

Meanwhile golf legend Arnold Palmer would not be surprised to see Woods winning this week.

Tournament host Palmer said today: “I feel like Tiger has a golf game that can come to the surface any time. I think that’s certainly a possibility here.

“He likes the golf course, he likes what we’ve done, so I would just not count him out at all. I think he’s capable of winning any time.”

Woods is now seven months into work on a new swing under Canadian coach Foley, and Palmer admits he has been “a little surprised” by all the changes the 14-major winner has made.

Palmer said: “I’m not going to claim to be an expert about his swing. I thought the first few times I played with him on the Tour, way back when he first came out, he had a great swing and I thought he had a great posture.

“So changing? Well, that’s up to Tiger.”