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WGC EMC WORLD CUP


December 6, 2000


David Duval

Tiger Woods


BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

NELSON LUIS: Thank you very much. We'd like to welcome David Duval and Tiger Woods into the EMC2 World Cup media room. Gentlemen, you just had your first practice round at the Buenos Aires Golf Club. Can you please just tell us a little bit about how your round went and what your impressions are?

DAVID DUVAL: It was exciting to get out today. First time down here. Feels great to see so many people to come out to watch so early. And the course is in perfect condition. I look forward to starting tomorrow.

TIGER WOODS: Just like what David said, the golf course is in fantastic shape. It was nice to get out there and play and kind of clear the cobwebs a little bit, try to get a feel for our games. And we hit it pretty good today.

Q. Have you ever played a golf course designed by Robert Von Hagge that combines the American style of big greens with water and the British styles of rough and mounds?

TIGER WOODS: Well, it's an interesting layout. There are a lot of high mounds and greens that are very undulating. It is ggoing to be a very good test. We have played golf courses like this around the world. We played a golf course not too long ago in Thailand like this.

Q. For both of you, how do you like the greens of Buenos Aires Golf Club?

DAVID DUVAL: I thought they were really good. We both commented early on when we first started that the speed was just perfect. You feel like you can make a lot of putts, and they really rolled very true.

TIGER WOODS: The greens, I thought, were in fantastic shape. They are really smooth. They are a great speed to hit putts. You just have to hit the ball in the right section so you don't have to come up and over some knobs.

Q. Tiger, a lot has been said of the growth of golf when you are on TV, but I would like to know your impression, when a lot of people in Latin America have for the first time ever have seen golf, they turn on the TV only if Tiger Woods is playing. How does it feel that you have brought people who have never seen golf in their life and they want to watch you, Tiger?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think it is fantastic that anyone who watches the game, for whatever the reason may be, whether it is me or someone else, whatever it is, if they are interested in the game, it's really neat to be able to be part of that growth, and it can only help the game of golf in the end. You know, as every player wants to do, when they are all said and done with their playing career, that they left the game a better place than when they first came in. That's what a lot of us try and do out here on Tour.

Q. Two questions. The first one for David Duval, to know how you feel after your injury; and, to Tiger, what happened last week, because you were -- we have an expression here that someone is your son, like you are always winning Davis Love, and this way it was the other way around.

DAVID DUVAL: My injury has healed for the most part. I have had a little bit of lingering soreness and stiffness, but that is more from just -- probably just from playing a lot the last few weeks. And right now, today was actually the best I've felt in a while, and I don't think it will be a problem. And after this week, I have a few weeks off to get completely healthy.

TIGER WOODS: Well, I played well last week. I shot 20-under par, and usually 20-under par wins. But, it was tough. Davis went out there and played well; shot 64 in the final round. And any time you do that, you deserve to win; and he did.

Q. How do you feel about playing with David? And David, how do you feel about playing with Tiger? And what do you think are the chances for both of you, and what do you think are the chances of the Argentine team in this tournament?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I'm looking forward to playing with David. I've played with David before. We played together in the Ryder Cup at Brookline. We enjoyed playing with one another. We've played numerous practice rounds together. I thoroughly enjoy hanging out with David and playing golf with him, and I'm looking forward to it. The Argentinean team is going to obviously go out there and play hard. They have got a wonderful team -- a team that has an inordinate amount of talent. And hopefully we can go out there and compete and really play well.

DAVID DUVAL: I was really excited when Tiger asked me to play earlier this year, and I jumped at the opportunity, and I look forward to a good week. We have fun playing together. I think we complement each other well out there. And as far as the Argentinean team, I believe I've played Angel Cabrera a couple years ago in the Match Play event in La Costa, and that's my only experience, and he was a tremendous player. And I've had a little bit of experience with the Big Cat, you know. I've seen him on our Tour a little bit. But we all know that they are well world-traveled; they have played everywhere, and it is going to be a formidable team to beat.

