The best driven to get even better

Watch out folks, you haven't seen anything yet. At least that's what Tiger Woods would have you believe.

Yesterday, the icon, who is anticipating a few days of social golf and some fishing "with my buddies" in Ireland over the next few days before heading over to St Andrews for next week's British Open, relaxed in the resort that is Adare Manor and preferred to look to the future and what it entails rather than to past glories.

Woods is the dominant golfer of his generation, a player who has held all four major trophies on the mantelpiece of his Orlando home at the one time. When he achieved that so-called Tiger Slam in 2000, he looked invincible.

Yet he then undertook to change his swing and switched from coach Butch Harmon to Hank Hainey to orchestrate the transformation.

So, is he close to being back to his dominant state of 2000? The white teeth flash and the smile grows ever larger.

"I don't want to be like (I was) in 2000, I want to be better. I won by 12 shots in 1997 at the (US) Masters and people thought I was an idiot for changing my game and said, 'Why would you want to change?'. It's because I think I can do better.

"I can be better than that and I was (better) . . . the whole idea of making a change is not to become worse, it's the chance to become better.

"You can look at the big picture and look at things over the long haul, and that's what I did. I've done it twice now and I was very excited about it both times," said Woods, who is expected at The K Club today, before taking in some links golf in preparation for the British Open.

In recent years, Woods has prepared for the championship by playing on courses like Waterville, Portmarnock, Royal Co Down and the European Club.

"I'm playing pretty good (at present). My last three events (on the US Tour), my worst finish has been third, which is good, and hopefully I can improve on what I've been doing and put it all together next week," said Woods, whose wife, Elin, has gone for a week's holidays in Sweden so that the player and "two of my best friends" can play links golf over the next few days.

How do you prepare by playing social golf with your buddies for five bucks? "You prepare by playing the different shots you don't get the chance to play in the States because you don't have the run up areas to play those shots. We're going to experiment and play those shots. That's the part that's going to be fun, going out with my buddies and trying to take their cash."

Woods may not have won this year's pro-am - as he did at Limerick Golf Club five years ago - but he was a huge factor in the event's success.

"It's special for all of us to come and support a good friend of mine. This is all for JP, I am here as a friend. We come here as friends and to support him, not as some of the top players in the world," added Woods, who also revealed that he is planning on expanding his Tiger Woods Foundation, which has over three million children involved in a "Start Something" programme, to an international level "to get five million kids involved".