>> different than judo. >> rolling up the sleeve. showing off the guns. there you go. >> that's exactly it. good to talk to you. >> mike ga lawn notices of "hln." he always gives you the news. thank you for joining us. larry king live starts right now. >> larry: tonight tiger woods before the controversy. >> i've learned how to in a sense manipulate things in my life, so i stay in places that are private. >> larry: before the scandal. >> it's just amazing how people like to take shots at you. >> larry: before his now troubled marriage. you like life as a single man too much? >> life is good right now. eventually when i'm ready. >> larry: tiger woods in his own words next on "larry king live."

>> larry: thanks for joining us. i first talked to tiger woods in 1998. he was fresh off a historic history at the masters. his first of major, a lot of things strike you as interesting, on race, life in general. i was struck by how comfortable and self-assured he was. he was age 22. it started by talking about what else? golf and an injury that was keeping him on the sidelines. the approximate first obvious question would be, how's the back? >> the back is fine. what happened was i was kind of doing a little cross training and i was running too many miles, and too early. i started and i hadn't run for a while and i was going to run four or five miles every day and hit a whole bunch of golf balls and put a little strain on the back and felt a twinge. we did it as a precautionary

measure and make sure it's okay and ready to go. >> that's why you didn't play in condemn per? >> yes. >> larry: it's strange for someone so young to have a back problem? >> i'm getting old, i guess. >> larry: when you say cross training too soon meaning? >> running too many miles right away. i haven't done any roadwork like that. all the of a sudden to run four or five miles puts a little strain on it. >> how did they receipt it? >> ice and heat and a lot of stretching. it's perfect now. >> do golfers work out a lot? >> they're starting to become athletes. and i think probably in the next 15, 20 years is when you can see a majority of players on the tour be athletes. that's when you really see something special. >> larry: you think it will get better then? >> no doubt about it. >> larry: lower scores? >> lower scores and guys that

are fit and watching what they eat and what they do and do not get the big old beer bellies. >> larry: does that embarrass you a little bit? do you feel funny? >> i don't because it's a sport where you can get away with it. if you can get away with it, do it. you have to realize that some guys are naturally big. not everyone can look like a physical he specimen. >> larry: you will play the open next week? >> no doubt about it. >> larry: how do you choose what you play? play kemper and not busick. what's the determining factor? >> it's whether i like the place or the golf course suits my game. a lot of different factors go into it. it has to do a lot with the majors and gearing up for the majors. >> larry: does that mean you'll play the week before the majors? >> i usually take the week off before the majors. some like to play two or three weeks in a row into a major, and others like to just go off into

seclusion and get ready that way. >> larry: do you have ever wonder looking back how all this happened to you? you're superb at the sport. all this attention so young, do you ever think where did this come from? >> i really do, because it's wild. i go grocery shopping and people recognize me. the wildest thing that ever happened was my friends and i were going to -- where were we going? to a clipper game. >> larry: a clipper game? >> we're driving along in the car about 25 miles an hour. it's at night, my window was down, but it was at night and we're driving along and people recognized me. that was wild. that was wild, yeah. >> larry: do you ever think that too much too soon? maybe i'm having too much of this? i know you're a very composed guy and very mature. do you think this is a lot for you. you're 22 and a kid. >> i think i would have said yes

last year, but now i've gotten used to it in the last year. i went on vacation down in mexico and couldn't have fun, and then i left. then my first tournament back, which was the nelson, it was unbelievable. >> larry: following you around? >> unbelievable. >> larry: you lose all privacy, right? >> i've learned how to, i guess, get my he privacy in different ways. what i mean by that is, when i go out in public, obviously i'm in public and can't have the private time i like but i've learned how to manipulate things. so i stay in pliss that are private. i go to places with my friends that are private. >> larry: for every plus there's a minus. you give up some part of your life. dp guys your age like to kid around and have laughs in a shopping center. you can't do that.