Q. Diego Maradona said he would like to meet you, it was one of his dreams to meet you, and he would like to know if you have any plans of meeting him. And what is your opinion of Argentine soccer?

TIGER WOODS: I would love to meet him. He is obviously a world-class athlete. And any time you ever get a chance to meet a person like that, it is definitely a benefit. And so far, there are no plans as of right now to meet him, and he has a busy schedule, as well as I do. If things work out, then great. But if not, hopefully we can meet each other in the future. We both represent Nike, and hopefully that, one day down the road, our paths will cross.

Q. Your opinion about Argentine soccer?

TIGER WOODS: Well, to be honest with you, obviously, in our country, soccer or, as people would say, "futbol" is really not that big a sport. I do follow a little bit, but I follow mostly the Leagues in Europe, probably more the Premier League in Europe than I do anything else, that's involved in soccer.

Q. Bear in mind that this year you won almost every tournament you entered; how do you face next year? What are your plans for next year? Do you plan to break any records?

TIGER WOODS: My plans for next year are the same as they were this year, to go out there and play well and put myself in position to win golf tournaments. You know, that's the key to winning golf tournaments. You have to be there, in position. And the more times you are in position to win, the better your chances are at winning. Hopefully, next year, I can duplicate, if not better, what I was able to do this year by just putting myself there more often. You're not going to win every tournament. That's just a fact to reality. You just have to be there enough times, and the odds will be in your favor.

Q. What are your opinions on the different teams, and which do you think are more difficult or who will be in a struggle?

DAVID DUVAL: I think the Irish team is pretty strong. Spanish is very strong. Swedish team seems to be very strong. Scotland, Argentina, obviously; they are the strongest.

TIGER WOODS: Exactly what he said. (Smiling).

Q. At 24, you have achieved everything that almost every golfer has achieved. So, is there anything yet that you want to get? Any ambition that you still have?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I have a lot of ambitions, a lot of goals that I want to hopefully try and achieve in my career. I'm not going to tell you what those things are. I've always felt that my goals are very private. I'm trying to achieve them. I'm doing the best I possibly can. You know, one thing that I have always tried to do is just get better as a player; and so far, I have been able to do that each and every year.

Q. Tiger and David, could you just tell us how the conversation goes when you are practicing together? Does it stray from golf to fishing? And what interests do you have apart from golf that you would talk about?

TIGER WOODS: I don't think we talked about golf hardly at all today. We didn't really talk about fishing. We just kind of wandered about, just trying to get our bearings right. But, we'll talk about fishing. He's trying to get me into boarding (snowboarding). Hopefully, I'll be able to do that this winter.

Q. Do you realize how much you have changed the world of golf?

TIGER WOODS: Do I realize?

Q. Do you realize?

TIGER WOODS: I've changed it a little. I guess I've got more kids involved in the game. I think that's probably the extent of it.

Q. David, how do you feel, because your game is almost as good as Tiger's and you play really well, and how do you feel always playing with him and the questions go for him? How does it feel? Because your game is really good, too.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I think what Tiger has managed to achieve beyond what some of the other top players have managed to achieve is the sustaining of that level of play day-in, day-out. That's what I feel like when I play well, I can compete with him and I can beat him. But I don't think I have played -- I don't think I've achieved that point where I play that way every day. I think I play a lot of stretches of golf that way, and I would say the majority of the time that way, but not to that extent where it is day-in, day-out. Even the bad days you have 68, 69, and I think that's the thing that lacks in my golf game.

Q. How difficult is it when you are outside in the world and everybody is thinking of Tiger? You are a great player and you have a great level, but everybody is looking at Tiger, like he's a one-man show?

DAVID DUVAL: Well, he is. It's not -- it doesn't bother me. It's not -- you know, if I had won ten golf tournaments and three majors this year, they would be talking about me, they wouldn't be talking about Tiger. But I didn't do that. You can't begrudge a guy for success. I'm not that type of person. But you'll be damn sure they will talk about me next year if I win ten tournaments and three major events. (Laughing.)

