This is the most revealing Tiger Woods interview yet

We’ve all been wondering if we’ve seen the end of the great Tiger Woods, and it seems Tiger Woods has been wondering the same thing.

American golf writer Lorne Rubenstein interviewed Tiger Woods for Time Magazine ahead of his 40th birthday (on December 30) and remarkably, Tiger Woods sounds very unlike the Tiger Woods we’ve come to know in all previous interviews.

Woods is extremely candid on a range of subjects including his relationship with his ex-wife, regrets and his legacy in golf. Woods sounds resigned that his career may be over and is happy to discuss his legacy, seemingly at peace with what he has accomplished.

Woods mentions he doesn’t like watching golf on TV, and if he does it’s only when one his friends are in contention to win. Like when Jason Day won the US PGA Championship, but even then, he has it on mute.

On what he has to prove: “I’ve done a lot more in the game than I ever thought I could. And to be in my 30s, and to have done this much? I never would have foreseen that.”

On his relationship with the media: “I have a lot of good friends in the media. Guys I’ve gone out to dinner with on countless occasions. With respect. There’s also a flip side of people that I really don’t care for. Hey, they made their career being negative and being outlandish. They’ve made a career out of it. But that’s their take. They’ve almost created a character, per se.”

On what he would have done differently in 2009: “In hindsight, it’s not how I would change 2009 and how it all came about. It would be having a more open, honest relationship with my ex-wife. Having the relationship that I have now with her is fantastic. She’s one of my best friends.

On what he thinks about his legacy: “The greatest thing that could happen is to not be remembered. What I mean by that is, the kids right now, they don’t know that Michael Jordan played. They see a Jumpman [logo] and they think, that’s so cool. I’m talking young kids, really young kids, single digits in age, they have no idea who Michael Jordan was, but the Jumpman logo is cool. Now, for me, they don’t understand who that is. My learning center, kids go through it and they don’t know who I am. They don’t know what I’ve done. But it’s a safe haven for them to learn and grow.”

We’ve never heard Woods talk like this before. Perhaps it’s the frustration at a never-ending list of injuries, with no clear recovery time-frame that has the 14-time major champion in a state of despair.

We can’t help but think it would have been nice to hear Tiger Woods be a little more open and honest like this in past interviews.

This is a great read, make sure you check out the full article: http://time.com/tiger/