Originally published: September 16, 2008, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com)

For the Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 World Premiere, I had a rare opportunity to talk with Tiger Woods’ golf coach, Hank Haney. Hank is also featured prominently in the game for when you need advice and he gave me some insight into how golf transitions into video games. Also, he gave me an update on Tiger’s condition and what we can expect from Tiger once he returns to PGA play.

Click here – To Listen to my interview with Tiger Wood’s coach Hank Haney.

I also was afforded a chance to play a demo of the game. My initial review of the game is an 8.5 out of 10. I had to dock points for a few things. First, the controls are extremely sensitive. If I was not concentrating on the joystick for the entire time I was swinging, I more often than not sliced the ball. I understand the need to have a sensitive controller, but for this game it was a detriment.

The only other thing about this game that bothered me was that once you mastered the controller, it became ridiculously easy. For anyone who has played golf knows how difficult it can be and I was dropping birdies left and right after warming up on the front 9.

Aside from these critiques, the game was solid. Graphics were clear, although you would imagine it would be hard not to be since most of the backgrounds are green. The audio was crisp, but then again there wasn’t much audio to worry about since it is a golf course. The motions look authentic and the players and courses were very accurate to real life.

I did not have a chance to get into the game that in-depth so I cannot give it a full review, but from what I saw, if you enjoy golf or want to get into golf, this is the game for you. Of course, being it is the ONLY golf game out there; you don’t have much choice in the matter either. There is no competition like a Vijay Singh PGA Tour 09 or something. Again, initial critiques give Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 from EA Sports a 8.5 out of 10.