GTE BYRON NELSON GOLF CLASSIC

May 11, 2000

Tiger Woods

TIGER WOODS: Tough conditions, a little rusty, and unfortunately, just couldn't quite post the score I wanted to post.

TIGER WOODS: A little bit of the wind. Just didn't quite hit the shots the way I wanted to, and just didn't have the feel of my game the way I should.

TIGER WOODS: It was that way all day. When you haven't really played competitively in a while, the hardest part is coming back and being able to compete at a high level for a long period of time, and that was the hard thing today. I could do it for a little bit, but it was hard to do it the entire day under these conditions.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, if it's calm, it's really no big deal and you can get away with miss-hits shots. Today with the wind blowing this hard, miss-hit shots are going to be magnified to the point where you hit it in some places where you probably shouldn't be.

TIGER WOODS: Well-rested.

TIGER WOODS: As I said, it was just a little windy, and the scores on this course probably won't be too well. If I could have just played the back nine halfway decent, I would have been right there at even par. Maybe possibly better. But that's just what happens sometimes. As I said, you're a little rusty and I just didn't quite have the feel of my swing. Even starting out, I didn't really have the feel of it, but I got away with it enough, but it was hard to get away with it for 18 straight holes.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I didn't end up in the greatest of places, and I thought I hit a great shot. It was just a foot away from being perfect. And in with a bogey, and that's just the way it goes sometimes.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, just sometimes that's the way golf Gods are. They look down upon you and sometimes they say it's your day and sometimes they say it's not.

TIGER WOODS: Well, I have mixed feelings about that. If it blows like this and I hit the ball like I did today, obviously no. In order to make up ground, I'm going to have to have it windy like this. And the forecast for tomorrow is windy. If I can go out there tomorrow and actually shoot a good round over there Cottonwood; it's the easier of the two courses. If I can get off to a good, solid start and get a few make a few birdies early and keep it going, I can get right back in this tournament.

TIGER WOODS: Course played very difficult today. The wind was blowing. It wasn't swirling, thank God. Played the wind the way it was all day. Same direction all day. Only difference is we got gust and it was very difficult to putt.

TIGER WOODS: That hole is usually a 3-wood or driver off the tee for me, and I usually have a 9-iron to the green. Today, I ripped a drive and debated between three and four, and that normally happen on that hole.

TIGER WOODS: The greens are fine. They are not as fast as I've seen them in years past. They are quick enough that I know they probably kept them a little slow because of the wind; didn't want to get the greens out of hands. They were starting to pick up towards the end of the round.

TIGER WOODS: You know, you just want to keep hitting fairways and greens, putt and move on. I did that most of the day, I just couldn't quite hit the shots the way I wanted to when I needed to. That's the way it goes sometimes. I tried on every shot. It just didn't come off.

TIGER WOODS: A lot of it is timing. Not just feeling as comfortable as you should over a shot. And it's a little bit different playing out here than it is on a weekend round with your buddies for a little cash. It's a different type of nervousness and intensity you've got to have on the shot.

TIGER WOODS: I think it's just because of Mr. Nelson. Everyone wants to play here because it's his tournament. And not only that, what they do for charities in this local area. It's just tremendous what -- how much they give back to the community. And we as pros do a lot of that; we want to be associated with that and try and make that even better.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it's a little special. A few tournaments are just normal TOUR events, but a little more special.

TIGER WOODS: Probably my right thumb on the remote. (Laughs). Make sure I've got the channels just right.

TIGER WOODS: If it dies down, yeah. But in this wind, it really makes no sense to hit balls because you're going to hang on your left side, beat the ball, be straight into it and that's not the kind of habit you want to ingrain.

TIGER WOODS: You would a little bit, be beating on it too much, and that's the last thing you need to do.

TIGER WOODS: 14, yeah, I was buried. Buried under the back lip on the downslope. A good spot. It's playing hard out there. I mean, the birdies you make are probably going to be early. You're going to have to try and hold on towards the end, because, obviously, if you're playing into the wind, downwind holes are the ones you've got to capitalize on.