THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 26, 2001

Tiger Woods

TIGER WOODS: Well, it's pretty -- I mean, it is special, to be able to win a championship like this, on an extremely demanding golf course, with probably the best field assembled in all of golf -- all of golf for the entire year. It is extremely rewarding to do that. Not only that, to be able to play down the stretch against Jerry and Vijay, two guys that played extremely hard this week. And obviously, I'm just very fortunate enough to come out on top.

TIGER WOODS: I was. Some of the writers -- and I know who they are, had suggested and said it. Obviously, they don't really understand the game that well, because if you look at the way I was playing, I wasn't playing that bad. It wasn't like I was missing cuts every week. I was right there with a chance to win in virtually every tournament I teed up in, and I think that's pretty good. It's just that I had not won, and that's part of the game. It is a game that's very fickle. You can try as hard as you want, and sometimes it just doesn't work out. Now I've won two tournaments in a row, and I'm sure they will write about something else.

TIGER WOODS: You know, to be honest with you, I don't think I really am hitting the ball any better. I feel like I've gotten on some good greens. I've gotten away from putting on poa. When I went over to Dubai, I got on some good greens and I knew I was putting well, and next thing you know, I got it going. I really have not hit the ball that much better. I've just got on some nice greens -- where my putting stroke, how I'm rolling it, I'm getting rewarded for making good putts.

TIGER WOODS: I was aware that -- I assumed he made triple, but when you are out there, sometimes, you know, the electronic scoring boards sometimes are wrong. I figured: It's probably wrong, and go ahead and play it like I've only got a one-shot lead. I've got a lot of trouble ahead of me, and I probably need to make at least one birdie coming in, possibly two, so at least put yourself in a position to go ahead and do that. When I saw the board on 15, I figured, well, 20 minutes has gone by. It's hard to have two boards wrong. So more than likely, he probably had made a mistake on 14. I knew he had made eagle, because of the roar over on 16 green when we were up on the tee -- obviously, just because he lives here with the hometown crowd. I don't think that would have been a roar for Scott.

TIGER WOODS: I feel pretty good. My practice sessions this week have been pretty good. My short game, I feel as if -- I'm pretty happy with it. The shots I was working on this week before Augusta, I felt that I'm very pleased on some of the shots, and I will continue to probably work on the most important thing at Augusta, and that's control your trajectory, and hopefully that will get a little bit better.

TIGER WOODS: The course definitely was not playing easy. I had to hit the golf shots where I wanted to and how I wanted to. For the most part, I was able to do that. I thought the most important thing starting out the day was to get the ball in play, keep it in the fairway on every hole. And from there, if you have a situation where it is -- you can attack, go ahead. But more than likely, you are going to have to try to play it off a slope, off a bank here. That's what I was able to do, the first hole, the 10th hole. I ripped a 3-wood and had a chip 7-iron, and I hit it behind the hole because I knew I had that backboard there. I was just trying to play the flag five yards beyond to roll back. And that's what happened; I hit it about three yards past, and it rolled back.

TIGER WOODS: I was trying to aim it on the slope there and hit a punch fade and bleed it over there to the flag. That's what I did. I actually hit the punch fade. I was pleased the way I hit it. I knew when I hit it, I hit the ball the right distance. From there, it is up to the bounce. I hit it soft over there and rolled, and I got a horrible lie over there. I was just trying to get it somewhere within six or eight feet for par, and I was able to do that. Yeah, my ball was up against a hazard line. If a ball is touching the hazard line, it is deemed to be in the hazard.

TIGER WOODS: I have felt like -- as if I was playing some pretty good golf over the last few months. It's just that you need to have some good breaks come your way. I think that's what has happened the last couple of weeks. I've had some shots that were kind of borderline that turned out all right, where I was able to make pars or birdies, and you need to have those kind of breaks. You cannot always play well. You have to have a little luck on your side, and I think that is what has transpired over the last couple weeks.

TIGER WOODS: You know, I think if you keep putting yourself there, time and time again, you are going to get your good breaks. You're going to also get your bad breaks, too. I've hit some shots on the West Coast I thought were pretty good that just haven't really turned out very good at all, but that's just part of the game. You have to understand that, accept it, and move on. When you get a good break, you have to capitalize on it, because obviously, getting a good break and capitalizing on it more than likely will give you some big-time momentum, and I think that's what's happened.

