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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP


June 22, 2009


Tiger Woods


FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK

Q. Has it been frustrating trying to shake those numbers?
TIGER WOODS: That's just what it is. I shot over par coming in and had a lot of work to do, and I gave myself a chance going into today. As well as I hit it all day today and to miss that many putts, I've missed them all week, so that's just the way it is.

Q. You were 4-over at No. 15 all week, and that's how many strokes off the leader; is that hole in particular just going to --
TIGER WOODS: Well, I made my best swing I made all week on 15 today. It was just a little 5-iron, I had to flight it just a touch, and I held it, and it was just about a foot left of the flag.
I couldn't believe I hit it that far, and then when I got back over there, it was kind of a natural lie; it was into the green a little bit.
I think I played it probably a little too conservative, because if I hit it too hard, it's gone, especially into the green. You can catch one that comes out quick. I just didn't go with it.
So it's all right if it ends up just off the green, or if it rolls out, it would be great, but then I hit just a poor putt.

Q. Was the course setup as easy as it could be this week for a U.S. Open given the conditions?
TIGER WOODS: I'm actually surprised it was this easy. But then again, they had to make it this easy. You know, with the golf course playing as long as it is, a lot of guys were hitting long irons and hybrids and utilities and a whole bunch of different things into the greens.
All in all, with it being that soft on the fairways, it was that soft into the greens, as well. For me I was hitting a lot of 3-irons this week into the green and they were holding within ten feet. Usually in some Opens, sand wedges are not holding.
So it was a different week. You just had to make the adjustments.

Q. Do you think the scoring could have been a lot less? What would attribute to a score of, say, 4-under par winning if maybe there was a 10-under par total out there?
TIGER WOODS: I mean, the guys could easily have got to double digits. Obviously Ricky was. He got to double digits.
If the wind didn't blow this morning and blow as hard as it's blowing right now, I think the guys would have stayed a little bit lower than they are right now.

Q. Is this more frustrating than Augusta to you?
TIGER WOODS: Without a doubt. Without a doubt. I striped it this week. I hit it just like I did at Memorial, and unfortunately I didn't make anything. I hit so many putts that -- my good ones are not going in, and then my bad ones aren't even close. It is a little bit slow and bumpy but you have to be committed to hitting it that hard, and I left a lot of putts short. And then when I tried to hit it harder, I gunned it past the hole.
But I didn't make the adjustment the right way.

Q. It looked like you were coming on in the back and you had some momentum and you were not able to sustain it; how frustrating is it when you have that kind of momentum going?
TIGER WOODS: I had a chance today, I birdied 13, 14, and as I said earlier, hit the best shot I hit all week at 15. Just ended up making bogey there.
Then I gave myself chances on the last three holes. I hit an 8-iron right underneath the flag right where you need to leave it, striped a 4-iron. And on 18 I had to be a little more conservative because of where I was. But overall, I gave myself so many chances and made nothing.

Q. What do you think it would take starting the day?
TIGER WOODS: I thought 5 was going to win it outright and 4 was playoff. As I got out there, I thought I might have to get to 5 or 6 because of how soft it is. But as soon as the wind started picking up, I said, well, it might be 5 now, and it looks like that might have been good enough.

Q. Would you like to see it come back here again? Obviously it was a tough week for this tournament.
TIGER WOODS: Absolutely, no doubt. This is a great golf course. It's just that the USGA just got the short end of the stick on the weather.
We have yet to play it hard and fast the two years we've played. It was kind of getting that way in 2002 in the beginning of the week until it rained on Friday.
But this golf course would play so differently. They never utilized the back tee on 7 the whole week. We played it way up. They had to put a lot of the tees up this week just because it's so soft, and I'm sure they probably did that on 18 because the fairways are basically underwater.
They had to move it up there so we are actually hitting it on the upslope.

End of FastScripts




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