home

jobs

	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT

June 2, 2004

Tiger Woods

DUBLIN, OHIO

Q. Give us your thoughts on the week.

TIGER WOODS: I played good. The golf course is in fantastic shape again. I think the greens are fantastic, and I had a chance to see some bunkers. The course is playing difficult, but as usual, it's in top form, so we'll see what happens. Hopefully it'll dry out by the end of the week.

Q. How difficult does it seem to have taken out over 500 trees on the golf course?

TIGER WOODS: It's definitely a different look. The whole premise to doing that was to bring back some wind in the game here, and that's certainly the case if the wind blows, we'll get some openings where the wind will be affecting our second shots.

Q. On 18 there are some bunkers. Any long hitters like you thinking about cutting the corner, will you think twice now?

TIGER WOODS: I've done it before, but I had to have like a 30-mile-an-hour wind. That's the only time I ever did it. Now there's bunkers there and obviously it's not the right play. But it really wasn't the play anyway. If I wasn't playing well, I might have taken a chance. When you're playing well you don't try that. I don't see anybody doing that.

Q. They've tried to get more groove on the greens.

TIGER WOODS: Well, they're much more healthy than they were in the past. You can get them faster, which is nice to see. Before, just from not being healthy, you can't get the greens fast, you'd kill them. Now you can get ahead and get the speed up, which is great.

Q. (Inaudible).

TIGER WOODS: It would be great if they were, but more likely it won't be because of how much rain has fallen. If we get low humidity, yeah, it could dry out by maybe Saturday or Sunday, but we're supposed to get some more rain on Sunday. With higher humidity I don't see the greens being that fast.

Q. They've got a program going. They're going to get much more than that out of the fairways so they'll be faster no matter what the weather is. I don't think you've ever played here when it was fast and I wonder if it favors you when it's like this.

TIGER WOODS: No, I think it favors me the other way because you have to be creative off the tee shots. Right now it's just drive it down there, have it back up a foot and move on. It favors a person who can definitely shoot the golf ball when the fairways are fast. One of the years I won, for about two days it was really fast. I was hitting on No. 5, we were driving it down there with 2-irons and 3-woods trying to keep it out of the water because it was so firm, and the thunderstorms ruined that.

Q. Would you talk a little bit about this stretch, the next three weeks? (Inaudible).

TIGER WOODS: It's a nice little stretch of tournaments. This is obviously a great tournament each and every year, and we get a great field here. This year is no exception to that. I'm going home next week to prepare, and I should be ready to play by the U.S. Open.

Q. Would you talk a little bit about the Ryder Cup? Do you have a favorite Ryder Cup memory?

TIGER WOODS: I think playing in the Ryder Cup is a lot of fun. We can't wait to get the tournament started because of all the functions and stuff. That's not a whole lot of fun for anybody. But once the tournament starts then it's an absolute blast, then you get to compete, have fun with your teammates, cheer for your teammates. After you've kind of beat each other's brains in, now you're teammates. It's cool to experience that.

I've had some fond memories. I've played in good matches and I've had a lot of fun playing in the tournament.

Q. Is there one that stands out, something about one of the matches in particular?

TIGER WOODS: Every time I've played with Darren Clarke we've had just an absolute blast. He's one of my best friends. We go out there, and I obviously play against him, but it's hard when we're out there beating each other's brains in, but we're having a good time, rooting for each other to play well, and that's just how the match is supposed to be played, and we keep playing that every time we play against each other, and that's what makes it so much fun. When you play against one of your best friends -- it's how it's supposed to be played.

Q. The whole world is watching when you get on the tee now. How close are you with the driver?

TIGER WOODS: I'm close with everything. It's just not my driver, it's my entire game. You've got to keep working on it and keep staying patient and hopefully things will fall into place.

Q. You're fully confident it's just around the corner?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, you can see signs of it, piece by piece. If you look at the steady progress I've made -- you have to be out there watching me day after day in order to see the steady progress. If you haven't been out there, then you wouldn't see it.

Q. Did you go into Shinnecock ahead of time or have you seen it?

TIGER WOODS: I have not been there, but I will try to go there before that.

Q. How many will you play, 18?

TIGER WOODS: I don't know, it depends, some kind of tournament out there or what, I don't know.

