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BUICK INVITATIONAL

January 19, 2005

Vijay Singh

LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA

JOE CHEMYCZ: We welcome Vijay Singh to the interview room. Vijay, thanks for coming in. A great start for you in 2005. Again maybe just talk about the state of your game and how well you're playing.

VIJAY SINGH: I played pretty good today. (Laughter.)

I think I'm hitting the ball okay. I'm just looking forward to this week. I had a great last two days in Hawaii. I cut up the whole field that way. I'm on a high and feeling excited and looking forward to tomorrow.

JOE CHEMYCZ: You have not played here too many times in the past.

VIJAY SINGH: No, the last two years it's not been very good for me either. I was third one year and last year I missed the cut. I think I'm going to go one better this year.

Q. (Inaudible.)

VIJAY SINGH: Very good. It's playing really good. Two different types of greens, the South and the North. There's a lot of poa on the South Course and bent. It's a lot more bumpier than the other side. But the golf course is playing long. The rough is up so we've got to hit the ball straight off the tee. That's the key this week, you get the ball in play and then you can attack the pins.

Q. (Inaudible.)

VIJAY SINGH: I haven't played here -- I have never putted well here this week, that's always been a struggle for me. I think I played here some six or seven years ago and that's the only time I've played with a conventional putter. I played today, I think I shot 5-, or 6-under on the South Course. I'm feeling good about my game. I'm driving the ball good and I think if I drive the ball the way I did today or I've been driving it, I should be okay. I like the length of the golf course. It suits my eye but that doesn't mean I'm going to play well. Come tomorrow you're going to have to see.

Q. (Inaudible.)

VIJAY SINGH: I don't know. That's the way I play golf. I'm playing well right now and I don't believe that it's a streak. I believe that's the way I've been playing and I'm winning a lot more tournaments because I'm playing a lot better golf than anybody else right now. I'm putting well and I'm doing a lot of good things on the golf course. I'm thinking well. I don't see why I should not play good golf for another three or four years to come because, I don't know, it's not a -- you can't say it's a fluke, you know, I've been doing it for the last -- (laughing).

Q. (Inaudible.)

VIJAY SINGH: I don't know. I'm feeling pretty tired right now. I've had a good off-season but I worked pretty hard and I'm looking forward to next week. I'm looking forward for a break and after that I have another week off. I'm going to take my traveling a little bit better this year and I'm not going to play seven or eight tournaments in a row. I feel physically a little tired but that doesn't mean I'm not strong. I feel sore enough but I can feel a little pain all over my body so it's time to take a week off I think.

Q. Is there any emotional pressure being No. 1?

VIJAY SINGH: I don't know. I don't think -- I don't think it's emotional. I think it's just -- I just feel that at the moment I'm playing the best golf and that's where I should be. And I'm enjoying it. I'm very comfortable with that position and unless somebody takes me off that position, I'm going to ride it as much as I can and I'm playing good enough golf to know that I can hang on to the position. It's a good feeling to go out there and know that you're the best player and after a while it gets old but it's something that you don't want to go out there and disappoint, especially yourself. So I just feel like I need to go out there and work hard every time I go play and not disappoint myself or anybody else.

Q. Is there any sense that after a while it gets old?

VIJAY SINGH: You know, the reminding of being the No. 1 player, how do you feel, you know, I've been like that for, I don't know, to me I felt like I was the best player in the world for a while and keep reminding me that it's like, you know, you're not sure if I may, you know what I mean? I feel like I am here and I am here to stay for a while. So you either like it or not. That's the way it is. I try to focus my mind and do a lot of things and just go out there and play golf. But if you keep reminding me, how much feeling it is to be the No. 1 player -- I don't go out there and say, man, I feel like I am here to stay and I'm going to play.

Q. (Inaudible.)

VIJAY SINGH: I mean, I'd like to play with the top guys if I can. You want to compete against the best, and right now, I'm one of the best players and we've got Ernie, we've got Phil, we've got Tiger, who is all playing pretty good. I don't know how Phil is playing but definitely Tiger is playing good golf.

I'm looking forward to competing against those guys. It's no good going to a field and not seeing any top names out there. This is a great field for any top guys to play in, and I just wish there was more tournaments like this.

Q. (Inaudible.)

VIJAY SINGH: You don't change your game plan. You just go out there and you play hard. Each week you play the same golf that you do, you prepare the same way and you go out there and play the same golf. The only time it's a little different is in the majors where you do it differently, you go out and you take a week off before that and you do things to accommodate your game according to the golf course you're going to play, that's the only difference.

Q. (Inaudible.)

VIJAY SINGH: Something I've been working on. It's to keep my golf swing on the same plane and path as long as I hit balls. I mean, I can do the same thing without that but it reminds -- it's a muscle memory for my golf swing and I've been doing that for two years now and the bottle thing has been for a year now. I just make sure I swing left of the target most of the time.

Q. 50 years ago Byron Nelson won -- inaudible?

VIJAY SINGH: I don't know if I can win that many again -- I don't know, I've got to play a lot of tournaments all over the world to beat 18. It's a tough sport out there. To win one is pretty difficult. I mean, I had to -- I don't know how the hell I won last week but it was tough. It's attainable but it will be a tough one to do though.

Q. How was the driver at Sony?

VIJAY SINGH: I drove the ball well. I adjusted a few other things coming from Sony and it's going pretty much the way I want it to go. I'm really excited with that.

Q. If you had driven it better at Mercedes --

VIJAY SINGH: I don't know, I can't say anything. I don't know. I'm sure the driver I have now -- I'm driving it better than I was driving it at Mercedes. That's the best I can say. I was pretty dicey at Mercedes with it. It's the same driver, though, different shaft.

JOE CHEMYCZ: Thank you, Vijay, appreciate it.

End of FastScripts.

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