GOLF:IT IS 15 months since Tiger Woods lifted a trophy, but the time span that has marked the former world number one more than any other is the turbulent six months since his divorce from Elin Nordegren.

The father of two has played in 18 tournaments since he captured the Australian Masters in November 2009, but since his marriage collapsed last year the 35-year-old has struggled to give the game his full attention.

United with Canadian coach Sean Foley since last season’s US PGA at Whistling Straits, Woods has repeated ad nauseum that he simply needs “more reps” to get his new swing working efficiently.

Many have asked aloud why he simply doesn’t play more events, but Woods gave them short shrift when asked that ahead of his date with Phil Mickelson and Graeme McDowell at Doral’s Blue Monster course over the next two days.

“Well, because I have a family. I’m divorced,” Woods said. “If you’ve been divorced with kids, then you would understand.”

Since he was beaten by McDowell in December’s World Challenge, Woods has played three events with little success.

Two weeks ago, in the WGC-Matchplay in Tucson, he imploded on the first extra hole of his first-round match with Thomas Bjorn, carving a three-wood deep into the desert after a day of loose iron shots and clumsy short game.

“I’m seeing some really good signs,” Woods said. “Unfortunately I just haven’t been able to carry it to the golf course yet.

“I hit spurts of it where it’s really good and then I lose it for a while. And unfortunately when I lose it for a while, I also don’t get up and down at times for easy shots so that just kind of adds to it.

“I just have to keep working on it, and, as you said, the process is at times tough, but a lot of times, it’s pretty fun.”

Woods believes the key to ingraining Foley’s ideas is applying them to his short game and trying to see those feelings filter through his long game.

“It’s the release,” he said at Doral yesterday. “I changed my entire release and how I did it with Hank (Haney), because it fit into that mould and how I putted; how I putted earlier on in my career and how I was moving the blade and swinging the arc and all of these different things were different than what I used to.

“But you want to have the same type of swing with the putter all the way up to the driver. It’s the same motion, just smaller, and the pitch shot is the same.”