>> first of all, i don't like to shop. i hate shopping. >> larry: you wear armani suits and great looking ties. >> i send in the measurements. they can send it. i hate shopping. let me tell you. >> larry: let's go real far back. we have those famous pictures we've seen of you as a child like wayne gretzky on skates. when did you start hitting the ball? >> i started when i was about nine months. yeah, yeah. just hopped out of my walker, and i was swinging. >> larry: you are a natural golfer or are you putting me on? >> i watched my dad hit balls. we had an el nino year when i was born. i was born in southern california. i think it was -- it would be obviously '76 when my dad was -- >> larry: this famous picture here, you're how old here? >> i'm 3 or 4. >> larry: were you consciously aware i'm going to hit the ball

and going for the hole? >> i loved hitting the golf ball and competing and i loved more than anything being with my dad doing these things and trying to beat him, because he was pretty good. >> larry: he's got a new book out, right? >> he has a new book out. he's on tour today right now. >> larry: would you say you had for want a better term a natural affinity for the the game? >> i did. during this el nino year he built, as you saw in the screen, an indoor little net and mat. that's how i watched. i watched my dad hit balls. we got so bad my mom would want to take me out for a feeding, and i would cry and kick and throw a fit. what she would do is my dad would be here, hit a golf ball, i would watch it go to the net and she would feed me. that's how i learned the game. >> larry: how did eldric become tiger?

your middle dame was tiger? >> that's a combination of my mom and dad's name. >> larry: does she call you eldric? anyone? >> the only people that ever do are teachers when they didn't know, didn't know me, and i'd say can i please be called tiger. >> larry: do you know why they picked tiger? >> yeah. my dad had a vietnamese counterparts in the green ba rats. his counterpart was nicknamed tiger because of his instincts. he saved my dad's life on a number of occasions. when vietnam fell they lost touch with one another, and i was born probably about a year and a half later. in honor of him, i was given the name. >> larry: have they ever heard from him? >> we found out actually the beginning of this year that he died of starvation in a concentration camp, yeah. >> larry: we'll be back with tiger woods. he's with us for the full hour. i'm larry king. don't go away.

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he's already a worldwide legend at 22. he's tiger woods. okay, you can hit the ball good when you were a kid and you knew you liked it. when did you say, i want to -- i think i want to do this for a living? >> you know, i never did. that's kind of strange to say that even. i never did. i just wanted to keep playing and competing. i loved to play in tournaments and i loved to compete in no matter what it is. >> larry: you went to stanford and majored in economics. >> what was. >> larry: did you have a goal other than golf? let's say that golf wasn't there. >> i'd have to do something in business within the golfing world. i love it. i have to be around golfers and that type of crowd. i love it. i love watching people hit balls. >> larry: why do you think that is? >> it's fascinating to me, because there's so many different ways.

there are different personality and every personalities is different for one another. golf is the same way. it's a microcosm of their personality. it's different. they all hit the ball well. especially at the tour level. it's fun to kick back on the range as i'm walking and watch them hit balls. >> you'd never give that off. you're a kind of solitary player in yourself. you have to be, right? >> you watch any of good ones? >> any player on tour, because they've done something well to get there. i like to know what it is and watch. maybe i can learn from it. >> larry: what was college golf like? >> college golf like? oh, my god. it was 36 holes, it was playing -- waking up at 5:00 in the morning and playing 36 holes and coming home in the evening tired and having to try and study. you don't study. wake up the next morning and play again and fly home and pull all-nighters trying to catch up. >> larry: why did you choose stanford, the harvard of the west? >> i had some choices.

i was lucky enough to go to a lot of different schools, but i figured, you know what? there's only one time where you can actually go to a great institution like stanford. you only get that chance once-in-a-lifetime, and i'll take advantage of it. i was raised with my parents saying, you know what? you can't go practice until you have your homework done, so school always came first. school was always my priority before golf, and because of that, i say why change now? >> larry: you had a scholarship to stanford? >> yeah, i did. >> larry: you have to maintain your academic standing there or you're gone, right? >> exactly. >> larry: was it a school equal to its reputation. >> it was really hard. i had a couple of friends -- one had a photographic memory. my roommate my freshman year was unbelievable. he never studied and got as and i was like how do you do that? he's obviously brilliant. it was neat to see all the different people there.

