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TARGET WORLD CHALLENGE PRESENTED BY WILLIAMS

December 10, 2005

Tiger Woods

THOUSAND OAKS, CALIFORNIA

Q. Did you think you might be able to get it to a good number to have a chance for tomorrow?

TIGER WOODS: No. I forget what I did on the 1st hole. I drove it down there probably right next to 5 fairway, and there was a creek down there somewhere, and somehow made some unbelievable par. Then the next tee shot almost pumped it out of bounds left, so I made par there. It wasn't exactly one of the most positive starts of my round.

Q. I know it's December, but you're still pretty frustrated?

TIGER WOODS: I am, but realistically, it's been a long season, and this week I just haven't capitalized on my opportunities. I had opportunities, hit balls in there tight, and I've missed the majority of them.

Q. That lie you had on 18, how good was that shot?

TIGER WOODS: It's indicative of how the week has been right there. I had pumped just a perfect little flat 3 wood down there trying to keep it below the wind, hit it right down the middle on the tee shot, then I get down there and I'm standing behind the trees. I tried to play some type of hooky wedge and didn't quite do that, and then ended up with a very interesting third lie.

Q. Is that a textbook way to play 17?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, that was probably indicative another one of how it's been. That was the worst shot I hit all day, and I made 2. I don't know how that works out. Some of the holes I've just hit absolutely perfect shots and walk out of there making par or bogey.

Q. It's rude to win your own tournament every year, though, too, isn't it?

TIGER WOODS: Why (laughter)? I'm selfish that way.

Q. Darren Clarke has four eagles this week. Can you talk about him and the par 5s? He says he never plays well here, but he's playing well this week.

TIGER WOODS: You can get it going here. I'll tell you what, the par 5s are all accessible this week. With the fairways being a little faster than they normally are, you can get to every one of them. Like 11 today is a perfectly accessible pin. You hit any kind of iron shot on there short of the hole, it rolls up there stiff.

And 16 is a tough one, but you can actually hit the ball pretty close there, as well, pin high. I think the guys will be able to take it pretty deep today.

Q. You're saying the way you're playing you don't have 62 in you tomorrow?

TIGER WOODS: I do. It's just, am I going to be 18 holes or 16 or 15. Hopefully it'll be all 18 tomorrow.

Q. Any changes for next year, equipment wise or

TIGER WOODS: Well, I put the 5 wood in. I'll have a new set of irons by the time I come back. These irons are a little worn out. That's it.

Q. Are you a goal setter? I know you have six wins, two majors this year. Are you a goal setter for a 62, that kind of thing?

TIGER WOODS: Always.

Q. Care to share?

TIGER WOODS: I just won four tournaments this year.

Q. (Question regarding Annika Sorenstam).

TIGER WOODS: I think we're both looking pretty good if we both put the pieces together. Annie, when she gets it going, she's tough to beat, and I feel like when I get it going, I'm tough to beat.

Q. Do you look at venues like for the British Open at St. Andrews, this could be the year? Do you look at this year, Medinah, I've done well, Winged Foot? Do you look at that type of thing?

TIGER WOODS: I do a little bit, but to be honest with you, if you've got your game on that particular week, it doesn't matter what golf course you play. Some golf courses let in more players than others, but I think if you've got your game together for that particular week, mind and body and everything working together that week, there's no reason why you can't win.

Q. You said this is one of the best years with the majors for you or this is the best you've played at all four majors. How would you rate the way you played, not your results, but the way you played at all four majors?

TIGER WOODS: I think it's one of the best years I've ever had, considering all the changes I've made this year and in my swing and things that I've had to battle through. I think I'm very proud of them.

Q. When you look at 30 coming up, do you see your career and a new act, like your 20s are over? Do you look at it that way, like what can you accomplish in your 30s?

TIGER WOODS: I never look at it that way. I just look at the fact that I just want to become better next year than I was this year. I'm looking forward to the off season, to sit back and take a serious look at what I need to work on to be ready for Augusta next year and then the next three majors after that.

Q. When you were 20 did you think before you turned 30 you would be at ten majors?

TIGER WOODS: No, I didn't think I would have won this many majors in my 20s, or this many tournaments around the world. My game back when I turned pro, I wasn't very precise. I could hit it a long ways and I could be streaky, but I wasn't very precise. I had a lot of work to do, and I was able to do that in the 20s.

