WGC ANDERSEN CONSULTING MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

February 25, 2000

Tiger Woods

TIGER WOODS: Well, today I played beautifully. I hit a lot of good shots and made some key putts today. A couple of good up-and-downs. But today was a very important day I think for the rest of the week because of the fact I didn't play very well yesterday and was somehow able to win the match. And today, as emotional as Maruyama is, I knew if I could get off to a solid start and keep that emotion down, I'd have a good chance of coming off on top.

TIGER WOODS: I have to do things like that. With an emotional player, or a player who plays in streaks, you have to pounce on them the next hole. It's like tennis, the best time to break them is the very next game. I was able to do that. And I was able to win the next hole and keep the emotion down. And from then on, I hit a lot of good, solid shots and put a lot of good heat on him.

TIGER WOODS: I didn't read that.

TIGER WOODS: That's something I didn't know going into this match. I didn't know he was thinking that way. I really can't answer your question, sorry.

TIGER WOODS: I don't know. Depends on who I'm playing. In stroke-play -- there are two different animals: Stroke-play and match play. Match play, you make a triple, who cares? It's one hole. Stroke-play, you make a triple, you're out of the tournament. Do that on Sunday, don't have a chance to win. Here, you just pick up and go to the next tee and start all over again. You play more conservative in stroke-play than match play. Even with conditions as soft as this, in stroke-play I wouldn't fire as many pins. But in match play you're afforded the luxury of being more aggressive.

TIGER WOODS: Doesn't matter. Either one is fine.

TIGER WOODS: Well, we worked on my hip turn, my shoulder turn, my right knee flex, and the right foot on the way down. Make sure my left arm was high enough, get the club down in front of me, and working on my left wrist at impact.

TIGER WOODS: I putted beautifully today. I rolled the ball. I hit so many good putts today, even though they didn't go in, they're right on the edge. And a couple of putts, six feet from the hole, I was about ready to put the step on it, and they either quit breaking or broke too much.

TIGER WOODS: I released a couple too much at impact, but that's about it. Today the shot I hit off 3 wasn't very good. It pulled low left in the bunker. But overall, I hit the ball beautifully today.

TIGER WOODS: Uh-huh, yeah.

TIGER WOODS: I won the first U.S. junior.

TIGER WOODS: Oh.

TIGER WOODS: It doesn't matter. Either one, either Paul or Calc, they're going to be a tough match. If they got this far in the tournament, they're obviously playing well. Either one, they're good friends of mine. So either way it will be a nice round of golf.

TIGER WOODS: I only saw that score twice today. I saw it all square and Duval 1-up. I don't know what it is now. But that's the only thing I've seen.

TIGER WOODS: No. You can't separate yourself from the match, so that's the thing. When you're out there, you have to be disciplined in the fact that you can't look at other matches, because what they're doing in their match, that's their match. And I don't think they really care what I do.

TIGER WOODS: I was trying to hit a nice, high hook, 2-iron out of that rough. If I hooked it, great. If I didn't, I figure I couldn't get to the right-hand bunker and I'd have a shot out of the rough coming straight across the entire part of the green. And I clipped one branch of the tree, kind of killed the shot. But I still ended up on the same spot I would have if I hit it a little more solid. The big limb, I was trying to go up over it.

TIGER WOODS: Uh-huh.

TIGER WOODS: Uh-huh.

TIGER WOODS: That's shorter than normal.

TIGER WOODS: Exactly, yeah. Same things. Any player that plays this game are always going to have the same faults. And at this level, the guys tend to have just a few of them, but they seem to repeat them over and over and over again. And this is the same that I usually face. And I may throw in a couple more; I may take a couple out. But they usually run about like that.

TIGER WOODS: I think if he gets on a roll, I think he will be. He was that in The Presidents Cup. But if you can keep that emotion down by hitting a lot of good shots and putting a lot of good pressure on him and getting up on him, and keep applying that heat, you keep that emotion down.

TIGER WOODS: I don't know if I'm back on top of my game. I definitely feel that it's definitely coming to where I want it. And it's nice to be playing well going into the later stages of match play tournament. Just like when guys play in the Grand Slam of tennis, you always want to be peaking as you go throughout the two weeks. And this format is the same. You don't necessarily want to play your best golf early and not have anything left. You want to just get better each and every match. And I feel very pleased that I came out today, after yesterday's match, and I hit this many good shots and putt the ball as well as I did.

TIGER WOODS: I guess in your mind it is.

TIGER WOODS: I think if I'm driving the ball well. Obviously, that's an enormous advantage, especially on wet conditions like this. To be able to step up there and not only hit the ball long, but to be able to keep it in the air -- I normally hit the ball pretty high with my driver, anyway, so it doesn't roll a whole lot. So in this type of condition, it's perfect. I throw it up and let it go. It just plugs out there, and any ball that lands in the fairway is going to stay in the fairway.

TIGER WOODS: You can't play terrible going into a match. But you really don't want to go out there in the first round or first couple of rounds and shoot 263's or something. 9-iron through 14, both matches, it's very difficult to come back again and again and again and repeat that performance. You just want to keep getting better and better every match.

TIGER WOODS: Say that again.

TIGER WOODS: I don't think physically it matters too much, but I think more emotionally than anything else. I think if you're playing a match that goes to the 18th hole and beyond, three straight matches, and even four sometimes, I think that will definitely wear you out mentally. Physically, these guys are in good enough shape to handle it. But I think mentally it definitely fatigues you a little bit, and you may not be able to get up for the next match quite as high as you'd want.

TIGER WOODS: Primarily if you can go ahead and take care of your own business and hit the ball well and make some putts, the rest of it will fall into place. But I think a lot of it is also dependent on what they're doing, as well. For example, today, on 6 he hit driver off the tee, he was -- and then put it in the right rough. And from that point on, I mean the entire week I've been hitting driver off the tee. Since he was in the right rough long enough, if I hit a 3-wood and put it in the fairway, I'll be hitting first, putting pressure on him coming out of the right rough, he might have to be more aggressive. I laid back far enough so I could hit first and be aggressive and put the ball on the green on the right shelf, and let him look at it from the rough, and he might be careless and be aggressive.

TIGER WOODS: Definitely, since you're not physically playing against them in that regard like tennis, in golf I think, as I say, if you can go out there and play your own game and take care of business, everything else will fall into place. But the more important thing is you have to take care of your own thing.

TIGER WOODS: I hit the ball up there with a little chip 8-iron to about 15 feet or so on the correct shelf, and he was out of the rough, put the ball on the back fringe, trying to get it up on top, because he saw my ball up there, and he missed and I made.

TIGER WOODS: No. You have to take care of business, and that is to win matches.

TIGER WOODS: Obviously, the World Golf Championships are big events, not only because of the purses, but more importantly the best players in the world are getting together more than just the Majors. And they're great events to have, not only for us, but for the fans as well to see the top players in the world get together more than just four times a year. And what you're seeing is some great golf and some extraordinary play, and it's fun to watch.

TIGER WOODS: If I'm ranked high enough they could pick somebody or they could pick me.