DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Tiger Woods is looking to his old friend, Roger Federer, for inspiration.
Woods, 40, hasn’t won a major since 2008. The 35-year-old Federer claimed his 18th Grand Slam title Sunday at the Australian Open, beating Rafael Nadal in the final following a six-month injury layoff.
“What (Federer) has done is he’s been dominant for so long,” Woods said as he continues his comeback from 16 months off at this week’s Dubai Desert Classic. “To compete against (Novak Djokovic), to compete against Rafa, and now Andy (Murray) is playing well. He’s had a litany of guys who have won slams. And no one wins slams at his age.
“And for him to come back, after having to take that much time off, and for him to get the timing, that’s the hardest part.”
Woods has won 14 majors, the last at the 2008 U.S. Open. Since then he has dropped from No. 1 in the world to No. 666. He has twice won in Dubai but missed the cut in his first appearance of the year last weekend.
After three back surgeries, Woods hopes to emulate Federer and get back to his best.
“As you get older, you change your game and you do things slightly differently, and he did that,” Woods said of Federer.
“Am I going to do that? Yeah, I’m not going to hit balls like some of these guys, 340, out there,” Woods said. “I watched Dustin (Johnson) carry a ball last week when it was cold, wet and damp, and carried it 335. Jason (Day) and I looked at each other, ‘We don’t have that.’ ”
The Dubai Desert Classic is the final leg of the European Tour’s Desert Swing. Woods is paired with Danny Willett and Matthew Fitzpatrick for the first two days.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
