Witness: Peter Kessler Host, the Golf Channel

EVENT: A chance meeting with Woods at Isleworth Golf Club in
Orlando
DATE: March 29

"Just before the Masters I ran into Tiger on the practice tee at
Isleworth. He was done practicing and gave me his leftover
balls. We started talking, very casually, very openly,
man-to-man. It wasn't the Tiger you see at his press
conferences, where he's so guarded, as he has to be. It was the
real Tiger.

"I wouldn't tell anybody the details of what he said, but what
struck me was the depth and the breadth of his confidence. He
talked about winning easily at Bay Hill and losing that battle
with Hal Sutton at the Players Championship. I was left with the
strong impression that he enjoyed the Players far more, that he
liked the tension and the pressure, win or lose. I realized for
the first time that he was like Michael Jordan, that he wanted
the ball with the game on the line, no matter the outcome. Very
few players in the history of golf have felt that way, have
wanted the pressure."

B/W PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPH BY JULIE DENNIS BROTHERS/SABA

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Tiger's ongoing record streak of rounds at par or better. (He
shot his last over-par score in the first round of the Byron
Nelson Classic, last May.)