Tiger Woods: Has Second Place Become OK?

Want to know why Tiger Woods is a much different and less intimidating player today than he once was?

He’s struggling through swing changes, but that’s not the reason.

He’s had trouble sinking those must-make putts for two years now, but that’s also not the reason.

His carefully crafted image came crumbling down like a house of cards, but that’s not the reason either.

The real reason: he’s become content with finishing in second place.

Now, that’s not to say that Woods’ recent loss to Graeme McDowell at the Chevron World Challenge didn’t eat at his guts, because it undoubtedly did.

But here are a few quotes from Woods’ post-round press conference at Sherwood Country Club:

"It was a great week, even though I didn't win."

“I'm proud of today even though I lost.”

“Today, even though I lost and made countless mistakes in the middle part of the round, it said a lot for me to come back and put my swing back together again.”

“I hit some good shots this week and I played really well for most of the week. The middle part of the round today was an exception, but, boy, I thought I did some good things this week.”

Folks, this is a man that for more than a decade has never wavered from the stance that he doesn’t enter a golf tournament unless he expects to win.

Three years ago, you would have heard quotes from Woods such as:

“I lost, simple as that.  There’s nothing good that comes from letting a tournament slip through your hands on Sunday.”

“My swing was better today but not good enough.  I just didn’t get it done when I needed to.”

“I hit some good shots but it didn’t equate to a 'W'.  I didn’t come here to lose.”

Now, we’re not talking about a loss at the Masters here. This is, after all, the event that closes out golf’s "silly season."

But, that’s never mattered to Woods.  Whether he was playing the 72nd hole at Augusta National or a game of ping pong, this is a man that wanted to beat your brains out at anything and everything that even remotely resembled a competition.  He was perhaps the fiercest competitor to come along in any sport since Michael Jordan.

But Woods is clearly going through a major transition both on and off the golf course.

There are points in every man’s life where he realizes that things he used to view as vitally important might not be as important as he once thought.  

Woods seems to have reached this point in his life.

Golf is obviously still very important to him, but he’s no longer that same man that used to be concerned with nothing other than wins.

Woods ability to hit fairways and sink big putts will still be vitally important to his chances of breaking Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major championships.

But second place is no longer the end of the world for Woods, and that just might be the most shocking change we’ve seen from Woods on or off the golf course over the past 12 months.