Tiger: Being Married Won't Affect My Game

By Stephen M. Silverman

10/12/2004 at 03:00 PM EDT

In his first public statement since getting married last Tuesday in a sunset ceremony in Barbados, newlywed Tiger Woods, still honeymooning with his Swedish bride Elin Nordegren, says being married will not affect his game.

"It is not going to change the way I play golf," Woods tells fans on his Web site. "I have been with Elin and happy together the last two years. Just because you are married it doesn't change your relationship. It doesn't change who we are."

He adds: "I just hope I can get the ball in the hole a little faster."

The golf champ also spoke to reporters aboard his honeymoon yacht, telling them that, although he remains committed to his sport, he isn't sure when he'll get back into the swing of things. "We're having so much fun on the honeymoon," he said.

But Woods will have to make up his mind soon if he wishes to participate in some Florida tournaments, though he has vowed to play in his own Target World Challenge that's set to tee off Dec. 8. As it is, Woods has not won a stroke play tournament this year and has slipped from the world's No. 1 golfer to No. 3 in recent weeks, falling behind Vijay Singh and Ernie Els.

About getting married, which the bride and groom kept as secret as possible, Woods told reporters: "We didn't tell anybody until the last minute. They all said, 'Oh, it is? That soon?' Yeah, well, there you go. You can still get cheap airfare. We made sure of that. ... To have all our family and friends there, it made it a very special occasion. Our families and friends are always going in different directions, so it's always hard to get them all together. We were able to do that for this occasion, which made it even more special for all of us. We had a great time."

Woods, 28, and Nordegren, 24, the Swedish former nanny and model he met at the 2001 British Open and proposed to last November, said "I do" Oct. 5 in a sunset ceremony before about 200 family and friends.

The nuptials were held in the largest of four tents set up at the posh Sandy Lanes resort, with 500 red roses adorning the end of the aisle. Guests (including NBA stars Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, as well as Oprah Winfrey) feasted on shrimp cocktail, flying fish, macaroni pie and a four-tier wedding cake.

But it was Tiger's trademark cool that really took the cake. "He didn't act like he was going to get married," a source told PEOPLE. "He was very relaxed, like this was any other day for him."