Tiger’s Barclays press conference: Friday
Q: First of all, is it knee, back?
TIGER WOODS: It’s lower back.
Q: When did it happen?
TIGER WOODS: This morning. Must have slept funny on it. Soft beds at the hotel, and woke up this morning with it stiff. You know, as I warmed up, it got progressively worse, and then you saw what happened on the golf course.
Q: Was it during your warmup or —
TIGER WOODS: No, it hurt all day. It hurt all day.
Q: Did it flare as you were going into that bunker on 13?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, that didn’t feel very good. That didn’t feel very good at all.
Q: Was there any moment where you thought you might not be able tofinish the round?
TIGER WOODS: No.
Q: How do you explain that you played well, and it looked like the hardest part of your day was getting the ball out of the hole.
TIGER WOODS: Well, it was like a section of movement, so it didn’t hurt standing up, it didn’t hurt at the bottom of a squat, but it was the somewhere in between there it was going to catch. You know, it would grab just before impact, so you’d kind of expect it, so I could get through that. I’ve been through that kind of stuff before, so I know what it feels like.
Q: Do you feel like you’re right there going into tomorrow?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I’m only three back right now, so I’m right there. This is a very bunched leaderboard. There are so many guys there. I think, what, 70-plus guys within nine shots as of right now.
Q: Do you remind yourself of ’08 at Torrey, that you know how to play like this?
TIGER WOODS: Well, there’s a difference between being in pain and injured. This is just a little bit of pain. That was an injury.
Q: What do you do for treatment, chiropractic? Take a hot shower?
TIGER WOODS: We have a fitness van. I’m going to go there as soon as I’m done with you guys.
Q: How about the bed? Will you get a different bed?
TIGER WOODS: I’m probably going to sleep on the floor. I do that in Europe all the time, so this is nothing new.
Q: Is that a joke?
TIGER WOODS: True. True, not a joke. Did that confuse you?
Q: Yeah.
TIGER WOODS: Good. (Smiles.)
Q: Do you feel like this is your new normal, that you’re never going to have a stretch where you can get through six months or a whole year feeling 100 percent?
TIGER WOODS: Well, geez, that’s been the case since my first surgery in ’94.
Q: This isn’t part of the–
TIGER WOODS: I’ve been dealing with this stuff since I was 18. I had my first cut at Stanford in ’94.
Q: Does it get harder as you get older?
TIGER WOODS: Well, it’s harder to recover, there’s no doubt. There’s no doubt. But I’m infinitely stronger than I used to be and just as flexible as I used to be, which is very good.
Q: Do you have any concern that you won’t be able to get this taken care of?
TIGER WOODS: No, I’m going to go there right now. They’re good at what they do, and I’ll be ready by tomorrow.
Q: Did the swing feel as good as it looked?
TIGER WOODS: That’s about all I’ve got. I can’t hit it any harder than that. No, it didn’t feel very good, but I got it around, and just because the swing didn’t feel very good doesn’t mean I can’t make every putt. I went out there with that kind of mindset and just buried a bunch of putts.
Q: Which was the exchange with Zach after your putt on 16?
TIGER WOODS: Well, we were– it’s an inside joke, but we were jabbing at one another in the fairway. It just continued. (Smiles.)
