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DEUTSCHE BANK CHAMPIONSHIP

September 6, 2004

Tiger Woods

NORTON, MASSACHUSETTS

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Well, Tiger, thank for joining us for a few minutes here in the media center. I know it was a great week for you here.

TIGER WOODS: I didn't play that bad, did I? (Laughing.)

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Okay. Questions, please.

Q. You're smiling. So overall, your reaction?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, there's two ways to look at it. This is the best ball-striking week I've had all year, and unfortunately I didn't win because I didn't play the par 5s well at all today. I missed that putt there on 14, which turned the momentum around because I had it on my side.

Q. Can you talk about the fact that you played more like a No. 1 today than maybe you have in a while?

TIGER WOODS: Oh, there's no doubt about that. I played really well. Unfortunately I just didn't take care of the par 5s and you can't do that around this golf course. The par 5s are to be had and I didn't do it.

Q. Can you talk about 2?

TIGER WOODS: I think Vij and I both got fooled by the wind. I'm standing in the fairway and it's blowing straight downwind, and I hit my shot and all of a sudden I see it just stand up. You know, after the ball had landed, about a second or so, you could feel the wind come back in my face.

So it went from straight downwind to straight in any face. Because I hit the shot exactly the way I wanted to, the way I hit the golf ball, I was actually thinking it would fly past the hole. I was kind of half-hoping it would get down and not have to use the back stop; that I should land somewhere near flag-high.

Q. How far was it?

TIGER WOODS: I had 170 and I hit 7-iron.

Q. The shot against the rock, your reaction was one of pain --

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I did. It still hurts.

Q. Two ways of looking at this, are you -- would you say you're disappointed that you don't hold that ranking now?

TIGER WOODS: No, I'm not disappointed about the ranking, I'm disappointed in not winning. As I said, the ranking takes care of -- winning takes care of the ranking.

I had a great opportunity to win today. I got it to even with five holes to go, and I just didn't do it.

Q. 14 was the turnaround; you had the momentum and then if you make and he misses ...

TIGER WOODS: Well, it's a totally different ballgame. I ran my putt by. It's hard to read the putts in the shadows there. I couldn't see whether it was flat or downhill. I was just hoping it I hit a good putt and rolled out. Vijay saw it, he hit his too hard but he buried the second putt. I just pulled my second putt.

Q. Did you hurt your wrist on that shot?

TIGER WOODS: On my putt, no.

Q. When you broke your club, is that what happened?

TIGER WOODS: Yes. It hurt all day.

Q. The shot on 12 --

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it's my old sand wedge I've been using for the last few months and I just happened to put a new one in the bag the week of NEC but I kept my old one around just in case. Thank God I did.

Q. In the scheme of things, is this week important for you in terms of possible preparation for the Ryder Cup and building your game for that?

TIGER WOODS: I think it's just exciting to finally put the pieces together in my golf swing. All summer long, I've been slowly but surely putting them together, and this week was the culmination of it all. I really hit it good this week, and didn't quite make all of the putts, made a few bad shots here and there, but nothing like NEC where I hit it off the planet. My misses were just in the rough, which is no big deal. Those are misses that generally, I just overshaped, which is an easy fix, and I was able to fix it on the very next tee shot. That's what's very nice about the things that are starting to come together.

Q. You didn't hit driver an awful lot; is your confidence more in your 3-wood?

TIGER WOODS: It's just so fast out there, there's really no need to. The only hole I felt uncomfortable with my club selection that I probably should have hit 3-wood was on 12, but it's 295 to the bunker. Yesterday I hit a 2-iron on 17 that went 295 in the rough. So, yeah, it was in between clubs right there. That's the only club that I felt I might have changed.

Q. I've never seen you make a pitch like that -- inaudible?

TIGER WOODS: Neither have I. I was just excited that it went in and didn't have to make a putt. That's generally a tough pitch, and I got myself right back in the tournament with the momentum now on my side and Vijay made a mistake on the very next hole, and all of a sudden we're tied.

Q. Everyone was building it up and obviously it was a big show down, did it feel great to be playing the last day with him?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, we are both 1 and 2 in the world and it's both to go out there and play at a level -- we both played well. Granted, we both made a mistake on 2, but I think we both hit a lot of good golf shots today and put up some good numbers.

You know, Vijay and I have gone head-to-head many times and hopefully we can do it again.

Q. Were you aware of the fact that Adam Scott was making a charge and came within one shot of you?

TIGER WOODS: I didn't see it until we got to -- there was no electronic boards until we got to 13 green -- sorry, hold on. 15 green, that's the first electronic board on the back sign, besides No. 11 green. But he didn't make a run yet I guess, so he wasn't up there. Then all of a sudden, you look up there and he's tied with me and one shot behind Vijay.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank, Tiger. Appreciate your time.

End of FastScripts.

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