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THE BARCLAYSAugust 22, 2007Vijay SinghHARRISON, NEW YORK JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Defending champion, Vijay Singh, here at The Barclays. Well, you've won three times, do you think you can make it four, starting the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. VIJAY SINGH: Well, still some have pains in my body but I'm excited about this week. It's the beginning of a four-week run, and I feel good. The golf course has given me a lot in the past and hopefully it's a few more left for me. JOEL SCHUCHMANN: You're No. 2 in the FedExCup standings and you're one of the top players that does play a number of weeks in a row. Can you just talk about your conditioning and your training and the number of tournaments you play might help you during this stretch. VIJAY SINGH: It's a different format this four weeks, different mind-set, you're going in there with a lot more aggression and trying to get as much points and win all the tournaments you can. Unlike the other years, maybe you go into tournaments looking at the Money List. This one, you're starting almost all level and, you know, you can't win the first two weeks pretty much got it sowed. So that's pretty much the mind-set. I played really well in this event. This has been a very good week for me here in the past. Boston has also been quite good for me. Cog Hill, I don't know too well, and also Atlanta, I've won in Atlanta. If you look at the record, I have a very good stretch of wins and performance in those four events. And taking that into account, I feel good about it. Q. How do you as a road warrior, probably of the premiere guys, you get more at-bats out here than anybody. How do you wrap your head around that much time on the road and what is your routine and how do you cope with it? Obviously a lot of people talk about the one guy who is not here this week because he felt like it was not advantageous to him playing at the highest level. It doesn't seem to faze you at all. VIJAY SINGH: I've done it for so many years. All my life, I've just played a lot of events. A lot of guys stay home and practice a lot. I pretty much play a lot of events and keep myself sharp that way. I do better work on the road than I do at home. So I feel like -- and I've done it for years and I love playing. A lot of times we get home and just, you know, get to be involved so much and you don't really play -- I don't really play at home; I practice. I'd rather be on the road and play. Q. Is it a mental or a physical adjustment? VIJAY SINGH: It's pretty much both. You know, once -- coming out on the road, I don't really perform well straight out. It takes me one or two weeks to get into it. Sometimes I do very well off the bat. You know, if you watch me, if I've played a few, probably the second or third week, I've played really well. So it's what I've been doing for years. Q. Just based on points, you seem to benefit the most from Tiger not being here. Do you welcome that challenge or are you offended by the notion that people think he can still win this by not being here this week? What's your reaction to him not being here? VIJAY SINGH: I don't have a reaction really. It's really up to the individual if he wants to play or not. I just feel it's -- what I feel like, I just go out there and try to win the first two and if I can do that, I'm pretty much got it sewed and that's the way I look at it. He just needs to play well in the next two. I don't really have any thoughts about Tiger not playing. It's the same for the tournament and for the FedEx I think, but he's got his reasons and got to accept that. Q. I know you're working with a new physical trainer; has it taken an adjustment in time incorporating new exercises to manifest out on the golf courses in tournaments, has there been any adjustment period switching from trainer to trainer? VIJAY SINGH: Yeah, he's got a different set of workouts. I'm still hurting. (Chuckling) I haven't stopped hurting for the last month. But it's a lot harder than what I used to do with Joey. I worked with Joey for six years and he kind of knew my body well. Jeffrey, it's taken him a while, but I like the work outs that he's doing. I think he's going to get me much stronger than I was before. It's just taken me a long time, awhile to get used to it. It's just a different set of workouts every week, every day, and you know, I'm hurting in places I've never hurt before. But in the long run, I think it's going to be good. Q. It's a different time of the year, different name of the tournament, different format, is it hard to feel like a defending champion, do you feel like you're defending this? VIJAY SINGH: Yeah, definitely. It's a different time, different week, but you know, the weather is the same. It's still raining. (Laughter) Rained all day yesterday. Last year was the same thing. I think the Pro-Am was rained out. The golf course is great. It's in great shape. They have done a lot of good work. They have moved a lot of trees around, the green areas and have opened up the golf course. It's in great shape. Some of the greens have not done very well in the hot weather but they still roll pretty smoothly. I feel like, yeah, I'm defending it. I've had great, great success here and I'm just looking forward to going out there and taking on the challenge. Fortunately, it's the first week of the Playoffs, so I should feel good about it. Q. You often seem to have played some of your best golf near the tail end of the year. Is there a conscious effort to do that in terms of pacing yourself or conditioning yourself for that? VIJAY SINGH: I just think, I don't stop working out on the rode, a lot of guys work out at home, come on the road and slow down. I have a set plan to do it and I keep to it. Maybe sometimes I'm not as good and I get overworked at times, but in the long run, I think it pays off. Come near the end of the season, I'm still -- I still keep to my routine. Slowly but surely I get stronger and stronger and I think that shows at the end of the season. Q. You've been really honest over the year about the FedExCup. There's been some resistance, I guess, from among the players and media even; do you suppose that's because it's been so hyped and there's been so much propaganda thrown out there; the natural instinct when people try to force-feed something to you is to sort of back up and keep it at arm's length? VIJAY SINGH: I think so. I think in the beginning of the year, it was a little bit too hyped up. From the very get-go, just talked about it and sure, the TOUR wants this to be, you know, a talking point. It's going to be good for everybody, especially for TV. And a spectator from home has got something to look forward to now, the last four events. But I think if you keep -- we are the ones that have to deal with it every week. We go out there and all we hear about is the FedExCup every week it's on the boards, we go out there, Tuesday, Wednesday, it's always there, the