SUNDAY STORYTiger’s in town

COSTA MESA — Tom Sargent, the head pro at the Mesa Verde Country Club, spent most of Friday night tossing and turning, thinking of the chaos that might occur with Tiger Woods coming to the golf course.

Sargent did all he could to protect the man who has become known as the world’s greatest golfer. He had ropes surrounding the tee area, and security guards visible from every angle. Still, that didn’t stifle Woods’s humor and personable tone during the hour-long golf clinic he gave to about 1,000 on Saturday morning.

Woods was at the golf course to benefit his children’s Learning Center, and apparently to also calm Sargent.

“It went much better than I had worried about,” Sargent said. “To my knowledge, nothing like this has ever been done here.”

With fellow golf pro Fred Couples, Woods offered tips and advice. And a few corrections: Introduced as simply an Orange County resident, Woods quickly responded, “I’m a former Orange County resident. I’m not paying those taxes.”

Couples shot back, “Florida is great, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Hurricanes, bugs, humidity. No taxes,” Woods quipped.

Joking aside, the event was mostly serious business. The country club was open solely to its members, friends of members and sponsors of Woods’ Learning Center charity. St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk, who is out for the year with a knee injury, and actor Anthony Anderson were a few of the celebrities on hand, watching Woods conduct his clinic.

While he was not available to all the press, he did leave a down-to-earth impression with the crowd.

It’s been a remarkable year for Woods, who has won six straight PGA Tour events. Yet there’s been something, actually someone, missing. Woods’ father, Earl, died of cancer in May.

“I consider … [this year] a loss,” Woods told the Los Angeles Times earlier this week. “In the grand scheme of things, golf, it doesn’t even compare to losing a parent.”

At Mesa Verde, speaking on a wide range of topics, including his greatest win, the 1997 Masters, and the number of holes-in-one he’s sunk, 18, Woods alluded to his father throughout the clinic, calling him “Dad” and “Pop.”

He also talked about technique, and the steps he took to improve his game.

“It’s a lot of hard work that got me to this point,” Woods said. “There’s no shortcuts. One of my dad’s famous lines that he always harped on me is, ‘You get out of it what you put into it.’ If you work your tail off, you’re going to get results…. You have to put in the work. You guys go into the office and put in your work. This is my work, logging the eight to 10 hours a day. I get myself organized for tomorrow.

“The greatest thing about tomorrow is I can be better than I am today. That’s how I always approach life. And that’s how I approach golf as well.”

Woods’ visit to Mesa Verde was part of his block party event, which also included a reception at the Grove of Anaheim.