VERIZON BYRON NELSON CLASSIC

May 12, 2002

Tiger Woods

Q. Bogey on 8 slow you down a little bit, slow your momentum down?

TIGER WOODS: I don't think it was 8. I think when I missed that short putt on 7 hurt because I was playing well, and I just missed a little short one, just pulled it.

And the next hole, on 8, is actually -- it wasn't the shot that I hit. I hit a good shot, but I made the wrong club selection. I don't know why I tried to hit a big draw on 7, I should have hit a low-cut 6 and, consequently, I ended up left of the green and I had almost no chance of getting it up and down.

Q. Do you think you have a chance?

TIGER WOODS: I don't know. We'll see what happens. You know, Maruyama is playing well. If he plays smart, he should be able to win the tournament.

Q. Tiger, it seems the par 3s bothered you, overshooting the par 3s.

TIGER WOODS: Not really. I hit -- it felt like I hit some good shots today. The shot I hit on 17 was probably one of the best swings I made all day, and unfortunately, it just ended up in the wrong spot.

Q. Are you pleased with your game right now?

TIGER WOODS: Oh, yeah, yeah. I've gotten better every day, and that's what you want to see when you take some time off. You want to see some progress, and I've been able to do that.

Q. Is it too far ahead to think of the U.S. Open?

TIGER WOODS: Definitely, yeah, yeah. I've got a few more tournaments to go before then.

Q. (Inaudible) ?

TIGER WOODS: I hit a 6-iron on the first cut of rough. It just caught the grass part over the lip. It just cut the top of it and kicked back in.

Q. You birdied those three holes on the backside. Did you get that Sunday juices feeling that maybe you could hit something really, really low?

TIGER WOODS: If I could have been in position to make a putt on 17 for birdie instead of par. I needed to make at least one coming in, you know, to give myself a chance, but the way Maruyama is playing, he should be able to win this tournament.

Q. (Inaudible) ?

TIGER WOODS: Sand wedge? I had a pretty good lie and I felt like the hill -- I tried to carry it into the steepest part of the hill where I could be aggressive and whip it into the hill, and when it lands it should land on the green with some spin. It should have come out better than it did.

Q. These last four holes, are they playing as difficult as they have been -- as they've been the last couple days?

TIGER WOODS: No, no. The wind is not as up as, you know -- 16, if you're on the longer side of normal, you should be able to get there in two, or at least come close, and that hasn't been the case the last couple days.

Q. Tiger, there's talk that they're going to move this tournament back a week which could be a conflict to you. (Inaudible)?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah. This tournament has been a lot of fun to play, from my time as a professional as well as an amateur, and I've had a good time.

Q. Tiger, obviously Shigeki has played very well. Should he come out and close -- (inaudible)?

TIGER WOODS: Well, he's been playing well for a while now, and it's just a matter of time before he gets the good breaks and gets things going and makes a few putts. And from what I've seen in the highlights, he's made some 30 -, 40-footers, and that doesn't hurt.

Q. (Inaudible)?

TIGER WOODS: I feel like I played that way today. What you want to do is just see progress every day after taking three weeks off. If I could have progressed every day, I feel like it would have been a successful week, which I've been able to do.

Q. Tiger, you talk about getting off to a good start, and you did that. Could you feel the holes right after that, that that's when you needed to continue that, that you were stalling out there?

TIGER WOODS: No, because the wind was up there. I felt if I could come in 3 or 4 under par, I'd be in good shape going in the back nine, because I could have cut the lead in half going into the back nine, like I was in a position to at least give it a run.

Q. Did you feel you had shots on the front to make that kind of move?

TIGER WOODS: Only shot I really -- I threw two away, missing a short one over on 7 and making bogey on 8, those two shots.

Q. How short was it?

A. Seemed like it was about 4-and-a-half feet.

Q. (Inaudible) thinking about winning the whole Grand Slam. Is that true?

TIGER WOODS: Is there speculation?

Q. Are you motivated to try to do it?

TIGER WOODS: I'm not motivated by trying to do it. You have to do it one at a time. Winning the Masters doesn't mean I'm going to win the Grand Slam. It just means I'm the only one that has a chance at it.

Q. Shigeki has quite a personality. Yesterday he sang for us. Any chance you could do that for us?

TIGER WOODS: No, thank you.

Q. Are you going to get one of those Am Ex cards to --

TIGER WOODS: I don't have one.

Q. Have you seen it?

TIGER WOODS: No.

Q. Thank you, Tiger.

End of FastScripts....