Tiger’s Masters press conference: Friday
Q. Big picture, given all you’ve been through the last couple of months, how pleased are you with the way things have gone for two days?
TIGER WOODS: Well, very proud of what I’ve done, to be able to dig it out the way I have. All the hard work that Chris, Rob and I have been putting into it, I told you guys on Tuesday, I was at a pretty low one in my career, but to basically change an entire pattern like that and put it together and put it in a position where I can compete in a major championship like this is something I’m very proud.
Q. How much were you leaderboard watching and aware of what Jordan was doing out there?
TIGER WOODS: I was watching, of course. I think you had to pay attention to it because, one, it’s indicative of what the golf course is giving up. I know the pins were a little more difficult today than I thought.So the conditions ‑‑ the scoring conditions were there, because the greens were soft. I mean we could be aggressive.
And the balls were staying back. I was talking to Thomas Bjorn and O’Meara and even Tom Watson earlier today and we couldn’t believe how slow they were yesterday. Again, they were slow again today.The balls were spinning back. 5‑irons were making ball marks, things like that, things that you just don’t normally find here.
But it’s up to the committee. If they want to make this golf course a little drier, I was telling the guys earlier, it’s quiet out there, there’s no sub airs going. If they turn the sub airs on, they can suck the moisture out of this thing and get them firm, or they can live with it like it is, and we can go out there and make a bunch of birdies.
Q. Best round on Tour for you since when?
TIGER WOODS: I have no idea.
Q. The 21-year-old threatening to run away with the Masters, is that a familiar plot line you may remember? What is it like to be on the other end of that?
TIGER WOODS: Well, the difference is that he’s separated himself between first and third. I didn’t have that separation after two rounds. I believe I only had a three-shot lead at the time. So there’s a big difference. He’s put out a big enough gap between the rest of the pack.
Again, it’s up to what the committee does overnight, whether or not they’re going to make the golf course like this where we can go get it or if they’re going to make it hard and firm, where it’s going to be tough to make birdies.
Q. Would you lobby‑‑
TIGER WOODS: It depends what it is. It is what it is. You have to make the adjustments. You’ve got to go get it or you’ve got to play a little more passive. I missed the ball in two bad spots today and had virtually no chance of getting up and down. That can still happen, even with soft greens. You’ve got to pay attention.
Q. You left a couple of putts out there. Was it because of the slowness of the greens or was it‑‑
TIGER WOODS: I had a hard time getting the ball close to the hole. We all did in our group. We were talking about that again today. We talked about it all day yesterday. We talked about it all day today. It was hard ‑‑ you expect certain putts to roll out, but they’re not rolling out. They just don’t have quite the same roll out, and especially some of the downhill putts. We left a couple short coming down the hills and so you’ve got to make the adjustments. And our group didn’t really do a very good job of it. But honestly Jordan is doing a great job of it.
Q. Is that encouraging, though, that if you had made a few more of those that you’d be‑‑
TIGER WOODS: I’d be right there. And I’m still right there. I’m 12 back, but there’s not a lot of guys ahead of me. And with 36 holes here to go, anything can happen, you know. ’96 proved that.
So we have a long way to go. There’s so many holes to play and so many different things can happen. And as I say, we don’t know what the conditions are going to be tomorrow, what the committee is going to do.
