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MERCEDES-BENZ CHAMPIONSHIP

January 6, 2007

Vijay Singh

KAPALUA, HAWAII

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Vijay, seemingly in control of your game, 11-under par and 3 shots ahead of Adam and Trevor going into the final round, maybe some comments?
VIJAY SINGH: A little disappointing today. The scoring was good, but the ball-striking wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. It was wishy-washy today, but the putting is a great equalizer. Made a lot of 3-, 4-, 5-footers.
And a little disappointed about the 18th, again. Three days in a row making par there; it's like giving shots away but hopefully tomorrow I'll get that right.

Q. Vijay, what inspired you to go to the belly putter?
VIJAY SINGH: I just picked it up at home one day and it felt good. I wasn't planning to go to it, but I picked it up, never tried it before. It was sitting there for a long time and just putted with it and it felt good and went with it.

Q. Is it week-to-week, or do you think you'll stick with it?
VIJAY SINGH: I don't know. Wait and see next week.

Q. How much does course knowledge help you at this venue?
VIJAY SINGH: Helped today. Especially when you're not striking the ball the way you want to. I just scrambled a lot today. You know, I knew where the grains were on the green, how quick was the chip or the long putts were, and you don't hit it where you want to hit it, so from that sense it's helped a lot. You remember the breaks, you remember how much they break, how quick they are. That's all helpful at the end of the day.

Q. Vijay, you say ball-striking was wishy-washy, what was it like on the range today?
VIJAY SINGH: It was pretty good. I think I got into my rhythm. It was gusty out there. You hit the ball and trying to hit a solid shot and the wind comes up, your mind is wondering if the ball is going to get into the wind or not and you increase the rhythm or it's not right there and the timing goes.
And it started very early 1, 2, 3, 4 holes, it was all very -- all over the place and it continued that way until I started to make some birdies and made some good putts.

Q. Were the gusts different than the first two days?
VIJAY SINGH: It was strong gusts. It was a continuous wind, strong winds, and then you may get a little stronger gusts, before. But today it would calm down and all of the sudden, it would below 20, 25 and you have a club in your hand that it can hit 150 yards and the gust comes up and it goes 130.

Q. You were in the lead previously five times and only won two of those five, and here you were in the lead going into the last round last year and lost to Stuart. Is it imperative in your mind because of all work you did at the end of this year and coming into this year that you win this tournament, or it doesn't matter if you win as long as you play as well as you can? You hear different things about that. What is your mind-set?
VIJAY SINGH: I'm going to go out and try to play the game that I want to play. I'm going to go out there and strike the ball the way I want to strike the ball and if I manage to do that, if I succeed in, you know, striking the ball the way I want to, I think the results are going to be there. I cannot help whatever the other guys do. I cannot go out there and wish they would play bad. I'm going to go out there and try to play the best I can and if my best is good enough, that's good for me.

Q. Out of the three rounds that you played so far, what would be the round that you would be happy with tomorrow?
VIJAY SINGH: The first round I struck the ball the way I wanted to, maybe because I had a clear view of my golf swing, I had not played any competition then, but I'm going to go out there and it's very close. I'm not striking the ball badly at all, just not striking the ball the way I want to strike it and in the rain it changes.

Q. Vijay, with as many times as you've played this course, are you hoping for a win tomorrow?
VIJAY SINGH: If I'm not on for a win I shouldn't be sitting here. I'm going to go out will and try to win, that is my goal. My desire is to win as many as possible and I'm going to go out there and do my best.

Q. Do you hope the wind blows like it did today or like it has all week --
VIJAY SINGH: It really doesn't matter. To me the conditions -- I've played in all the conditions over here, so I think I have more knowledgeable about this golf course than anybody else out here so I'm going to make good use of that.

Q. Can you explain 18?
VIJAY SINGH: I don't know, I just -- I think I just blanked out there, you know? Perfect hit today, all I needed to do was hit a 5-iron solid and came off it a little bit and same up short. Chip shot was one of the hardest ones -- you cannot be aggressive with it and for some reason it bit a lot more than I thought it would, and I totally misread the putt.

Q. Did you ever thinking about using a putter for that chip shot?
VIJAY SINGH: I was too far off the green. It was not a choice.

Q. You feel like that hole has gotten into your head?
VIJAY SINGH: No, not really. I have to be more aggressive, I think I have to take a club and hit it to the middle of the green. I think that's the best place to be. I'm trying to hit it too close to the hole, maybe the pin is getting me a little bit. I have to just hit it into the middle of the green, and if it comes down to that tomorrow, I'll do that.

Q. Vijay, you and Will MacKenzie were neck and neck over the front nine; were you aware of how the leader board was changing?
VIJAY SINGH: I did not see the leader board until the 13th hole. I think I was on the 9th hole, and I didn't get to look at it, but on the 13th hole was when I first looked at it and it didn't bother me at all. There was a lot of holes to go.
JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Vijay thanks.

End of FastScripts

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