VERIZON BYRON NELSON CLASSIC

May 9, 2001

Tiger Woods

TIGER WOODS: Well, after I won, I didn't really celebrate that night. I went home and packed up my bags and wasn't feeling too good that day. Went back to Florida and stayed in bed for about four days. Had 102 fever; had the flu pretty good, so I didn't really celebrate anything. But I've been busy. I've done two clinics and had my concert out in Vegas, so everything is going well with the Foundation. Been practicing a little bit here and there. Pretty excited about getting here and teeing up again.

TIGER WOODS: I think I've helped in that, yes, especially in concession sales, for the beverages of their choice out here. (Smiles). But obviously, the tournament has been great. I've enjoyed coming here, and if I can just make this tournament a little bit better, so be it. But it's been fantastic coming here over the years, even when I came here as an amateur.

TIGER WOODS: To have a gentlemen like that, to accomplish what he's accomplished in his career think enough of just to sit down and take the time out to right a little note to you, that's very special. I've always admired Byron. Always looked up to him. And to get notes like that, it's very special. You don't find that in too many sports, and in this sport, it's just commonplace to do that.

TIGER WOODS: I haven't played hardly at all. I've just been kind of laying low, practicing a little bit here and there, but I haven't really done much.

TIGER WOODS: That would be nice. That would be really nice if I could do that. I got off to a good start in '97. I think I shot back-to-back 64s, I believe, starting out the week. If I get off to a good start tomorrow at Cottonwood Valley, obviously with the early-morning time, I'm going to have to post a good round tomorrow.

TIGER WOODS: It wasn't even close to'97. '97, I think I was like the first group off in the afternoon, so there was a lot more time for people to come out. This morning at 7:00 A.M., not too many get up that early. I sure don't.

TIGER WOODS: I did all right. I skanked a couple here and there.

TIGER WOODS: I've said this before. I don't think you can ever eclipse what it was in '97, just because I was so new to the golfing scene. I had just turned pro, not even a year, like eight months, and I had accomplished a little bit within those eight months. So I think the newness factor just made it that much more intense. I've been around for like five years now. It's just a little bit different. I think people have seen me. I've played here enough times now; it's not my first time here as a pro, like it was in '97. So I think that has a lot to do with it. And do I ever think it will get like it did in '97? I don't think so. I don't think it can ever eclipse what it was then, just because it was -- I accomplished a lot, quickly, and it just kind of built.

TIGER WOODS: My friendship with Mr. Nelson has obviously been very special to me, to have him take the time out to either right me a note or pull me aside and we just talk. I remember when he pulled me aside over at Bel Aire and we had a nice conversation there about my future within the game and what he thought about my golf swing, which is pretty neat. He didn't have to do that. But he took the time out to do that, that was very special. That meant a lot to me. Our impact on the game of golf, I think his impact was probably a little bit more impactful than mine, because I think the game of golf was just getting started. The Tour was just growing. What he accomplished, you know, after the world wars, to get the game started again, because obviously, it was, it, really wasn't that popular then, and he took it from a game that was predominantly for amateurs, and the pros were not really looked upon as highly as they are now. He took that and changed that. He was very influential in getting the professional status to where it is at today, where it is recognizable.

TIGER WOODS: I was 15, I think. I was a freshman in high school. I was there performing a clinic with Jack Nicklaus, and Byron pulled me aside and liked what I -- liked how I went about my game. He'd been reading news clippings, he said, for a while, keeping up on my performance. He says, "Just say the track. Keep doing what you're doing, because obviously what you're doing is right."

TIGER WOODS: It really is, because I'm too close to the situation, and also too close to the moment that it transpired; it has only been a month. It is hard for me to get a clear perspective on what actually happened. I'll watch the tapes. Yeah, it's great that I was able to squeak it out at the end. But to get a complete understanding of it, I don't think it will happen for a while. I understand from a historical point of view, from within our sport, but I wasn't around for a lot of those things that happened in other sports. I've only been alive for 25 years. A lot has transpired for before me.

TIGER WOODS: What win streak? (Laughs). Yeah, I won three in a row, I think it is. Big deal.

TIGER WOODS: This is a new week. I need to start off tomorrow and then get off to a good start and hopefully I can get myself in contention to win.

TIGER WOODS: The ultimate goal is getting ready for that, and having your game peak for that and hopefully I can not embarrass myself and break 90 a couple days and get to the weekend. But I'm just going to go out there with the intent just like I always do, go out there and try and get myself in position to win and try and win this thing. I feel like my game is pretty solid for the time off that I took, and hopefully, it will come together and I can get it going again and get myself where I can peak at the U.S. Open.