Q. If you had the game you brought in '96, what does your record look like right now?

TIGER WOODS: Oh, God, maybe one or two majors. Maybe. Total wins, probably less than half of what I've got right now.

Q. These changes, did you think you needed to make them, or was it in conjunction with Butch and Hank and guys like your father, or did you think to yourself, "I need to do this?"

TIGER WOODS: Deep down you look at yourself and you see weaknesses. You see shots you should be able to hit but you can't hit. Why can't I control my flight each and every time? If I'm trying to hit a two yard draw, why can't I hit a two yard draw? If I want to try and knock five, six feet off of my flight, why can't I do that? These are things that you have to know you can do, and I wasn't able to do it consistently. I could do it every now and then, and every now and then is not going to cut it when it comes to the majors. I had to get better for those.

Q. Do you seek out advice or do you know what to work on?

TIGER WOODS: It's both. I know deep down inside I know what to work on, and about 90 percent of the time it coincides with what their thoughts are, and occasionally I may miss a couple things, and that's when it's good to have eyes you can trust.

Q. So with these changes, do you think that you're reaching that point where you're doing all that you're capable of?

TIGER WOODS: You never know. When your career is all said and done and you rack the cue and you go home, you can say I was at my peak then, but until then, you don't know because you're in it.

Q. When you decided to make the changes, how long did it take you to pull the trigger on putting the gears in motion? Was it pretty quick or did you take a while to convince yourself? You said you knew deep down

TIGER WOODS: About a day.

Q. Really?

TIGER WOODS: Uh huh, because you've got to plan out the process, how many weeks is it going to be on this, a couple months to work on that, to get that better, probably won't be ready for this, will I be good enough, well, maybe. And then say a year out from here, I should be able to be at this point, two years should be at this point. Yeah, it's a lot of planning, and you've got to sit down and take a hard look at it and it takes a long time to plan it out, but you sit back and you say I've accomplished my plan over the last six months. It's pretty exciting.

Q. Do you take more pride out of 16 at Augusta or the 3 wood, 8 iron combo on 18?

TIGER WOODS: Oh, by far 18 because after what happened at 16 then I hit a terrible 8 iron, then I hit a terrible tee shot on 17, hit a terrible second shot on 18. Then step up there in the playoff and hit my two best golf shots all week. I absolutely needed it the most, when I hadn't played three holes right yet, the last three holes, that's when I knew all the pieces that Hank and I were working on were there.

Q. When people look back at this Masters, what will they think?

TIGER WOODS: They'll think of 16. You can think of 16 all you want, but if 18 doesn't happen, then it's DiMarco's what a great chip and a great putt he made on 18 and all these things.

Q. Do you go back and watch that tape from the '05 Masters?

TIGER WOODS: Uh huh.

Q. Do you find yourself fast forwarding through 16 so you can get to the 3 wood?

TIGER WOODS: Uh huh. I look at why I hit the 8 iron left on 16 and what my thought process was. It's amazing because every time I've been in contention to win The Masters or have had the lead going into 16, I've pumped it on that top tier. I've made two pars but I hit it on the top tier. I didn't want to hit it on the top tier this time, so I didn't.

Q. Can you give us any insight on what may be on the menu for Tuesday night?

TIGER WOODS: Probably the same as last time, steak and chicken.

Q. After you won the British you were talking about it was kind of "in your face" with people who weren't on board with your swing changes. You were a little bit "in your face." Is that still your feeling or are you just kind of laying back off of that now?

TIGER WOODS: Well, now people understand what you're working on, why I made the changes in the first place to get here, to get to this point, where a bad day would be even par in a major championship. That's where you want to be. It took so much time and I took a lot of flak for making the changes. That's one reason I reacted the way I did at St. Andrews, because I went first second first. If I putted just normal, I felt like I hit the ball well enough to win the U.S. Open, I just putted atrociously that week. People weren't looking at my putting that week, they were just looking at my ball striking. I had three majors in a row where I hit the ball really well.

Q. Obviously you want to be at the head of the class as far as this tournament, but if you look at the number of guys in the lead, the quality of the field, how much pride can you take in that?

TIGER WOODS: It's very exciting for them to take time out and come play. Obviously this late in the season everyone is a little tired. Some of the guys came from South Africa to play, and so it's nice for them to come out and support what we believe in, helping kids. So I thank all the players from the bottom of my heart for coming out here and supporting and playing, and then obviously the fans. We have great support each and every year we play.

End of FastScripts.

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