07 April,2011 08:46 AM IST | | Agencies
A year after vowing to appreciate fans more, show greater respect to golf and become a better man in the wake of a devastating sex scandal, Tiger Woods is trying to ignore the past at the Masters.
A disgraced Woods came to Augusta National last year off a five-month golf hiatus after an admission of affairs with multiple mistresses and worried about the reception he might receive from spectators.
Fans greeted him graciously, polite applause growing to cheers by the end of a week when he finished in a share of fourth, a result he has not bettered since in a top-level event. "I need to be a better man than I was before," Woods said in 2010. "I'm trying as hard as I possibly can each day to get my life better and stronger.
If I win championships along the way, so be it."
Woods, who was divorced from ex-wife Elin Nordegren last August, enters today's opening round of the 75th Masters on a win drought of nearly 18 months and saying little about past vows while focusing on his golf game. "Last year was last year and this year is this year," Woods said. "I'm just looking forward to this week.
My main focus is to get ready and be prepared and come the first tee shot, be all cylinders go. As far as being a better person I try to do that each and every day." Asked how the changes in his personal life over the past year had impacted his game, Woods replied, "It's getting back to playing golf and getting into the rhythm of that."
