SHEBOYGAN, Wis - The man still can laugh. And make us laugh. In a season which surely has had its tears and most likely some fears - finishing next-to-last in a tournament he won seven times previously would make even the strongest among us cringe - Tiger Woods hadn't lose his sense of humor.

Or, he wants us to believe, his ability to be a champion once again.

They're playing the year's final major, the 92nd PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, 61 miles north of Milwaukee this week. "Glory's Last Shot,'' is the slogan. Not Tiger's last shot, but a chance finally to hit some big shots.

It was a different Tiger on Tuesday, one chastened by the game he once dominated, one battered by the questions of his character yet one who seemed to be emerging from the strain and pain of all the revelations and frustrations.

He hit bottom last weekend in the WGC-Bridgestone, finishing tied for 78th in a field of 80, something unimaginable 12 months earlier. Maybe he realizes that there's no place to go but up. And no place to be except upbeat.

So, when Alex Miceli of The Golf Channel said to Tiger, "Over the last 48 to 72 hours it seems like you've gone from the No. 1 player in the world to one of the worst on the planet'' and wondered whether the media coverage was misunderstood, Woods couldn't wait to respond.

"Well, the good thing,'' he said, "is even though I'm one of the worst players on the planet, I might be able to beat you.''

When the laughter subsided, Woods added, "I do feel good about that.''

He also said he felt good about his game, which got a look or two from Sean Foley, the swing coach of Hunter Mahan when Mahan on Tuesday was playing a practice round with Woods and Sean O'Hair. If Woods, without a coach of his own since the departure in May of Hank Haney, begins working with Foley, it would not be a surprise. Tiger called it "a possibility.''

Woods said he had been moving his head on the downswing, causing his club to go offline and resulting in the kind of shots that would leave a golfer 18 over par for 72 holes, which Tiger was at the Bridgestone. That problem corrected, he now needs to fix his once reliable putting.

"My speed's been awful,'' Woods explained. "This entire year it's been bad. You can't read greens if you can't control your speed.''

It's his life that's been out of control, certainly. Since that SUV accident the end of November, Tiger's reputation and game have been pummeled. We heard too much of infidelities, too much about loss of endorsements and loss of respect.

Tiger now seems almost resigned to what has befallen him. The type of media probing which only two months ago during the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach brought a snarl, on Tuesday elicited an honest contrition.

He no longer was the self-important super hero but rather a young man who had tumbled down the mountain and was attempting to find his way back, if not to the top then close enough to be satisfied.

Woods said, yes, if he makes the U.S. team for the Ryder Cup the beginning of October in Wales, whether through qualification or as a captain's pick, he would play. He had more than hinted in his frustration Sunday he would not.

"With all that's going on, on and off the golf course,'' Woods said, about the struggles of the last few months, "I feel that I have to look at the positives and keep pushing myself to go forward and keep trying to get better. And that just doesn't mean hitting golf balls. It's getting better all around.''

Woods' game, or lack of same, has bewildered him some. He thought when, after the revelations, the rehabilitation, the return, he would need time to return at least some place near the level at which he had played. However, the first event back, the Masters, he came in fourth. It's now, when he expected to be competitive, he has stumbled.

"I thought I would have been here sooner, with all that's going on,'' said Woods, "here'' meaning playing ineffectively. "But somehow I've been able to play a little bit better than I thought, for a stretch, and then it finally caught up with me last week, playing this poorly.

"But one of the great things about this sport is that no matter how poorly or how well you play the week before, it all begins anew.''

Woods said his life is beginning to normalize. That the paparazzi who "camped out in front of the house, the hotel, helicopters flying over the range, following my kids everywhere they went,'' have slipped away.

"Life in general the last nine months,'' said Woods, "has been very difficult. But my dad always said, ‘Just keep living.' That's something I have taken to heart quite a bit.''