PNC CHAMPIONSHIP

December 16, 2022

Tiger Woods

The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club

Quick Quotes

DOUG MILNE: Just a few thoughts on being here this week with Charlie and how special that is.

TIGER WOODS: Any time I get a chance to spend time with my son, it's always special. And to do it in a competitive forum for us, it's -- the last couple years have been magical. And to be able to do it again, we're looking forward to it.

And then on top of that, to do it with basically our extended family and the Thomases, going to be a lot of fun tomorrow.

Q. Do you get the sense that you're the second most watched person out here?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, nothing wrong with that. As long as the people are excited about coming out here and supporting us and supporting all the legends and the people who are in this event, it's always special.

For me, as a younger player and watch some of the mannerisms between father and son, I just wish I could have been out there on the range a little earlier watching Lee hit balls. There's nothing better than that. But I'll get to see him tomorrow.

Q. How's your foot?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it's good.

Q. Has it gotten better as far as practice goes?

TIGER WOODS: I can practice. I just can't walk. So when you're dealing with the plantar like this, it's one of these things where I need rest, and I haven't exactly been doing that.

Q. Charlie okay? Looked like he was limping a little bit.

TIGER WOODS: He is. Is his ankle is not -- exactly -- well, it's better than mine, so --

Q. That's not saying much.

TIGER WOODS: It's just the way it goes. Just kind of bad timing on it. But we'll be ready come game time tomorrow.

Q. Your fourth tournament, four and a half if you count the match like that. Aside from what this tournament is and what it means, is it just to be out? Have you missed it this year?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, well, I played more this year than I certainly thought at the beginning of the year. I was just hoping, as I said to you guys earlier, just to play the British Open at St Andrews. But I got the chance to play in three major championships. So that's far, far more than what I had expected going into the year. So it's been a positive.

Q. Are you at a point where you can predict what you think you might do next year?

TIGER WOODS: No, not yet. Because if I didn't have the plantar feeling like this, then, yes, I could tell you that and I'd have a better idea. But I'm supposed to be resting this thing and stretching and letting it heal. But I'm not doing that at the moment.

Q. As the father of a junior golfer, what's the difference between being a good golf dad and a bad golf dad?

TIGER WOODS: I think that being any kind of -- any parent in any sport I think is being supportive and being encouraging. I have been fortunate enough that my father was into golf and understood sports. He played sports. So from that standpoint, understanding the verbiage and understanding the work ethic of what it takes to play sports at a high level.

And then being a parent, you always want to be the protector and guider of them and teach them skills that they will need in life when you're not around. And so that's the most important thing about being a parent.

Q. Last year it seemed like there were a few more smiles on this day, a year ago. How much tougher is it this time around?

TIGER WOODS: Well, it's different. Last year at this time my leg was broken and I was still playing, but now that's healed up and now I got this plantar thing that's going on. So pick your poison.

Q. Is there any chance you're going to make it worse doing this?

TIGER WOODS: Yes.

Q. So are you fearing that maybe you're setting back your recovery a little bit?

TIGER WOODS: You know, I don't really care about that. I think being there with and alongside my son is far more important, and get to have a chance to have this experience with him is far better than my foot being a little creaky.

Q. How much credit do you give yourself in the big picture just for coming back this year? Obviously it's not the same as winning, but just that accomplishment, how do you rate that compared to everything else you've done?

TIGER WOODS: Well, it's been a lot harder than people probably imagine. There's some of the players who are very close to me know what I've kind of gone through, and they're the ones that keep encouraging me to back off a little bit. But that's not really in my nature. My nature is trying to get better. And I have. And through work ethic, I was able to, as I said, play and compete in three major championships this year.

And this off season hasn't really been an off season. I've kind of ramped things up. But after this, come Monday, we shut it all down and take care of this foot so that I can ramp up properly.

As you've seen, I can hit golf balls. I can do all that. I can practice at home. I can hit shots around the green. I can do all that. I just can't get from point A to point B.

Q. Just being able to play with Charlie, willing to have a creaky foot, that perspective is valuable. How valuable is that to you to recognize that?

TIGER WOODS: Just being able to be with my son at any time, you know, just for us to have the father-son bonding moments, whether it's at home or it's couple years ago in our first competitive environment. Those are memories and those are things that we still talk about. Shots he hit, shots that I hit. But he only refers to the bad ones that I hit.

But I -- you guys have all seen it. He made his first eagle here. So those are experiences that I want to be a part of in his life. And it so happened we've had a lot of things at home, but to be alongside him, to have caddied for him in junior tournaments and basically teach him how to play the game of golf but also teach life lessons along the way.

