THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY MERCEDES-BENZ AND MICHELOB

October 28, 1997

Tiger Woods

TIGER WOODS: I had the flu last week, all last week, yeah, so I'm still recovering.

TIGER WOODS: I'm feeling a lot better. Last week, I had 103 fever, and unfortunately it was on Friday when I had to play in all that wind and cold weather, so it wasn't the best of combos in the world.

TIGER WOODS: You know, I can't exactly -- because in the Amateur week, some of the tees were up in the stroke play part when we played. But in the match play, we played all the way back, so played pretty long in match play, and I absolutely loved it, because it's one of the very few golf courses where I can use driver on virtually all the par 4s. And it definitely does help, yeah.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I feel pretty good. Definitely. I don't know how he feels. He plays here every day, that's true.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, last year was one of those weeks you want to forget because of what happened to my dad. And this week is a different week. He's here. He's in town, and this time he's in good health. And my game is coming around nicely, and I'm really looking forward to playing.

TIGER WOODS: No, he's not going to come out. It's too cold.

TIGER WOODS: That was just a bad incident.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, we talked yesterday, actually.

TIGER WOODS: I don't think so. It would be tough for him because he couldn't watch. People would be bugging him all the time, and I don't think it would be any fun, you know.

TIGER WOODS: Oh, he's a great guy. He's been a lot of help for me. He's been like a big brother. He really has. He and Mike have both been like big brothers to me. It's been awfully nice for them to say the things they've said. And they've taken the time out from their busy schedules to call me and see how I'm doing or just talk to me, or I can pick up the phone and call them any time, and we can talk about anything, which is nice.

TIGER WOODS: Unique.

TIGER WOODS: You know, I didn't know they were playing. Are they home? Well, I'll call him up and see if he's got a few extra tickets.

TIGER WOODS: No, I got in late afternoon.

TIGER WOODS: It's playing totally different than when I played it. When I played it, it was really hard, really fast. It was in the middle of the summer, and the ball was really carrying then. And like I remember hitting a No. 1, 2, 3, 4 is a par 3. We played like 216 today. I remember hitting a 5- and a 6-iron there because it was so hot and so humid that the ball was flying forever. Today, I barely hit a 3-iron on the green. So conditions are totally different. But the rough is -- I mean, it's totally different than what it was in the Amateur. In the Amateur, it was real lush because of the summer rains, and any ball that went into the rough, you couldn't advance it to the green, period. This year, the rough is kind of sparse. The Bermuda is going dormant, so I hit a couple balls into the rough today and had no problems getting it to the green, yeah.

TIGER WOODS: No, not even close. No, there's only one Masters.

TIGER WOODS: Well, it's a big tournament, obviously, because it's -- the only time when we play for a purse this big, and also you get the best players here on our Tour, because sometimes we don't have the best players on our Tour at the same time. There are some majors that some players don't play because they didn't qualify or they're hurt or something like that. We have all the top-30 here, and as of right now, I think about at least 20 of them are playing really good golf. So with that in mind, it's going to be a great shoot-out.

TIGER WOODS: Well, it would mean a lot. It really would, considering that this is my first full year on tour. All the changes that I've had to go through in my life from last year and all the things that I've had to deal with, and to win as many times as I have this year is -- it's been great. It's been a great year.

TIGER WOODS: Yes, I am. Definitely.

TIGER WOODS: You mean in off-season?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I'm putting the sticks up for a while, and it's going to be nice. It will be a great break.

TIGER WOODS: It's very simple. It's a long year. If you look at -- you have to look at the history of my golf. The history of my golf has been Junior Golf, Amateur Golf, and Collegiate Golf, all of which happens in the summer which is only three months long. And we played a pretty tough schedule but only three months. No big deal. Then we go back to school, and the guys in Amateur Golf go back to their jobs, and we don't see each other until the next summer. But this year, it's been ten months, and that's three times as long as I've ever had to play a grueling amount of golf. And, you know, after a while, you're going to have some highs and also you're going to have some lows. And towards the end of the season, I started getting a little tired. My scheduling wasn't as good as I -- as I thought it could be, obviously. This is my first full year. I'm going to make some mistakes in scheduling. Everyone has. It's probably going to take me a good two, three years to find out exactly what I like and don't like. Courses I like and don't like.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I have tried. I've thought about it a lot, yeah.

TIGER WOODS: Don't know. I'm not going to tell you.

TIGER WOODS: Yes, that's what I did this year.

TIGER WOODS: Oh, God, it's been great. You come back and you can call each other up, say how are you guys doing? Or we have -- I know I have more lunches with these guys now because of that, that bonding experience. We play more practice rounds together. Just, you can talk on a level now that now that you know these guys, you can talk more freely, more openly and more cordial.

TIGER WOODS: You've got to ask them.

TIGER WOODS: Well, my form wasn't that bad. I was hitting it pretty good, but I wasn't making any putts that week. I couldn't seem to get the pace of the greens right for some reason. But I'm hitting it probably just a fraction better, but I'm definitely putting a lot better.

