Woods won two months ago at Bay Hill, but has taken plenty of flack since then from those wondering if he can return to his old form. Part of his strategy for getting there is playing more tournaments, which he says he’s excited about. Woods also says his confidence is growing and he’s hitting the ball better than he had.

Tiger Woods joined 106.7 The Fan in Washington D.C. with The Sports Junkies to discuss how he’s striking the ball, his confidence level since playing The Masters, his driving statistics, why he believes he can win into his 50s and why he’s playing more tournaments this year.

When you’re swinging a club now, how does it feel compared to when you won at Bay Hill two months ago?:

“I’m actually hitting it more solid. That’s the fun part. My compression’s better; my trajectory’s better. Things that we’ve been working on are starting to come together.”

How about your confidence level as compared to during The Masters?:

“It’s growing, it’s growing. We figured out some things that happened. I fell back into my old motor patterns at Augusta, how to shape shots. I’ve gone through that before and I’m just fighting through it.”

You rank third in total driving on tour. Is that another indicator to you that you’re on the right track?:

“Absolutely. That’s something that I’m proud of, becoming more efficient. My all-around stats are certainly a lot better than they have been in years. That’s something that we’re proud of. I’ve been close and I’ve just got to keep working, keep getting more efficient at what we’re doing.”

Looking down the road, do you think you can keep winning tournaments into your 50s?:

“Absolutely, 100 percent agree with that. It just has to be on the right golf course. It can’t be, at that age — well, by the time I’m at that age, it’ll be some golf courses over 8,000 yards. It’s probably not going to be at one of those; it’s probably going to be at a shorter golf course like you’d find at a British Open. Tom [Watson], at Turnberry, it was like the perfect Open. It was howling, it was a golf course he had won on and knew how to play and it was playing very quick. … You can certainly see a certain player playing into their 50s and being successful on a certain venue. You can’t do it on all venues, there’s no doubt. Some ballparks are just too big.”

You’ve increased your schedule this year. Why is that?:

“Well, I’m just playing more events. That’s one thing I said I was going to do and it’s something I’m excited to do. I’m excited to play new events. This year I added the Honda Classic and now Greenbrier. Last year, I played in the Fry’s. I’m trying to play at different places.”

Listen to Tiger Woods on 106.7 The Fan in Washington D.C. here (Interview begins at 9:00)

Right when it looked Watson had opened the door for Louis Oosthuizen on the second playoff hole by putting his drive deep into the woods and on the pine straw of hole number 10, Bubba went to his famous bag of tricks and pulled off the shot of his life to capture this year’s green jacket.

Bubba Watson joined The Dan Patrick Show to talk about how it felt when the green jacket was slipped on him on Sunday, how tough it was to stay in the moment during the final round at Augusta, whether his caddy just steps out of the way at times during tournaments, how often he practices the shot he hit on hole 10 to win the tournament, what scene he would like from the Masters on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and whether this win will change who he is at all.

How it felt when the green jacket was finally slipped on him Sunday:

“Just excitement, pleasure, honored, blessed, and all those words combined into one, whatever word that would make up. It’s just crazy. It’s just crazy to have your dreams as a kid and actually pull it off and actually be the guy who won it, it’s just unbelievable.”

How tough it was for him to stay in the moment during the final round at Augusta:

“It was tough. We’re human so a lot of things go through our heads. You want to hit great shots, you want to hit great putts, you want to start talking about how you’re going to give your acceptance speech and you want to start doing all that stuff and you forget to play golf. I had to talk to myself. I had my head down talking to myself knowing that I’m still in it even though I bogeyed number 12. I birdied the next four holes and that gave me a shot at winning so I had to keep talking to myself and my caddy kept talking to me saying ‘you’re still in it, keep your head down, keep going, keep going,’ so a lot of talking to and I guess that’s weird to talk to myself but that is what you have to do.”

If his caddy steps out of the way at big points of tournaments:

“On certain shots he does. He lets me just do my work. He didn’t even bother me when I putted  on 14 or when I putted on 16, I hit the shot on 17 over the trees and the recovery shot on 10, where I ended up winning on the playoff hole. He always says when we get to the golf course, he goes look, ‘this is your canvas use your paint brushes and just paint the picture.’ He lets me do my work, use my creativity, and when it comes to shots like that, tough shots or crazy shots he always just steps back and watches like a fan. He knows something crazy could happen so you can feel it, you know it, and he understands it too. When you get in the moment he kind of just backs away and lets me do my job.”

