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CHEVRON WORLD CHALLENGE


December 3, 2011


Tiger Woods


THOUSAND OAKS, CALIFORNIA

JOHN BUSH:  Tiger Woods joins us after a 1‑over par, 73.  Tiger, it was a battle out there for the entire field.
Just comment on your round.
TIGER WOODS:  Yeah, I'm in the same boat.  It was tough out there.  The wind was very gusty and swirling all over the place.  It was really tough to pull a club and hit a shot.
So a good shot today sometimes wasn't rewarded.  Kuch had a beautiful 6‑iron in there on‑‑ sorry, 5‑iron‑‑ into 8 that was cutting.  Then the wind switched and threw it left of the green.  It was just the most amazing shot.
It was one of those days where the wind was up, down, changing directions quite a bit.
JOHN BUSH:  Questions.

Q.  Talk about the wind and could you talk about the distance and the result.
TIGER WOODS:  Yeah, you know, I hit a shot there at 2 that I thought was a good shot.  I hit it right through the wind.
Where was the other bogey?  13, yeah.
13 was‑‑ I thought it was in off the right, but when I hit, actually it was down off the right.
So we're standing in the fairway, it's in off the right, down off the right, left‑to‑right for a little bit, and then when I hit, I thought it was going to be back in off the right but actually it was down.

Q.  When you haven't won in two years, what's the hardest part of closing the deal?
TIGER WOODS:  I'm just going to go out there and play.  Same thing I do every week.

Q.  Is there a mental component, a physical component of just being in the physical differences or changes that your body goes through, the mental focus required?
TIGER WOODS:  Karen, it doesn't change.  I just go out there and I just play shot for shot and try and place the ball correctly.  You know, that's how I've been successful over the years.
You know, that doesn't change.

Q.  Is it hard to get much of a gauge from today in trying to get back with the swing changes and everything?  I mean, because of the win it's hard to figure out if you're...
TIGER WOODS:  No, actually, most of the time today it wasn't me.  I hit a lot of good shots today.  It was all over the place.
You know, good example of that is at 6.  It's supposed to be down off the left, and when I hit it's in off the right.  Kuch was in the fairway; he's playing if for down off the as well.
When he hit, it stalled out and was in off the right, and is the complete opposite of what it should be.  What we're feeling down there in the fairway on the previous hole doesn't work sometimes.
That's the nature of this golf course.  With these canyons, it's amazing how much it swirls.

Q.  (Question regarding 18.)
TIGER WOODS:  I hit really, really nice putt there at 18 today on my second one.

Q.  You felt good about that?
TIGER WOODS:  I really did.  It was actually dead center.  I flushed it.

Q.  A follow on the sixth hole.  What is it about that green that has just given you fits the last two days?  Is it the wind or something else?
TIGER WOODS:  I hit a bad putt yesterday, but today was strictly wind.  As I was explaining earlier, it was supposed to be down off the left, but you end up playing in off the right.
It's just for some reason just swirling down there.

Q.  You talk about the second shot on 16.  What was the final determining factor as to why you didn't hit the ball out of the hazard?
TIGER WOODS:  Well, I could have‑‑ you know, Steve, there was two rocks, one behind the ball and one in front of the ball.  The one in front of the golf ball, it was probably going to sting a little bit if I hit it.  No big deal.  We'll just go ahead and deal with that.
But I didn't know if I could get steep enough to clear the rock behind me.  I was trying all different angles to go, and the more left I started going the more the rock in front of me was more into play.
So if the rock wasn't behind me, then I would have played it.  I would have hit the shot.  But I couldn't get an angle where I was 100% sure that I was going to miss the rock behind the golf ball.

Q.  Did you make the right decision?
TIGER WOODS:  Yeah, I just got a gust.  Because we're in the fairway, and that's why we took so long to hit the shot.  It was down off the right where we were on the fairway, but in off the left at the green.  We were just waiting for the winds to merge and have the same wind.
Unfortunately, you know, I caught a gust and it just slammed it to the left.  Kuch hit a good shot, he says.  In actuality, I thought, That ball needs to get down; might go over the back of the green; and doesn't get there.
So it was blowing up through that little pass there just left of the green, and we couldn't really feel it.

Q.  Where does the wind rank today in terms of other days?  Worse today?
TIGER WOODS:  I thought it was.  I thought because it was just swirling it was more ‑‑ you know, when we played on Thursday it was blowing, but at least it had a little bit more of a gentle direction.
Today it was coming up, dying down.  Coming up, dying down.  When it died down, it came in from a different direction.
Yeah, if it blows hard, okay, that's one thing.  At least we know which way it's going.  When we don't, it's tough.

Q.  When you have to constantly step back, reevaluate, how mentally grueling or taxing can that be?
TIGER WOODS:  It's tough.  It's about a club and a half sometimes, the difference.  You know, that's, what, 25 yards?  That's a lot.
It's not like Nicklaus gives us a chance to bump and run the ball around here.  So we have it throw the ball up there, and we're subject to the wind slamming it.

Q.  With a score like this today, are you more disappointed that you had a 3‑shot lead and now you don't, or that it's Saturday night and you're only one shot out of the‑‑  you have a chance?
TIGER WOODS:  Yeah, I feel like even though I made three bogeys on par‑5s, I had two three‑putts, but I played well.  I hit a lot of good shots that ended up in bad spots because I had bad gusts.
So be it.  That's the way it goes.  I'm right there with a chance going into tomorrow.

Q.  Obviously you would like to win the tournament, but does winning really matter at this point in terms of the big picture for you?  In other words, if you come a shot short or what have you and you're pleased with your game, is that more important, or does getting a win mean something at this point?
TIGER WOODS:  I like Ws.  That's why I play the game is for that very reason.  I started doing that at the junior golf level all the way through now.  That's not going to change.

Q.  Obviously wind is something you cannot control.  Does that in any way, I guess, lessen the disappointment if you don't get the W this go round?
TIGER WOODS:  I mean, can't really look at it that way because we don't know what the forecast is for tomorrow.  We've been pretty much wrong every day.

Q.  Breezy.
TIGER WOODS:  Breezy?  Well, over there in Europe it's a wee breeze, and that's blowing about 40, right?
So, no, I'm looking forward to tomorrow.  We'll see what the weather is and go out there and play and try and win the tournament.
JOHN BUSH:  Tiger, we appreciate your time.
TIGER WOODS:  All right.  Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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