Q. How many shots can you realistically make up on a course like this?
TIGER WOODS: Quite a bit. It depends if we play lift, clean and place tomorrow or not. They have the GUR lines out there, which the golf course is not playable for playing the ball down right now. Every ball I hit, ball in the fairway, picked up mud, and it was clumps of mud. So I don't see how they are going to play it down.
Q. How did the drives on 9 and 10 set you up for the back nine?
TIGER WOODS: Those two holes, I was supposed to let it go and I didn't. I just hung onto it, and had I hang on it, I actually hit the outside part of the ball and I flipped it because I slowed down. If I had put some speed on it I would not lose it left like I did. I did that coming in, like on 17, I made sure I got my arm speed up and didn't slow it down. I strapped it right there in the middle. Tried to do the same thing on 18 tee with my iron shot, and I just absolutely flushed it, a 2-iron.
Q. (Inaudible.)
TIGER WOODS: Well, it was difficult but I just didn't want to leave it up top. One of those things, anything that gets on the green is going to get down there, but the greens are soft. So there's really -- you can hit one of those shots where it lands soft, and next thing you know, you're leaving yourself on top with no chance of making the putt.
I wanted to get a lot closer than that, obviously but at least I got down to the bottom shelf where I had an uphill putt.
Q. (Inaudible.)
TIGER WOODS: We do occasionally, but it's just because we are bored.
Q. Could you see the green at 9?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah. Well, I could see the flag, and I knew that I just had to play right of the flag.
Q. What do you take out of your round today, given the fact that you did score so well, being all over the map?
TIGER WOODS: Well, I didn't really drive it very good, just because a lot of times, I just tried to bump it out there and then not let it go. I need to step up there and just let it go, let it eat. When I do that, I'm fine. The ball is in play and I can turn the ball and I can shape shots either way.
But just like anybody, you start feeling a little uneasy over shots or you slow it down, trying to put both hands on the wheel and steer it out there, and when I do that, a lot of times I hit the outside part of the ball.
Q. Can you take confidence out of the fact when you were in the fairway you were very, very sharp?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it's great playing out of the fairway. It's really not that hard. It's just that I didn't find it very often today.
Q. Is it easier to make up a large deficit when you are picking the ball up or playing the ball down?
TIGER WOODS: With it playing down, it's a lot of luck. As I said, every tee shot I hit in the fairway picked up mud. It's just hard to believe that they are going to play it down because from there, yeah, you've got to hit good shots coming into the greens with mud on the ball, but a lot of it is luck, too.
End of FastScripts....
