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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 27, 2004

Tiger Woods

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA

Q. Scrambled all the way up the 5th up at one point?

TIGER WOODS: I had a not-so-good finish. But overall I played really well today. I hit so many good golf shots today. Man, it was just -- all the hard work is starting to pay off. As I told you guys, things are starting to come together, and each and every day is starting to get a little better.

Q. Been a while since we've seen any fist pumps and crowds cheering. It's been kind of dead electricity-wise.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, kind of.

Q. You feed off that stuff, too.

TIGER WOODS: Kind of. This golf course is so hard, that you've got to try and stay as level as you possibly can, not too high, not too low, and just try and keep an even keel. It's easy to go up-and-down on this golf course and waste your energy.

Q. 14 and 15, just same problems, where you let it get to the right a little bit and you get in an awful lie, right?

TIGER WOODS: No, 15 I was just, again, not committed on the tee shot. I'm thinking 3-wood like I did yesterday, I can run out of the fairway, maybe I should hit a soft driver and get down there. Maybe just a little 3-wood. No, I hit a soft driver. I just flared it over to the right.

And then I did the same thing on 18, between a 7 and 8. And the wind switched and went from downwind to in my face, which meant it was a perfect 7. And then I was over the ball. I took the club back, and it switched, it went down again. And I said, I have too much club, and I've got to ease off on it. I should have just backed off the shot, but I tried to ease off it and tried to open the face up and add a little loft, cut it, and I just flared it out to the right.

Q. The second shot on 11, it was a good opportunity there. What happened on the second shot?

TIGER WOODS: Just pulled it. I was trying to hit a three-quarter soft fade in there and just pulled it. The worst place to put it is where I put it. If anything, put the ball in the right bunker, and anything short of pin-high or pin-high you can chip up the green. Where I was was a pretty difficult shot. I've been practicing in the practice round, and I was hitting it really well, so I got up there and didn't do it.

Q. The turn at 4-under after chipping in at nine, at that point you're thinking you could go really low, I'm assuming?

TIGER WOODS: No, you don't think that way, not on this golf course. You can't. You just be patient. I couldn't kind of build on each and every shot, just put it where you can put it. Just go about your business and let the score take care of itself.

Q. You were starting to feel the adrenalin going as you made the turn? You started to see some things paying off, getting back in the tournament? Could you feel it a little bit?

TIGER WOODS: You saw me out there playing. I hit some good golf shots, man. And it's just all the hard work is starting to pay off, and I'm starting to see the swing changes I'm making are starting to come together.

Q. When's the last time you remember hitting the ball as well?

TIGER WOODS: When I played a 36-hole match against Trevor. Whatever I shot that day, 11-, 12-under. I really played well, yeah.

Q. The approach on 18?

TIGER WOODS: I already explained that.

Q. What did you do, get grass between the ball on the first chip on 14? It just took off.

TIGER WOODS: It was just a bad chip. I was just trying to hit a high softy in there, and I just gunned it.

Q. The chip in at 9, Tiger, just a little bit about that?

TIGER WOODS: Luck (laughter). It was just all luck, because I hit such a good golf shot in there. Robert got fooled, we both got fooled in that wind. In the fairway it feels down. At the flag it's showing in, and it's hard to convince yourself to hit a shot because you know if you miss it long, it's down the back bowl, and you have no shot up-and-down. The place to miss it is short. We both missed it short. We both didn't trust the wind, what it was doing up at the green. My chip shot, I tried to hit some kind of spinner in there, and it didn't work.

Q. Did you put some kind of wrap on your lower back at the turn?

TIGER WOODS: Not my lower back, no.

Q. Anywhere?

TIGER WOODS: My leg.

Q. Tiger, if the weather conditions stay the same as they are now, what kind of score do you need tomorrow to give yourself a chance?

TIGER WOODS: I figure the leader will get to 13-under or so, something like that, maybe somewhere in there, because the guys will take it low today. The pins are very accessible. There's so many holes where you can feed the ball into the flags today. Tomorrow that won't be the case, they're up on plateaus where it will be difficult to get at. So hopefully tomorrow I'll get off to a quick start like I did today.

Q. What was bothering you today?

TIGER WOODS: I had a pulled quad for a little bit, and it was just acting up.

Q. The one you had surgery on or the other one?

TIGER WOODS: The left one.

Q. Tiger, if it is 13 at the end of the day, can you overcome that tomorrow do you think, or do you still have a chance?

TIGER WOODS: A lot of things can happen on this golf course, as we all have seen. You can shoot low rounds, and you can shoot high ones. Good players can go low here, and good players can go high here. It doesn't take much for that ball to feed off one way or the other on that slope. You're looking at a 30-footer or you're looking at a kick-in. It's one of those type of golf courses.

Q. Are you pleased more than disappointed, pleased with the way you hit it but maybe disappointed that you didn't get it 6-, 7-under?

TIGER WOODS: Well, you have to look at it both. I am pleased with how well I played, but just to finish the way I did, it's just -- it is not that exciting because I was right there. Even if the leaders go ahead and run off, I could still be in reach. Now I've got to go ahead and birdie two to get back to where I was at one point. It is frustrating. Anytime you end with bogey-bogey, it's always going to leave a bad taste in your mouth.

End of FastScripts.

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