you have people who are brilliant and whatever they do. it's amazing. you have olympians there, you've got people that build their own computers from scratch. all different things. >> larry: were you a hit at school? we know about your popularity since then. were you a hit at stanford? >> i fit in. >> larry: you blended. >> i blended in, no problem. >> larry: did you think early on about why there was so few of your color in the game? i mean, were you too young? >> i realized it later on in life. obviously, not too late. i'm not that old yet. when it first home that i was not accepted when i was probably about 5, 4 years old, 4 or 5 years old, when a guy at the golf course was playing at at 4, at the mill he tear base, came over to me and said -- he called me the "n" word and said we

don't allow any of you out here. my dad was on the putting green and shoed me off and told my dad. my dad had a littleal indication and i was banned from the golf course because of the color of my skin. >> larry: what did that do to you? >> it makes you understand people view other people in different ways. it's not because of their personality, but sometimes unfortunately it's because of the color of the skin. >> larry: prejudice is idiotic. when that happens directly like that, how do you emotionally deal with it? why should someone not let me play golf? that's crazy. >> it's kind of funny, because i mean no offense but some people try to get dark and tan. >> larry: they buy corporappert all the time. >> i think it's part of our society and it's there.

but more than anything that inspired me. >> larry: those blacks on the tour, they had overcome your predecessors, your jackie robinsons had overcome a lot. >> what they had to grin and bear and get through with maintaining dignity. if they didn't do that, they could have kicked them off. >> larry: the tournament you won, the famed masters, blacks couldn't play it. not too long ago. >> 1975 was the first time. >> larry: was that part of that win, too? did you feel it sort of. >> when i was walking up 18 a number of emotions came through me. number one was thank you guys. i was thanks them as i was walking up and i was looking down. there was a couple moments when i was thinking. >> larry: black golfers before you. charlie and lee and teddy rhodes and a number of others. >> larry: thanks. that's nice that you remember. >> it's because of them that i

was there. >> larry: were you -- what was the best part early that told you i could play this game? was there an aspect? was it your swing or was it something if i had seen you when you were 12 -- people say they saw gretzky at 10 and said he could skate and play. what did you have that i would have spotted at 12? >> you know, i think probably my swing. it tends to flow. it's hard. i swing pretty hard at it, but i've always donna in my swir life. for a kid my age, the club just tended to flow in my hands. >> larry: is that genes? >> i've been lucky enough i was blessed with that, i guess. not against it. >> larry: our guest is tiger woods. we'll be back with more. don't go away.

>> larry: tiger woods is the biggest money earner in golf. this year you've got a million 284, 295. >> about fourth on the list right now. >> larry: first last year, right? >> first last year. >> larry: this money is incidental to what you make? the ewards away from the course? >> the rewards away from the course aren't too bad. so much is open in the world of endorsements. >> you know what? i like it. you know, unfortunately because of all that there is a price to

pay, and obviously you have to do days and appearances here and there. that adds up. >> larry: is it kind of weird to know that you can make a lot more not doing what you like to do? >> i look at it this way. it's a spinoff by doing what i love to do, i get rewards from that. that's through my endorsements. >> larry: how do you choose what y you endorse? >> companies i feel comfortable with. those are the biggest criteria. if i don't feel comfortable, i don't want to work with them. i want to be happy. >> larry: you get a lot of offers? >> we have a number of them. it's interesting. >> larry: do you ever fear too much? i'm doing too much? >> i did initially. we did a few and that's why we took it slow. i've taken it very he slow. right now we have a moratorium

that enough is enough and we're going to concentrate on what we have right now. my plate's pretty full. >> larry: you don't have a club with your name on it, do you? >> no, i don't. >> larry: why not a tiger woods clubs? >> i don't know. i think there's something that we might have to go to titleist. >> larry: have golf clubs improved? >> oh, my god, have they ever. it's unbelievable. they may have improved and gotten lighter, they've gotten -- technology has caught up, harder materials, balls are better, but i still play the old blades. the short shafts, too. >> larry: that nerve changed, right? we'll be back with more of tiger woods. he's our guest for the whole hour. because we believe in the strength of american businesses. ge capital understands what small businesses need