TIGER WOODS: I think it's great because they come out, and they -- for some reason, they like to follow me, probably because I get to see them a lot because I hit the ball in the trees. But I think it's great for the game because with myself and, say, Justin Leonard or a couple other young guys, like Ernie Els and Phil, you're getting a lot of kids coming out which is kind of neat. And I think if you look at me today, there were a lot of kids out there today on a cold day like this, you still see them out there, and I think one of the reasons you see new people coming to the game, especially young people, is they can relate to me. I'm just about their age. It wasn't too long ago, I was a teenager, and they can relate to someone who used to hang just the way they used to do and still do. And now I'm out here on a professional level doing the things I'm doing, and they're saying, "He's just my age. You know, if he can do that, I can do that." So they come out with that attitude, and it's really neat to play because you see the same kind of following for the guys in the NBA like Colby Bryant or Kevin Garnett, you know, guys who are young, or even Jerrett Wright (phonetic) right now in baseball, a young player. You'll see the same enthusiasm with the younger kids than for the older generation because they can't relate.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I'm starting to get adjusted to them. There's only one thing I can't get used to, and that's people taking pictures of my swing.

TIGER WOODS: Even on practice round, yeah. It's a noise that's not supposed to be on a golf course. It's something abnormal, yeah.

TIGER WOODS: You know, I wasn't -- let me put it this way: I wasn't that impressed in the way that -- because it came so easy to me that week, but the more I look back on it how well I played from tee-to-green, I've done that before. You know, that's -- I've done that enough times to know that I can do it. But to putt that well for 72 holes, that's not an easy thing to do, especially at Augusta, because I never missed a putt inside of 8 feet. And, you know, those are the things that you have to do to win a major. I mean, you have to do that. You have to save pars. I hit the ball over the green, hit the ball short of the green. I was getting up-and-down, making those 6-, 8-footers, and some of the lag putts I had over the humps, I was getting down there 3, 4 feet, and I made every single one of those. And the more I look back on it, that putting week was the thing that stands out in my mind.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, but I was really hitting my irons well coming into the tournament so that didn't really surprise me that much. Plus I was driving it down there to where I had a sand wedge to a lot of par 4s, so you're supposed to do that. But to putt that well, I mean, that's just -- that still impresses me.

TIGER WOODS: To do it again, yeah, definitely. I mean, you have to have a hot week with the putter, because to putt those greens, you're not going to leave yourself in the best of position every single time, and to get out of their with pars when you're going to make bogey, looks like you're making bogey, to turn something out of nothing, those are the things you need to do there, and that's usually done with the putter. And, yeah, it can be done, definitely. But the likelihood and the frequency of it being done, no.

TIGER WOODS: No, I don't mind because, you know, one thing I love about Augusta is how the media cameras aren't allowed on the golf course out there, and they're not following you on the fairways like they do sometimes in normal tournaments. And not only that, cameras from spectators aren't allowed on the golf course. With that in mind, you know, that's going to be a lot easier week in that regard. But, two, I think why that week is probably easier than most weeks are the crowds. The crowds there are crowds that have been around for so many years. Like there's a lady there that I remember seeing from my first, second and -- three years I've been there, this lady has been in the same spot on No. 2, and I said, "I've seen you here for three years." And she said, "Oh, yeah, I've been here for 33 years." You don't see that at any other tournament. And these people are so knowledgeable about the game. They're very respectful. I think in that regard, too, it's going to be a much easier week.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, leading up to a tournament, yes, exactly. Leading up to a tournament will be more difficult than it was last year, definitely.

TIGER WOODS: No, he hasn't. I've played here already, so he didn't really need to.

TIGER WOODS: Season, yes.

TIGER WOODS: I've had a few disappointments in the fact that it's understandable. You can't play well all the time, but they have I guess -- to not play I guess more consistent, you know. I more look back on my year, I didn't get as much out of my round as I thought I should have. I wasn't -- sometimes I was too passive on certain shots, and other times I was too aggressive. Other times, I didn't get up-and-down where I needed to get up-and-down. Little things like that to keep a round going, I didn't do that enough times, and consequently some of my finishes have been kind of erratic because of that.

TIGER WOODS: I don't know.

TIGER WOODS: What happens is I guess things like this -- things that happen I guess out of the blue that are dramatic like that just happen. Like don't force it to happen, you just kind of allow it to happen. When things like that happen, it's hours and hours of practice coming out. That's basically what it is. You bust your butt hitting balls, chipping and putting, working on your game, and lo and behold, out of the gun, all the things that you've done in practice comes to I guess a pinnacle, and you hit that magical shot. And on top of that, obviously your concentration level is higher, but I think that by working so hard, that that's going to happen.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, seeing my dad coming out of the hospital is -- I think that ranks right up there with The Masters victory. Because, one, if he didn't come out of the hospital, there's no way I would have won The Masters. I would have probably withdrawn or I'd have done something just to get away from it, because it would have been too hard to play golf. Because I love my dad, and to have him not be there would have been the absolute worst, and to have to go through the things that we both went through together and how he recovered, and I was there for him, and he was still there for me was, it was really sweet. It really was.

