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BUICK CLASSIC

June 11, 2004

Vijay Singh

HARRISON, NEW YORK

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Vijay, thanks for joining us, followed up your round of 63 yesterday with a 70 today, but you're definitely in contention going into the weekend. Talk about your day today.

VIJAY SINGH: Didn't hit it as close as yesterday, but hit as many greens as yesterday. I hit 17 greens today and had a lot of chances out there, and I just didn't hit it close. I had a lot of chances from 15 feet, 20 feet all day and just kept missing the hole.

But I'm really happy the way I'm playing. Hitting the ball solid off the tee, hitting my iron shots nicely and rolling the putter very well but not finding the hole today.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: How hard is it to follow up a round like a 63 yesterday with nine birdies with another round similar to that.

VIJAY SINGH: Well, it wasn't that difficult the way I've been playing, just that I just hadn't been making any putts, and I didn't birdie the 9th hole. I was just a throw away from having an eagle putt. Didn't birdie 10 or the other par 5, so those were really just giving away shots there. Lucky enough, I two-putted the last hole, but I really played well. I wanted to shoot another low round, but I didn't have it.

Q. What's the balance between trying to win this tournament and preparing for next week?

VIJAY SINGH: Obviously your thoughts are a little bit ahead of you this week. I'm looking forward to next week, but right now at this point, I'm totally not concerned about next week at all. I just want to go out there and focus on this tournament. They're both very big events. Obviously next week is the U.S. Open, but my total focus is this week right now. I want to play well in this tournament.

Q. Is that just golf? You went out with probably the same strategy as you went out with yesterday and some days it's just not --

VIJAY SINGH: I guess I had a lot of half shots today. On the third hole I hit a pitching wedge that I couldn't hit it full. Same thing on 4. Yesterday I had sand wedges that I could hit it full out and get it to the flags. If you're in between clubs it's very hard to get close unless you're hitting full shots.

So that was one of the problems today. But I played well. I have no regrets the way I played. Obviously it was really frustrating having 35 putts out there today and shooting 1-under. But like you said, that's golf.

Q. I was just going to ask you if you were frustrated, but I think you answered that. Did you feel like you putted as well in your mind today as you did yesterday?

VIJAY SINGH: Well, I had a lot of tap-ins yesterday for birdie. I had six tap-ins yesterday, and today I missed probably five putts from inside six, eight feet, but I stroked the ball well. I thought I hit my lines. Obviously I didn't read them as good as I did yesterday, but I'm feeling good with my putter. I'm not standing over the putt and worried about it. I'm very confident and just -- I just feel like if I go out there tomorrow and just do the same thing and play the same golf, I'm going to shoot another good number.

Q. Some of the guys come in here and they talk about they like this tournament because it's different. They're in New York and they get to do different things. Do you like to take advantage of that? Do you like the city when you come here?

VIJAY SINGH: Well, yeah, I like the city. I can see when I'm flying in and flying out (laughter). I don't have any time to go out there. Like this afternoon I'm probably going to go and putt a little bit. My break is when I go back and have a rest. I have my kid here and my wife, so they'll be in the city for sure, but my focus this week is the golf tournament and that's the way I like it.

Q. Do they go to Broadway shows or things like that or do the tourist thing?

VIJAY SINGH: I'm sure they do. They were in town all day Wednesday and are probably going out there again today.

Q. Do you like tournaments like this one or a U.S. Open when the top players are involved, like this one is eight of the top nine ranked players in the world. Do you sort of get a little more juiced up when the top players are competing?

VIJAY SINGH: Yeah, I guess so. It's always nice to be playing against the best, and this week -- last week was the same thing. But it's always nice to be playing against the best and playing well. There's a big difference there. If you're playing well, then you can get the juices flowing. Last week I didn't really feel that. I played well but didn't play well enough to be in contention. This week I feel differently. I'm in contention and just looking forward to playing another two good rounds, and hopefully whoever is out there with me is going --

Q. Do you like that a lot of people think you're playing the best golf? Of course, some people think Tiger, some people think Phil, some people think Ernie. Do you like the fact that there's a competitiveness among the top players as opposed to a few years ago when Tiger was just --

VIJAY SINGH: I think the standard of player was improved. Just looking at the guys playing behind us or even in the same group, taking for one hole, 17 points, a few years ago we never used to hit drivers there. The guys are so much more confident now they can stand up and hit drivers. The equipment is better, the ball is going straighter, so we feel like the standard of play has improved in the last three, four years, and the top guys are playing better. Ability-wise the top guys have got a little bit better ability than the other guys and they excel when they have good equipment.

Q. That's an interesting question. How much of the improvement is due to the equipment, how much of it is guys just working that much harder?

VIJAY SINGH: Physically I think every guy up there is working really hard; Ernie, Phil, myself, Tiger, and you can go down the line. Everybody is working hard, physically, as well.

And also with their game, they have improved. I've improved my golf swing. I know Ernie has been working hard as well.

It's a combination of everything, and the equipment. Now you can hit the ball so much straighter and not worry about curving it, so you can take it right at the pin, or with the driver you can go right in the middle of the fairway instead of using the whole fairway to move the ball around. It's a combination of them all, and if you add them all together...

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: If we could go over your two birdies, one bogey today. Birdied No. 2.

VIJAY SINGH: I hit driver, pitching wedge about ten feet.

12, I hit driver, 5-iron in the bunker, blasted out about eight feet, missed that.

18, I hit driver, 4-iron about 20 feet, two-putted.

Q. Did you say yesterday that the work with your putting that your back couldn't take it after a while but then you decided not to worry about it?

VIJAY SINGH: There's a period when you putt for about 10, 15, 20 minutes that it gets stiff so you kind of have to move around a little bit. When you don't do that and you feel like it's hurting too much, you quit. Two days ago I just kept going and after a while it was fine, but you get a good stretch when you're done, get a good massage and everything is okay. That's what I think I'm going to do today.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Vijay, thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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