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MERCEDES CHAMPIONSHIPS

January 7, 2005

Vijay Singh

KAPALUA, HAWAII

TODD BUDNICK: Thanks to Vijay Singh for coming in after an 8-under 65 in the second round of the Mercedes Championships, a 15-under, second round leader.

Vijay, bogey-free, great start, four birdies and an eagle on the front nine. Talk about today.

VIJAY SINGH: Yeah, I was really comfortable out there. I didn't feel, you know, nervous or anything. It was a wind that I knew from before. So I was comfortable with the wind, as well, and I had a great start. I hit the second shot on 1 and made a good putt and hit it stiff on 2. That helps, birdies off the bat.

You know, hit two good shots on No. 5 and just got it going from there on. I made a bomb on No. 7. I think I probably had -- I could feel my shaft on my putter when I hit that putt. It was probably, 70 feet maybe.

Then I had a great up-and-down on No. 9. That kind of kept me -- the momentum was still there.

The back nine, I don't know what happened. Just didn't make good putts but still played solid. Didn't make too many mistakes and kept myself in play.

Q. You talked about yesterday where you thought that people should have gone lower yesterday, you were kind of surprised. Today before you got on the first tee you could see that people were obviously going lower, what was your mindset going into the second round?

VIJAY SINGH: I was very comfortable. I knew the golf course, I knew where the birdie chances are. Don't make birdies, you can always make them on par 5s where you can reach in two and there's a few very short par 4s where you can get good chances for birdies.

I knew there's a lot of birdie holes out there, if you just play right, you can do it. But I just started off really well and just kept it going. I really didn't feel at all pressured out there.

Q. After a year like last year, which was obviously so awesome, do you make any subtle tweaks, either in the change -- a lot of guys are playing the new Pro V1 ball, stuff like that?

VIJAY SINGH: I have not really tried the new ball. After my year last year, there's no reason for me to change the ball. (Laughter.)

A lot of guys have changed. I have not tried, maybe let the season go and I'll have a few hits with it. My swing I tweaked a little bit here and there, a little bit more hip movement through the ball and just little small things that really does not change the path of the swing but just movement through the ball.

Q. Second round, scores are not that important but do you pay attention to the score boards and notice that Weir had the great round and Els making a challenge or does it matter at all?

VIJAY SINGH: It's still, you know, it's still important to know who is around. I keep a good eye on the score board all the time. It doesn't matter if it's -- you know, if I'm leading or not leading. You know, this golf course, like today, Weir went low, I think Appleby went low, Ernie and myself. When you get a good run going, you can make a lot of birdies. You have to keep pace with what's going on out there. That was my goal, to see if I could make a lot of birdies and stay ahead.

You know, that putt on the last, I wanted it so bad. That was a good opportunity to hit the green in two and I did. Just to keep one more shot ahead I think is important on this golf course.

Q. When you missed that makeable putt on 8 and you had the bad drive on 9, was there something in the back of your mind, thought maybe it was getting away?

VIJAY SINGH: I wasn't comfortable. I didn't know what shot to play there. The wind was left-to-right and I tried to hit a low one and it just came over the top a bit. I wasn't able to find that ball. I re-teed it and then I hit a good drive and that relaxed me a bit more. I hit a good 3-wood up close to the green and got up-and-down.

I was disappointed missing that one. I told my caddie, I said, "It makes up for the long putt I made on the previous hole." So it evened out there.

Q. There's been a lot of talk all week about you and Tiger and Ernie and Retief and Phil, and you threw in Mike Weir. I was wondering what you saw or what you see from Mike that maybe you had some better insight?

VIJAY SINGH: Well, what's his ranking? He's still in the Top-10, isn't he it? He's 8. Yeah, he's one of the better players out there.

Two years ago, he won four times, he won the Masters. Mike's always been a very consistent player. He played well last year, as well. So I think anybody in the Top 15 has got a good chance of making a run this year.

Q. Is it easy to get frustrated on these greens and why haven't you got -- what have you done that that you haven't gotten frustrated yet on these greens?

VIJAY SINGH: I made a few on the front nine today. I made a good one on No. 1.

But, I don't know, it's just I'm picking my line and hitting the putts and I'm practicing really well on the practice greens to know that that's the way I'm going to putt the ball on the greens and I'm not really thinking about missing it. I'm just picking my line and hopefully I can hit a good pace on it.