Q. How do you feel about the format of the play, because the American team at the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup didn't have a good performance with this format. Do you think that's going to affect you?

DAVID DUVAL: Maybe you've read something that I didn't, because I thought we won 7 out of 8 matches in alternate shot. I thought we did pretty good at the Presidents Cup.

Q. In the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, too?

DAVID DUVAL: I believe we won both of those. We're holding both Cups, so how could we have done too bad? (Laughing).

Q. Yeah, but Tiger lost the four-balls --

DAVID DUVAL: But he didn't play with me, though. (Applause).

Q. Tiger, this year, you were like a rocket. It was your best year, and have you done any changes to make that possible? And for both of you, which hole do you like best?

TIGER WOODS: If I could have made any changes this year? Well, maybe things might have been a little bit different if I would have not made double and a triple on 10 and 12 on the first day at Augusta.

Q. But if you had done any changes before this year to make it such a good year?

TIGER WOODS: Did I make any changes?

Q. Yeah.

TIGER WOODS: I changed a lot of things. A lot of it is real technical in my swing, but I made quite a few changes.

Q. And the hole that you like the best of the course?

TIGER WOODS: All of them.

DAVID DUVAL: I like the 18th the best, because that means that you're done.

Q. It doesn't address your technical things or your mental things, but how do you spiritually approach golf? What is your spiritual approach to golf?

TIGER WOODS: It's really not that complicated. I just go out there and I try to do the best I possibly can. It may sound oversimplified, but that's it. All I can do is the best I possibly can that day. I can't do any more than that. That's what I try, to go out there with the mindset to try and give it absolutely everything I have. And whatever happens from there, happens. If I can walk off that golf course knowing the fact that I tried the best I possibly could on each and every shot, whether I shoot 80 or whether I shoot 60, I won't be disappointed, because that's as good as I possibly could do.

Q. Tiger, as your reference for many people all over the world as an idol, is there anything that you knew before coming to Argentina, any person as a reference? And how do you feel about being so young and being the center of attention everywhere?

TIGER WOODS: I have a friend who does live here, and he's told me a lot about Argentina. Overall, it has been a long trip. That's one of the things that he told me; it was going to take a while to get down here. He was right. 12 hours later, and you're here. But so far, I haven't really seen a whole lot of Buenos Aires; and unfortunately, we don't have a whole lot of time to see much, what this beautiful country has to offer. So I won't be able to fully enjoy what Argentina really has to offer.

Q. How do you feel being the center of so many things?

TIGER WOODS: Sometimes it has its moments where it can get a little bit difficult. Sometimes the fans, as well as the press, can be very aggressive. And sometimes they have either hit me and cut me or knocked down people and hurt kids, and that's when it gets out of line. You've just got to understand that if everyone can just calm down, everything will be all right.

Q. Tiger, if you win the Masters in April, you will be the only player to have won the Grand Slam. Will you have any special training for that? And also, when will you be getting married?

TIGER WOODS: Any special training? No special training. Just try and get better and improve. I'll try and get ready for Augusta, and hopefully, starting in the Florida Swing, and work on a few shots, and hopefully my game will peak at that one week in April, the first full week in April. And hopefully, that will happen. And I do plan to get married, and it will be in the future. (Smiling.)

Q. This is a simple question. In the past, it looked like you hit longer, and now you are making more of a half-swing. How many yards do you have in the pocket, the difference?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think when I used to hit my normal drive, when I first came on Tour versus now, it is probably maybe 10 to 15 yards in length. If I hit one hard, I can get it out there almost to where I used to be, but not quite. A lot of that is from the changes I have made in my swing plane. I can't load the club like I used to. I can't get the ball out there. But, I'm hitting more fairways.

NELSON LUIS: Thank you. Muchas gracias.

End of FastScripts...

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