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Florida - Tiger Woods says he is still working with coach Hank Haney and he doesn't really care that a significant minority of his peers suspect that he takes performance enhancing drugs.
Those were the most pertinent things Woods said in a 21-minute news conference on Tuesday ahead of this week's Players Championship.
Rumours have been swirling for some time that Woods is about to ditch Haney, his swing instructor of nearly eight years.
They intensified after Woods played some of the worst golf of his career to miss the cut by eight strokes in Charlotte last week.
"I'm still working with him," a subdued Woods said when asked about his relationship with Haney.
As for the drugs issue, a recent unscientific survey of PGA Tour players found that 24% suspect Woods of having used illegal performance enhancing substances.
"I've never taken performance-enhancing drugs, never taken HGH (human growth hormone), never taken any of that stuff, but everyone is entitled to their opinion," Woods said.
Suspicion of Woods using banned substances have increased since it was revealed that he received treatments last year from Canadian doctor Tony Gallea, who is under investigation by American and Canadian authorities for supplying performance enhancing drugs to athletes.
Woods also said that the clubs he used to win four consecutive major championships in 2000-01, the "Tiger Slam", were still in his possession.
That was in response to reports that someone is trying to sell on Ebay what they claim are the irons and wedges that he used to win those four major championships.
"He may have my set of irons but they're not from those tournaments. They're in my garage," Woods said, revealing that he had used two sets of irons during his Grand Slam run.
Woods also spoke of the difficulty he is having focusing on his golf as he tries to cope with a reportedly broken marriage and alter his behaviour, both on and off the course, in the wake of a sex scandal that led to a five-month layoff.
Woods compared the difficulty of coming back after a two-month break following his father's death in 2006 to his current effort to get his game back on track after a break that ended at last month's Masters.
"It's just a matter of getting my mind where it needs to be. I've made a lot of adjustments in my life and I've gone through a lot," Woods said.
"The hard part when my father passed is I really struggled with my practicing. This time around, practicing has been a place where I can get out there and enjoy it again and get out there and work.
"I have the same opportunity to go out and practice long hours and get out here and compete (but) I've been trying to make life adjustments and lie changes.
"A lot of people when they got through treatment, they're able to make these adjustments in anonymity. I'm not, and that makes it a lot more difficult.
"This is more taxing, certainly away from the golf course, with a lot of things, paparazzi following me and all those kind of things.
"I didn't have the distractions last time (in 2006) getting ready for events. Helicopters don't normally fly over you on the range and film you. That wasn't the case then but it is now."
As for the state of his game, Woods said it has only one direction to go after last week.
"It's getting better no doubt," he said. "It couldn't have got any worse. I don't like missing cuts."