How often he practices the shot that he hit on hole number 10 to win the tournament:

“When I’m practicing and when I’m goofing around and at home, I love those shots. I don’t practice them. I just play golf and I love to play golf so when I’m at home and those shots come up I just love the challenge of trying to execute them. As a kid growing up in Pensacola, Florida just outside the Tanglewood Golf and Country Club, it has some big trees, some old pine trees where we had to hit shots like that, it’s probably the tightest golf course that I have played so I’m used to those shots and I’m used to hitting it in the rough. I don’t hit the fairway that much.”

Whether he plans on changing his game a bit so he can hit it more straight:

“This is who I am. You’re right I don’t know any other way. I can hit straight shots when I need to but obviously in my mind the easiest shot in golf is going to be the curve because like if it’s a putt, a ten foot putt that is dead straight you’re like ‘I can’t hit this putt dead straight when I have to.’ For me it’s easier in my mind to hit curves and like Jack Nicklaus said, on Augusta you want to aim it at the center of the green so you get the ball moving towards the hole. That’s how he played the course and that’s how I tried to play it too. But that’s how I try to play every course though.”

What photo he would like to see on the next cover of Sports Illustrated:

“I would want the scene after the putt where all my friends and some fellow golfers stayed around. My mom was there, my team was there, Aaron Baddeley’s family was there and his little kids, and I would love that because they were there representing me and they were there showing me love and honor and it was a special time.”

What this win means for him and whether it will change him:

“It just means I have a green jacket now. It doesn’t change me as a person, me as a golfer, I’m not going to get a swing change or anything like that. I’m going to be Bubba, the same Bubba, still play Bubba golf, and hopefully have many more wins to come. (Host: No posse’s, no entourage or anything like that?) I have my team, I have my trainer that is with me everywhere I go, I have my caddy, I have my beautiful wife, and I added one more, I added a son to the group.”

Listen to Bubba Watson on The Dan Patrick Show here

The possibility of low scoring should make things extremely interesting considering the strong field. Tiger Woods is coming off a victory in his last event and is the odds-on favorite. Mickelson has looked sharp and has a victory in the early going as well. Much of the talk is centered on Rory McIlroy and his return after squandering the 54-hole lead in dramatic fashion a year ago. And, pretty much laying in the weeds is the world No. 1, Luke Donald.

All four of them help preview this year’s Masters in the following interviews.

Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and Luke Donald joined Westwood One with Mark Malone to discuss their preparations for The Masters, their confidence entering the first major of the year, the conditions of the course amidst plenty of rain, the strong field and the major storylines entering the tournament.

Tiger, how confident are you coming into The Masters?:

“Confident, one, but I’m also excited. I’m excited about the things that I’ve done with Sean (Foley) over the course of the past year and I’m not only excited about this event by the prospects of the future. … My game’s been building. It’s been where I’ve played one good round. Now it’s two, then three and then finally I’m at a point now where I feel confident I can put together four good rounds.”

Your swing has changed under Sean Foley. Does that change the way you attack Augusta?:

“A little bit because I’m hitting the ball further. Some of the holes I might take on a little bit more. The only change would be, depending on the wind, is the tee shot on two.”

You seemed to find your putter at Bay Hill. How do you feel about your putting entering this week?:

“I think it was time spent. I’ve been working so much on my full swing, then I was working on my chipping and I’ve basically neglected my putting. I just spent hour after hour after hour putting and just started seeing the line, started feeling comfortable, started falling into the old patterns of my stroke and not really messing around with it.”

Rory, what has the last year been like since you were at Augusta?:

“A lot has went down since. I said this afterwards, but The Masters for me last year was a huge learning experience and something I really took a lot of value from even though it wasn’t the best ending for me. It gave me a lot of experience. I learned a lot of things and put some of those things into practice the last 12 months. I feel like I’ve came back a lot better player.”

The problems on No. 10 all but cost you the tournament last year. What will it be like to go back there?:

“It’s gone. You hit bad shots all the time on golf courses you play all over the world. It’s not just here. It was one bad swing and that’s all it was. I came and played a couple practice rounds last week. When I step on that 10th tee on Thursday, whatever time, I’ll just be trying to hit the shots that I see and get it down the fairway.”

Phil, you’re one of the players that chooses to play the tournament the weekend before The Masters. You played well. Where’s your game at?:

“I’m really excited. My game feels sharp. I had a good week last week and I feel really comfortable on this golf course where I spent five days now in preparation and spent a lot of time on the greens, around the greens and learning the shots that I want to hit — or relearning them I should say. … I love this golf course and I feel like my game is about as sharp as it’s been in a long time.”

How do you see this tournament taking shape with such a strong field?:

“It looks like it’s going to be a birdie-fest because the course is soft and slow and as easy as I’ve seen it. The greens are extremely soft and have been the last couple years. You don’t have to fear the contours of the greens because the energy is being stopped once it hits the green because of the softness of the greens. You can be very aggressive.”

