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THE BARCLAYS

August 25, 2009

Vijay Singh

JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY

MARK WILLIAMS: I'd like to welcome Vijay Singh to the interview room at The Barclays, the first FedExCup Playoff event. Vijay, you've been on the golf course this morning. Just give us your thoughts on the course and what you're expecting this week.
VIJAY SINGH: It's in great condition and the views are the best you're ever going to see around here. The golf is very interesting. The course has got its own character. The greens are very difficult. There's a lot of undulations on them. You're going to have some interesting putts out there.

Q. Do you like the character of the course? Because you were talking on the press day about how you love traditional courses.
VIJAY SINGH: Right.

Q. And also, do you like that drivable par 4, 16?
VIJAY SINGH: Yeah, it's very difficult greens, so you have to figure out what's the best place to come in from. That's a challenging hole. It's a risk/reward. Again there's a lot of risk there unless you drive it perfect.
I think it will grow, it will grow on people. It will grow on players. The more you play it, the more knowledge you're going to get about the golf course. Right now it's the first time I'm playing on it and the guys are saying, you know, it's a different golf course, totally different than what we normally play on TOUR. It's a very modern golf course with a very old-fashioned look to it. So that's the best I can describe it.

Q. Do you feel like you've got a good drip on the changes with the points and everything this year? Do you like it, feel like they are getting closer to where the Playoffs need to be, your personal preference?
VIJAY SINGH: Hard to say, because it's the first time they are going to apply it. We'll find out when we get to THE TOUR Championship what happens. If a guy goes out and still wins two or three events, and shows up at THE TOUR Championship and doesn't win, is it fair, you know what I mean.
I don't know which is the best combination. They will have to try this and if it doesn't work, they will tweak it again. So right now, everybody seems to think it's pretty good.

Q. If they had used this year's points structure, Camilo would have won it last year and you would have finished second.
VIJAY SINGH: I would have played differently last year. (Laughter).

Q. You would have shown up in Atlanta?
VIJAY SINGH: I wouldn't have worried about breaking my leg coming down the steps. That was totally different, I was on my own then trying not to get hurt and trying not to eat wrong and trying not to sleep in, and everybody was reminding me. It kind of got -- couldn't sleep.

Q. It's kind of hard for them to balance being a season-long points race and then kind of having a four-week sweepstakes, isn't it? Isn't it tough to do both?
VIJAY SINGH: Yeah, I think they should just -- every week, should be back to zero, you know.

Q. In the Playoffs?
VIJAY SINGH: In the Playoffs. That way, everybody, you just advance. It's a tournament. It's part of the Money List. It's part of the Vardon Trophy. It's part of the TOUR still, and every week should be back to zero. A hundred play or 200 play or whatever and you just cut it down to whatever is necessary, and the last day, it's a shootout. I think that would be a better way of doing it. But I'm the only one that's playing that thinks that way (chuckling).

Q. What's the experience of defending a championship on a golf course you're still trying to learn?
VIJAY SINGH: You know, done it so many times at so many different golf courses. It used to be just go out and play the same courses. Now, you just have to learn it and play it. It's a different golf tournament, but it's got the same title.
Everybody is in the same position as I am. Nobody out there -- I mean, you can go out there and play, practice for a whole month, and not have the same shot at some of the greens out here because it's so different, so much undulation in them and slopes and bounces so differently out there.
And also, depend on how dry it gets. If it gets hot and firm, it's going to be another issue. Right now, the fairways are in soft condition, so it's just not running. So it's going to play a lot shorter, the drives are, and the greens are going to get a lot tougher. And it's a really tough golf course. It's long. It's tight. It's grueling. So you've got to bring your game, as well.

Q. But you don't get the same comfortable feeling that you would normally get with a golf course where you had won 365 days earlier?
VIJAY SINGH: If you're playing well. You've got to drive the ball well and hit good iron shots, no matter what golf course you go to or how good or bad the golf course is or how tough or easy, if you're playing well and driving the ball well and putting well, you're going to do well. Especially this golf course, you have to drive the ball on the fairway, and it's long, and you have to drive the ball long enough and hit really good iron shots. There are a few holes that I hit 5-woods to par 4s that I haven't done too many times.
So it's a tough, long golf course, and you know, very difficult.

Q. Kind of piggybacking off that a little bit, can you ever be ready for a brand new golf course that's thrown into the mix?
VIJAY SINGH: Brand new in which way?

Q. There's no homework on this. There's no book on this. This is totally new to the whole --
VIJAY SINGH: I was talking to my caddie, this totally remind me of Kingsbarns in Scotland, that kind of a look, but much more greener. The greens are running off the same way. So it's kind of a links golf course in the middle of, I don't know, Manhattan (laughter) in New Jersey. It's got the best views, though. It takes your mind away from all of the difficulty around it.

Q. Have you ever been to Ellis Island or the Statue of Liberty?
VIJAY SINGH: No, but which hole is that, 15, 16, the par 3? That's as close as I'm going to get to it. My caddie said he's going to go there, so I said, "You go ahead and tell me how it looks tonight."

Q. Are Ridgewood and Westchester much more similar to each other than this is; is that correct?
VIJAY SINGH: Than this? Yeah, this is totally a different cup of tea. It's longer. I mean, it's a lot more difficult driving-wise. I think this is a tough golf course. I don't know if you've heard but you've got to bring your game over here. And you've got to hit it to the correct part of the greens, as well. It's not just hitting the greens and you're going to get away with having an easy putt. Ridgewood and this is just totally different.

Q. So you've got three Barclays' titles; is it the name of the tournament or is it the golf courses?
VIJAY SINGH: I think it's the name of the tournament (smiling).
I don't know, I'm playing well, and I've started to play well again. Leg is feeling good. Body is pretty healthy. My game's okay. So I like my chances.

Q. Does the course favor a certain style of play?
VIJAY SINGH: One who just doesn't worry about what the golf course is and just plays each shot at a time. You go out there and start criticizing the golf course, then you might as well not show up. The guy that shows up, you know, whoever plays well, but goes out there and just focus on the shot at hand and plays each hole at a time is going to be the best player out there.

Q. Anything different in your bag this week to adjust for the course?
VIJAY SINGH: No. Exactly the same as I had last time.

Q. You're a guy who has won consistently on TOUR and majors and stuff like that, when you hear people say Tiger is in a slump because he is not won a major this year, do you guys on TOUR sort of laugh that off and just say, you don't really know how hard it is to win on a weekly basis?
VIJAY SINGH: That's why they call it the majors, you know. I don't know, we don't laugh about it at all. We don't say Tiger is in a slump like you guys say Tiger is in a slump. I think he's had one of the best years of him being out here. After his injury, he's played unbelievable golf. So I think this is one of the best years he's had. Hey, he didn't win the major, but still, he's won five events.

Q. You ought to know about the knee injury thing, shouldn't you. So what club did you hit into 18, a 500-something-yard-uphill par 4, and secondly, if you had to pick between winning THE PLAYERS Championship and the FedExCup, which one would you rather have?
VIJAY SINGH: Well, I hit a 6-iron. It was downwind. I hit it from the bunker. If it was on the fairway, I probably would have used the same club. I think yesterday they were hitting 3-woods on to the green because it was --

Q. Different wind.
VIJAY SINGH: That's a trick question, the last one. THE PLAYERS Championship obviously is our championship. They have different importance, you know. FedExCup, obviously the prize is huge and it's very new. Put it this way; I'd rather win both of them. How's that?
MARK WILLIAMS: Appreciate your time Vijay, and good luck on your defense this week.

End of FastScripts

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