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Helen Ross
PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents

She was admitted to the hospital on Thursday, the same day Tiger Woods shot 71 in the first round of the U.S. Open.

Elin Woods remained in that Orlando hospital on Friday, and Saturday, and Sunday as her husband battled unsuccessfully to win his third U.S. Open title. And then, on the day after Woods finished second to Angel Cabrera, Sam Alexis Woods, was born.

Tiger Woods explained the meaning behind his daughter's name Tuesday at Congressional. (Nick Wass/AP)

"We talked all the time," Woods recalled Tuesday during a press conference at the inaugural AT&T National, which he hosts and marks his first tournament back on the PGA TOUR since his daughter's birth.

"It wasn't easy. It was not easy because I wanted to be there. And the doctor and Elin said, 'There's nothing you can do. So go out there and just get a W.'

"Well, I came close. But that night was infinitely more rewarding than any W ever could have been."

Given the circumstances -- which Woods didn't make public at Oakmont last month - his focus was even more impressive than normal. At least, to most people. His former roommate at Stanford, Notah Begay, wasn't surprised, though.

"Well, you've got to understand, when you grow up with a father and a military background ... you've got to learn how to focus when you're getting yelled at and you've got to learn how to focus when you have distractions," Begay said.

"And when more often than not, I would have to say when he's on the golf course, he's a golfer. And once he steps off, then he's a celebrity, he's a father, he's a husband, just go down the list, depending on what situation he's in.

"But I think in that particular instance, he was so focused on winning that golf tournament and knowing that his wife was strong enough to deal with the things that she was dealing with; give her some credit, too. And that once things turned out the way they did that was his next priority.

"So it's just a high-level ability to focus and I think that's what often is overlooked. Everybody talks about the talent, the power and whatnot. But the intensity and the focus that he demonstrates in his schedule, in his life, is very, very admirable."

Elin Woods originally wasn't due until July. As it turned out, though, the circumstances surrounding the birth of the Woods' first child turned out to be eerily similar to the situation Phil Mickelson faced at the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst.

We just didn't know it.

Mickelson's wife, Amy, was close to delivering their first child that year. Mickelson wore a beeper all week and -- despite the fact that he was locked in a battle with Payne Stewart -- he said he would leave had Amy gone into labor. Their daughter was eventually born two days after Mickelson finished second.

Asked Tuesday what he would have done had there been an 18-hole playoff on Monday, Woods smiled.

"Well, that didn't happen, so it would be all hypothetical," he said. "I'm not going down that road. But as far as time line, I flew, landed in Orlando, went straight to the hospital and next thing you know, we have Sam Alexis in our arms."

Tiger and Elin Woods chose the name Sam to honor his mentor and father, Earl, who died a year ago last May. That the birth came so close to Father's Day gave it added significance.

"My father had always called me Sam since the day I was born," Woods said. "He rarely ever called me Tiger. I would ask him, 'Why don't you ever call me Tiger?'

"He says, 'Well, you look more like a Sam.' I said, "All right, that's cool."

Woods is also honoring his father, a Green Beret, this week at Congressional Country Club during the AT&T National by reaching out to the military community.

He tees off with AT&T chairman Randall Stephenson and two servicemen at 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday in the Earl Woods Memorial Pro-Am. Military personnel will introduce players on the first and 10th tees all week, as well as caddy on the seventh hole of the pro-am.

An opening ceremony that features performances by the U.S. Air Force Drill Team and U.S. Navy Ceremonial Band, as well as a military flyover, will be held at 10:45 a.m. Wednesday. Former President George H.W. Bush will hit the ceremonial first tee shot 45 minutes later.

In addition, wounded soldiers from the Walter Reed Army Hospital and Bethesda Naval Hospital have been invited to the tournament, and 5,000 tickets per day will go to active military personnel. Fans are invited to write special messages on postcards that will be distributed to soldiers serving all over the world.

"I told Dad, if I didn't make it (as a golfer) in the first two years, ... I would probably end up going into the military," Woods said. "I don't know what branch but I certainly would want to get into the special operations community. I just thought -- that just seems to be more of a fit considering what I grew up with, and I certainly understand it and can relate to it.

"But somehow I ended up here. Made a couple of putts in those years."

Since that final putt dropped at Oakmont, Woods has been busy changing diapers and feeding the baby, with an occasional break to practice under the watchful eye of Hank Haney. He feels guilty that he's not homewith his wife and daughter, but both his mother, Tida, and Elin's mom are there to help out this week.

Woods says he hopes to be an understanding parent, as his were. His mother, Woods said, is the feisty, emotional one, while he's more like his "level headed and very cool" father. He knows now what they felt.

"Something that I think Elin and I talked about on our first night, (we) said, how can you love something so much that didn't exist the day before?" he recalled. "We never experienced anything like that. And certainly it's one that was different and one that was special, and something that we want to experience again."