JEJU, South Korea - Tiger Woods is confident his new swing will pay off.

“I went through the same period back in end of ’97, all through ’98 and early ’99,” Woods said at a news conference Friday. “People thought I was crazy for changing my swing after I won the Masters by 12 shots. And I had a pretty good round after that.”

Woods, making his first visit to South Korea, has drawn criticism this year for changing a swing that helped him become golf’s dominant player.

This year, Woods lost his top ranking to Vijay Singh and his only victory came at the Match Play Championship in February.

“I felt like I needed to make another change and hopefully I’ll have another period where I will play equally as good if not better,” he said.

During his three-day visit to South Korea, Woods will take part in a one-day skins competition with Colin Montgomerie and South Korean stars K.J. Choi of the PGA and Se Ri Pak of the LPGA.

The $200,000 event will take place at Jeju’s Raon Golf Club course, with the winnings going to charity.

“This is my first time in Korea,” Woods said. “I am really excited about it.”

Woods married Swedish model Elin Nordegren on Oct. 5 and had planned to bring his wife on this trip. But she decided to spend time with her father in the United States.

Woods is to take part in a golf clinic and pro-am round before the skins competition Sunday. Woods said there is no secret about strategy for the skins event.

“Basically it comes down to timing, making the right putt at the right time,” he said. “It’s not necessarily who plays the best. ... it’s actually who makes the right putt at the right time.”

From South Korea, Woods will travel to Japan for next week’s Dunlop Phoenix tournament.

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