TIGER WOODS: The field.

TIGER WOODS: The field.

TIGER WOODS: The field. (Laughter.)

TIGER WOODS: I feel as if I'm headed in the right direction, no doubt about that. The shots that I am hitting now, I feel very pleased at what I am able to do on the golf course. I'm pleased at the changes I've made in my game, and they are starting to come together, which is nice. It's nice to see a lot of hard work paying off. That's what it's about.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I figured that. (Laughs). But in all honesty, I'm going to treat it just like I do every major: Just go in there with the same mindset, the same game plan, play as hard as I can, try on every shot, and hopefully, I will have a chance coming down the back nine on Sunday. That's something -- you can't really look at the fact that I have a chance to win four consecutive majors. Obviously, that is true. But it's like what I told all of you guys at the British Open. Yeah, I have a chance to win the Grand Slam, the career Grand Slam, but that's kind of a by-product of winning the golf tournament, and that's what I'm going to try and do. I'm going to try and win the golf tournament.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I did. But looking at the trophies that I have on my mantle, three are lined up. Put another one on there, it looks pretty good. (Laughter.)

TIGER WOODS: On top of my fireplace.

TIGER WOODS: Right in the middle. I've got all five -- all six lined up. My U.S. Amateur trophy. I had a replica made with my name on it three times.

TIGER WOODS: I've always thought this has been a big tournament, so that hasn't changed. I think it's exciting to be able to play in a field this deep and to be able to come out on top. But my perception has not changed, no. This is a big tournament. And like everybody is saying, it's probably the fifth major.

TIGER WOODS: 18 tee? No. He didn't say one word. (Laughter.) He was not about to say one word, either.

TIGER WOODS: A little chip 2-iron, keep it down the right side somewhere. If it goes in the rough, so be it.

TIGER WOODS: To be honest with you, I had to believe that it was either -- it had to be three players, because I thought three players had a chance to win besides myself. If Bernhard had got off to a quick start, he's right back in the ball game. Jerry is playing with me. If he makes a couple putts, obviously he's right there. Vijay, with his length, and I know he can make some birdies out there. I had to get off to a good start myself. And from there, whoever came out of the pack, so be it. But I had to take care of my own business first.

TIGER WOODS: Mistakes? Yeah.

TIGER WOODS: Probably the only blunder I probably made was trying to keep the blade too open coming down on my second shot into No. 11. I was up against the first cut -- up against the high stuff in the first cut of rough, and I tried to hit a hot one up there in the bunker somewhere. And I had to protect against the rough catching it and then hitting a quick hook, and I tried to keep the blade open. I came down and I kept the blade too open, and I hit it straight right, right in the water.

TIGER WOODS: Yesterday, I hit 2-iron off the first tee. I hit a 9-iron to about eight feet and made that. No. 2, I hit a driver down the left side of the rough. Hit a 3-iron that rolled up short of the green and pitched in from about 30 yards or so. Bogeyed 7. Hit driver way right. I had a 9-iron from 150; didn't hit it solid. I hit it a little thin and caught the tree, up in the first bunker. Hit a wonderful bunker shot up there and just missed it. On 9, hit a driver right down the middle. Hit a mud ball 5-iron up there. Had a sand wedge from 95 yards to the hole, and hit it about ten feet below the hole and made that. Starting out today, hit a 3-wood off the first tee -- I'm sorry, 10th tee. Hit a 7-iron in to about six inches. No. 12, I hit a 3-wood off the tee and pulled it just a little bit, really flush; got it past the corner. I had 60 yards to the hole. Hit a 60-degree sand wedge to about eight feet and made that. 16, I hit a 3-wood off the tee. I hit it up in the first cut of rough. I had -- what did I have in there? I had 210 to the hole. I hit a little 7-iron in there pin-high. Lipped it out from about 40 feet. 18, I hit a 2-iron off the right side of the rough. Hit a 60-degree sand wedge, just kind of down the fairway somewhere. I had 135 to the hole. Hit a pitching wedge that landed 131 and spun back down the shelf, and I 2-putted from about 20 feet.

