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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY NATIONWIDE

June 1, 2018

Tiger Woods

Dublin, Ohio

Q. Disappointed in what happened?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I am. I did not putt well today. It could have been easily a nice little 62 or 63. I turned it into a 67.

Q. Where did this ball striking round rank among the rounds before?
TIGER WOODS: It was better. I hit some good shots in there and I had nice control of pretty much everything. Unfortunately just didn't make. I missed a lot of short putts, which is, you know, something I don't normally do, which is just frustrating. I've got to clean that up come this weekend and hopefully, I can get it going and I can play well like this on the weekend and I've got a great chance of winning this tournament.

Q. So far in this comeback you are a full two strokes better on the weekends than you are Thursday, Friday. How do you explain that?
TIGER WOODS: I would like to say what I would normally say to that, but, it happens. You can put the other word in there.

Q. Not in the newspaper, of course. But in the crucible of competition are -- you think the weekend is where that is most apparent. Are you surprised that you have been able to like get back into that feel and deal with all of the anxiety and adrenaline and that?
TIGER WOODS: To me, that's the easier part. I think it's trying to, I mean this is a very different comeback. Trying to get a feel for the start. And I've played better when I've played back-to-back weeks and things of that nature, so because I've had the feel. Just finding it and keeping it, it's a little bit more difficult now because this body is different. It's not one of those things I -- I didn't really understand it until I started getting through this season, probably halfway through the year, and I'm starting to really understand it now and starting to play some better golf because of it.

Q. Was the break a factor? Seemed like the misses came after that or several of them.
TIGER WOODS: I missed one on No. 1 and after that I missed everything. Just didn't putt well. Didn't feel, I didn't feel the putter head flowing, I didn't feel it releasing. These are all normal things I normally feel, but I just didn't quite have the feel for it.

Q. How tough was that second shot before even holing out?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I went back for more club, just because in the pro-am I actually drove it over there and I bounced it over the creek with an 8-iron. And I was, the lie wasn't quite as bad as the pro-am, but in the back of my mind I was like, yeah, just I'll just go with 6-iron, I'll open up the face and make sure I get it over the creek first. I got it down in the fairway and I had 97 yards, which is normally a 60 degree sand wedge for me, but it was perfect with that slope there. I could just take off about 15 yards on the 56 and just hit a little dead one in there and not have it rip back and it worked out perfectly.

Q. You were rolling the eagle and then you had the birdie putt when they sounded the siren. Were you thinking at that point, I want to keep this going?
TIGER WOODS: Yes, I wanted to hit that putt, I wanted to keep it going because, yeah, I was in the rhythm of the round. This is my, it's weird to say, but this is my first delay this year coming back out of it. And I was a little bit worried about how my back was going to feel. I was hoping it wouldn't, this delay wouldn't be that long. I didn't really sit down. I was walking, pacing back and forth, trying to keep it loose, trying to keep myself warm, because these are things that I don't know yet. This is new, which is strange, I did it for 20-some-odd years. You would think I would understand it, but this is different for me.

Q. How did feel?
TIGER WOODS: It feels fine. It feels fine. I kept moving. It was nice to have a warm-up session, it really was. If I had to go right back out right away I would have been a little more concerned of the power output. I probably wouldn't have hit the ball as far as I did.

Q. Compared to yesterday, how was your back when you started and throughout?
TIGER WOODS: I was fine today. I felt loose. The morning, I did my normal routine and I was, I felt good. Just going to have days where I just am not quite there.

Q. Did you have to change your swing? You said yesterday because of your back you changed your swing. So then going into today, how was it then to try to get back to that swing?
TIGER WOODS: I didn't have to make any changes. I could play like I've been playing. I felt great over the golf ball. I really did. I felt like I was going to hit the shots, had the start lines nice and tight, and I was shaping it back and forth either way. Didn't really matter which way or what side of the green the flag was on, I could shape it in there.

Q. Did the speed of the greens after the break affect you at all?
TIGER WOODS: No, I just hit terrible putts.

Q. The par-5s, that's the best effort so far.
TIGER WOODS: Most improved there. I went from 3-over par on the back nine yesterday to 3-under.

Q. 5-under for the day.
TIGER WOODS: And one hole, I switched it from three shots I think. So that's definitely the most improved award. I get that plaque.

Q. Was the putter feel or technical, do you think?
TIGER WOODS: I don't know. I'm going to go right now and figure it out.

Q. You had a lot of success here. Are you getting any of that special feeling back? You've won here five times.
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, you know, I feel, I've always felt comfortable here. And this golf course has been the one that I just had a good feeling about, just the way it shapes with the site lines and just everything about it. Over the course of my entire career I've really done well on Nicklaus courses. I really have. I have won what, Sherwood about four times, five times, finished second four times. I've won at Glen Abbey, Valhalla, here five times. So over the course of my career I've done well on Nicklaus courses. And I've always felt maybe just the high fade or just high shots in general, because I've always hit the ball high has always been advantageous.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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