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DUBAI - Tiger Woods gave up one of the secrets of his golfing brilliance to a select group of fans at the Dubai Desert Classic.
"I've won probably more than half of my tournaments because of one club, my five-wood," the world No 1 said at a clinic he staged with close friend Mark O'Meara.
Woods said he needed to fill a void a couple of years ago because his two iron was going too low and his three wood too far.
"I needed something to get the ball up in the air. I found my five wood and it has been awesome," he said.
"With my five wood I don't try to hit the ball quite as high as I used to with my two iron. I can hit it in the air or I can hit it on the deck and it's been pretty neat."
Woods has won 76 titles worldwide, including 12 major championships, since turning professional 11 years ago.
He said his five wood had been invaluable in recent times.
"I worked out my stats for about a year and a half and I found I wasn't taking care of the par-fives. For some reason they were lengthening them, I don't know why," Woods said to a chorus of laughter from the 500-strong gathering.
O'Meara, who lives close to the world No 1 in Orlando, offered up a few more Woods secrets. "He hits the ball pin high," the two-time major winner said.
"If you do that, you are always going to do really well. If you hit the ball pin high, you can miss a little bit left or right. He never used to be pin high very much but he's around the pin a lot now."
O'Meara also said the control of distance was a key element of Woods' game. "He can hit a seven iron 190 yards or 40 yards," O'Meara said.
"He has got such good control of his swing now ... it is very important.
"If you watch his posture at address, he holds his lower body really quiet and just coils up the upper body. The club swings on a beautiful arc so that when he hits his shot he's not taking big divots."
O'Meara said that swing plane had come in especially handy at the British Open.
"In the wind he can slide the ball really nicely. That's why he has won the British Open three times."
Woods echoed O'Meara's comments. "If I have a shot into the wind, I won't hit it very hard," he said. "I'll take one or two clubs more and try and keep the back of my glove going through to the target as long as I can. Also, I will try and keep the club head about rib high [on the follow through]."
Woods said that was something O'Meara had tried to impress on him during their many practice sessions back home.
"When I first moved to Florida, Mark was always on my butt about me trying to hit the ball great distances all the time.
"My nine iron could go 140, 170 or 120 yards. I didn't know which one was coming. One thing we always try to do when we are at home practising is hit balls different distances with the same club."
Above all, though, O'Meara said it was Woods' work ethic that set him apart from the rest. "I have been playing for 27 years as a pro and I've had the great pleasure for the last 11 years to be around Tiger," he said. "He has changed his swing two or three times and is always thinking of something to do that will make him a better player."
Woods finished the Dubai tournament in a tie for third with Sweden's Niclas Fasth.
Dubai-based Swede Henrik Stenson, who has finished in the top eight in the last six tournaments in the Middle East, overcame gusts of up to 30km/h to shoot a closing 68 for a 19-under tally of 269 to win, one shot ahead of South Africa's Ernie Els.
- REUTERS