Q. Lee Trevino is the honoree this year. What has he meant to the game?

TIGER WOODS: He adds a charisma to the game. To be playing at a high level and laughing and joking, that's a player. That wasn't prevalent. Not too many guys can play that way. He's been one of the guys that -- he's probably one of the best ball-strikers of all time, him and Hogan, probably the two best ball-strikers that ever lived that can actually play. I never got to see Mr. Hogan hit a golf ball, but I've played with Trevino a few times and it's truly remarkable how good he is.

Q. Are you amazed at how much these days you share with what may be -- (inaudible).

TIGER WOODS: I've got a few. Yeah, I've got a few. I'm not going to say them in front of you guys. I might say them in private, but some of the stuff I can't really repeat.

Q. Emails or everywhere?

TIGER WOODS: Definitely not emails. I don't have an email address.

Q. I thought you might have been inundated with --

TIGER WOODS: Yeah.

Q. (Inaudible).

TIGER WOODS: I've had a bunch, whether my knee has been giving me problems again. Peter Kostis said that to me at Augusta, you know that?

Q. He saw something in your swing.

TIGER WOODS: I asked him what it was and he didn't tell me.

Q. (Inaudible).

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, my back (laughter). It's golf. Golf is not easy. If you look at any other player who's ever played the game, they'll tell you it's tough. It's very tough. You go through periods where you just don't play well.

Q. But still, when you get questions like that, you're coming off two weeks to reflect on being that close and your approach to the last two tournaments you've been in --

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, that close to a playoff the last two tournaments, and the fact that I've had steady progress. I've already said that. I'd be a lot more frustrated if I wouldn't have made any progress, but I haven't had that.

Q. (Inaudible).

TIGER WOODS: It was never easy. Yeah, I got a lot of great breaks and I played well, but if you look back at those times, I made everything.

Q. (Inaudible).

TIGER WOODS: That's how you shoot scores. You don't go out there and drive every green and two-putt for birdie. You have to make putts. If you look at my U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, I didn't miss one single putt under ten feet for the week. That's good putting. That's kind of how I putted for that stretch. Yeah, I hit the ball decent at times and I also hit the ball horrific at times. But when you make putts, it's amazing what you can go out there and shoot.

Q. How do you like your shot this week?

TIGER WOODS: Things are starting to come together. I just need to go out there and be patient. You don't know how the golf course is going to play tomorrow afternoon. It's fully changed from yesterday to today with the rain. I don't know if it's going to dry out, and the short game shots will be completely different, have a totally different feel. We'll see how much it dries out tomorrow.

Q. (Inaudible).

TIGER WOODS: No, we've never even thought about that.

Q. (Inaudible).

TIGER WOODS: I've seen what he went through, and this is very similar to what I'm going through, where he was close to winning. You look at his results in tournaments, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, top 5 after top 5, he just didn't win any. That's when you know that if you're in the top 5, you're looking pretty good.

Q. If the PGA TOUR was Survivor, who would you vote off the island?

TIGER WOODS: What do you mean? I don't watch the show.

Q. You vote someone off --

TIGER WOODS: I'm not saying anything.

Q. They vote someone off each week.

TIGER WOODS: And your point is (laughter)? I don't care.

Q. What will it be like playing with Vijay? More motivation in a way?

TIGER WOODS: When Vijay and I play, we just play our games. We're trying to win a golf tournament here. It's going to be an enjoyable, competitive environment, and we're going to go out there and play. We're competitors. Just because it's the first two days -- we're trying to set ourselves up for Sunday, and we have a long way to go.

Q. When is the last time you played with him?

TIGER WOODS: I believe it was Amex on Sunday.

Q. (Inaudible).

TIGER WOODS: I don't really talk to him a lot normally when I play, and I know he doesn't really do it, either. The more focused you are, the less talk, for me anyway.

Q. Do you have a favorite shot, putt, drive from the U.S. Open?

TIGER WOODS: I remember just the feeling going down 18 at Pebble knowing that if I just kept my heartbeat going I was going to win the tournament. That's a great feeling to have because you don't have to worry about trying to make par somehow or grinding out a score. If my heart was beating I was going to win the tournament. That's a feeling I'll never forget.

End of FastScripts.

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297