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HSBC CHAMPIONS TOURNAMENT

November 12, 2005

Tiger Woods

SHANGHAI, CHINA

GORDON SIMPSON: Well, Tiger, you're right in the shake up. And as you said on TV, you're playing tomorrow with David Howell, you get on quite well, do you?

TIGER WOODS: David and I get on quite well, so it will be fun tomorrow. I've gotten to know David over the last few years. He's just a great guy, a wonderful competitor. So we'll go out there tomorrow, give it our best and see what happens.

GORDON SIMPSON: And you made plenty of birdies, as you've done the other couple of days; just a case of eliminating the bogeys?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it's just not exactly easy to make the short ones out here this week. The trick is not to leave yourself too many of them. For the most part, I've been able to do that, and we'll see what happens tomorrow.

Q. You probably remember giving David a bit of a resting last time you played together in Augusta, but you must have noted how much he's improved as a player since.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, he's certainly worked on his game. You see how hard he works, all of the hours he puts in after a round of golf. And you're going to improve when you put in time; he certainly has.

Q. Still a long way to go, of course, but you've won in a lot of countries around the world, but what would it mean tomorrow if you were to succeed here in China?

TIGER WOODS: Considering this is the biggest golfing event they have ever had, I think it would be very special to have your name associated with that. Hopefully I can get the job done tomorrow. But there's a lot of golf to be played tomorrow and we'll see what happens.

Q. There were a lot of big galleries today, do you think they got the better of your two playing partners?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think there were a lot of distractions out there, certainly. A lot of people had mobile phones, taking pictures, and gallery members bringing cameras in there. So there were a lot of distractions and you just had to deal with it.

The last couple of days, my playing partners and I have had to try to play through that somehow. You just have to understand, there's just going to be some distractions out there and try to deal with it as best you possibly can.

Q. Tell us about your eagle today and the miss on the 17th.

TIGER WOODS: Let's see, what did I do, I hit a driver and a 5 wood. I had 235 to the hole and hit it just past the hole and to the right. I had about a 35 footer. It was a double breaker, it was a little right to left at the beginning and then a little left to right at the end. Still found the bottom, somehow.

Then on 17, I hit just a nice 7 iron in there right below the hole and hit the putt way too hard. I was trying to hit it up the hill a little bit in the grain, and I just hit it just way too hard and didn't make the break and ran the putt by about a foot and a half and tapped it in for par.

Q. I saw you play the first day and it looked like the golf course was too easy for you. How do you think about the golf course now?

TIGER WOODS: Well, you should ask David, he's playing better than I am. (Laughter).

You know, it's playing soft, and you have to you drive the ball in the fairway, you have ball in hand and you can be pretty aggressive going to the greens. It's just trying to make some putts. With the greens this soft, there's some foot traffic. It gets a little difficult to make putts out there. So you've just got to give yourself as many opportunities as possible, and hopefully you can find the bottom enough times to shoot a good number.

Q. You played the first two rounds with Zhang and yesterday he scored one less than you did. Can you give a little bit of your own opinion on Zhang and also on the rest of the Chinese golfers in this event, is there any advice you can give?

TIGER WOODS: Playing with Zhang, it was nice. He's just a great gentleman. He went out there and tried to compete. He played beautifully yesterday.

You know, today I don't know what he did, but he hit a couple of good shots in front of us. He was playing right in front of us and made a couple of putts. I think it was great what he was able to do last year at Augusta by getting an invite to the Masters, and I think that's just done wonders for Chinese golf.

I haven't really followed a whole lot of the players here unfortunately, but I'm sure that over time, Chinese golf will benefit with the exposure it is getting this week and in the future; Chinese golf is headed in the right direction.

Q. You had excellent golf today, I'd like to talk about your 18th hole yesterday, it was a fantastic hole, and you played well, great finishing. How do you rate your anger management?

TIGER WOODS: How?

Q. How do you rate your anger management?

TIGER WOODS: Let's say that by the time I hit the next shot, I'm 100% committed to that next shot. Sometimes between the shots, I can get really hot. I'm a competitor, I know what I can do and it's frustrating when I know I didn't do it. You have to accept that and move on as fast as you possibly can so it doesn't affect you on the next shot. You know, that hasn't been the case for me.

But between the shots, certainly I will display some bit of anger and a bit of frustration. Get it out, get it over with and be focused and committed for the next one so you can put the ball in the proper spot.

Q. The distractions today, did any of them affect your shots, and can you tell us how you try and cope with the distractions?

TIGER WOODS: Well, you back off a number of times and regroup and try and get your commitment level to where it was before something happened. That's kind of how you have to deal with it. There's certainly going to be some distractions out there, and you just have to go ahead and cope with it.

There are a few times when all three of us had to back off golf shots and get recommitted to playing the golf shot again.

Q. What do you think of Nick O'Hern's game, you played with him at the Match Play. And why do you think he hasn't won?

TIGER WOODS: It's very surprising, because Nick hits the ball very consistent and a wonderful putter. Short game is very solid and he's been there a number of times; he's finished second or third a number of times. He's been in the mix, it's just been hard luck.

Paddy went through the same thing where he had a number of second place finishes and he just didn't have that many victories. It's just a matter of time for Nick before it happens. You know, playing with him this year at Match Play, he hit it very consistent and he just made enough putts.

Q. The one or two times this week you have got into trouble, would you say perhaps this was a case of being a touch too aggressive, or is that a part of your game you don't want to curb and that obviously makes you what you are?

TIGER WOODS: The times I have gotten in trouble, it's not from being too aggressive. It's just hitting poor golf shots. Unfortunately I hit some at the wrong times and didn't place the ball properly.

So you know, the only time I was pretty aggressive this week was probably yesterday on 16, taking 3 wood out and going for it. But the pin was pretty accessible. Even if you missed it to the left, you still had a pretty easy shot, which I did, and I missed it on the left side and missed an easy shot and hit just a terrible golf shot and made bogey. Overall I feel like I've just managed my game well.

Q. First chance I've had to ask you since September, is Presidents Cup week a lot more fun than Ryder Cup week, and if so, why?

TIGER WOODS: It is, without a doubt.

Q. Why?

TIGER WOODS: Probably because we're all good friends and you see more concessions and more sportsmanship, and good sportsmanship. And the way it's supposed to be played than the Ryder Cup, how it used to be played, and now it's starting to get back to that. The Presidents Cup is a lot more enjoyable because of that because of how the sportsmanship is conducted. That's the nature of why both tournaments were started, and unfortunately the Ryder Cup got a little sidetracked.

Q. And you've seen bad sportsmanship in the matches you've played since '97.

TIGER WOODS: Let's say sportsmanship; how about gamesmanship.

Q. Any examples you'd care to share with us?

TIGER WOODS: Nope. (Laughter).

GORDON SIMPSON: Tiger, great effort today. Well done.

End of FastScripts.

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