Tiger’s Greenbrier Classic press conference: Thursday
Q: Great finish today.
TIGER WOODS: Thank you.
Q: What happened on the three birdies in a row?
TIGER WOODS: Well, 6 wasn’t very good, making a double there. I felt like — I was just telling Joey going down 7, we were playing too well to be at 1-under par. Just trying to get back to 3, and we just happened to pull off a hat trick coming home.
Q: You said there were a lot of birdies would be necessary today. You had seven, so take away those two holes and it was a pretty good day?
TIGER WOODS: It was a pretty good day. I felt like I left a lot of opportunities out there, too. I hit the ball better than what my score indicates. I gave myself a lot of looks and just didn’t make enough. But overall as of right now, I’m only two back. It’s going to be a bunched leaderboard come Sunday. Guys are all going to be somewhere up there. This golf course, the nature of this golf course right now, it’s soft, and the guys are going to go get it.
Q: You’ve been saying for a while that you’ve been playing better than you’ve been scoring, so what does it feel like to finally get a score that is more representative of how you feel you’re hitting it?
TIGER WOODS: Well, I think it’s, as I said, I wasn’t that far off. I knew I made that pattern shift at Memorial, and I wasn’t that far off, even though my scores don’t indicate it, my swings don’t indicate it, but my feels were telling me that I wasn’t that far off. I was proving it to myself time and time again away from a tournament site and on the range, but my feel in my hands and my body weren’t far off. It was just a matter of just getting into a little bit of the rhythm and the flow of it, and I found that.
Q: Are you relieved a little bit that you can show people everything you’ve been talking about and improving your swing and improving your game, that it shows in your score?
TIGER WOODS: Relief, no. I’m still only two back. I’m more worried about that. You know, forget you guys and everybody else out there (laughter); it’s about winning golf tournaments and putting myself up there consistently, and that’s why I’ve made the changes, to put myself up there consistently.
Q: You seem like you’ve been in a really good mood since you got here.
TIGER WOODS: The people here are fantastic. They treated me with so much respect and kindness the last time I was here, and even though I missed the cut, the people here are just so friendly, and it was nice to come back and come back to a very friendly place. I mean, these people here really support golf. They love their sport. Everyone seems to be an outdoorsman here, and they come out here and just support the event.
Q: Best shot of the day, No. 7, the approach, the bend around the tree?
TIGER WOODS: That was a good one. That was a good one. I hit a couple good ones on my front nine, the back nine, a couple nice little tee shots I thought I hit out there. Overall I can’t really say I hit any great shots, but I hit a lot of good ones.
Q: How important for your confidence was it to get a good start this week?
TIGER WOODS: It’s more important because this golf course, everyone is going to go low. It’s more important for that. Everyone is going to go low. Everyone is going to shoot under par here it seems like. It’s so soft. The par-5s are somewhat reachable with it being soft like this, but overall if you drive the ball well here, you’re going to probably have at least seven shots with 9-iron or below into the greens, and you’re going to have to capitalize on that, and so far I’m one of those guys who did.
Q: Even though you had that trouble at 6, you acknowledged the crowd, you rebounded nicely. Is that kind of part of the framework of getting this thing back together?
TIGER WOODS: Well, as I said earlier, I was telling Joey that I felt like I was playing so well. I’m not going to lose this round. I’m playing too well to let it go awry. I’m hitting the ball too well, I’m putting well. A lot of my putts are starting online with the correct pace. Let’s get back to 3, and bonus was the 4.
Q: Tough lie in the bunker on 6?
TIGER WOODS: No, it was a perfect lie. It was sitting up. I was debating whether or not to use my 56 or 60, and I hadn’t practiced my 56 yet all week here on this bunker, and I’m saying, well, this is a long bunker shot to the 60, so I’d better hit it close to the ball, and I did. I hit a nice home run there.
Q: Any reason your putts were falling on the back nine and just missing on the front nine?
TIGER WOODS: I think it’s just speed. I was carrying too much speed. The balls weren’t breaking as much at the holes as I thought, and I noticed that David and Stricks were doing the same thing, they were missing a lot of putts on the high side, so my lowered my line just a touch, maybe half a ball here and there, and it seemed to pay off, and same with David, as well.
Q: Tiger, heck of a finish there with three straight to wrap up your opening round. How big was that to get in the clubhouse with that momentum?
TIGER WOODS: I played so much better than being 1-under par at the time, after making a stupid double bogey at 6. I was hitting the ball too well, giving myself so many opportunities, capitalizing on hardly anything, but felt like if we could get it back to 3 would be great, and I happened to pull off a hat trick coming in.
Q: And this is your best opening round since BMW Championship a couple years ago. From a big picture standpoint to see positive results like that, what will that do for you going forward?
TIGER WOODS: Well, I felt like I wasn’t very far away. I know people think I’m crazy for saying that, but I just felt like I wasn’t that far. I just had to make a couple little tweaks, and I felt like I pulled that off.
Q: It looked like in the pro-am on Wednesday, you were hitting the driver great. That had been an issue for you the previous couple months. It carried over to today. What’s been clicking for you?
TIGER WOODS: Well, just the overall pattern shift that we made. It started at Memorial, making a big change there, and then it’s just finally starting to click in now.
Q: How close do you think you are?
TIGER WOODS: Very close.
