TIGER SAYS IT'S THE SADDEST TIME IN

HIS LIFE, HIS GOLF HAS BEEN 'POISONED'

FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
PARAMUS, New Jersey. – Two days after his divorce, Tiger Woods says he feels more sadness than relief.
Woods and his wife officially divorced Monday, nine months after he was exposed for having numerous extra-marital affairs. Woods returned to golf Wednesday at The Barclays, the same day People magazine released an interview with his ex-wife, Elin Nordegren.
Woods said the break-up of his marriage was far more difficult for him than he had let on and that the fall-out from his string of infidelities had poisoned his golf game.
Woods, speaking to reporters for the first time since his divorce this week, also said he hopes he has learned to become a better person.

The 34-year-old world number one, who has failed to win in nine starts this year, told reporters outside the clubhouse at Ridgewood Country Club that he felt no sense of relief.

"I don't think that's the word. I think it's just more sadness," Woods said after a five-hour pro-am round in the rain ahead of the first round of the Barclays tournament.
"I don't think you ever go into a marriage looking to get divorced. That's the thing. That's why it is sad.
"My actions certainly led us to this decision. And I've certainly made a lot of errors in my life and that's something I'm going to have to live with."

Woods said arranging the divorce was a painful process even if he managed to keep his composure when questioned about the state of his marriage at every event he played this year.

"It was a lot more difficult than I was letting on," said Woods.

After ending a self-imposed, five-month absence from golf while he underwent counselling and tried to repair his marriage, Woods tied for fourth at the US Masters and two months later repeated that result at June's US Open at Pebble Beach.

After that, his game spiralled downward, culminating in the worst four-round performance of his PGA Tour career at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational earlier this month.

Asked if he had considered stepping away after his return, Woods said: "We've been going through that the entire year."

On whether there were tournaments where he felt that all the distractions and questions were too difficult, Woods said: "There were a few tournaments like that, yeah. Most of the summer was like that."

Despite the personal turmoil and losing up to US$35 million in sponsorship deals following the scandal, Woods said he still did not consider 2010 to be a lost year.

"I don't look at it like that. Every year you have to find the positives," said Woods. "Even though there are a lot of negatives I think that's actually a good thing, because I learned a lot about myself and how I could become a better person."

Woods said he bore no hard feelings towards Nordegren, with whom he has two young children.
"I wish her the best in everything," he said. "You know, it's a sad time in our lives. And we're looking forward to ... how we can help our kids the best way we possibly can. And that's the most important thing."
The world’s No. 1 player says his golf is secondary, and that he’s trying to get their two children used to their parents being divorced.
Woods says it’s a sad time in his life because “you don’t ever go into a marriage looking to get divorced.”

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