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FARMERS INSURANCE OPEN

January 27, 2011

Tiger Woods

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA

TIGER WOODS: These are probably the narrowest fairways I think we've ever seen on TOUR and playing this fast. It's almost impossible, especially with the crosswinds. It was tough today.

Q. Your putting, when you told everybody you spent a lot of time working on it and you didn't have that chance last year. You came out today and made some of those big putts, particularly down the stretch on number 6 and number 8, but then you also let a few get away. How do you feel you're putting?
TIGER WOODS: I didn't leave myself any putts. Every putt I had was above the hole, breaking two, three, four feet. I never left myself below the hole. When I did, I had a short one there at 7, I hit right through the birdie.
So I just need to leave myself better shots. I can't put myself up there above the hole every hole like I did all day.

Q. Scott Kelly and Nick have felt throughout your day that your swing looked comfortable and easy. How are you feeling about your swing?
TIGER WOODS: It's better, it's getting better. It's an evolution. Today I felt like I was able to control the ball most of the day, and hit some really good shots.

Q. Give me your assessment, the good and the bad of today. I know you love not having a bogey on the scorecard. But there were sometimes you didn't look happy.
TIGER WOODS: I kept leaving myself above the hole. Every putt that I had was breaking two, three, four feet from above the hole. These greens are bouncy enough that you just can't make those putts. I've got to put myself in better spots below the hole, and I didn't do that today.
Consequently, I didn't take care of the par-5s either. Anthony and I were talking about this all day to day. These are some of the hardest fairways to hit on TOUR. One, they're angled because they're banked, and they're the narrowest we've seen, and the rough is four or five inches, so it's tough.

Q. You made a great par save at number 8. What else about the day were you happy with your game?
TIGER WOODS: I probably hit the ball well all day. I hit just a couple of loose shots that I know what I did wrong, which was great, easy fixes and move on from there.
But, again, I kept leaving myself above the hole, and it's hard to make those putts out here.

Q. One thing I'm going to tell you that I noticed, you guys were playing at a really good pace. Did you notice it and is it a conscious thing? It seemed that you were playing faster. You were ready to go as soon as the other guy hit?
TIGER WOODS: Well, I was driving it past them so (laughing) you know, one or two guys hit in front of me. Should be ready.

Q. Thank Rocco for that one right there. Well, so far, so good. The driver looks like it's going okay for you. Not exactly as you I'm sure had hoped, but same thing. These fairways on the North side are a little surprising.
TIGER WOODS: Oh, my God. These are always probably one or two of the hardest golf courses to hit fairway-wise that we play all TOUR. Today with the wind coming across, it was tough. It was very tough. It was dry and it was fast. The ball was rolling.
So you have such a small window you need to get the ball in there, because it's going to roll 40 or 50 yards. It's fast. Not only is it fast, the rough is five, six inches in spots. A.K. and I were talking about that all day to day.
These are probably the hardest fairways to hit on TOUR. Long enough where you've got to hit driver, but again, the fairways are angled. So it's hard to hit the ball on the fairway. You have such a small window you have to land the ball, and the greens got a little spring in them. So you have to put the ball on the fairway so you can control it.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
TIGER WOODS: I hit the balls pretty good today. Unfortunately, I left myself above the hole on a lot of these putts. The greens are obviously pulling. They're not quite smooth.
Above the hole is not a good spot. They're tough putts to make. I need to put the ball below the hole so I can take the aggressor lines, and I didn't do that today.

Q. How comfortable are you here at Torrey Pines?
TIGER WOODS: I am comfortable here. Unfortunately, today I didn't take care of the par-5s either. So I'll head to the North course for tomorrow, and hopefully I -- sorry, the South course tomorrow, and hopefully I can put it together tomorrow.

Q. You mentioned the par-5s. How much of a challenge or frustrating are those for you? How hard do they continue to be?
TIGER WOODS: I just think I didn't drive the ball well on the par-5s. I hit two good drives in there and unfortunately they'd land on the fairway but didn't stay on the fairway, so I had no shot. The other two I hit terrible tee shots and put myself in bad spots.
Again, I kept leaving myself above the hole. You can't make these putts above the hole on the North course. I knew that from years past and this year's no different. They just move too much, and most of the putts I had today were breaking (Indiscernible).

Q. Any discussions between you and Rocco about '08?
TIGER WOODS: No, because we didn't play that golf course (laughing).

Q. So you didn't talk at all?
TIGER WOODS: No, not about that.

Q. If you start on the North, you typically need to shoot something around a 65, 66 and then probably do something on the South and get 1- or 2-under. The disparity between them now seems like it's shrunk quite a bit?
TIGER WOODS: I think it will probably be about two shots maybe, somewhere around there. I think it's been as much as four here, maybe four-plus in some years. Not this year. It's just too fast, too dry.
The wind is actually switching all over the place today. The Santa Anas that came off the ocean for a little bit, and now it's back to Santa Ana again.
It will be interesting to see what the guys do. I haven't seen the leaderboard and seen what the guys have done yet today, but I think it will be tough. They gave us a couple of easier pins because the tees were moved back, but that was about it.

Q. Are you happy with 69? I mean, first round of the year, are you happy with it?
TIGER WOODS: I'm happy with the way I played, absolutely. It could have been a lot better if I took care of the par-5s a little bit more, but obviously I didn't do that. So hopefully on the South course I can take care of the par-5s and put together a little bit better round.

Q. Which putter are you going to use? I know you went to Scotty Cameron today, but last tournament you were using the Nike putter. Is it just kind of what feel best?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, right now this putter has a little bit of success, and felt pretty comfortable with it. Unfortunately I kept leaving myself above the hole. Never had a good look until around 7. And I had a left to right, and I just flushed it right through the break. Other than that, I was putting defensively all day, and I was just in bad spots.

Q. Are you comfortable with your swing right now?
TIGER WOODS: It feels good. It feels good. Obviously we need more work, but it's progressing, which is good. This off-season was nice. We are able to really concentrate and do some work. Do a lot of talking about the swing and the mechanics and the feel and where I need to go and where I've been. It's been good.

Q. How's your reaction, the reaction of the crowd to you?
TIGER WOODS: The crowds were great today. They were great. They were into it. A.K. was making some nice putts today, so it was a good day.

Q. Good response, good feel?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, absolutely. I think everyone came out and enjoyed themselves. Perfect weather. Get to work on your farmer tan, so it's good.

End of FastScripts

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