Changing Tiger opens up at Players Championship

— -- PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Tiger Woods was asked a question -- the question -- during his Tuesday morning interview session, after queries about the state of his game and the conditions of the course and the impact of legendary golfer Calvin Peete, who passed away last week. Woods was finally asked about his recent breakup with Lindsey Vonn, not in a sensationalistic way, but in terms of how it might affect his performance at this week's Players Championship.

In years past, Woods would have countered with a diabolical glare. Or cleverly dismissed it with an evasive response. Maybe he would've employed one of his go-to catchphrases: "It is what it is."

Not this Woods, though. Not the kinder, gentler Woods who has emerged from a 20-year strategy of playing everything close to the vest. Not the Woods who is now offering thoughtful, engaging responses to myriad questions -- even when they concern his personal life.

"Obviously, it does affect me," he explained. "It is tough, there's no doubt. I'm not going to lie about that."

Even if those words didn't exactly open a window into his soul, the following ones did.

"And on top of that," he continued, "this time of year is really, really hard on me. This three-day window is really hard. I haven't slept. These three days, May 3rd and through the 5th, today, is just brutal on me, and then with obviously what happened on Sunday, it just adds to it."

The thing about Woods' interviews in the past is that he never allowed the extraneous information. He wouldn't elaborate, especially on personal matters. Now, though, he's not only responding to a question about his breakup, but he's offering his unsolicited feelings on the nine-year anniversary of his father's death.

This shift has been building in recent months. If once is an accident and twice is a coincidence and three times is a pattern, then this who-knows-how-many-times-in-a-row trend of Woods expounding upon his innermost thoughts might be best categorized by that old catchphrase: It is what it is.

He was Mr. Congeniality before his first start of the year at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, even when explaining the embarrassing scenario of losing a front tooth. Same at the next week's Farmers Insurance Open, when he was questioned about an 82 in his most recent round. And again before the Masters, when he was not only engaging, but spent the early part of the week hugging anyone on the practice range he could wrap his arms around.

Maybe, though, Woods' newfound attitude tells us less about him and more about ourselves.

There are those who hear his introspection and assume that it's the byproduct of becoming a father, of wanting to allow the public to get to know him better, of simply trying to humanize himself. Then there are those who hear this and believe it's a marketing ploy, just part of some long-term brand-building strategy.

At least we can all agree that it's a stark contrast from the Tiger of old.

On Tuesday, he didn't just elaborate on that question about how outside influences could affect his performances.

During a 15-minute interview session, he reflected on a variety of topics.

On whether he can take some momentum from the Masters into this week, he said: "I'd like to say yes. I've had some pretty good practice sessions. My short game still feels really good. We made a couple little swing tweaks since then to keep improving, to keep working on it, to keep getting it better, so that part is still a little bit fresh."

On getting his game to where it needs to be, he explained: "I've made some huge, huge strides since what I was at Torrey and what I was at Phoenix. Huge. As I said, to go from that to what I was at Augusta, I worked my ass off to get to that point. I really did. I worked hard.

"To change all that and then go into a major championship basically untested and to do what I did, I thought was pretty good for three days, and then obviously Sunday didn't pan out the way I wanted it. Just keep building on that, keep chipping away at it, keep getting progressively a little bit better. I'm on the right road."

On why more African-Americans aren't competing on professional tours, he was downright contemplative: "Because of the advent of the golf cart. That took away a lot of the caddie programs and their introduction to the game of golf, so they never got out of the urban areas.

"They stuck more to basketball, baseball ... football. That's kind of where it all went to. So they never had that introduction, never had the caddie programs during the summer where you'd go out and loop two, carry 36, hit a few balls here and there. At least you got introduced. You got to watch it, simulate it; you got to be around it. That's all gone."

Woods didn't say anything earth-shattering. He didn't give any sort of impassioned dialogue. Didn't pound his fist on a podium while pontificating.

He was just human. Personable. Affable. Gregarious, almost.

It wasn't an accident or a coincidence or a pattern. Hey, maybe it just is what it is.