Sports

Woods fresher mentally & physically for 2011 tee-off

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SAN DIEGO — No doubt Tiger Woods is happy to put 2010 in his rear-view mirror. The allegations of multiple mistresses, lost endorsements, the breakup of his marriage, and a winless season led to one of the hardest falls from grace ever recorded.

But when he begins his 2011 season today in the first round of the Farmer Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, Woods still has plenty of questions to answer. Most of them are about a golf game that deteriorated to the point where catching Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships is no longer a gimme.

The questions include: Can he ever be the dominant player he was en route to winning 14 major championships? Will he regain the aura of invincibility he once enjoyed? Can he find the fairway off the tee? Has his putting improved? Will he win on the PGA Tour again?

Before playing in a pro-am yesterday at Torrey Pines, Woods said he was eager for a fresh start.

“I think in order to play this game at a high level, it helps to have a clear mind,” he said. “I’ve played at the high levels before in the past without a clear mind, but it helps to be consistent. It helps having your life in balance. Certainly my life is much more balanced than it was in the past. That is exciting for me.”

If anything, the setting this weekend is reason for optimism. It was here he won his most recent major championship, the 2008 U.S. Open, where he played through a badly injured knee and outdueled Rocco Mediate in a dramatic 19-hole playoff. He is also a six-time winner of the annual tour stop here formerly known as the Buick Invitational.

“I played here as a junior,” Woods said. “I came down here and played the South Course when I was 7 or 8. So it goes way back for me. It means a lot to come back down here.”

But that was then and this is now. Woods is coming off his worst season as golfer on and off the course. He failed to win a tournament for the first time in his career, and didn’t really contend in a final round until his own tournament last December when he blew a four-stroke lead and was beaten in a playoff by Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland.

The turmoil in his personal life clearly affected his golf. He tinkered with his swing all season after parting ways with his longtime swing coach Hank Haney, and generally lacked focus and confidence while going through a divorce.

“I obviously was consumed by other things in the last year and had to deal with that,” Woods said. “Life goes on and life moves forward. That is what’s most exciting about this year — having the proper perspective on things. And my kids are doing great, and that’s my number one priority. Golf falls somewhere down the list after that.”

Having spent the last few months working with Sean Foley and happy that he’s healthy again, Woods is hopeful of being more consistent in 2011.

“It’s nice to have an offseason where I wasn’t in pain and recovering from something,” Woods said. “I’ve had so many darn surgeries and everything. Granted, I had a cortisone shot, but I was fine in a week. I haven’t had an offseason like this.”

He has dropped to No.3 in the world rankings behind Lee Westwood of England and Martin Kaymer of Germany, the 2010 PGA champion. McDowell, the U.S. Open champion and Ryder Cup hero, was the Golf Writers’ Player of the Year. But Woods is confident he can be a force again.

“I’ve gone through stretches where I haven’t won,” he said. “I’ve had it happen in my career before. It’s fine. All I have to do is keep working and stick to the game plan, just like I have in the past. I think my record kind of speaks to that.”

george.willis@nypost.com