Luke, you’re the No. 1 player in the world but don’t seem to get the fanfare of some other players. Is that a benefit at all to you?:

“I think it is a benefit. Obviously I got to No. 1 through great play and I’m using that as a motivation and confidence within, but if all of the attention or most of the attention is on Tiger and Rory I can kind of go about my business and let them take all of the stress.”

You’re looking for your first major championship. What would the green jacket mean?:

“It would mean a lot of hard work and a lot of sweat and a lot of dreams coming true. As a young kid I wanted to win the big tournaments and the majors and obviously Augusta is one of the best.”

Listen to Tiger, Rory, Phil and Luke on Westwood One here

While Tiger hasn’t really made his feelings clear on the book and has avoided questions about it on a few different occasions, radio host Craig Carton let Haney have a window into his feelings during this interview. The interview turns more into a lecture. It gets heated, it gets intense, it gets combative and you can tell that after reading the book the whole way through, Carton doesn’t appreciate what was written.

Hank Haney joined WFAN in New York with Boomer and Carton to talk about the response he has gotten from the book he wrote, on Tiger’s agent and the response he had to the injuries that Haney talked about in the book, why Tiger’s wife was brought up in the book, and Carton’s anger with the book.

On the response from the book:

“The responses that I’m getting from the people that have read the book have been overwhelmingly that way. It’s just incredible. People that are writing me on Twitter, sending me messages, and it’s been amazing. That’s what they view it as. I didn’t think everyone would have the same view. That wasn’t something that I was totally concerned about. I just wanted to write the book about what I considered to be the golf history and my time helping someone that I think is the greatest player ever.”

On Tiger’s agent’s response to how the injuries occurred:

“There’s a lot of things that I will respond to but I will pick the thing about the injuries. Tiger’s left knee, I first heard about his knee being injured with a lady at a clinic that I was at where her husband is a Navy SEAL stationed in California and he was there the day that Tiger was there and he said that Tiger hurt his knee that day. He thought he hurt it pretty bad. Then Tiger told a friend of mine that’s also a friend of his that that is where he blew out his knee was at the Navy kill house near San Diego where he was working with the SEALs. He came around the corner, didn’t brace himself, and got kicked in the side of the knee. That’s what I was going off of, two different sources telling me that. As far as his Achilles injury the first time he hurt his right Achilles was at the NIKE training facility where he was testing some shoes or doing some sort of testing for them. He re-aggravated it during Olympic style lifting and that was the right Achilles that Dr. Galea treated. I’ve got pretty specific details and more than one source that backs up all of these things.”

On Haney talking about Tiger’s wife in the book:

“I talk about his wife only in areas where it pertains to his golf. The first time I talked about his wife was when she said asked Tiger what are we going to do to celebrate and Tiger said we don’t celebrate victories like that. (Host: Hank you talked about the icy stares between them after the accident when you saw him on the range outside his house. What does that have to do with golf?) Because Tiger was preparing for his first tournament back, which was the Masters and I was there preparing with him and it was pertinent to his mindset at the time. When you’re a golfer it’s a very mental game and I thought that was pertinent to his preparation so when I am saying something like that in the book, one little comment about an icy stare. (Host: But it goes beyond golf and what happens within the ropes.) Well, people have different opinions. I’m very aware that is going to be the case but I’m not the first coach that has ever written a book.”

Tiger let you into his life, paid you a lot of money I assume to be his coach and you don’t view it as a basic violation of the man’s trust:

“I view it as my memories too. These weren’t just his memories. He didn’t have them exclusively. I wanted to share my observations, my thoughts about his greatness, the complexities that make him up as a golfer and a person. If I had all positive things in the book it wouldn’t have been an honest book. I wanted to write an honest book about working with Tiger Woods and the observations that I made about his greatness and what it was like to coach him. I realize people are going to have different opinions. I’m not the first coach that has ever written a book. (Host: It doesn’t make it right though.) It doesn’t make them right either but if I broke the code then they broke the code too.”

That is such an egotistical thing to compare you as Tiger’s coach against Butch Harmon as Tiger’s coach:

“Like you’ve said you have never met me and I’m looking forward to when we do meet. I’m sure you will have quite a different opinion because it’s not an opinion that many people share but I understand your opinion, that was a chapter in the book that summed up Tiger’s record and also kind of predicted how I thought he was going to do in the future in terms of Jack Nicklaus’ record. You’ve chosen to take things the way you want to take them but other people have chosen a different path and have enjoyed the read. It’s a great insight into the greatest player that I think has ever played. (Host: Do you think of yourself as a martyr?) No sir I don’t.”

You betrayed the most fundamental of trust that anyone could have. You betrayed the man’s trust!

