Q. You're on the verge of being three-for-four since coming back from knee surgery. I guess you are more than happy with your recuperation, but are you totally 100 percent there with your knee?
TIGER WOODS: No, I'm not, but it's getting there. It's going to be a while before I get to 100%.
But it's nice to play without pain. I mean, I can't tell you, describe to you, what I had to go through last year and not have to do that this year and on top of that, be able to now make the golf swings that I know I can make instead of trying to create some kind of swing to get through the day.
I can start making my own golf swing again and it's a lot of fun to be able to do that again.
Q. You no longer have to work around the injury, but what do you have to watch out for still?
TIGER WOODS: It's just a matter of getting the motion, the strength back up. That's going to take time.
Q. Did you ever meet Sarazen, one of the guys with the four-in-a-row thing?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I've had dinner with him a few times. Sat down at the Champions locker room up at Augusta, and just rapped with him, which is pretty neat. All the stories , he goes back to the 1930s telling stories of what he used to hit here, what he did there. It was before my dad was even born.
Q. Did you ever play with him?
TIGER WOODS: I've never played with him, no.
Q. Do you remember how many holes you played Saturday at Augusta last year?
TIGER WOODS: I started on 11 fairway. So that puts it at 26 and a half.
Q. Do those long days not seem to bother you?
TIGER WOODS: I think that's when it helps to be in decent shape. You're going to get tired, yeah, but it's a matter of being -- understanding that you're fatigued, but your body is stilling firing, you can still hit golf shots. Just because you're tired doesn't mean that you are going to hit bad golf shots. I think that's where what I've been doing off the golf course really helps.
Q. Is there a strategy or course management change, depending on the size of your lead?
TIGER WOODS: It does at times. But you've still got to go out there and make birdies, because, obviously, if he goes out and shoots another 8-under par round, I've still got to shoot under par in order to win the tournament.
So it's just a matter of putting myself in position to make birdies, and if I make a few putts, great. But to play the par 5s the way I've been playing them, I think is the key.
Q. You said the crowd seemed a little more amped. Were you a little bit more amped, being in the group with Ernie?
TIGER WOODS: You know, you would think I would be, but I wasn't, just because I knew that I had to just take care of business today and set myself up for tomorrow. That's what I tried to do. That's what he was trying to do. You know, you put all that have stuff aside and you focus on what you need to do and get yourself in position. And if we both were in position tomorrow, then I think we would both take a look at each other and figure out what we need to do to go ahead and win the tournament.
Q. You mentioned -- not to put words in your mouth -- how did you hit it on the driving range this morning and are you surprised the way it turned out? I know the answer to the question but I want to hear --
TIGER WOODS: Just one of those mornings. One of those warm-up sessions, and any player out here can attest to it, we've all been through it where you hit it awful on the range and you go out on the golf course and you hit it well.
I think we all struggle with, any golfer, are our expectation level sometimes. When you lower your expectation level, usually you free yourself up and free your mind up to hit shots. Since I was not hitting very good on the range, I just wasn't as precise on what I tried to do on the golf course and I got into a rhythm. Started hitting shots and getting my confidence up and once I was able to do that, then I can be a little bit more aggressive.
Q. Gary Player once said that when it came to Jack Nicklaus, that he didn't think he was any less strong than Jack was, mentally and physically. Do you think the guys out here already start behind from you that perspective as to how they view themselves?
TIGER WOODS: In what way, from a physical standpoint?
Q. Mental toughness, because Gary was one of the toughest players around.
TIGER WOODS: Well, I think it's interesting. If you're hitting the ball well, people think you're mentally tough because you're playing well. But I think where you see a person, what they have, what kind of mettle they have is when they are not hitting the ball well and whether or not they can still win a golf tournament and still put themselves in contention to win tournaments.
I think that's where Gary was excellent at; Jack was. A lot of the great champions, that's what they were able to do is not when you're hitting well, those off-days, to still keep yourself in the tournament. Or even if you have a lead and you have an off-day, build the lead even though you're not playing well.
Q. Is physical fitness a factor --
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, he is. All you have to do is just ask him, he'll tell you. (Laughter.)
Q. Club on 2?
TIGER WOODS: I hit 8-iron on 2 to about two feet.
4, I hit a driver and a 5-iron out of the right rough just short of the green and pitched up there to about three feet and made it.
5, I hit a 3-iron off the tee. Hit pitching wedge and chipped in with a pitching wedge from about 40 feet.
6, I hit a driver and 3-wood just right of the green and pitched it up there to about six feet of the hole and made it.
12, hit a driver, 3-wood left of the green. Hit a pretty good flop-shot up there to about a foot.
16, I hit a driver and a 5-iron to about 12 feet right behind the hole.
Q. How much sleep did you get last night with the hospital and getting out of here late, get be up at 4:30?
TIGER WOODS: Not enough.
Q. About what, five hours?
TIGER WOODS: About, yeah.
End of FastScripts....
