By Don Riddell (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-02-29 09:43

Tiger Woods has been described as a freak of nature and his rivals could certainly be forgiven for thinking he's superhuman.

Having thrashed the rest of the field by a whopping 8 strokes at the Buick Invitational in January, Woods jetted east to the Desert Classic in Dubai, arriving in the morning and declaring that he wasn't even tired.

Tiger Woods (left) and caddie Steve Williams celebrate the win over J.B. Holmes on the 18th green during the first round of the Accenture Match Play Championship golf tournament at The Gallery at Dove Mountain on Wednesday. [Agencies]

"I don't need much sleep," he boasted as he sat down for a television interview with CNN, explaining that greater fitness levels mean reduced recovery times.

This year could be Woods' best year yet. Tiger himself reckons his swing is better now than ever before, better even than 2000 and 2001 when he won four consecutive majors.

"I think I'm a much better golfer now than I was. I've got a better understanding of how to get around a golf course. I've got more shots now than I did. I've a better understanding of how to fix my game when it's not going right and how to manage a round."

Tiger won eight events last year, banking over $10 million in prize money. But despite all the wealth, fame and acclaim, he remains as focused and dedicated as ever.

"Tomorrow is a chance to become better than I am today, that's the beauty of life. And the only way to become better tomorrow is to work your tail off today. And I enjoy that. I enjoy work. I always have."

Dark days

Tiger says the source of his phenomenal work ethic is his parents, and he says the death of his father Earl, in May 2006 took a heavy toll on him.

"I tried to block it out; thought I was fine. But it hit home a lot deeper than I thought."

Friend and caddie Steve Williams talked of Tiger's loneliness, impatience and mood swings in the months following Earl's death, and Tiger himself even confessed to a journalist in North Carolina that he'd spent the night staring at his hotel room clock, marking to the minute the anniversary of his father's death.

It wasn't until the birth of his daughter last summer that the pain of his loss began to subside. And since then, he's been noticeably different, winning seven of his eight events.

"I'm so much happier as a person now, especially since I lost my dad the year before. When I became a dad, it totally flipped how I was as a person." And does being a Dad make him a better golfer? "Without a doubt, without a doubt."

Earl Woods will never be forgotten, of course, and his memory lives on in baby Sam.

"My father used to call me Sam all the time. For some reason he never really called me Tiger. I don't know why. It's the one thing even he didn't know. He said 'you just look like a Sam so I called you Sam'. Sam was born just after Father's Day and I thought it was very appropriate that we name her Sam."

A new man

When talking about the joys of parenthood, Woods is the most animated you'll ever seen him. The new father is a new man.

"I get a rush out of seeing her change," he beamed, "to see her face light up when I come in the room. She recognizes my voice even if it's on TV. If she sees my face on TV she'll just stare at it. That type of connection with your child is one of the coolest things I've ever experienced."

Before his daughter was born, Tiger had said he wanted a child who was brought up to "care and share". Woods himself continues to live by that code, investing so much energy in a fundraiser for his foundation in California that he even missed his daughter's christening.

Earl is credited with teaching Tiger so much, but did he teach his son the famous fist-pump celebration, or the absent-minded twirl of the golf club that reveals Tiger's satisfaction with a shot.

"I don't even realize that I do it. I'll hit a good shot and then for some reason it happens.

"The fist pump comes out of nowhere. I'm in the moment, I'm living in that particular moment and whatever happens, happens."

There has been a lot of talk about whether Tiger will achieve the "grand slam", the feat of winning all four major tournaments in a single season. Only the amateur Bobby Jones has ever done it, in 1930, and no professional ever has in the modern era.

"I've always said it is possible. You just have to win the right four tournaments. Can you have it peak four times a year? Conceivably yes, but you also need to be lucky because you might have your game peak and somebody just outplays you."

Though Tiger's never done it for the money, the man who's on course to soon become the world's first billion-dollar athlete is concerned about the world's financial markets.

"It's been crazy, it's been so volatile. I get crazy looking at it! One day I'll say 'Oh my God' and then the next it's 'This is fantastic'."

Don Riddell's interview with Tiger Woods airs on CNN's Living Golf at 8:30pm Saturday March 1, 4:30pm and 10:30pm Sunday March 2 and 10:30pm Monday March 3. (Airdates and times are for Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore and Taipei)