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>> larry: here's a record. he finished 1997 with five victories, a record for the pga tour, over $2 million. he was the associated press male athlete the year. the 1996 sports illustrated sportsman of the year. had a great amateur career. his endorsement deals have made major news. his father was a green beret. he has a new book out. how have you reacted to the criticism in the john finestein

book where he said u too much too quick and are now above it? >> i don't know, because he doesn't know me. >> larry: you never met him? >> i know him now, but i wouldn't call him a good friend or anything. i know him through an acquaintance. it's very interesting. this is a guy who observes from the outside, never has a chance to get to know me, and takes shots at me. kind of interesting. >> larry: he never sat down and did an interview for you? >> he did an article from newsweek from his home. >> larry: it was on the east coast. >> did his article from there, and never actually went to milwaukee when i turned pro to write the article. >> larry: he wrote that is led to fame and team bho knew nothing about golf cared about the sport and they stopped to watch tiger and he blew of the president of the united states and made no apologies. he didn't have to. he was tiger. >> what? >> larry: no reaction other than

that's interesting? >> it's just very interesting. very interesting, too, because one is the president asked me to come to mr. robinson's ceremony up in new york. the day i won the masters, and he said it was so important that i should be there. i was just wondering if it was so important why didn't he ask me before instead of jumping on the bandwagon. that really bothered me. >> larry: did he call you personally? >> he did. i've always honored jackie ro n robinson and know all about him, and i figured, you know what? i would rather -- i'm more of a private person and would celebrate his occasion within my heart. that was it. >> larry: how does a 22-year-old say no to the president of the united states? >> that's just me. it's not that i'm saying no to the president of the united states. i'm saying no to the way he he approached it. >> larry: did you tell him the

reason? did you say why didn't you call saturday? >> i just did a press conference, and i was walking out signing a bunch of autographs and here he was on the phone. >> larry: did you know you'd take some shots for that? >> i take shots for everything i do. >> larry: other than interesting, there has to be some emotional conflict to read yourself knocked at this age? >> oh, god. i've been knocked for a lot of different reasons all my life, and i guess this is no exception. but, you know, i know what i did, and i'm going to stick with it. i honor mr. robinson in my heart. i always will. >> larry: we'll be back with more of tiger woods. we'll be including your phone calls. don't go away.

>> larry: welcome bark. we're replaying my interview with tiger woods in 1998. certainly there were better times for tiger. golf writer john finestein wasn't the first and certainly won't the last. one other thing in the book that bothered me and i wonder how you reacted to it when i talks about your interest in commercials and you turn out to be a 22-year-old who stamps his foot when he doesn't get his way, stalks

angrily off the golf course if you shoot 74. >> you'd be mad if you shot 74, too. maybe not. >> larry: that's right. i got real mad. >> it's amazing how people like to take shots when they don't know you. >> larry: that still surprises you, right? >> that's fine. if you know me, what i believe in, my principles, and if you disagree with that, that's fine. if you don't know him, i think you really have the right to do that. >> larry: when you go to a golf course for a first time, and a lot are for the first time for you. you're just an amateur. do you get there early and walk the course? what's the pretournament tiger? >> i play a practice run on tuesday. there's a game on wednesday i play. i get two solid looks at it and i'm ready to go on thursday. >> are you one of those athletes always confident? i'm going to do well.

you can't say you will win every tournament. that's impossible. do you say to yourself on thursday, i'm going to do well? >> i go there with the intention of winning. that's my ultimate goal. sometimes i feel more comfortable than other times, no doubt about that. my tee up on that first tee, i feel i have as good a chance as anybody else. >> larry: would you say as a player you are, as palmer was, a risk taker, i'll try this shot and i'm three behind and go. >> if you want to win you got to go. >> not all want to win, by the way. some golfers are happy to make the cut and take a check. >> that's not the way i am. i've always been a person that does anything to win. if that means like at pebble beach last year, i was at the time one shot back or even -- yeah, one shot back. i went for an 18 from 276 into the wind, and knocked it on the green. sometimes i pull it off and

other times i don't, but if you want to win, you got to go. >> larry: when you don't play on those occasions, and there's not many, do you learn from that? >> oh, yeah. no doubt about that. you should learn something from each and every round you play. >> larry: you learn more when you lose than when you win? >> depends how you lose. if you play well and lose, then i think sometimes you learn less. but if you obviously have a debacle and really throw up all over yourself and lose that way, then obviously you learn an awful lot about yourself. >> jackie gleason says it's a great humbler. what's the fascination of that stick and a little ball and a cup? >> i think a variety of different things. conditions are always changing and sceneries are always changing and you can never mast the er the game. simple as that. >> larry: there's no perfect round? >> none. huh-uh. none.