TIGER WOODS: I may work it on the practice tee, but I don't work on the golf course, not while I'm playing.

TIGER WOODS: Well, it's been -- it was Annika for a while, and then it Karrie and now it's Annika again. It's just been fun watching how she performed; and more importantly, how she's handled it and the class she has handled it with. That, to me, is indicative to what kind of person she really is. To have that kind of humbleness when she's shooting 59s and come-from-behind victories and things she's been doing. It's just been fun to watch as a spectator of the sport.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, after I pretty much won, that's what I was doing.

TIGER WOODS: That was our plan, until obviously what transpired.

TIGER WOODS: I don't know. If we have time, then great, but right now, that's not on our minds. What happened this past week was obviously very tough, and Southern Hills can wait.

TIGER WOODS: I don't know. The only time I've played there, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed being there and I had a chance to win on Sunday. Just didn't do it. But I had a lot of fun playing the golf course. I enjoyed the fans and their support, but, you know, I also enjoy playing globally, too.

TIGER WOODS: Well, I can't really control what other players do. I need to go out there and execute my golf shots the way I know I can to get myself in contention. When you're playing a major championship, that's -- whether you are hot or not, it's irrelevant. You just need to go out there and play, because, obviously, there's different emotions. The golf course is set up completely different than what we play on TOUR week after week. Your mindset is going to be a little bit different.

TIGER WOODS: Still the same. No, it has not changed from last year, or any year, quite frankly.

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think any time you play any big tournament, you can't afford to make mistakes, just because it's so much more difficult to make birdies and make up those strokes. You know, par is a wonderful score, especially at Southern Hills. Par is a wonderful score there. When you go out there and you play, you just -- when you're playing in major championships, you know you can't afford to make a whole lot of mistakes. You know, Phil made his share at Augusta, but he also made a lot of birdies; broke the birdie record. But playing majors, you just have to plod along and grind it out. It's a four-day, 72-hole-long marathon, really.

TIGER WOODS: My attitude about tradition has obviously -- really hasn't changed. It's still the same. I just didn't want to talk. You guys got me at a bad time. (Laughs). I do remember doing that interview, too. I was coming off the day and I just didn't want to talk that day. Obviously, I didn't. But my attitude towards the media has changed a little bit. I have gotten to know a lot of people within the media, especially the guys who travel from week to week; I see them every time I play. I understand my responsibilities a little bit better than back when I was an amateur. Back when I was an amateur, I was not the person that -- I didn't think the media should be talking to me. There are so many guys that were so much better than I was at the time that -- go back to them; those are the guys who deserve it. Those are one of the reasons why I think I was a little more distant from the media, is I didn't think I deserved it. I had not really earned my right to have the media ask me questions or have the attention I was getting because I really haven't accomplished anything at this level. At the Junior Golf level and Amateur Golf level, that's fine, ask me questions at those tournaments, but not at a professional event, because I have not really performed like the guys have out here week-in and week-out.

TIGER WOODS: More difficult, obviously this one, coming down the stretch with Phil and David. With the battles we had, the whole day, really, with David making a move early and I had to answer with some big putts on 7, 8, 9 and 10. That was a lot of fun. The tournament that I won in '97 was a little bit easier, because I was playing better. I was playing a lot better then. I was driving it a lot longer, too. I've gotten a little shorter as I've gotten older. Just kind of bunt it out there now. (Laughter.) In '97, it was a different from -- I think it was nice to be able to win a major that early in my career and accomplish that, rather than keep plugging along and have the media and the pressures mounting within me to try and accomplish that. I was fortunate enough to get it done right away, and that's a big deal. I don't think I would want to just keep plugging along, major after major, without a title, because the pressure you put upon yourself is pretty great, and then it mounts when you are not winning. I was able to did it right away, my first major as a professional. So I think that relieved a lot of stress and a lot of attention -- tension.

TIGER WOODS: I think it is an advantage from two perspectives. One being that I've already won mine and I've gotten that out of the way, so I don't have to answer those questions day-in and day-out when, obviously, you guys want to know why. And the second is I understand how to win those championships. I think that's probably an even bigger deal, because once you understand what it takes coming down the stretch, how to control your emotions, how to control your game, your mind, your focus and your outlook. I think that is only going to serve you down the road when you've encountered those situations again. And I've gone through those and I've come out on top because I've had a chance to reflect and say, you know, "I've done this before, why can't I do it now."