TIGER WOODS: Comfortable. Totally. I'm sure the press can I guess buy from this is that I was -- how can I put it? -- a little more distant probably after The Masters. I was just getting bombarded so much that everything I was kind of saying was being used and sometimes twisted, and that became very tough for me to handle. Then I said, You know what? This is a fact of reality. And just go out there and be yourself and just say the things that come to your mind that are just you and that are real. And whatever they do with it, that's whatever they do with it. And because of that, I guess attitude change and things have just come to flow out of me now, and hence, you see me more comfortable in the press room, you see me more comfortable playing with amateurs on Pro-Am days. I've just become used to the whole thing, and it's been great. You know, it really has because it's affected my entire life. But I think that this is also a maturing process, and it happens to a lot of people who are my age.

TIGER WOODS: Definitely, uh-huh.

TIGER WOODS: Oh, totally, yeah. Not only the Ryder Cup, but playing practice rounds and getting paired with them in tournaments. Because when you're I guess out there with them for three, four, five hours, you can know a person pretty well, except for a few people don't talk. But, you know, overall, the players are great, great guys, and then because of things that you do on the golf course, then you start doing more things off the golf course. Going to lunch, going to dinner, then they start inviting you to places, going fishing and going on trips with them, and everything starts to unfold.

TIGER WOODS: You know, I was more a part I guess last year because of what happened, all the things that happened. I guess a number of things. One is the endorsement contracts I signed, the things I said on how I'm going to come out here and play. I'm going to try to win. A lot of people took offense to that -- this is just what I believed. And some people had a tough time with that. Some people understood because that's the way they are. And then I guess, two, the press, the media attention, some guys were -- the media were now moving away from them, they weren't getting the limelight, and sometimes they had a tough time with that. But as they got to know me as a person, a lot of that stuff went away, the stuff that people I guess created, formulated in their own minds from just watching, just assuming, and as that assumption wore off, as they got to know me, you know, the guys became really good friends.

TIGER WOODS: Oh, yeah. Oh, totally. I'll talk with them and laugh and joke with them. Not too long ago I was doing the same thing. I was being invited to play in professional tournaments as an amateur, and I was doing exactly the same thing. It actually was just two years ago, so I can totally relate to them. I can totally relate to how nervous they are when they first tee it up. When I first teed up my first L.A. Open, my first professional event, I was so nervous, I could barely tee the ball up. I know exactly what they're going through.

TIGER WOODS: You know, I think -- yeah, they do. They get -- I wouldn't say nervous, but a little more apprehensive, but not as confident as they would be around their buddies. But, then again, same thing if I went and played their sport. If I went out and hung out with a NBA team, I mean, jeez, I would try to hit foul shots, jump shots over these guys, yeah, right. So I would be nervous, too. You can understand it. You can relate to each other. If they play my sport, they can relate to the things I go through. When I hang out with them and joke around with them in the locker room or hang out with them on the court, I get a feel and a sense of what they have to go through.

TIGER WOODS: I really don't know. I've got to call C.B. and see if he can get me some tickets.

TIGER WOODS: By far.

TIGER WOODS: No, not even close. Not even close.

TIGER WOODS: I guess that moment was a moment in which I'm very surprised I didn't pull anything. Or I should say get hit in the head as I'm walking off the tee. But, yeah, that moment was one moment that will stand out the rest of my life because it was so loud. I mean, of all holes to do it on, and then of all days to do it on, it was a Saturday, the biggest day, the biggest crowds, and they definitely had a few.

TIGER WOODS: I couldn't hear anything what Fluff was saying. I couldn't hear at all. Even to this day, I was talking to Omar about it about three months ago, kind of just laughing and joking about it, he was saying, "I'm glad you missed," because when I gave the high-five to him, I kind of missed it a little bit, but I didn't miss Fluff. Fluff was kidding me the next day, he said his shoulder still hurt. Because I was so juiced that I hit him so hard.

TIGER WOODS: How hot?

TIGER WOODS: He's still the same old dude.

TIGER WOODS: Well, that's -- I think people have found a connection with Fluff because he's such a character, and he's kind of a, you know, person that is a big teddy bear, really, and people like him.

TIGER WOODS: In Asia, yeah, when I look at -- when I know that -- when I first realized that I was happening was in the little magazines in which they have like cartoon sketches. In the Golf Magazine, in the middle, they have little cartoon sketches, and in them, they had little drawings of me. And in each and every one of them, they had a swoosh on me, and then they had swoosh on the other players in my group, like amateur partners, and you could start to see that kind of unfold. And it got to the point where they had like swooshes as tee markers and then balls and the clubs, and it definitely has definitely grown. Thank you.