you can hit the ball. it's one of the only games where you can play your absolute best and still not shoot as good a score as when you play it horrible. >> larry: let's take some calls for the great tiger woods. hello. >> caller: hello mr. king and mr. woods. >> hi. >> caller: it's a privilege to talk to you, tiger. my teacher and i discuss golf, and we were wondering what's it like to be a role model, and do you find it to be quite a burden? >> that's a great question. do i find it to be a burden? >> larry: you are a role model. >> i think it's awesome. i really do. it's not too often you get a chance to influence a lot of people in a good way. if you had that opportunity, i think you should take it. anyone should be -- anyone bhos living should be a roll model in some way, shape or form. if i'm in a position where i can influence more than one person, i'll take advantage of that. >> you think you owe the pub

more than playing good golf. >> i want to give back to them. there's a big difference. only somebody says they've given a lot to me. >> larry: do you feel you're an influence on young blacks? >> young children. >> larry: don't you think you've attracted a lot more blacks to the game? >> i think i've attracted mirntss to the game, but you know what? why limit it to just that? i think you should be able to influence people? gener ? general and don't limit it to one race. it should be everybody. everybody should be in the fold. >> larry: one of golf's problems is this is not an inexpensive sport. as you influence these people, from wherever they come from, if they come from a ghetto area or a poor area, any kind, white, black, hispanic, they can't play. what do we do about that? >> that's why i started my foundation, the tiger woods foundation. we had a big concert here, the tiger jam. >> larry: monday night took in a

lot of money. >> all that money goes to junior golf. also educational programs across the country. we're going to try -- right now we're part of the first tee program, which is the pga tour and a couple other organizations are we. we're going to try to build low-cost facilities like a driving range and maybe a couple holes in which kids can go out and play, enjoy the game, for very little money as well as get instruction, too. >> larry: that's a great idea. >> it's an awesome idea. i love it. >> larry: tiger woods is the guest. we'll be back with more calls. don't go way.

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>> larry: we're back with tiger woods. hello. >> caller: how you doing tonight? >> doing great. >> caller: i have a two-part question. my son is 7 years old and loves golf, but the problem is most of the public courses won't let them on unless they're 12 years old. i know you started real young, and you were able to -- it seems like you were able to play on most of the golf courses, right? what would you recommend for my

son? >> larry: 7 years old and can't play on the government course. >> is he allowed to hit balls in practice? >> caller: we play at the range. that's what we're able to do. >> that's the way i grew up. i grew up that way. i grew up on the range hitting balls and on the putting green. i rarely ever got a chance to play golf. >> larry: is that a wise thing, to keep youngsters off? >> you know, on public golf courses i would -- it's really tough. if a kid can keep up and he can hit the ball okay, then i don't see anything wrong with him going out there. if he's just learning the game and first thing he wants to do is go out and play, then i have he a problem with that. >> larry: do you play against you, or do you play against myers or funk? are you playing against -- >> you always play against yourself. you try to beat yourself and the golf course. there are two opponents in the game, yourself and the golf course. if you can somehow combat those

two, you'll do all right. >> larry: the age old question, ken haroldson was a great baseball player and terrific golfer. he's shoot in the 60s and played doral great, so he decides on the pro tour and gets wiped out. what happened? it's still the same club, the same ball. what happened? >> sometimes there's a mental block up there. if you can't get over the fact of where you are now and still relax and go ahead and let it flow from you, then sometimes you're going to have some problems. >> larry: so in other words, it's easy when the competition is just a baseball player playing golf, but it affects you if its nicklaus? >> exactly. sometimes people get caught up on who they're playing rather than playing the golf course. >> larry: what's it feel like to play with legends? >> it's a great feeling. i'll tell you a great story. i think it was my last masters as an amateur, so i was 18. i played -- i was 20. i played with around palmer and

