U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 17, 2005

Vijay Singh

Q. Would you have asked for anything more tee to green?

VIJAY SINGH: I don't know. Yeah, you know, hit a better shot on 15, I guess. I hit the ball really good. I drove it really where I wanted to and hit my iron shots a lot of times I played away from the flags to the front part of the greens, but the putts were the problem today. Just the pace of the greens were a little slower than what I thought it was going to be. Everybody in my group had problems with the pace of the greens, as well.

Q. Do you still feel like you're in pretty good position at this point?

VIJAY SINGH: Yeah, even par for the tournament, it's not going to get any easier for the weekend. I'm not really going to keep watching the greens, but I think they're going to cut that down in half, as well. I feel like I'm in a great position right now, and if I can go out there and figure out the pace of the greens, come out strong tomorrow, we'll see what happens.

Q. If somebody said you were going to be even par after two rounds before the tournament started, would you have taken that?

VIJAY SINGH: Yeah, the golf course is not getting any easier. I was surprised that the greens were receptive to all the shots. The first two days of practice rounds, they were not as soft. They must have put a lot of water on the greens.

But even par is I'm in good position, I think.

Q. What would you say the winning score is going to be at this stage of the game?

VIJAY SINGH: I think even par has a good chance, depending on the weekend, depending if it's going to rain or blow a little harder. If it blows, it's going to go higher than what you would think, but I still think even par is going to have a good chance.

Q. (Inaudible).

VIJAY SINGH: It's a good hole, it's just a little too long for that green to you've only got about three or four yards of green to land the ball in, and then it's really crowned on every side. If you just miss it, you're not going to hold the green. The pin is all the way in the corner, as well. That's one of the hardest greens to hit. I bogeyed it yesterday and today.

Q. What did you hit?

VIJAY SINGH: 5 iron both times.

Q. How tough was that plug on 9?

VIJAY SINGH: It wasn't plugged, it was just the Bermuda is pretty they cut it down pretty good there, but the ball went right in the bottom of the Bermuda. The shot wasn't very difficult. It's where the pin placement was and my stance, so if you hit it just a little too hard, it would have gone over the green.

Q. You said Pinehurst was so long ago you almost didn't really remember much from it, but good feelings about this place and the last time around sort of help you at all or is six years ago just a long time ago? You've won a thousand times since then.

VIJAY SINGH: It's a different setup. The greens are different than they were then and the roughs are longer. The fairways are much smaller now than it was last time, and it's rolling. I just feel I remember the golf course better this time around than I did last. I remember the holes, you know, once you get around, you know, the holes, but you don't learn it from before. I've learned more the first two days, three days of practice than I did playing here in '99.

Q. More from a positive activity standpoint of doing well before and I think the only guy here who finished ahead of you is Phil.

VIJAY SINGH: You feel confident. You get more confident with the golf course and you play along. You remember where you finished last time. I had a good finish here, so I'll take that with me.

Q. Phil said he didn't play for birdie on any hole. Is it that tough out there right now?

VIJAY SINGH: I don't know. I mean, I hit a lot of greens today. I had a lot of chances for birdies today.

I think if you hit it decent enough and play smart enough, I think there are birdie chances out there.

Q. How many flags did you go at? You're one of the more aggressive players.

VIJAY SINGH: I drove the ball really well today. I drove it really long and pretty straight, so I hit wedges and 9 irons most of the day around, so we could have got even 18 I had a wedge in my hand on 18, so if you have wedge in your hand and a good yardage you can go for the flags.

Q. (Inaudible).

VIJAY SINGH: Depends where you are. I mean, if you're not in the fairway then obviously you have to shoot for pars. If you're driving the ball well, you can take the flags on, but you don't have that many birdie opportunities because the flags are tucked in the corners, you can't really go at it. You try to get it to within 10 or 12 feet from the flag and take your chances then.

Q. (Inaudible).

VIJAY SINGH: You know, 18, 16 and 15 were very good chances to make pars, especially the way I've been practicing on the putting green, and I feel like those putts were I was very familiar with those distances. But especially 18, you know, I was really, really frustrated with that. I thought I hit a good putt, I just didn't aim it left enough.

End of FastScripts.