WGC NEC INVITATIONAL

August 22, 2002

Tiger Woods

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it was. I wasn't exactly in the best frame of mind, still am not. Just, you know, I hit a good drive off the tee, just turned it just a little too much. Hit a nice 3-iron out into the right bunker and just hit a terrible bunker shot. But I recovered by hitting a nice putt there.

Q. What was the trouble on 16?

TIGER WOODS: Probably I would have to say that the ball ended up in the water.

Q. What did you hit in there?

TIGER WOODS: 6-iron.

Q. How important was it to get that birdie back at the end there?

TIGER WOODS: It's just nice to end up on a birdie like that, yeah. I feel like I played well all day and I just threw away three shots today on the back nine. I 3-putted and hit a ball in the water. That's three shots that I shouldn't have given away, because I played so well all day and I really put myself in danger of dropping a shot.

Q. The course is set up this week for some low scores.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, because the greens are so soft. We're hitting 5-irons in there and they are holding with no problem.

With that in mind, the other guys are going to be aggressive. They are going to go after some of these flags and if they are swinging well, the golf course can be had.

Q. (Inaudible.)

TIGER WOODS: I played solid all day. I just made one bad swing there on 17 and hit a couple of bad putts over there on 13. So just one of those things.

Q. What did you hit on 2?

TIGER WOODS: I hit 3-iron. I had 235 to the hole and hit a nice little cut 3-iron up in the air to about four feet.

Q. Still feel like 6 owes you one?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I made a good par there. It's just a tough driving hole to begin with, because if you drive it down there where I hit my driver, that's the narrowest part of the fairway to land it on. I just tried to hit 3-wood down there today, just trap run it down there and pulled it.

Q. How many times did you hit driver?

TIGER WOODS: Just 18.

Q. Is it any different than '98; do you recall?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it's playing a lot slower. The fairways are so much softer this year. The greens are so much softer; we are hitting 5-irons in there that are holding and backing up with no problem.

Q. Do you feel that you hit the same number of drivers in '98?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, about the same. I usually hit one or two a day.

Q. What did you hit on 10?

TIGER WOODS: 10 I hit just a little chip 9-iron, 135 to the hole, 20 feet left of the hole.

Q. You've had courses that are flamed by different things, like Muirfield the chest-high weeds and pot bunkers and whatnot, how different is it when it's framed by 100-foot trees everywhere you look?

TIGER WOODS: You know, it's been one of those things where it's nice to have experience, where I've played up here enough to have seen these type of golf courses. We played up here in college, had the opportunity in amateur golf, and it's not a big surprise. But it is different.

I think it's more conducive to hitting good shots because you get a framing effect, where a lot of times, the hardest times is when there's just nothing out there and you have to somehow pick a target.

Q. You had a shot out of the rough, I believe on 15?

TIGER WOODS: Well, 15, I hit a nice tee shot over there. Kind of sliced a 4-iron off the tee, so I figured if I could slice a 3-iron just like I did the tee shot, I would be all right. The good thing about that lie was it was downgrain and it was sitting up good enough where I could get a piece of it. It came out better than I thought it would. I thought I could probably carve it to the best bunker, but I actually carved it all the way on to the green which I was surprised at.

Q. Shots like that out of the rough, your strength comes into play; is that just a benefit of working out? Were you thinking about when you decided to get strong and all? Was that something you thought might benefit you, as far as hitting shots out the of rough?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, because I was not a very good driver of the ball, so I was always in the rough.

It helps to have good clubhead speed to begin with, and I've always had that. Now it's just a matter of can I hold the face open through the grass, and the answer was no, then. I would have to do it a different way, angle of attack, speed, flip the hands, and there's no way I could hold the face open on that kind of shot a few years ago.

Q. Considering your last couple of weeks, and that you took a couple of days off, does that have any bearing on the way some things went today?

TIGER WOODS: No. It feels nice to actually take a couple of days off to recuperate. Last week was a tough week, with the conditions on the weekend, as tough as they, and the emotional drain of it, you need to recharge your batteries, which I did.

I felt sharp all day. As I said, just made that one really bad swing on 17 and just 3-putted 12.

Q. How were the galleries?

TIGER WOODS: They were great. They were nice. The fans here have always been fantastic. They are not as big as they were during the PGA, but I think that provides a better atmosphere. It's more of an intimate atmosphere. I think everyone can see shots better than they could in '98.

Q. Does it matter the size of the crowd or do you block it out?

TIGER WOODS: I try and block it out best as I can, but it's awful nice when kids are saying hello and good luck and play well. You try to acknowledge them as often as you possibly can.

Q. Rich Beem got a taste of what you deal with and he's said he's exhausted and doesn't understand how you deal with all of the media and stuff. How do you learn to balance your life, dealing with everything?

TIGER WOODS: It's something that took a little time to get accustomed to. You just have to putt a better hole on your time management skills. You've got to get better at it. Sometimes you have to be a little bit selfish and say, you know what, guys, I'm sorry I have to go out and practice. That's what got me here was working hard on my game. You try to be as nice as possible all the time, but sometimes you've just got to be selfish and say, you know what guys, I just need to go practice and get my job done.

Q. What type of number do you think it will take to win?

TIGER WOODS: I'm sure the way conditions are, double digits will be leading after tomorrow. You just need to keep making progress on that.

End of FastScripts....