“I thought this was an interview. Why won’t you let me talk? (Host: This is offensive to me!) Ok guys. (Host: Now you’re going to hang up because you are a coward.) I’m not going to hang up. I would never hang up. (Host: Good. Don’t be a coward.) You don’t even know me. (Host: How many times in the book do you write and it seems like it’s every freakin’ page, that every time Tiger hits a bad shot you’re like ‘I saw that coming, I could’ve fixed that.’) I never wrote that. (Host: It’s in the entire freaking book!) You’re making stuff up now. You said that these other coaches broke the code so at least I’m in good company.”

(Editor’s note:  Hank Haney and Craig Carton continued to argue for a few more minutes.  Carton called him a horrible human being and the scum of the earth.  Eventually, Hank Haney did hang up.)

Listen to Hank Haney on WFAN in New York here

Just a few days later, Woods says the knee feels good now and that h’es been cleared to start hitting balls again. He plans to play at Bay Hill and then at The Masters next month and says he continues to tee it up believing he’ll win every time.

Tiger Woods joined ESPN Radio with Scott Van Pelt to discuss his recent injury in the final round of last weekend’s event, when he realized something was wrong, his confidence level, working on his putting, his mentality heading into tournaments, withdrawing last weekend, if it’s his goal to be No. 1 in the world and what it’s like to change caddies and coaches.

How’s your leg?:

“The leg’s good now. I took a couple days off and got some treatment on it. I’ve got the go-ahead to start hitting balls tomorrow and start ramping up and get ready for Bay Hill.”

When did you realize during that final round that something wasn’t right?:

“On the range. I was warming up on the range and my Achilles started getting tight. I could feel it kind of working its way up the calf. Unfortunately I’ve been down this road before. It’s not a fun road. This time I decided to actually do the prudent thing and not push it and not hurt it like I did last time.”

How much confidence do you take to the course with you heading to Bay Hill and The Masters?:

“A lot. Quite a bit. I’m excited about playing, I’m excited about how my game’s progressing. My stats are the best they’ve been in years. It’s just about making a crucial up and down at the right time or making a key putt here and there and getting some momentum going.”

Do you try to remember certain things your dad taught you on the putting green when you work on that part of your game?:

“Actually I do go back to all of those teachings. That’s one of the great things about it is I have all those lessons. I have them all written down and just kind of skim through the notes. It’s amazing how right he was.”

What are your expectations at this point? Do you still tee it up every time thinking you’ll win?:

“Absolutely. That’s the only reason why you enter. If you don’t expect to win, don’t enter. … I had my first knee surgery in ’94, got some cysts removed. So it’s been a long time [since my body's been perfect].”

Was withdrawing with the injury a sign of maturity?:

“It’s something that I don’t like doing because I felt that over the years I can play through just about anything. It’s also the reason why I kept getting hurt over the years. I’ve just got to be smart and look at the big picture. The big picture is that The Masters is coming up. Last year, I was not prudent about pulling out when I should have and I missed two major championships last year and I don’t want to do that again.”

Do you have the goal of getting back to being ranked No. 1 in the world again?:

“It’s not a goal. The goal is never to be No. 1 in the world. The goal is to win golf tournaments and all that takes care of itself, whether it’s Player of the Year, stroke average, money list titles or the world rankings. All that’s taken care of by being consistent and winning golf tournaments. … The great thing is putting myself there and winning tournaments over the years. The other stuff was just the result of it.”

Is it difficult to go through changes in your coaches or your caddies?:

“It’s just part of it and it’s part of playing the tour. But also it’s a part of any sport. Ours is an individual spot and we do go through different coaches, different trainers, different caddies. Other team sports go through coaches all the time, learning new systems, all these different things. That’s just part of life.”

Listen to Tiger Woods on ESPN Radio here (Interview begins at 10:20)

In this rare interview conducted by Colin Cowherd, the man once regarded as the best golfer to ever live is truly candid regarding the slump in his golf game following the scandal that changed his life forever two years ago. Perhaps making himself a bit more publicly available and talking about his prolonged slump will help him turn things around in 2012.

Tiger Woods joined ESPN Radio on The Herd with Colin Cowherd to discuss whether he’d still rank himself the No.1 golfer in the world, if he’s still able to playing at full strength having now had four knee surgeries, playing tentative golf because of his injuries, walking off the golf course on numerous occasions the last two years feeling embarrassed about his play, having any self doubt in his playing ability, if he thinks he’ll get back to the place emotionally where he’ll be doing fist pumps out there on the golf course, what his mental state on the golf course has been like this past two years, and if he’s afraid he may not ever win another major.

Where do you rank yourself today in the world of professional golf?

