Tiger Woods Not Discouraged, Not Desperate Regarding State of His Game

Tiger Woods is not discouraged over the state of his golf game, despite the fact that he missed the cut at the British Open, the U.S. Open and two other tournaments of the eight he's played this year. However, he is surprised at the length of time it has taken him to return to form.

"I thought I would have my short game earlier, which I didn't at the very beginning of the year and so you can cover up a lot of different things when you're chipping and putting well." he said before his tournament the Quicken Loans National. "Throughout the years when I've changed coaches and techniques, my short game was all pretty good. I didn't have it at the beginning of the year."

He cited the challenges he was overcoming: new coach, surgery, recovery from surgery. He didn't mention his age, but recovery at near 40 is different than recovery at near 20.

He's not giving up, as there's no "give up" in Tiger Woods. He can see improvement, even though the process is not what he would describe as enjoyable.

"I've gone through this, and unfortunately sometimes I have to get a little bit worse before I can make a giant stride to go forward and get better," he explained. "Has it been fun going through this? No, it hasn't because I'm not scoring."

He said he hasn't been making the key up-and-downs and that he has hit the ball into some bad spots where he can't recover. Right now, he's not turning a 74 into a 70 with his recovery shots the way he used to.

The recovery, swing changes, poor short game and occasional bad shot, he called a "perfect storm." He's also been fighting his putter.

In addition, there's the aggravation of wanting to win and not being able to make cuts.

"I'm not really there in contention very often and so that part is frustrating," he admitted. "But I know how close it feels, and I know that I just need a couple shots here and there and it turns the tide. Every time I've had those opportunities I haven't done it."

He said many people don't realize how close the line is between a person who is winning and someone who is missing the cut. He cited the tightening of fields since he has turned pro.

"The biggest difference when I first came on Tour, the cut was probably 13, 14 shots from the leader. Now we're seeing some tournaments eight," he added. "It's even become more of a razor's edge between somebody finishing 70th and somebody finishing first."

However, Woods is quick to put the blame where it belongs: on himself.

"Obviously, I got to clean up my rounds, convert the opportunities that I have, and I just haven't done it," he said.

Caddie Joe LaCava has been a help, he said, telling Woods that he's just two years from winning five times and he really hasn't played a lot of golf. When he has played last year and this, he hasn't been 100 percent healthy until recently.

"So, hopefully I can start playing the way that I know I can play and start gaining some W's again," Woods concluded. This week, Woods thinks, would be a great place to start.

Kathy Bissell is a Golf Writer for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand or from official interview materials from the PGA Tour, USGA, R&A or PGA of America.