FedExCup. After a while, we just don't want to hear about it. But I'm sure every player out there at some point is looking forward to winning the final points system I guess. There's a lot on the line at the end of the day. Prize money is quite high for the last four events, and, you know, the winner gets quite a good bonus. You know, if you look at it that way, it's an advantage to us to have this FedExCup, but to talk about it week-in and week-out, it gets to us, yeah. (Laughter). Q. You've had a pretty good year obviously, and I just wondered, at your age, and I'm not saying you're old -- do you still feel the same way about yourself that when majors come around, you should be considered? VIJAY SINGH: Yeah, I'm very disappointed the last two years in the majors. I've played poorly, take away the two weeks this year, I've played poorly as well. I've just managed to play a lot of events, not missing much -- too many cuts, but I have not performed the way I think I should. The same instance, I feel very good about myself and my golf swing. It looks on camera, on video it looks as good as it's ever been. But I'm not getting the results. I think it's just a matter of time. I feel strong. I feel like my trainer is going to be a big difference to me as well. In the past I kind of fell off my training routines, it just got a little too boring as well. Joey and this new trainer, kind of gave a good adjustment to everything. Gave a good boost to my confidence and I feel like I was energized again. It was disappointing missing the cut at the PGA, but we all thought we were going to make the cut anyway; 6-over was in when I finished. But that's not the point. I feel disappointed. Like you said, age has got nothing to do with it. I feel stronger now than I've ever done and I think I'm going to get stronger still. It's all about how you feel and I'm going to be ready come next year. Q. Is this your favorite course on the TOUR and what is it about it that suits your eye or suits your game? VIJAY SINGH: I think it's just the knowledge about the golf course. I've played since '92, I think, and every year, I've just played -- I don't think I've ever missed it, maybe once if I did. But playing it some 15 times in a row, 14 times in a row, you just learn a lot more about the golf course and you know the breaks and you know where not to hit it. You know where to take a risk; it's just the knowledge about the golf course. I think I have more knowledge about this golf course than any other. That's pretty much, you know, at least why I play well here. Q. You sort of touched upon this, but if it was difficult to embrace this concept in January and February, how has your attitude changed about this FedExCup, and when, if ever, did you start thinking about just this and not everything else on the schedule? VIJAY SINGH: Really, you don't really go to sleep thinking about the FedExCup. Really nobody does that. Pretty much the same as the Presidents Cup. You know, you don't think about being on the team until you are picked, and same over here. I arrived here looking forward to practice but I didn't, and when I arrived at the golf course I wasn't even thinking about the FedExCup. When you tee it up tomorrow, I was talking with Jimmy, and we are 2,3 and 4 on the Cup points, that will kind of get us going a little bit. Obviously you want to be ahead of the other guys and they feel the same way. That will kind of, you know, get us going a little bit but besides that, I think there will be more excitement come next week. Q. At the end of the day, will the winner here feel like he won a tournament or will he feel like he picked up a lot of points? VIJAY SINGH: I think really it's going to be both ways. I think winning the tournament will be more of a, you know, something to talk about. It will be more important winning the golf tournament than the points, but at the same time, you know, you know we're talking about the points system so it's going to generation both attention. I think winning the golf tournament will be more important at this stage. Q. You and Phil have very similar records as far as major championships, wins. Barring a great sprint by you or Phil to close your career, you may end up second to Tiger in this era for major championships; do you ever think about that? Is your competitiveness able to focus on Jim and Phil, peers of yours that are angling for that second role, if you will, behind Tiger? VIJAY SINGH: Well, you do -- it is mentioned before. But Phil and myself, we win the same number of events and same number of majors. Besides that, if he wins, you know, he'll be one or two ahead of me, but you don't really worry about that much. I've given myself maybe another six years to really focus on this TOUR. For some reason when you hit that 50 mark, you think you're done. I program myself for another four years, five years over here and give it another good shot. If I can't compete it will be the end of that. But I still think I will be competitive every week I show up until 50. If I do better, if I'm still playing well, I'll keep on playing. But 50 is 50. (Laughing). Q. I want to go back to your tendency to play so often. When you found out that this was going to require you to play four weeks in a row, and, you know, five out of six or six out of eight, whatever it would be going back to Bridgestone, I'm guessing in your mind, you must have thought, that's to my advantage, because most of these guys don't play anywhere near that often over that short of a period of time. It could seemingly be a huge leg up for you on the prize money. VIJAY SINGH: Well, yes and no. I think the guys just don't play a lot because they don't have to. Q. Not that they can't. VIJAY SINGH: I'm sure everyone can. It will show a lot in this next four weeks that the guys are still going to be there. They are all three well-trained athletes, most of them anyway and they will perform. They are all training, they are all exercising, they are all working out, they are all reading right. So they are all great. I just think it's in the schedule that they don't want to play -- it's in their head they don't want to play two or three weeks in a row, four weeks in a row and take a week off. But, you know, if they have to, I think everybody will. Q. There's a notion that the TOUR Championship, because it's at the end of this, could be mediocre golf; do you think that's lunacy, that idea? VIJAY SINGH: Well, there's only 30 players, right? Who wouldn't want to play in that event like that? It's a lay-up, you know, you just show up -- (laughter). You go back 30, 40 years, give the same opportunities to the guys that were playing then, they will swim to the tournaments. (Laughter). I think it's a great thing that we have. You should be proud of what the TOUR has done for us and we should be really happy that we have a TOUR to play in and they are doing so much for us. JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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