“Well I think as you know that is all subjective except for us as sportsmen where it’s direct numbers. For me I know that now I am healthy and I’m playing well again that it’ll just take time, but I feel I can get myself back up in the world rankings. Unfortunately I was hurt for awhile and it fell off. All my points that came off from 2009 because of a two-year revolving scale on our world rankings it all came off this year, so I didn’t play. All those points came up, but next year I can build on that.”

Can you grip and rip it today despite four left knee surgeries and an Achilles tendon injury?

“Actually I’m hitting it further now. [Colin Cowherd: Wow] So that is exciting for me is that I am fully healthy. I’ve implemented the changes that Sean [Foley] wants me to – how Sean wants me to swing the golf club and I’ve got my speed back. That’s exciting. I certainly don’t hit the ball as far as a guy like Gary Woodland or Dustin Johnson, but I am not far behind.”

Are you tentative at all given four knee surgeries?

“No. No. That’s the beauty of it. I’m finally going now. I am finally able to go. It hasn’t been an easy road. That’s for sure. There’s a difference between obviously rehabbing and then training. I hadn’t been able to train in a long time, so it’s fun to get past that rehab stint and now I can train and that’s when I made the biggest gains in the weight room and then that’s been directly related to my performance on the golf course.”

Was there a time you ever walked off the golf course in the last two years where you were embarrassed?

“Well I certainly haven’t been happy with the way I played. There’s no doubt about that. There’s a lot of times when I hit shots that I had never hit before. That was a frustrating period to go through trying to limp through it and it was frustrating. But I’m past that now. I am fully healthy and the way I played in Australia was very exciting for me because when the wind blows like that and it’s howling consistently like when it did in Sydney and down in Melbourne and I ended up playing 9 rounds, 9 competitive rounds during that stretch. I felt like I had control of the golf ball for all those days and as a player you get exposed from the wind if you have any kind of weakness and I didn’t have any glaring weakness and as the more I played I got better. That was the fun part that when the wind blew my swing tightened up and actually got better.”

Was there ever any self doubt about your play even when you kept saying you were back over the last couple of years?

“The doubt was – it came in the fact I hadn’t produced enough good rounds at home and I would play – I’d shoot a bunch of 65′s and 66′s at home, but they weren’t quality rounds. I could score. I could still chip and putt. I could still dink around a golf course and make birdies on par-5′s at home, but it wasn’t  the…I was posting good numbers, but it wasn’t as pure as I’d like to have it and I was hoping that I could take that type of scoring into a tournament, but I didn’t. The golf courses were a lot more difficult than they were at home, but lately as I have tightened it up and playing some real quality rounds at home where I’m not struggling. I am not scraping and scrounging. I feel like I shot 65 or 66 – that’s the highest score I could have shot that day. That’s very different than how it was in the past.”

When you win again will it be different this time around?

“I don’t know. Let’s get to that point first. Let’s get there and then ask me again.”

Will you get back to that emotional point again where you will pumping your first?

“Well I need to get to a point where that comes out because it usually came out down the stretch in a tournament. I haven’t played down the stretch of a tournament in awhile. I need to get there. This past – if you look at calendar year of 2011 – I only had basically two chances to win a golf tournament. I was tied for the lead at the Masters. I was on the 15th green and then at the Australian Open here – I had a shot here coming down the last few holes. Other then that just two times in year is…that to me it not very good. Next year I am excited about that. I am excited to put myself in that position. Those are just reactions that come out [pumping his fist after a win]. That’s just the moment. I can’t even explain it because a lot of times I don’t know what the hell happened and then I look at myself on TV and think it is kind of funny sometimes. I didn’t realize I did that. I remember making that putt at the U.S. Open at Torrey [Pines] to make the playoffs and I don’t remember doing any of that. It’s funny to see it on TV because I remember seeing the sky and then looking back at the hole, but I don’t remember the reaction. It was just the moment.”

How have you felt mentally on the course over the last few years?

“There were times certainly where it was tough, but that’s life. You go through periods where it is difficult at times and certainly I went through that, but physically on top of that you add the swing change and then it gets tough, but you get the whole idea to learn from the past and keep moving forward and that’s what I do from each and every round I play and that’s just like life.”

Do you ever fear you may never win a major again?

“If you would have asked me that when I was on the couch this summer in a boot and crutches I would have given you a different answer because it was hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but now that I am healthy and I am playing at home as many holes as I want, practicing as much as I want, putting up the numbers I want in the gym. That to me is exciting. It’s exciting to go out there now and play golf again and not have to worry about anything. If I hit this shot oh my god this could happen? I shouldn’t do this. That plays in your mind trying to hit golf shots and trying to maneuver myself around a golf course. I can just go out and play again. That’s what I did in Australia. I just went out there and just played. I played my best golf I had in years.”