jack nicklaus on wednesday of the masters, played all day, and then was fortunate enough to go out there in the par 3 contest and continue playing with them for another 9 more holes. i got to play he 27 holes with two of the greatest players to ever play the game. >> larry: what did you talk about? >> we talked about a number of different things. i kept asking them questions. i was so excited. we were playing skins and giving each other the needle at times, too. >> larry: who won? >> jack did. he birdied the last hole and took all the skins from us as always. >> larry: hi. >> caller: hi larry and tiger. my question is for tiger. with your recent success how have you been treated by the other players on the tour? >> larry: good question. how are you treated? do you get all the attention? >> at first it was a little jealousy. there's no doubt about that, because i was getting a lot of hype. some of my endorsement deals

were reported in the public, and people read them and know about them. yeah, there was a little jealousy because i hadn't proven miss out there. i hadn't hit a shot yet and got what i got. yeah. plus, they didn't know me as a person. they see this little kid come out there and playing, but i proved to them i could play the game. i won my fifth or sixth start, i won in vegas and two weeks later at disney. i won two times on the tour championship. i proved to them i could play out there with them. >> larry: what was kryour first tournament as a pro? >> milwaukee. >> larry: first shot, first tee, first day. what was that like? >> i hit it 315 yards right down the middle. >> larry: were you nervous? >> i couldn't breathe. i made a birdie, too. >> larry: golfers always remember shots like that. have you gone past the fuzzy zeller that thing? he made a joke that came out

wrong? >> i was shocked the fact that he said that. i can understand he said it casually, but the fact he walked away and then turned back and said it, i don't know -- >> larry: the watermelon -- >> fried chicken and stuff like that. >> larry: did you forgive him? >> yeah, i forgive, but i don't forget. >> larry: fuzzy's popular on the tour. he's known as a funny guy. >> he's a funny guy. sometimes you cross the line with funniest. it can pop up and bite you. >> larry: you played with him. you were paired with him? >> yeah a-the the masters this year. i was paired with him on saturday. >> larry: what was that like? >> we went out and played. >> larry: do you talk to fellow golfers when you play? >> sometimes. i don't talk very much. i'm very into my own world concentrating, focusing, and trying to take care of business. >> larry: you're also very -- you emphasize what you do. you're happy to hit a good shot.

you just don't walk calmly into the good day. >> no doubt about it. for me, because of the way i am, i don't know how you cannot show emotion when you hit a good shot or make a great putt or do something out of the ordinary and spectacular. how can you not hear good about yourself? >> how about the reverse when you hit a bad shot? >> you can't have one without the other. >> larry: ever break a club? >> i've never broken a club, no. >> larry: what's the most frustrating you felt on a golf course? you ever not finish a round? >> you know, out of anger? no, never done that. i play all the wall through. you start it and have to finish. there are times you think i could be in other places right now. >> larry: do you ever have one of those eight-shot bogies where you hit the rock, the sand dune? >> i've had a number of those. unfortunately some are in tournaments. >> larry: we'll be right back with tiger woods on "larry king live."

ahead tonight on "360," the senate taking a crucial step forward in the fight for health care reform. key senators agree to cast a yea vote. the big question is what's left in the bill for you? should soldiers be punished for getting pregnant, or for getting another soldier pregnant? one general in iraq now threatening to court-martial them. we'll debate that ahead. those stories along with my interview with the new jersey father in brazil who is fighting for the custody of his son. it's all ahead tonight on "360." just to get out of bed. then... well... i have to keep winding myself up to deal with the sadness, the loss of interest, the trouble concentrating, the lack of energy. if depression is taking so much out of you, ask your doctor about pristiq. (announcer) pristiq is a prescription medicine proven to treat depression.

