Reuters
Wednesday, November 15

BANGKOK -- Tiger Woods may have won the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship this year, but the world's top golfer is still not satisfied with his performance in 2000.

"I underachieved," he told a news conference ahead of this week's Johnnie Walker Classic tournament in Bangkok, where Sergio Garcia, Jesper Parnevik and Nick Faldo are also among the 132-player field.

"I had high goals and high expectations," said Woods. "I accomplished a lot of them but not every one, and that's what you need to have, I feel, so you can always try for something else."

The Johnnie Walker Classic runs from Thursday to Sunday. World No. 2 Ernie Els has withdrawn with a back injury, but Garcia said Woods would not be given an easy ride.

"He's playing on a great level and we have to try to keep up with him," Garcia said. "We are all trying to improve, and I think thanks to him we're doing that."

The field also includes defending champion Michael Campbell, who will play the first two rounds with Woods.

Garcia said the speed of the greens would keep the competitors on their toes.

"The greens are pretty firm so it's going to be tough to be able to spin the ball on the greens," he said. "I think it's going to be a very good test for us."

Woods, still smarting from his fifth-place finish at last week's World Golf Championship event in Spain, where he found water at the 17th in three of his four rounds, also said the Bangkok course would be no walkover.

"The fairways are a little bit domed and you need to drive the ball pretty well to be able to control the spin coming onto these greens," he said. "The pins will, I'm sure, be in some difficult positions, and it will be a very challenging week to try and position your shots."

Playing in Thailand has special significance for Woods -- it is his mother's native country.

His visit to the country has been eagerly anticipated for months, although some Thai fans have accused him of arrogance after he accepted an honorary doctorate in sports science at his hotel on Tuesday rather than attending a university ceremony.

The issue has dominated Thailand's media. But Woods said he was in Thailand to play golf -- and to win.

"I go to tournaments to try and win, and if you don't go in with that attitude there's really no sense in going," he said.

Woods also said that after the Bangkok tournament he hoped to meet PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem to resolve a dispute between the two men.

Woods told Golf World magazine earlier this month that his relationship with Finchem had broken down, and argued he was being used to promote the Tour without being rewarded.

"We're going to have a meeting. I just need to try and get through this trip and then we'll sit down and talk about it, and hopefully we can get it resolved," Woods said.

"I'll tell you one thing right now -- it has nothing to do with revenue sharing," he said. "It's about players' rights and what we are, I guess, obligated to do by the Tour."