It was still very difficult out there to, you know, if you leave yourself a lot of uphill putts into the grain, it's just so hard to get to the hole and you can get frustrated if you hit too many of those.

On the front nine, I had a lot of downhill putts, which is easier to get to the hole, you don't really have to worry about stroking it.

Q. You said earlier that you didn't feel nervous at all. Are there times when you feel nervous on the golf course?

VIJAY SINGH: Yeah, sometimes you do. If you don't have a very good practice session and you just come on the tee and you feel a little uncomfortable, yeah, you do. Not nervous; nervous to go out there. Just past that stage now, I guess. (Laughter.)

Q. You said that you look at the leaderboard to see who is around. Does it matter who in your mind?

VIJAY SINGH: No, just to see what's going on, who is playing what. I even know what Fred Funk shot well today. I know he had a bad day, but I just want to see the leaderboard and see what guys are doing. It's out there to look. You have a lot of time to think between holes so you might as well look at the leaderboard, you know. (Laughter.)

TODD BUDNICK: Before we go over your card, you're getting ready to donate the car you won at the Buick Open on eBay for the Tsunami Aid to Raise Funds for Unicef. Could you just make some comments about that?

VIJAY SINGH: My wife thought it was a great idea to do that, and I didn't really need a car at this moment. But it's for a very good cause. That's a lot of people out there that need help, as you all know. I believe a lot in helping out and I believe the TOUR is giving tickets for all of the events that I've won. It's just a great course to do that and this is just a little thing that I can help and I just hope you guys, you're looking for a car, it's on eBay.

But, you know, it was just one thing that I could do and I think it's just great that I'm doing it.

Q. Were you personally impacted, relatives from India or anything?

VIJAY SINGH: No.

Q. Was your family far enough in distance, over the years because of the move to Fiji?

VIJAY SINGH: I know tsunamis and Asia. I've played a lot of golf there and my wife is from Malaysia and I was in Phuket in November, beginning of November, and I was actually walking down that street there as well, so I know what it's like and how -- just thinking of it, just a small wave can ruin the whole place and this was a big one.

I'm from Asia, so I have -- my heart is from there, so I feel for the people there.

Q. In view of being paired with Mike Weir tomorrow, your run-in with him at the Canadian Open, some of your thoughts on that?

VIJAY SINGH: The Canadian Open, well, it's just a tournament. That was the Canadian Open and it was -- you know, I felt bad for Mike, the way it ended up and he had a good chance to win. But, you know, you just have to forget and go on with it. Tomorrow is another day, and I'm going to be out there fighting as hard as he will be. I'm going to make sure that I'm going to try to keep ahead.

He's just another player to me tomorrow, and he's a good friend of mine. But on the golf course, you know, we are competitors.

Q. Have you always been a good front-runner? There are some guys that like a lead and other guys don't want to carry a lead for four rounds; they feel that everybody is chasing them. Other people get in front and say, you know, I don't care who is behind me.

VIJAY SINGH: I don't know, I just -- I'd rather be in front than behind because, you know, I have one or two shots to play with.

Obviously when you're playing well, you're ahead. I've always played well when I'm ahead. I'm always a little uncomfortable about having miracles on the golf course and making long putts and doing things and going ahead that way. But if you're playing well and taking the lead, then I'm very comfortable. I'm very comfortable right now and I'm playing well and I feel good with my game. I'm comfortable with it.

TODD BUDNICK: Driver and wedge on the first hole about 15 foot.

7-iron about four feet.

Driver, 6-iron, probably ten feet maybe.

6, I hit a driver, sand wedge about 12 feet.

Driver, 8-iron, 60 feet, 70 feet, I don't know what that was.

Driver, sand wedge, probably eight feet again.

Last hole, I hit driver, 5-wood, chipped it about eight, ten feet.

Q. What was it about 11 that you ended up over the green there?

VIJAY SINGH: It was just the wind. The wind was right-to-left and I hit a really good shot, it was straight over the flag. I couldn't believe it went over. It was blowing in there and it just went over.

Q. How difficult was the comeback?

VIJAY SINGH: It was actually a pretty good lie. I caught a really decent lie and just flipped it. It was no big deal.

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you.

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