TIGER WOODS: It felt very tight, I'll tell you that, the Spandex, tight suit, body suit I had to wear, motion captures for EA Sports. And all of those dots you saw all over me, that's basically for the lasers, they can get my skeletal imprint, my exact movements, which is kind of neat. Because I may make a swing, and five minutes later, it's on the computer and they have already got a skeletal frame of my golf swing, and I kind of look a look at it saying, "Well, I didn't like that position, let's do it again." So I can kind of fix is, so it looks good.

TIGER WOODS: Probably the 62, because you don't really have to go quite as low. But it all depends, I think, on the par you play in a major championship. If you play a par that's 70, I think it's a little bit easier, because all you have to do is shoot 8-under, rather than going out there and having to shoot 10-under par. I think on a par-70, I think it can be done, but again, either way, you've got to play some great golf. You've really got to drive your ball, hit your irons sharp and make everything you look at it. It's not easy, either way. I've shot 59 before, and it felt easy, but in hindsight, it wasn't easy, because I made absolutely everything I looked at.

TIGER WOODS: I think you'll have to ask me after a couple tournaments.

TIGER WOODS: I've taken a month off. I've hit a lot of golf balls. Yeah, I can hit a golf ball great on the range. I can rake another one and hit that good, too. But to hit one in competition I think is a much better barometer. After a couple tournaments, I'll have better feel for what I need to work on and what I need to improve on heading into Southern Hills.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, they already have.

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think either the fifth or sixth hole, the par 5, dogleg-left down the hill, the fifth, they moved that tee back. It's almost 650 now or whatever it is, 620. And they moved the tee back on 18 across the -- across the creek on the right. So now it is more of a dogleg. Brought all the fairways in and you get four- or five-inch Bermuda rough, man, it's not going to be easy.

TIGER WOODS: I think it's all him, quite frankly, to have that type of quality individual associated with an event, guys just gravitate to that. This is a perfect example of that. Guys keep playing here because of his association with the tournament.

TIGER WOODS: I've had a lot of interesting things happen, not just after Augusta. Probably the most meaningful phone call I've received was probably from my dad.

TIGER WOODS: We just talked for a while and said how proud he was of me. Obviously, he didn't go out there and watch; he wasn't in good enough condition to go out there and watch. But, you know, we talked for about an hour or so. Maybe a little more than that. It was just really neat to talk to my dad like that. We talked about a whole bunch of different subjects, but we predominantly talked about Augusta and what it meant for me to have him there, him watching and him there just in support. It just meant a lot to me. My mom and I talk all the time, so I talked to her the next day and she just sold me, "Go get some chicken soup."

TIGER WOODS: If I'm able to get there, great. If I'm not, then so be it. I know the layout. I know how the holes shape. I think seeing it in the summer with it dry and fast, it's going to be a lot harder than how we played it. We played it when it was soft. We had a rain storm or a front come through there Wednesday of the Pro-Am; it was like 28 degrees, it was actually freezing. That year was a tough year for me individually, especially that week, with my father. But I think with the conditions being dry and fast, you're going to have to shape your ball more off the tees because with the slope and the pitch in the fairways, you're going to have to try to keep the ball in the fairway. And probably hit more 2-irons and 3-woods off the tees at the corner of the doglegs, versus back when I played in '96, when you could hit driver down there and you know it's just going to plug.

TIGER WOODS: Quite frankly, that tournament was not important to me at all, with what happened to my dad that night, it was just -- it wasn't important, golf. It puts things in perspective real quick for you and that was one of those things.

TIGER WOODS: I don't know. That's a tough question. For me, I just had to peak four times. He did it 11 consecutive times. That, to me is pretty impressive. I did mine in major championships. He only won one that year because that was the only major they held that year. He had the Slam, I guess in, one year; the only tournament they played. It probably would be unfair for me to answer that question because both of them are unique in different ways. Obviously, his is for consistency and mine is just for peaking at the right time.

TIGER WOODS: That's a great question. Quite frankly, Scott, I don't really look at it that way, just because I just want to have my game right for the majors. And I've been very fortunate to have my game come together at the right times, and I've got some good breaks, too, along the way. But it was a nice way to, I guess, to end that chapter of my life, to win four in a row. But it's hard to say that I'm ending it, because I'm just five years into my career. In golfing terms, I'm just getting started. I'm still in my infancy stages. So I really don't look at it the fact that it's an end, just because of the fact that I have so many years or possible years that I can play at a high level. When I'm older and look back in hindsight, that may be the end or that may be the beginning. But when I'm right here in it right now, I just like where I'm at right now.