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HSBC CHAMPIONS

November 9, 2006

Tiger Woods

SHANGHAI, CHINA: First Round

Q. How did you feel out there, long day?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I was in position to get to 3 or 4 under par today, 2 under par, missed a short birdie putt, made a bogey on the par 3. Missed another short birdie putt and then made bogey on the par 5. Unfortunately it didn't happen that way, it went the other way and left myself just an awful lot of work with three days to go.

Q. Frustrating?

TIGER WOODS: Very frustrating. Because I was in great position to get to about 4 and that would have been fine, I would have only been a few back.

Q. Do you feel good for the time off?

TIGER WOODS: Oh, I needed it. Seven out of nine weeks and then a two day trip to Ireland there for a Ryder Cup practise round; it was a lot. I normally don't play that much golf, but that's just how the schedule worked out this year. Next year may have to go through the same thing. But again, nice break afterwards. It's always nice when you get that break, the light at the end of the tunnel kind of thing.

Q. (What do you think of your chances for the week?)

TIGER WOODS: I've got a lot of work to do in the next three days. This golf course is playing a lot harder this year, this firm and fast. The scores, there are some pretty good numbers out there. If you hit the ball well and if you make good putts, they are going in. I was watching K.J. and Goose ahead of me, they were making a bunch of putts, and Jeev made a bunch of putts in our group. It can be done.

Q. (How were the crowds?)

TIGER WOODS: We had a few distractions out there but that's to be expected. It just the way it is. People are coming out and watching golf and a lot of them are not golf fans, so this is a new experience for them. You can deal with distractions.

Q. Crowds were slightly better today than last year?

TIGER WOODS: No, it was a lot better today than it was last year. Last year was a lot more interesting.

Q. And Roger Federer came out today to watch you.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, that guy is all right, too. Roger is a great guy. We've become pretty good friends and it's great of him to come out here and watch and support. It's special. He's getting ready for a tournament here on Sunday. He starts Sunday and he's going to go back out right now it's nice for him to come out.

Q. Did you know he was going to come out?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, we talked about it.

Q. Talk about playing with Jeev.

TIGER WOODS: I've met Jeev a few times but I've never played with him. What he did at Valderrama, obviously, and what he's doing in Asia, he's having a great year. I think it's just a matter of confidence. He's playing a lot of golf and he's starting to turn the corner. It's good to see. I know about him quite a bit and he's such a great guy.

Q. Good buzz with Roger there today?

TIGER WOODS: Roger is one of my friends, so it's nice to see him out here following and watching. More importantly, it's nice to see him out here because he's obviously getting ready for his event on Sunday, and nice of him to take some time out to come and watch me smash it around a little bit.

Q. When did you become aware he was on the course?

TIGER WOODS: I was on the 12th and I saw him drive up. I knew he was coming out; we talked about it.

Q. When he put his finger up, No. 1 golfer in the world

TIGER WOODS: He's pretty good.

Q. With a reaction like that

TIGER WOODS: Well, he played well. I smash it around all over the place. But more importantly, we've gotten to know each other, and it's not too often that you can relate to someone going through certain things, and we both can. It's nice to be able to talk to someone like that.

Q. Can you learn anything from Roger?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I need to get my backhand a little bit better. (Laughter) Can't quite I'm not taking it early enough, you know.

As I said, we do talk quite a bit and it's kind of nice to pick each other's brains about certain things, because I've been lucky enough to get to know Michael Jordan pretty well and become great friends with him. You start relating to what some of the things you've got to go through in preparing and distractions to get you to the top; and once you're there, to keep moving forward. Roger and I, I've had a lot of fun conversations with him.

Q. Will you play a round of golf with him?

TIGER WOODS: I've love to play golf with him actually I'd love to play tennis with him.

Q. How many shots would you give him?

TIGER WOODS: Not enough.

Q. The Chinese golf fans, what do you think about them?

TIGER WOODS: It's great for them to come out and support the event. There are a lot of great players from all over the world playing here. It's fantastic for everyone to come out and watch and support this event, because this is turning into basically a major championship here in Asia. It's a huge event. You look at just the players that are here from all over the world, it's pretty impressive.

Q. What do you make of the Ryder Cup selection changes?

TIGER WOODS: I think they are great. I think they are great. You want the best team, and I think the more picks you can get, the better it is.

Q. How do you feel about Paul Azinger as captain?

TIGER WOODS: Paul will be fun. Paul will be great. He's fiery and he loves it and I think he will do very well as the captain. I think we'll all have a great time with him.

End of FastScripts.

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