Tiger Woods on the possibility his golf career may be over: ‘I’ve reconciled myself to it’

In a new interview with Time magazine, Tiger Woods seems like a man at peace.

Much moreso than he did a couple of days ago, when Woods told reporters at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas “there’s really nothing I can look forward to” in his golf career because of his nagging back injuries, adding that he spends most of his days playing video games.

Woods explained to Time that he hopes his golf career isn’t over. But if it is, he has found some new perspective in his life that will make that OK.

“It’s not what I want to have happen, and it’s not what I’m planning on having happen,” Woods said of the possibility of his playing career being over. “But if it does, it does. I’ve reconciled myself to it. It’s more important for me to be with my kids. I don’t know how I could live with myself not being able to participate in my kids’ lives like that. That, to me, is special.”

Woods, who turns 40 later this month, has had three procedures on his back in the past 19 months, most recently in October. Right now, he said, all he can do for rehab is walk for 10 minutes on the beach.

“I know that, one, I don’t want to have another procedure,” Woods said. “And two, even if I don’t come back and I don’t play again, I still want to have a quality of life with my kids. I started to lose that with the other surgeries.”

He added: “With all my heart, I do not want to stop playing golf. But the flip side is, my kids’ lives are much more important to me. Now, if I can do both, that is an ideal world. It’s a win-win. If I can only do one, it wouldn’t be golf. It would be my kids. That’s still a win-win.”

Also in the interview, Woods revealed that he’s had honest conversations with his kids — 8-year-old Sam and 6-year-old Charlie — about why his marriage with their mother, Elin Nordegren, ended.

“I’ve taken the initiative with the kids, and told them up front, ‘Guys, the reason why we’re not in the same house, why we don’t live under the same roof, Mommy and Daddy, is because Daddy made some mistakes,’ ” Woods said. “I just want them to understand before they get to Internet age and they log on to something or have their friends tell them something. I want it to come from me so that when they come of age, I’ll just tell them the real story.”

He described his current relationship with Nordegren as “fantastic” and said he wishes they had always been as open and honest with each other as they are now.

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