US Masters / Ralph Ellis / 06 April 2010 /

Tiger Woods used yesterday's press conference to signal his intention to improve his conduct not only in his private life but also on the golf course. But will this make him a better or worse player? Ralph Ellis reports.

So that's that, then. Tiger says he's going to turn into a kitten. All fluffy and cuddly and soft for little children to play with. No more chucking his club down in a temper when he hits a bad shot. No more swearing at the guy with a camera who clicks on his downswing. And no more fist pumping when he conjures one of those miraculous shots out of long grass in the middle of tall trees that loops up and spins to an inch from the hole.

It seems all of middle America will be warming to the reformed golf superstar today after his 35 minute press conference yesterday. Me? To be honest I'm worried it means we've seen the last of the great genius of modern sport.

Forget all the stuff about cleaning up his private life. That's for him, and his wife Elin, to worry about. What concerned me was the part where he promised to improve his behaviour on the course.

He said: "I'm going to try to not get as hot when I play, but if I'm not as hot then I'm not going to be as exuberant either. I can't play one without the other. I made a conscious decision to tone down my negative outbursts and consequentially my positive outbursts will be calmed down as well. Just try to be more respectful of the game, and acknowledge the fans like I did today."

I know we should welcome that approach. In fact it's always amazed me in the past that Wayne Rooney, for instance, could get MPs standing up in Parliament to criticise his language while Tiger could eff and blind enough to make Coleen blush and nobody said a word about it.

But nice isn't what you want from sport's elite. You want cold, hard, steely will-to-win. You want an edge that says second is nowhere. You want a rage for perfection, so that even finishing first isn't quite enough if you don't play well too. Of course, if that comes with a sunny personality, courtesy and care then that's all the better. But top sport has to be about competition and who comes first before it's about the show.

I'm clearly not the only one concerned whether new Tiger will be the same force on the fairways. He's [5.8] favourite to make good his hopes of coming back with a win. The last time he played Augusta, when he turned up with a dodgy knee and had been putting like a drain in his warm-up tournament, his odds before the first day were [2.4].

Nice and winning don't often go together. Ernie Els is [17.5] third favourite after opening the season with two tournament wins. He earns plaudits today for keeping a promise to appear at the Houston Open and fighting to make the cut rather than going through the motions to get rested for Augusta. I backed him at [40.0] for the Masters a few weeks ago and to be honest I wish he'd just sent the message: "Houston, we have a problem", and focused on the year's first Major.

There were some worrying signs about Woods at yesterday's conference. He looks to have put on a stone or two and isn't the lean, mean machine we've seen in the past. In his first practice rounds he's been splaying the ball wildly, yet still says he was "having fun". The only hope is that come Thursday, when it matters, the Tiger will get his claws sharpened again.

Five things you might not know about Ernie Els

1. Born October 1969 in Johannesburg, his full name is Theodore Ernest. Dad Neels was a successful amateur club golfer

2. Ernie won the Eastern Transvaal Junior tennis championships aged 13. A year later he gave up the game after getting his golf handicap down to scratch

3. At his Wentworth home he has a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti in metallic grey with cream leather seats. 'A real beauty, a best of a car - but I can take the kids to school in the back seats', he says.

4. He began a wine business ten years ago - his first vintage scored the highest marks ever for a South African wine in the prestigious Wine Spectator awards.

5. His Els for Autism foundation, established last year with son Ben who suffers from the condition, is aimed at funding a centre of excellence for treating it as an example to others worldwide

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