MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 11, 2003

Tiger Woods

Q. Tougher physically or mentally today?

TIGER WOODS: Both. Both. It was soft and slushy and everything, but the wind was blowing a little bit. It's tough out here. There were a lot of mud balls.

Q. Are you comfortable with your position right now, Tiger?

TIGER WOODS: Obviously I would like to be a little bit better than I am. But I'm on the right track. I can finish off the second round and I don't have to play a great second round, just have to play a solid one. That's what I'm doing.

Q. What is the difference between the first round and the second round today?

TIGER WOODS: Just making more putts. That's all. As I said in the morning I just have to make a few more and I made a couple.

Q. It seems like you're going right a lot off the tee, is that a problem?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it was a problem. Because I was hitting a quick snipe. So I was going to go the other way. I hit a couple pulls early and the last thing you want to do is continue that, so you lose it right.

Q. Did that kind of typify your day there, you had to scrambled at one to get your up-and-down?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, that's just kind of how it works. I hit a decent drive, hit a good second shot. It just happened to go too far and from there the journey began.

Q. How would you characterize your position now? Hopeful? Where would you say you are?

TIGER WOODS: I'm right where I need to be. I've still got a chance at this tournament and there's a long way to go. The leaders aren't going to run away and hide here with the way the conditions are.

Q. When you look at the leaderboard, Darren Clarke and Mike Weir are the only two guys that really put any separation. Do you look at that more than the guys that are closer to you?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I told Stevie, the end of the day, actually the end of two rounds you want to be even par, under par. And you'll be right where you need to be to win the tournament come the last 36 holes.

Q. What was the toughest challenge out there for you today?

TIGER WOODS: I think just overall conditions of the golf course. It's so soft and there's a lot of mud balls. The fairways aren't cut as low as they normally are, so you can catch some fliers. And the rough here or the first cut is a lot longer than it normally is. So any ball that goes in there you've got to be very careful to not catch some hot shooters out there.

Q. Talk about 17 in the bunker. Were you laughing, was there a rock or something?

TIGER WOODS: No, it's just hard pan underneath and I -- it was hard pan after I made contact with the ball. So the ball was already gone and it was hard and my club face just bounced straight up in the air. And if my ball had rolled up underneath there and I would have hit that same shot, it would have been out of here.

Q. The last four Majors have been very difficult as far as weather conditions and so forth. How does this one rank today as far as weather conditions? The wind blowing like hell and whatnot?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think it's been very typical of my year this year. Every single event I've played has been a rain delay. There's been rain and a rain delay. So this is typical of how the year has been going for me.

Q. What about Muirfield?

TIGER WOODS: Not even close.

Q. Talk about Ricky.

TIGER WOODS: Who? Andy?

Q. No, Ricky?

TIGER WOODS: Andy is on the bag. No, Ricky's a good kid. He's a lot of fun. I talked to him about some of the things that his coach says and my old coach, but we had a good time out there. Plus on top of that he was conducting himself great out there. He was not only playing well, he was conducting himself the way he should.

Q. When you finally made your first birdie you kind of had the little mock celebration?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah. Yeah.

Q. Can you talk about that?

TIGER WOODS: I got off the snide. So I was pretty happy about that.

Q. It took 21 holes to get a birdie, could you believe that?

TIGER WOODS: The way I was putting this morning, yes. The putts I hit, the good ones weren't really rolling all that true and the bad ones were just atrocious, so I had no chance.

Q. Another long day tomorrow, do you look forward to another grind out here tomorrow?

TIGER WOODS: That's just the way it is. A lot of guys have to deal with it. It's good to see at least the leaders got to deal with it. It's not one side of the bag has a better draw than the other. We're all in the same conditions. We all have to go out there and handle it.

Q. There's been a lot of talk that these conditions favored you. Do you agree with that today?

TIGER WOODS: It favors anyone who is hitting the ball long and straight. You've got to get the ball out there. You can't just go out there and shrimp it off the tee and hope to make a good number.

Q. How many of your shots were affected by that today, by the mud?

TIGER WOODS: Probably about six.

Q. Any that stood out that really went awry?

TIGER WOODS: 10 this morning, I hit a beautiful drive and had mud on the left side of the ball, and with a hook lie like that, pin on the left side, I aimed it at the flag and it still went in the right bunker. So that's how much mud I had on the ball that turned it that far right when I came off a hook lie.

Q. 10 shots behind the leader after the first round, there are a lot of guys who are also struggling with that, with a couple of shots and you're --

TIGER WOODS: That's what I said. I said you don't have to play a great second round, just play a good, solid one. And this golf course is such that you can't go out there and then really push it and try to make a lot of birdies. You've got to be very patient. Put your ball in the spots and then go ahead and try to make putts. And that's what I tried to do and I have been doing that this afternoon.

Q. Was it a good thing that you didn't have to sleep on that first day?

TIGER WOODS: I don't know I actually hit the ball pretty good. I just didn't make any putts at all. I didn't make any birdies. If I make my share of birdies, I'm even par or 1-under par. So with that in mind all I need to do is go out there and make a couple putts. And that's what did I this afternoon.

Q. Did the course play as expected today?

TIGER WOODS: I think it played probably a little bit muddier than people thought. As I said, the mud balls, there were quite a few. Ricky got a couple good ones. I know I got a few pretty questionable ones. But that's just the way it is. Everybody has to deal with it.

Q. Ricky Barnes playing with the number one player in the world. He played pretty well?

TIGER WOODS: He did. He played beautifully today. He hit a lot of good shots. But more than anything, he really played well, but he really conducted himself well.

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