Listen to Tiger Woods on ESPN Radio here

Tiger is immensely popular and will bring some juice to the tournament in February, but he has also had easily the worst season of his entire career on the course and he has not played like one of the top players in the game for a number of years. The off-the-course issues have been well documented and they certainly are a contributing factor to his declining game, but he is a mess on the course as well. He has changed his swing, he has changed putters, he has a new caddy, and he was missing cuts in tournaments. He’s had time off since his last tournament and maybe that will help him turn things around. Maybe all of those things are behind him and he has had time to work on his game. Hopefully for the Fred Couples and United States’ sake that is the case because the Tiger Woods we saw in 2011 doesn’t belong on the President’s Cup team.

Fred Couples joined KILT in Houston with Vandermeer and Lopez to talk about why he decided to pick Tiger Woods as one of his captain’s picks, on the idea that Tiger hasn’t played very much and shouldn’t be on the team.

On why he picked Tiger:

“I’ve wanted to say this because I wanted to get a reaction. Let’s say you guys are running an event on the PGA Tour next year and there’s 40 events, you’re running one of them. If I give you 20 guys that are going to play in your event and I say by the way Tiger Woods isn’t one of them and I will give you one pick of someone who will come, I would be shocked out of those 40 sponsors if 40 didn’t pick Tiger and I’m no different. I think he brings a lot of things to the table. He’s been hurt, he did almost win Augusta, and my whole problem with the whole thing is he wasn’t playing much. I thought he would be in the first round of the playoffs which he wasn’t. I called him and said ‘look Tiger I’m picking you and letting you know I’m picking you but you have to play a little for me.’ I told everyone, at a meeting at the Memorial way back in May that the two guys I picked were playing the week before in Australia. He said ‘no problem.’ Then he committed. He doesn’t play that much anyway, but I got him to play, he’s been working hard, he’s healthy as can be, and obvioiusly no one is a genius and we’ll see how he does. I have a lot of faith in the way he plays. I just think there’s no way he couldn’t be on this team.”

Whether or not he is concerned about Tiger’s struggles this year:

“You’re exactly right. When I did text him the first time was at Bridgestone and he shot some pretty consistent rounds, then he jumped next week right into the PGA which has six inches of Bermuda rough on the right side and the left side and he will tell you he played not poorly, but horribly. Now he’s back and he’s been working on his game. In my mind whether there are sponsors that had nothing to do with my decision. My decision was I think as a human being you want to see him and we all want to see him perform. I took flak for one second by picking Bill Haas, but it’s a two year program and Bill has been inside the top 12 for both years. Keegan Bradley, my God won Byron Nelson and the PGA, which is a major, I left him off and I talked to him and explained to him just how I felt. It’s a bad deal and it’s a tough decision and you have to live it. They all knew Tiger was going to be on the team. The encouragement is that everyone is talking about it and I think any time you get 50 writers talking about it, if 20 of them don’t have a problem with it then that’s their business and I think a lot of the mainstay golfers on our team are excited about it. My big issue is his partner is Steve Stricker who is hurt and we don’t know how he’s gonna be in the next month or two.”

Listen to Fred Couples on KILT in Houston here

At one time Tiger was on such a torrid pace, winning majors in bunches, that when it came to Jack’s record it wasn’t a matter of if, but it was a matter of when. However, the former number one player in the world is a mess right now. Obviously his downfall started in November 2009 when a he crashed his SUV into a tree leading to a huge scandal off-the-course with one of the greatest athletes of the last decade. That was just the beginning. Tiger hasn’t been the same since that night.

On the course making the cut has been a chore, winning majors has been an afterthought, and he has free-fallen in the world golf rankings. The world around him has changed as well. He has cut ties with his former swing coach and his former caddie as well. Tiger’s world fell apart and he has nobody to blame but himself. As he tries to put the pieces back together and find his swing once again, it seems like the record that he has been chasing since he was a little kid, might be just a dream as well.

Nick Price joined KILT in Houston with Vandermeer and Lopez to talk about the state of golf right now, why he is having so much more fun playing golf than when he was younger, and if he ever thinks Tiger will get back to the level he used to be at.

On the state of golf right now:

“I totally agree. The younger players have taken over. The game of golf has changed a lot from obviously 20 years ago. It’s become a game of strength, it really helps to hit the ball a long way now, and these guys are coming straight out of college and if they aren’t winning they are performing exceptionally well. Back in my day and before, back sorta in the 50’s and 60’s it seemed like golfers would mature when they were in their late 20’s, early 30’s, or mid 30’s you always seem to play your best golf around then and these guys are coming out with guns blazing straight out of college. I think it’s really exciting for the game the fact that Tiger hasn’t played well the last two and a half or three years and the game of golf is very healthy with these young guys coming up and showing us how they can play.”

