Photo: © David Cannon/Getty Images |
| Tiger Woods with Elin. |
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When Tiger married Elin - an act that many said would put the brakes down hard on his winning - it only served to speed up his winning ways. The death of his father didn't materially affect his won-loss totals when he returned after taking time away to grieve. So why would anyone think that becoming a father, this at age 30, in any way affect his ability to perform on the golf course?
Palmer explained the effect - or lack thereof - his children had on his game.
"It certainly affected me," Arnold said, then explained WHY it affected him - it was precisely because of his children that he began a lifelong hobby of flying.
"I learned to fly. And some of the early things I did was that I had a family. And I realized then that I could fly from my home to golf tournaments or to exhibitions; I could go in the morning, do my job, and then I could be home to be with my family ... And that all had to do with my family, my two girls."
Photo: © Justin Sullivan/Getty Images |
| Phil Mickelson has had three kids and that hasn't stop him from winning. |
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All right - how about Phil Mickelson? Maybe he thinks that children will have a negative impact.
"I don't - I don't see how. I mean, I certainly hope it does, but I don't see that happening," he said jokingly. "It will just be another area that he adds into the mix, and a very rewarding part of his life."
Jim Furyk?
"I doubt very much it will affect his professional life all that much, as far as he's very driven and very motivated. I feel like he'll make the time to be the same person professionally," said Furyk.
Stuart Appleby says that the birth will have a calming effect on Woods.
"I think Tiger has got his life in balance. He's not been a parent, but I think he'll understand - he certainly had a close connection with his parents.
"So I think he'll understand what is going to be ahead. He's balanced that way. He has a lot of time off. He obviously doesn't play as many tournaments as a lot of other players, so his balance time with family will be easy to achieve. I think he will do it good."
Photo: © Harry How/Getty Images |
| Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco walk with their kids during the Par three contest at The Masters. |
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Furyk believes, in fact, that Tiger will become an even better player. The time that he spends in a home environment will be even more precious than it is now.
"I love it when I'm home," said Furyk. "I love to make breakfast for the family and my kids. If I get up, my wife, she knows I like to do it, so when I'm home, I get up and make breakfast for the kids and everyone. That gets me to a certain time of the day, and then I'll probably go to the golf course and then I'll want to come back and do something fun with them, take them to dinner. Then I help put one kid to bed at night and just kind of being part of it."
And Furyk says that, while there have been plenty of sacrifices along the way, the children have not had a negative effect in any way on his career.
Photo: © Donald Miralle/Getty Images | | Jim Furyk celebrates his U.S. Open victory in 2003 with wife Tabitha and daughter Caleigh. |
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"My daughter was born in June of 2002, and I won the U.S. Open in 2003," he said. "My son was born at the end of 2003; I was hurt in 2004. But obviously 2005, 2006 are as good as I've ever played, also.
"My three best years were 2003, 2005 and 2006 when I had children. I think more than anything, it was - when I was a rookie on Tour, it was amazing how much free time I had. As I became a better player and business ventures started to grow, you had a lot less free time. And then when I had children, I started giggling at how much free time - I used to think how busy I was, and once I had children, I said, 'God, you just reorganize things,' and a lot of things get cut out of your life because you want to make time for the most important thing - and that's your family."
Tiger knows that his personal life is going to change dramatically, though he doesn't think it will affect his personal life.
"Our priorities do change," he said. "You're bringing a new life into this world, and it's 100 percent dependent on you for survival. So yeah, it does change.
"I don't sleep a whole lot to begin with, so that will be easy. I think it'll be interesting to try and figure out your tournament schedule, preparations, my commitments that I have to my sponsors, to try and balance that as well as with adding a new family member. I think that's going to be a challenge for not only myself but for Elin, as well, to try and balance everything out together."
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