Tiger Woods has discovered a modern-day secret: One way to avoid conversations with professional journalists asking real questions is to cut them out of the process.

In a departure from the norm, Woods isn't doing a pre-tournament news conference before this week's Wells Fargo Championship -- his first PGA Tour event since he finished tied for 40th at The Masters. But if you are starved for his thoughts on the coolest looking trophy from golf's major tournaments (Claret Jug) or wonder how much he practices his long game vs. his short game before events, Tiger has you covered.

On his web site, Tigerwoods.com, the golfer answers 19 questions submitted by fans through social media networks. Many of the questions are certainly well-considered. They are also hand-selected, with Woods spending a little more than 14 minutes in front of a static camera reading them and then answering them.

"At the Masters, I was kind of struggling with my ball-striking a little bit," Woods says in response to a question on what he's been working on since The Masters. "It had to do with posture. My setup wasn't quite right, as well as my takeaway. I just needed to do hundreds of reps. I'm getting dialed in."

Again, not entirely useless information. But not exactly the kinds of things a rabid golf enthusiast might want to know about with Woods coming off his worst finish of the season. And certainly not the kind of stuff that might make him uncomfortable or lead to bickering with a journalist -- as happened earlier this year when Woods was asked about Hank Haney's book.

In some ways, Woods looks more relaxed in the video Q&A than he typically does in press conference settings. It has a cable access TV feel to it -- in the middle, it almost sounds like a cell phone (vibrating on a surface) goes off.

And trust us: We've been in press conferences where nothing interesting is learned. That said, the timing of the controlled message is at least a bit odd -- even if agent Mark Steinberg would like us to believe otherwise.

"The media will continue to have access to him," Steinberg told the Charlotte Observer. "This isn't anything more than a couple of times a year to interact with the fans. They deserve that. This isn't intended to make a statement. ... Some in the media might interpret it that way, but that's not the intent."

MICHAEL RAND