Why he is having more fun playing golf now than when he was younger:

“What happens is when you get into your mid or late 40’s you can’t really compete. You can compete an odd week here and there but it’s very hard to compete consistently. Then as you get toward 50 it’s really a struggle. It was for me and it was for a lot of other guys. We just kept playing because we knew the Champions Tour was just around the corner. Then your first year on the Champions Tour everyone’s expecting great things and saying ‘oh you’re gonna win,’ but you’re playing against guys who have been competitive for five or six years and their games are very sharp. I knew that when I went out there. I was gonna have to elevate my game. It’s sorta the chicken or the egg syndrome. You start having more fun and as a result you start putting a little more time into the game and then you realize the courses we play aren’t quite as long as the ones we were playing on the regular tour and you can be competitive. That’s what’s the best thing. I’ve had more fun playing in the past four or five years since the early 90’s. It’s a great thing for us.”

Whether or not he thinks Tiger Woods will get back to the level he used to be at:

“I think he will get his game back and he will win again and he’ll probably win a major or two again, but it’s going to be a very tall order to beat Jack’s record now. The momentum is gone. To pick up that momentum and get it going again is going to be very difficult. He does need to address a lot of issues with his golf swing. Having seen him play the last three or four years, he just basically is not hitting the ball where he is aiming it. That’s the worst thing that can possibly happen to a golfer. When he starts addressing some of his swing issues and starts hitting the ball a little bit better I think you will see the competitive instinct come back out in him, but I don’t think he’s gonna dominate like he did before. There’s just too many great young players now who are not scared anymore of him.”

Listen to Nick Price on KILT in Houston here

I’m not sure what the future holds for Tiger and I’m not sure whether or not he will get back to something close to the level he has been in the past, but Tiger needs to take some time, work on his swing, and find himself because he clearly isn’t right.

Charles Barkley joined XX Sports Radio in San Diego with Scott Kaplan and Vencie Glenn to talk about whether or not he thinks the lockout in the NBA will last a while, if he thinks star players will go play overseas, whether or not he has heard from Tiger, if it is true that Tiger doesn’t return Barkley’s text messages anymore, and whether or not he knew about Tiger’s transgressions.

Whether or not he thinks the lockout in the NBA will last a while:

“I don’t think they’re gonna play at all this year. I feel bad to be honest with you, I feel bad for the people who work for the teams and the people who work for the arenas. The players and the owners are going to be fine because it’s gonna get settled at some point. The NBA has already laid off 100 people so it’s gonna get ugly, real ugly.”

If he thinks star players will go play overseas:

“No I don’t think Kobe Bryant is going to Turkey. Kobe Bryant, I want to get my numbers right, but I think he has three years and 83 million dollars, so could you imagine him going to Turkey or China for a couple of million dollars and blowing an Achilles or knee out? When you have 83 million dollars coming in the next three years, first of all you should already be financially set, but that’s too much to risk. You can’t risk that money playing overseas.”

Whether or not he has heard from Tiger:

“Nope and hey you know what? I just feel sadness right now to be honest with you. I hate to see him struggling. To be honest with you I almost started crying last week. I was up at the Basketball Hall-Of-Fame watching that Friday afternoon before the ceremony and when he snap-hooked that drive into the woods, chipped out, snap-hooked the other ball I was like wow! What the hell? I feel bad. He was a great friend of mine, I still love him to death, I wish him the best, and like I said I talked to the guy every week for 15 years and we haven’t talked to him since the accident. It is what it is and I just hope he’s alright. That’s the only thing. I don’t have to hang out with Tiger Woods but I really love the guy and want to make sure he’s alright. Clearly he’s not alright and I just feel sadness for him to be honest with you.”

If it is true that Tiger won’t return his text messages:

“He changed his number. We talked I think the day of the accident and I haven’t talked to him since then. My number hasn’t changed. I just want the dude to be alright. This is starting to get ugly. You know it’s funny, I was watching T.V. this morning and they were having a debate whether he should play on the President’s Cup team. Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? That would be so unfair to the other players. I’m not one of those big lifetime achievement guys. I took some heat when we were talking about Tim Duncan playing in the All-Star Game. I said Tim Duncan is the greatest power forward ever, but he should not be starting in the NBA All-Star Game. That’s why I hate the fans picking the All-Star team. To me the All-Star Game you reward the guys for having a great first half of the season. I don’t believe in lifetime achievement awards. Tiger does not deserve to be on the President’s Cup team. Plain and simple. I love the guy, I wish him the best, but he does not deserve to be on the President’s Cup team at this point.”