But unfortunately sometimes, I get it, it's like talking to a mirror. My little smart comments come right back at me now.

Q. For elite athletes to be able to prioritize family over their dreams, is this just a point of your career? How do you have that perspective?

TIGER WOODS: No, my kids are more important than anything. Family comes first. That was how I was raised. Family, education, then whatever sport I was playing. And that was one of the reasons why I switched directive of the foundation, why that I'm involved in my kids' lives.

And it's been frustrating because most of their childhood I was hurt and I wasn't able to attend their soccer games or play in the backyard and practice with Charlie or do wind sprints with Sam. I wasn't able to do any of that because most of their childhood my back was bad.

But now they're at an age where they understand it, but we still have fun in different ways. And we compete, nonstop in everything we do, and I love it.

Q. Charlie's bigger physically, stronger. Where have you seen the biggest growth in his game?

TIGER WOODS: Just understanding how to -- this is what I was taught by my dad, is understanding how to fix it when on the fly when I'm not around.

And one of the reasons why I always tell him why we're doing what we're doing, so that he can retrace the steps. And when he gets a little off, now he knows what to go back to and understand that, okay, if I hit that shot, it's that pattern, this is the fix. And you've got to be able to do that when you playing tournament golf. You have to understand in tournament golf you've got to make a switch on the fly and trust it.

And that's where I've seen the biggest growth when I've caddied for him in events or I've watched him play. I can see him rehearsing shots, he's trying to get out of that pattern, he feels this. And I can just see it. And then we talk it and we discuss it, and then we move on and drop it and go do something else.

Q. What was your favorite moment out on the course today with Charlie?

TIGER WOODS: The whole thing. The whole experience of being out there with him. We've been trying to get ready for this. He's -- he hasn't practiced as much as he has the couple years. He's has midterms, and those are more important than golf. So he's been hitting balls in a simulator just because it's daylight and we've got to get his studies in. And by the time he's done with that and prepped for midterms, then it's already dark.

So we've been trying to kind of cram in what the ball is doing in the air here lately, and today was a good example of that.

Q. Have you found that you thought more about your legacy this year than in years past?

TIGER WOODS: Yes. Yeah. The golf ecosystem has forced everybody to rethink how we look -- look at the game and how we need to make the game better. So this whole year, for all of us who have been a part of golf, we've had to look at it from a different lens.

Q. Do you feel that there have been positive changes?

TIGER WOODS: Yes, I do. I really do. I think that golf has had to relook at itself globally and how it can be better and how we can make the portals for the next generation of players better. So, I mean, you look at the average age of, what, the Presidents Cup, it was 26 years old. It's not like the Ryder Cups and President Cups I was a part of when I first came out here, most of the guys were in their 30s and 40s. Golf has become younger, and we need to have access for these kids to be able to experience that now.

Q. The importance of this event to you, how much would it mean for you to win it?

TIGER WOODS: Well, we've come close. We've gotten better each year. So we're trending.

Q. You said in the Bahamas that you were grateful that you were able to help Charlie. Now being in that role that your dad was for you, is there a fond moment you remember between your dad and yourself?

TIGER WOODS: You know, one of my -- one of the -- the all-time best moments -- well, not moments, but it was just like a phase because I wasn't old enough to play the Navy Golf Course at the time, is that we'd go onto the old back nine, which was across the runway, and we'd go back in the corner and hit balls. And so we'd have our own little shag bags. And I got them mostly out of the ditch from other players hitting balls, and those were my shag balls. And he'd have his shag balls, we'd go out there on the old back nine in the corner, and we'd hit balls. And I'd pick the trees on the right to hit to, and he'd pick the trees on the left to hit to, and then we'd play in this last three holes kind of towards dark. And it was game on. And so it was, okay, you do your work, I do my work, and then let's go head to head.

Q. Do you do that with Charlie?

TIGER WOODS: All the time.

Q. With plantar, what specific therapy, if anything, are you doing?

TIGER WOODS: I'm doing everything. I'm doing everything. It's frustrating because each and every day I have to do it, and then on top of that it's trying to sleep in the damn boot, it's no fun. My left leg is bleeding sometimes because the boot hits it. It's just annoying. It's one of those things that, hey, I'm grateful to have this limb and it's mine. It's not some fake limb. It's mine. And, yes, there are some issues with it, but I still have it.

Thank you guys, appreciate it.