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MERCEDES CHAMPIONSHIPS

January 6, 2005

Vijay Singh

KAPALUA, HAWAII

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: World No. 1, Vijay Singh. Thank you for joining us. Another great start for the 2005 season. You're currently leading, 66, 7-under. Maybe start with some opening comments. A great day for you.

VIJAY SINGH: Yeah, I played really well. I left quite a few out there, but, you know, obviously everybody must have done the same.

You know, very comfortable, drove the ball well, hit a lot of greens, only missed one green, the 8th hole, but got up-and-down.

You know, putted well, too. I hit the ball on the lines the way I wanted to, so it was a good day.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: We'll go right into questions.

Q. You said you wanted to send a message to let them know; you let them know?

VIJAY SINGH: Yeah, I'm here. (Laughter.)

I don't know, you know, you want to start the year off strong, and this is a great week to start. You've got no cut. You can go out there and try to do things that you don't normally do on a regular tournament. This is a huge tournament, and you know the field is very good. All of the winners are here, so it's a good one to win. I haven't done it yet and that's my intention is to go out there, play solid and see if I can win.

Q. Do you notice the leaderboard, the fact that you get Sergio and Tiger and Cink and good names up there? Of course, everybody is a winner, but the top of the list is up on the leaderboard, do you notice?

VIJAY SINGH: Well, it's everybody, not only those guys. Everybody is up there, Parry is a great player. It's a golf course where you have to go out there, play solid and make a lot of birdies.

It's only the first day, you can't be too concerned about the leaderboard. At the same time, you make sure you keep up the pace, as well. You know, my goal today was to go out there and play solid and see if I could get a few under par and stay up there. I was surprised that nobody else went lower than me. The wind wasn't as strong as what it normally blows here. I guess it was harder than I thought.

Q. We're getting a story of grainy greens perhaps maybe holding down the scoring, in that it was very difficult to get maybe into the grain putts close or get a feel for the speed of those?

VIJAY SINGH: Well, like I said yesterday, there's a lot more grass on the greens than there's been in previous years. You think you are hitting a good-paced putt, but it just comes out one or two rolls short, and that's when you miss the putt; the grain takes it away. That's why I guess everybody must have missed a lot of putts out there. It's in a good pace, so if you're aggressive enough, if you have enough courage to go ahead and hit a solid putt, you have a chance to make them.

Q. With the benign conditions today, was scoring important to get off to a good start today in these conditions?

VIJAY SINGH: I think so. The wind was coming from a different direction, so, you know 18 is playing into, and 17 is playing into, so those holes -- 18 is a very comfortable driver and probably a long iron. Today you couldn't get up there and the pin is way back there and doesn't roll out to the flag.

So it was a harder-to-judge pace, even chipping or pitch shots. That's why I think the scoring was not as low as I thought. Still a lot of people shot under par. I think the whole field shot or under, and that tells you that the guys are ready.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: We'll touch on your round and take one or two final questions. First birdie of the day, No. 3 par 4.

VIJAY SINGH: I hit a driver, sand wedge to about 15 foot.

5, I hit driver, 6-iron about 20 foot and 2-putted.

10, I hit a 5-wood, sand wedge to about six-foot.

11, I hit an 8-iron 5-foot.

12, I hit a driver, sand wedge, six-foot.

15, I hit a driver, 6-iron just short and chipped it about three-foot.

16, I hit a driver, sand wedge, about eight-foot.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: One or two final questions.

Q. You changed irons, Vijay, after leading the Tour last year in GIR from the fairway. Can you talk about the change, how long you've tested them and how they are different?

VIJAY SINGH: The irons?

Q. Yeah, the new irons.

VIJAY SINGH: I go through three sets a year. So it's not that -- I make sure that the grooves are pretty much, you know, fresh when I play them. So, they are the same irons that I've been playing. So it's just a new head. If I put it down, you won't tell the difference, same shafts. But it takes one or two days to get used to it, but other than that, it's just the same one.

Q. It's not a new model?

VIJAY SINGH: The GI is the model they are using, but the heads I'm using is pretty much the same. The driver is brand new, though.

Q. You've got it quite a bit closer on the back, did your game get better? You looked like you were hitting quite a bit closer.

VIJAY SINGH: I don't know, I think it's an easier side to score on the back nine there's a lot more short holes. 10 is pretty much a wedge 5-wood, wedge, sand wedge. And 12 you have short holes, and 14, as well, 15. It's a much shorter side to approach the greens on. So you've got a lot of chances for birdies.

Front side, you've got 1 is pretty difficult to make birdie on and 4 and 6 and 7. They are just harder -- I think the front side is a lot harder side than the back side.

Q. If you see conditions stay like they were today, do you think is it going to take a really low number to win this thing?

VIJAY SINGH: Well, I think the greens are going to get a little faster. I don't think they are putting water on them. They are getting more brown, a lot more browner than what they were when we started off on Tuesday. So I think they are going to get faster and the guys are going to get used to it, used to the speed of the greens. If it stays like this, I don't know what the record is, it could go --

Q. 31?

VIJAY SINGH: Well, I don't think it will get that low. But it will probably go in the mid 20s.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Vijay Singh, thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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