What he knew about Tiger’s transgressions:

“Let me make one thing perfectly clear because I have heard that assertion. Number one if Hank Haney and Steve Williams didn’t know it and they spent 300 or 200 days a years with Tiger how are we gonna know? Let me make this one point about this whole thing. Even though I talked to Tiger every week for those 15 years we’ve actually only been together 20 times to be honest with you. He had a busy life and I had a busy life. Listen dude I would never get on here and tell you that we didn’t know that if we knew it. We had no idea. Steve Williams has said it, Hank Haney has said it, and those guys spent 200 days a year with him.”

Listen to Charles Barkley on XX Sports Radio in San Diego here

That’s exactly what happened Sunday when Bradley shook off a triple bogey on No. 15, nearly erasing it with back-to-back pars on 16 and 17. His effort, and Jason Dufner’s trouble down the stretch, forced a three-hole playoff between the two. Bradley built on his momentum, capping off an unthinkable week by winning the PGA.

Keegan Bradley joined 790 The Zone in Atlanta with Mayhem in the AM to discuss his feeling after making triple bogey on 15, his impressive shots down the stretch, his nothing-to-lose mentality, his long birdie putt on 17, being an unknown to most of the general public, how the playoff unfolded, how he’ll handle life going forward, Phil Mickelson being a mentor and what he did the night before and after the big victory.

After you made triple bogey on 15 to fall five shots back, what were you thinking?:

“I just kept telling myself I didn’t want to have that moment define me for the tournament. I had played too well. It’s a 105-yard walk back to the 16th tee and all I kept telling myself, ‘All you’ve got to do here is hit this fairway.’ The worst thing you can do is try to make five birdies on one hole. … I hit the best drive of the week on that hole, hitting it right down the middle and then I made birdie on the hole.”

Between that drive and then the long birdie putt on 17, does it get any better than that?:

“It’s something you dream about as a little kid. It’s a hard feeling to describe. It was unbelievable and to have the crowd cheer for me and be behind me like they were made it extra special.”

When you were walking to the 16th tee, did you basically take the mentality that you had nothing to lose at that point?:

“That’s exactly what I was thinking. I had nothing to lose at that point. I didn’t know at the time I was down five. I was trying not to look at any leaderboards. The problem with that there was people in the gallery screaming to me where I stood. … It just happened to be my day.”

What did you know about that putt on 17 and how did it play out?:

“I hit that putt a bunch of times in the practice round. I knew that it was going to be semi-straight over that hill. At the very last minute, I made one minor adjustment to the left. I hit that putt and I moved over and I had a straight-in shot of the ball in the hole. Sure enough, that thing went in dead-center. It was a feeling like a shot of adrenaline running through me. I let some emotion come out of me and it’s a moment I’ll never forget.”

On the people who are saying, ‘Who in the world is Keegan Bradley?:’

“It’s fine with me. I’ve kind of been under the radar my whole career. It’s fine; everybody’s got to go through the process of playing in the mini-tours, the Nationwide and the rookie year on the PGA Tour. I’m just beside myself with some of the things that have happened this year.”

After he put his approach shot close on the first playoff hole, you put your shot closer than his. What was that like?:

“It was a pretty remarkable moment. … When me and Jason walked up onto the green, they gave us a big ovation and then everyone started to chant, ‘U.S.A.’ It was a moment that gave me goosebumps when I was on the green. That shot and that moment is something that will be remembered for me.”

Could you see that his body language had turned negative as you were playing against him?:

“That’s kind of how Jason is. He’s a very calm guy. But I just had a lot of momentum going my way with the way that I finished and I got off to that good start on 16. To be honest with you, he didn’t hit a bad shot in that playoff. Every shot he hit was really good. He should be very proud of the way he played.”

How do you handle the life-changing situation that’s in front of you?:

“I’m lucky enough to have great people around me to help me through this process. I’m not worried one bit. I’ve got people that I trust. It’s going to be a time that I’m going to try to enjoy as much as I can. It’s a little crazy right now, but it’s going to be a fun couple weeks.”

On the players that have helped him along the way:

“Phil Mickelson has been really, really great to me over the years. He helped me through this win and he was one of the first people to text me last night. It’s remarkable to be able to call him a friend and somebody that I look up to.”

What did you do Saturday night, before the biggest day of your life? And what did you do to celebrate Sunday night?:

“Saturday night I had my mom in town. She made me pasta, chicken parmesan. I played with my nephew and watched ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ all night. … It was my first home-cooked meal in probably six months. All that factors into a relaxed atmosphere and it was part of the reason I won. … [Sunday] everybody thinks it’s some crazy night. I went home and we kind of stared at the trophy all night. … I had cereal and peanut butter and jelly for dinner. We just kind of sat around and stared at that trophy and sometimes touched it to make sure it was real.”

Listen to Keegan Bradley on 790 The Zone in Atlanta here