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>> larry: someone called about a story that they're going to restructure three of the holes at the masters because of the way you dominated it. how do you react to that? >> i don't think it's just because of me. i think it's because of the players just get longer. getting longer, getting stronger, her fit. technology is helping out with that, too. unfortunately they're going to change it but then again, they change it every year, too. >> larry: you don't disagree with this or regard it as a personal --

>> no, they change things every year. >> larry: do all golf courses do that? >> not all of them. but sometimes they renovate it occasionally. >> larry: orange county, california, hello. >> caller: hello, larry. >> larry: tiger californ. >> caller: tiger, thanks for taking my call. we were at the l.a. open over a year ago, in '9. my mother-in-law faxed a letter to tiger about my son, my son had just had brain surgery, and what he had been going through and he was a fan of golf and a fan of tiger's. we were at the tournament that day, which was on a saturday. we got home that night and i want to just tell you what kind of individual this man is and what kind of heart he has. we were sitting at the dinner table eating dinner. tiger woods called our house to

see how my son was doing after he had brain surgery. during the tournament at the l.a. open, which is one of the biggest ones there is, tiger, i want to thank you again for that. i still share that story until this day. it's really nice. >> larry: that's nice. >> caller: my question is, if or when you have children, will you encourage them to play sports, and specifically, golf? >> yeah, i would. i would encourage them to play sports. but i think more than anything, you have to understand, as i think as a job of a parent, you should always provide your kid with the opportunity to do whatever they wanted to do. play sports, academics, going to music. >> larry: your kids are going to have some enormous breaks that most kids don't have, right? >> you never know, because i say maybe not. maybe they have to actually work harder. >> larry: but they're certainly not going to -- you probably think about these things

already. their finances are going to be okay. >> their finances are going to be good. but, hey, you know what, they're not holding that money. that's what my dad taught me. dad, we're doing fine. he said, what's that we stuff. i'm doing fine. how much do you have? >> larry: do you want to get married and have a family? >> do i want to? no. it will happen. i'll surrender one day. no, i'm just kidding. >> larry: you like life as a single man too much? >> life is good right now. eventually, when i'm ready. >> larry: is it hard to date a lot when four days here, gone here, over here, back, another city? >> it's very difficult to get to know somebody. i think for me, i think i'll find somebody through a friend of a friend. >> larry: tiger, you've got to meet this girl. >> something like that. right now i'm too busy, all over place. >> larry: we'll be back with our remaining moments with tiger woods, right after this.

>> larry: life is always full of goals. what's yours? >> mine, ultimately? to be the best. >> larry: you want to be known as best whoever played this game? >> just to be the best. that is to play the game or the best i can be, whatever it is. i just want to be the best. >> larry: best you can be. you're going to join the army? >> my dad was there. that's good enough for me. >> larry: do you have a particular tournament that you say, that's one i want to win? >> all four majors. >> larry: you got one. >> they're pretty nice. i'd like to get the grand slam one day. as of right now, i don't ever see it changing that. every tournament i tee it up, that's my priority at that moment. >> larry: why is it to hard, if you're really in a groove and everything is going well, to win

back-to-back tournaments? >> why is it hard? >> larry: yeah. goalies win back-to-back games. michael jordan, your favorite, they win eight games in a row. why is it so hard to win tournaments in a row. >> back-to-back games usually happen two or three days apart. to us, back-to-back wins are two weeks apart. four days cumulative add up to a winner versus just one day, one night. >> larry: is it also very hard to keep the groove? >> it's unbelievably hard to keep the groove because every day, sometimes you wake up just a little bit different. >> larry: do you play every day? >> do i play -- no, uh-uh, take time off. you've got to rest. >> larry: when you do, would you take a week off? >> i take a couple weeks off here and there. i say i take a couple weeks off, when i'm home i'm playing almost every day. >> larry: you play in the open next week. did you play this week?

>> i've been playing. i've been in vegas with my trainer, my pro. we've been working pretty hard. >> larry: what does a pro do for you? >> butch knows my golf swing and he knows what it takes. and i -- and also, it always helps to have a second pair of eyes because you feel and real are usually two different things. what you're feeling and actually doing something in a golf swing is usually totally different. >> larry: they see something you don't see? >> yeah. plus, he's got so much more infinite knowledge about the game than i do. he can teach me, but ultimately no matter what he teaches me -- >> larry: do you watch tapes of yourself? >> sometimes. >> larry: it's not always a great help? >> is it? sometimes. if you know what to look for. sometimes i'm struggling with let's say my putting and i want to go look at times where i putted well and look at all the different versions of when i putted well. >> larry: you're an ace. i thank you for giving us this full hour. you're terrific. >> thank you very much for having me. >> larry: whet