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From his days as a child golf prodigy, Tiger Woods has thrived in the spotlight. But can any athlete be mentally prepared for the circus that will unfold at this year's Masters? After taking a four-month leave of absence from golf to deal with the fallout from his shocking infidelity scandal, Woods will make his highly anticipated return to the sport this week, at the Masters tournament in Augusta, Ga. In an interview with SI.com last month, Sean McManus, president of both CBS Sports and CBS News, called Woods' return to golf "the biggest media event other than...
...midst of such madness, what can Woods do to stay focused on his golf game? Before we give out psychological advice to the embattled golf superstar, let us be the first to admit that he probably doesn't need it. Until he proves otherwise, Woods is still the mentally toughest athlete on the planet. "He wrote the book that we're all using," says Gio Valiante, author of Fearless Golf: Conquering the Mental Game, who is currently acting as golf shrink for Camilo Villegas, one of the best young players on the PGA Tour. "He's got this belief system...
Valiante has played golf with Woods on about a half-dozen occasions. "More so than any other person I've ever studied, he's the best straight learner I've ever seen," Valiante gushes. "He makes mistakes, but then you watch him go about his business and he doesn't make that mistake twice." (Of course, you could argue that the sheer number of Woods' alleged mistresses, over 15 by some counts, proves that he's quite capable of repeat offending...
...Japanese call kaizen, or continuous improvement. Toyota engineers will push a perfectly good assembly line until it breaks down. Then they'll find and fix the flaw and push the system again. That's kaizen. That's Tiger." These words were written after Woods' first reconstruction of his golf swing, a revamping he undertook after winning the 1997 Masters by a record 12 strokes. Despite his continued dominance, he has made major changes to his swing at least two more times in the past decade. "He has taken the greatest game in history, broken it and put together something better...
Despite Woods' obvious resolve, a little advice from the golf shrinks couldn't hurt, especially since he's entering a pressure cooker with the potential to break even the best athletes. For example, if Woods were on his couch, Bob Rotella, a noted golf psychologist and author of Your 15th Club: The Inner Secret to Great Golf, would encourage the golfer to truly relish this uncomfortable comeback. "Love the challenge," Rotella says. "This is a totally different challenge than you're used to. Go out and test yourself. Go love it." Rotella also recommends that Woods pal around with...