Nothing less than a first is acceptable, says Tiger Woods

Eight years ago, when the Open returned to Hoylake after a gap of 39 years, Tiger Woods, was playing his first Major after losing his father, who a major force in his career. Without using a driver on a dry layout at Royal Liverpool, Tiger Woods used the driver just once in 72 holes, and ran out a winner by two shots over Chris Di Marco with Ernie Else third. On Tuesday, Woods who missed the Augusta Masters and the US Open this year, was back and took all questions from the media.

Excepts:

On 2006, the last time Open was held at Hoylake and Tiger won it
Well, it's eight years on. My life has certainly changed a lot since then. That was a very emotional week (It was his first Major after he lost his Dad). As you all know, I pressed pretty hard at Augusta that year, trying to win it, because it was the last time my dad was ever going to see me play a Major championship. And then I didn't play well at the (US) Open. Missed the cut there miserably. And then came here and just felt at peace. I really, really played well. On Sunday, I really felt calm out there. It was surreal at the time. I've had a few moments like that in Majors where I've felt that way on a Sunday. And that was certainly one of them.

It feels great to come back to Hoylake and to this venue. It meant a lot to me in my life at the time. Obviously there are a couple of changes they've made. But overall the golf course is a little bit softer than what it was in '06 — I've played three practice rounds now and have had three different winds. So that's been helpful to be able to see the golf course in different conditions.

The people are fantastic. I was going through a pretty tough time in my life at the time, and people were very supportive that week. I guess the only bad thing about that week was the protest on 18 (a couple of protesters through blue dye on 18th green), if you guys remember that. But other than that it was a fantastic week.

On how and why he felt the peace and serenity in '06?
If I knew I'd do it all the time. But it just happens. Maybe because I was in control of my game. The times I've had it I've really played well. Everything was working. I think that in '97 at Augusta I had it going pretty good. 2000 at both the U.S. Open and The Open Championship I had it going pretty good, as well. And that year in '06 was the same. I wouldn't necessarily say it was every day but certainly on Sunday I really felt that my dad was with me on that one round. I said it back then in '06 that it was like having my 15th club. I felt that type of at peace when I was out there.

Is it harder to win a Major now than it was eight years ago? If so, why?
I think it gets harder every year, just because the fields get deeper. More guys with a chance to win. What did we have, 16 or 17 straight first-time winners and more Major championship winners throughout that stretch. It's just getting deeper. It's getting harder to win. The margin is so much smaller. It's only going to continue to be the case.

On how the difference between a bad knee and a bad back?
When my knee was bad, I could still do things and I could still swing a club. Yeah, it was going to hurt a lot, but I actually could do it. With this back, it just wasn't the case. I just couldn't do it anymore. Once I went through the procedure and I was just sitting there in the recovery room and I just didn't have any of that pain anymore, that was -- as you said, it was a lot of relief. It was a matter of time before I could get strong. Once I started getting stronger, more stable, I could work on my explosiveness, and start getting my speed back. Each and every week I've gotten stronger and faster. Probably not quite at the level that I think I can be at as far as my explosion through the golf ball, but I'm pretty darn close.

Given the limited preparation coming in here, what would be an acceptable finish?
First.

Would anything less than that be unacceptable?
That's always the case, yeah.