NEC WORLD SERIES OF GOLF

August 27, 1998

Tiger Woods

TIGER WOODS: Well, today I hit the ball very solid. Made some key par putts today. I think I made about three putts from six feet or more for pars. Those are the things that you need to do in order to keep rounds going. I definitely did that today. It was very nice.

TIGER WOODS: As I said, I hit the ball very solid today. I didn't hit as many fairways as you might think, shooting the number I shot today. What I did is I hit the ball on the green 20, 30 feet away and just 2-putted and walked away with par. Par around this place is not a bad score.

TIGER WOODS: No. I just went over my routine. My routine is putt before I hit balls, hit balls and putt again and then go for the first two.

TIGER WOODS: I haven't done that yet.

TIGER WOODS: No. 2, I hit a driver down the left side. I hit a 6-iron from 187 to the hole. And I hit it about 18 feet behind the hole. 2-putted there. No. 9, I hit a driver and a 9-iron to about eight feet. Made that. And 18, I hit a driver, 9-iron to about two feet.

TIGER WOODS: I made a good save on 7. Made about 15-footer for par there. Had a good save on 15 -- 14. Par four, hit the bunker left of the green. Blasted out to about eight feet, made that for par.

TIGER WOODS: Well, you know, it's just one of those things. You've got to keep giving yourself a chance and eventually you're going to end up breaking form. This year, I've had a lot of Top 10 finishes, right there. Unfortunately, either someone has outplayed me or I haven't made the shots when I really needed them. You've got to give yourself the chance and opportunity, with nine holes to go, you've go to give yourself the chance. That's all I look forward to.

TIGER WOODS: It dried out a little bit, but the balls are still sticking into the ground a little bit, if not backing up. No. 10, I hit a 3-wood off the tee that backed up about two feet. 18, I hit driver and landed on the down slope and moved about a foot. It's still wet out there, but a couple of the holes, they are rolling, but they're not picking up mud like yesterday, which is nice.

TIGER WOODS: No.

TIGER WOODS: I totally agree with you. Totally agree.

TIGER WOODS: It is nice when you can use your driver. Especially since it is soft right now, you don't have to hit irons off the tees and let the ball roll 30 yards. You need something to fly out there pretty far because the ball is going to hit soft. The longer hitters are going to have more of an advantage on a golf course under these conditions. If you look at the leader board right now, the majority of the guys under par are usually the longer hitters.

TIGER WOODS: 10, I didn't. 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah.

TIGER WOODS: It's just my 3-wood. It's a shot I've used many times. I've holed out a lot, actually. It's just a shot where you got the mass of 3-wood and the flange which you don't have to hit down on it like you would a sand wedge or something and try and pop it up in the air. There's more room for error with a 3-wood like that, some guys even use 4-woods, if they have it. I just try and make a normal putting stroke to get the ball on top of the grass and rolling and it kind of rolls like a putt.

TIGER WOODS: Last year, I didn't really play very well at all. Last year, I averaged six fairways per round and still finished 3rd. That's pretty good under those conditions, considering how wet and rainy it was. But this year is a different story, hitting the ball much better than I did last year. Putting better. My game's just better than it was last year at this time and it feels pretty good.

TIGER WOODS: I didn't go, no. I wanted to go tonight, but we have a function all players have to go to.

TIGER WOODS: I saw it on t.v. though.

TIGER WOODS: You got it, Lee. All right.