Tiger talks missing tooth, rediscovered power ahead of Phoenix Open
Tiger Woods' missing tooth is back and so, he says, is his distance. The combination had the former world No. 1 and current No. 47 in a good mood on Tuesday ahead of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Woods talked about the dental surgery he had to repair a pair of teeth he said were damaged by a cameraman when he traveled to Italy a week ago to surprise girlfriend Lindsey Vonn as she celebrated her record 63rd women's World Cup downhill skiing win.
"The dude with video camera on shoulder kneeling right in front of me stood up and turned and caught me square in the mouth," Woods said. "He chipped that one, cracked the other one. ... Luckily, he hit the one I had a root canal on. That's the one that chipped. But the other one had to be fixed as well because it had cracks all through it."
The flight home from Italy, Woods said, was painful.
"Even breathing hurt," he said. "I had to fly home and get it done first thing in the morning, which was nice."
Woods also looked more svelte than the last time we saw him at the Hero World Challenge back in December. That's thanks to the flu, which Woods said he dealt with for three weeks after the tournament, where he was visibly sick. He lost 15 lbs in that span and hasn't put much of it back on his frame.
While Woods had a little work done to have a complete set of pearly whites, he was doing a little work to his short game, which was astonishingly bad back in December. Woods mishit some nine chip or bunker shots during the limited-field event. In that time, Woods said he's hit "thousands of chips" shots, trying to settle on his new technique rather than falling back into the method he used when working with Sean Foley.
Woods also said he's been gaining significant distance since we saw him last, employing the old-but-new swing he's developed with new swing consultant Chris Como.
"My driving has come around a lot faster (than I expected)," he said. "I'm a lot longer than I ever thought I could be again. I'm touching numbers that I did 15 years ago."
If you can remember how good Tiger Woods was in 2000, then you'll understand that's a big statement. If he's even a good portion as precise as he was that year, then 2015 could be a big comeback year for Woods.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
