Tiger’s Memorial Tournament press conference: Friday
Q: On the back nine, you made the par there at 11. It seemed to fire you up. Did it give you some confidence?
TIGER WOODS: It did. All the tee shots, I’ve been kind of hitting them straight right, and then all of a sudden I said I’m going to let this one go. And of course I hit it in the water.
The 3‑wood, I don’t know how I hit it that far, because I had 267 to the hole and I hit it about 290 into the wind. I don’t know how I did that. I’d like to know so I can repeat it going forward. But that was a pretty sweet up‑and‑down, and it kind of got things going.
Q: What were you most pleased with today and also what were you most displeased with?
TIGER WOODS: Obviously displeased with the way I drove it; I didn’t drive it very good again. I kept spinning the ball. I have to go fix that.
But the putting was great today. I had a great feel for the pace. Even the putts I missed had that kind of “go in” look, and they were right around the hole.
Q: You were happy when you left the range yesterday?
TIGER WOODS: Yes, I was very happy and had a great warmup this morning. Basically I hit my irons pretty good all day, I just didn’t drive it very good. Something I need to work on.
Q: What do you feel was wrong?
TIGER WOODS: I kept spinning it.
Q: You said you were not feeling well?
TIGER WOODS: No, no, I’m feeling fine, I’m just hungry. I’ve got to get some food in me and I’ll feel a lot better.
Q: This is the second straight event you’re grinding over a putt on the 36th hole to make the cut. What do you need to do to take it to the next level?
TIGER WOODS: Play more tournaments. This is my fifth event and this is June. So obviously I need to play more. But at least I was able to make those putts, so that’s a positive sign. Now I just need to put myself in the position where those putts are to win tournaments, not to make cuts.
Q: Do you feel good? Do you feel like you’re gaining on it?
TIGER WOODS: I am. We’re making progress. Progress however slow is still progress, and I’m creeping up on it. But I need to put a few more pieces together to really, really get it going.
Q: Do you feel that you want to maybe scale back a little bit and just get it in the fairway sometimes, even with a long iron or something just to get it in the fairways?
TIGER WOODS: That’s the pattern. I can revert back and do what I used to do, no problem, and get it in play. But the problem is then it brings in the old pattern, so what’s the point of going forward. That’s the whole idea of going forward, you’ve got to be able to do it on the golf course, even if it’s bad. Get it out there, feel it, see what it feels like and then we make the adjustments and then we go forward from there.
Q: What about practicing at home, are you comfortable there? And it’s just not a matter of getting it there from here?
TIGER WOODS: It’s been in spurts. I’ve probably hit it better here than I have at home. At home it’s‑‑ it comes and goes. I get into little hot streaks where I hit it great, and then also periods where I really hit it a lot worse than I do out here. I think it has a lot to do with concentration, too.
Q: Second shot on the 5th hole, you one hop the creek, how fortunate was that?
TIGER WOODS: Very lucky. I had a terrible lie there and I took a 6‑iron, it was only 80 yards to carry, and I didn’t know if I could carry it the lie was so bad. And I figured I’d just take a chance, I opened it way up. I chopped on it to try and get some kind of‑‑ some kind of ball that would kind of squirt up and it didn’t. I didn’t even get to the golf ball, I just smothered it. And for it to one hop was very, very lucky. It should be wet.
Q: What kind of options do you have left of 15? How many different plays?
TIGER WOODS: Left of 15? None.
Q: But now that you have to hit the shot, do you have to‑‑
TIGER WOODS: He had a terrible lie. His ball was awful. It was‑‑ he had to take a chance of just running it on the green. If you fly it on, it’s going to be over the back and you have to chip back. He figured if he got it somewhat close to the green then you’d have a decent lie to get it close from there. From where he was you can’t play to hit the green. You’re playing either to layup short or go long and pitch back.
Q: Is it more of a barometer that you’re working on, something where you’ve had so much success?
TIGER WOODS: Not really. I feel like today I made some progress from yesterday. And now I need to go work on it again and I’ll make some progress tomorrow. And keep doing that and hopefully it will all come together this weekend. And if not, two weeks from now.
Q: What adjustments have you made putting, because it seems clear that the putting is a lot better than it had been? What have you done or gone back to?
TIGER WOODS: Well, I think it’s my ‑‑ as we’ve evolved in the release pattern, there’s continuity. And for some reason I feel like I’m releasing the club and my sand wedge and my putter, and everything is starting to release the same way. So it’s a familiar feeling.
And I don’t know, for some reason I’m getting over it and feeling pretty good about it.
