BUICK CLASSIC

June 7, 2000

Vijay Singh

VIJAY SINGH: Except for the 5th hole, everything else is pretty good. The golf course has dried out tremendously. I mean, if you had not known that it rained so much here, you probably wouldn't have figured that one out because the greens are playing just right. A lot of fairways are very dry -- not dry, but I mean it's not wet. I think it's going to be -- I think once we start off tomorrow, I think it will be very playable.

VIJAY SINGH: No. I'm not.

VIJAY SINGH: Yes, I did.

VIJAY SINGH: Yeah, just the way I putted the last day at Memorial, I thought I should do something drastic, and this is it. I had it done a week ago, a week or two go.

VIJAY SINGH: It's okay. I have to trust my reads a little bit. Trying to focus a little bit better. Always trying to look at things a little differently now. But getting used to it. I've worn glasses for six, eight years, and I always wore dark glasses; so getting used to the light is going to be a little bit of a factor.

VIJAY SINGH: I hope it looks bigger to me tomorrow. You know, I don't know, I think you read the breaks a little bit more. You see things that you don't really see on the greens. And I think that's -- I don't think you see it any better. I think you just notice it a little bit more. Right now, I'm just getting used to the depth, without glasses. I think if you wear contacts, it's a little bit easier to go to the surgery instead of wearing glasses because the depth -- the distance between the ball is a little -- the first time I went out to the range, I must have hit about 10 shots straight heavy, fat. Getting used to that is going to be a little bit different.

VIJAY SINGH: I'm going to go out and check that out this afternoon, my final check-up. See what the real deal is.

VIJAY SINGH: I was minus-one-point-something in both eyes. A little bit of corrective stigmatism.

VIJAY SINGH: It depends on what golf course we play. If you notice, if we play a different golf course than Westchester, not too many -- the fields are not as strong as this. The greens over here is very similar to Pebble. It's poa annua greens, a lot of undulation on them. It's a tight golf course. Normally we don't play a links golf course like Pebble, which suits the -- the preparation for the Open. But this year, it's going to be a different golf course. We're going to a links-type golf course. This is always a very good test of golf, and if you play well here, you know, you're going with a lot of good feeling to the Open. I think it's one of those problems we've had for a long time; so it's going to be a really good time. The rough is up, which is always good. I think you have to put a lot of attention on your driving here because there it's going to be the same thing. If the wind blows, it's going to be very similar.

VIJAY SINGH: I think it's an old-design golf course, traditional golf course, where I think you need to shape the ball a lot more. Ball-striking is a factor here. If you're not hitting the ball well, you're going to shoot a very high score. And ball placement on the green; you've got to know where to hit it on the greens. If you hit it 20 feet past the pin and it's downhill, it's not going to be a very easy 2-putt. Normally, 20 feet is a birdie opportunity. A lot of doglegs where you need to shape the ball. So it's a very good test of golf over here.