Tiger's Next Challenge

The media refrain through-out the 2003 season was "slump." But Tiger Woods says that's nonsense, quite annoying nonsense given that he won more tournaments--five--than any other player. Last week his PGA Tour brethren echoed this view, voting Woods Player of the Year for the fifth successive time--the sixth in his still young career. In an exclusive interview with NEWSWEEK, Woods called it "the ultimate compliment." But still, he remains his own most astute critic, able to render clear-eyed judgments on the state of his game. And he concedes that the 2003 campaign was somewhat disappointing. His one notable failure: not winning a major. "It was a successful season, but not a great season," he says. "Obviously I think a great season is defined by winning major championships."

Woods, who will turn 28 later this month, appears to be at a critical juncture in both his career and his personal life. On the course, he has already achieved singular stature in the game; he is the rare athlete who, like Michael Jordan, transcends his sport. But as Woods heads into what are traditionally a golfer's prime years, he faces constant comparisons with his own youthful achievements. Off the course, he is newly engaged to Elin Nordegren, his 23-year-old Swedish girlfriend. Now he will need to learn how to balance home and career without eroding the legendary focus that is at the heart of his game.

Woods admits that the hurdles on the personal side are fresher and more daunting. He has no doubts he's ready for the marital commitment: "Any time you see a person and she makes you light up..." Still, Tiger checked with his closest friends to make sure they saw what he saw in the relationship. "They did. The same thing: happiness," says Woods. He surprised Nordegren by proposing on vacation last month in South Africa, where he had played on the U.S. team in the President's Cup. But when Tiger rehearsed the magic words, he says, he felt far more nervous than he ever had standing over a critical putt. "You don't ever want to blow a special moment like that. If you hit a great putt and you know it's in, it's in. But even if you say it absolutely perfectly--those four words--you could still get denied."

The couple hasn't set a wedding date and, Tiger says, the engagement doesn't really change anything. "She's still there, she's my best friend and she travels with me." When asked whether he's thought about what changes children might someday bring, he replies, "No." But after a pause, he adds, "not yet," implying that the possibility is certainly in the offing. While the idea of family and career is hardly unprecedented--"There are a lot of players who've done it before me," he says, smiling--Tiger appears to grasp the magnitude of the balancing act. He suspects that to succeed both at home and at work will prove to be "life's ultimate challenge."

For the time being, Tiger still sees plenty of rough ahead on the golf course. Golfers typically peak as they near 30, but he hopes to be an exception--the guy who peaked "a little earlier and a little longer." Yet it's not easy to satisfy his fans, who expect him to dominate every event. "It's just like how they compared Jordan with some of his greatest years, and when he scored two points less, it was a terrible year," he says. Tiger insists he is now a better--and, most important of all, a more consistent--golfer than ever.

The problem is that the tour top to bottom is greatly improved, too, making it increasingly hard to replicate past glories. That was particularly evident last year when four different golfers won their first major. Tiger's best finish in any of the majors was a tie for fourth at the British Open. The competition is so ferocious today that he is puzzled why interest in golf remains wedded to his standing in an event. "Maybe they just respect that I try as hard as I do," he says. "I never dog it." Woods realizes genuine rivalry would boost excitement, as did his late-season duel with Vijay Singh for Player of the Year honors. But having seen putative challengers--David Duval, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els--rise and fall through the years, Woods doubts that today's tour is conducive to such rivalries: "Golf is very fickle. You don't get the same guys going head to head."