TIGER WOODS: 9-iron.

TIGER WOODS: I think Jerry is one heck of a competitor. I think the work he's done, obviously, changing his swing has really worked. And he went out there and played hard this week. He got it going. He kept it going for most of the week. Today might have been a little different story if he would have made a couple of those putts. He came so close on the putts. He hit great putts: On 10, he left right in the middle. 11, he just burned the edge. 12, he burned the edge. He just hit good putts. They just didn't go in.

TIGER WOODS: What I haven't won? Well, I think I've had a pretty good career. (Smiles.) I think it is going to be fun to try and win the same tournaments again, and hopefully it will be, obviously, the majors, hopefully.

TIGER WOODS: When I saw him, I knew he was going to make the putt. He only had six feet or so. That's a gimmee for him on these greens. I knew if I could make -- obviously, if I 2-putted, I've got a two-shot lead, which means if I go par, par, he's going to have to do something spectacular on 18. My mindset when I hit that putt down there, I don't know how that putt didn't go in. It was such a pure putt. It was a triple-breaker. It was just hit -- I knew I hit it the right pace. I just needed to get it down there. And it would have been nice to be able to top Vijay; Vijay makes birdie and loses a shot. That's how I was thinking when the ball was going down there.

TIGER WOODS: To be honest, I thought it was going to be up against the collar, because I didn't think it was spinning enough to end up where it did. I was kind of surprised it ended up where it did. I knew I hit it the right distance. I knew when I hit the shot it was the right distance. From there, I saw it bounce, and I said, "No big deal," and I saw it go a little right. Obviously, because the fringe -- the green is tilted over there , and on the fringe line the green is tilted left-to-right. Ball skipped up and then caught the fringe; the fringe is sloping left-to-right, so it kind of just spun down the slope. But it lands and kicks on the green, it actually feeds itself back towards the hole.

TIGER WOODS: When I won the Amateur here, it was a little different philosophy off the tees. I was just taking driver out, hit it down there somewhere and I knew I could make par. Hopefully, I could get on the green and make a putt. This time out, I can shape shots a little bit better. I know I can hit iron shots a little better. But the golf course then was playing just incredibly dry and fast. It was all Bermuda. Big-time grain in all of these putts. It was about 95, 98 every day, playing 36 holes. It was hot, humid. Even then, I was, what, probably 145 pounds -- even I lost weight then. It was a little different for a kid from the West Coast coming out and dealing with all of the heat and humidity, all the bugs.

TIGER WOODS: That's just the way it is. A lot of guys have played well here and just haven't played well at Augusta. That's just part of the game. You know, you try as hard as you can, and sometimes it isn't going to work.

TIGER WOODS: Two weeks, that's a long time.

TIGER WOODS: Is it depressing? You know, that's one of the reasons why you diversify yourself. (Laughter.)

TIGER WOODS: A couple of shots, I actually was thinking about it, yeah. Not too many, though.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, at home in Isleworth and at Bay Hill. Because we have our greens -- like I was talking to Mark, and right now the greens are running at 13 to 14 on the Stimp back home.

TIGER WOODS: More than likely probably before Thursday. (Laughs). Probably either Monday or Tuesday I'll come up.

TIGER WOODS: For what was going on, probably not that big of a deal. But just for pure distance and a lot of luck involved, yeah, it was a big putt. But I figure I've made other big putts to win tournaments, but that one was not to win a tournament. I was just trying to put myself in position to win a tournament. So, there's a big difference. I have made some cross-country putts like that, that in all honesty, really don't mean a whole lot. When you come down the stretch on Sunday and you have to make a putt from six or eight feet -- I think that putt I made today on 17 was a bigger putt than that long bomb.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah. I went home and I just kind of relaxed a little bit and ordered dinner. Had dinner in the room and just passed out. Slept great. Got up this morning. Did a little workout and came out here and played.

TIGER WOODS: Am I over it? No. It is disappointing. But you know what, those kids tried and they gave it everything they had. It's just they ran into a great team in Maryland that shot very well in that game. That's what happens. That's part of playing sports. You put yourself there, and hopefully, they can put themselves there again, and maybe it might be a different story.

TIGER WOODS: I have enough room.