Tiger’s Memorial Tournament press conference: Sunday
Q: Tiger, can you describe the day, just playing by yourself. Have you ever done that before, the crowds?
TIGER WOODS: The crowds were fantastic. The crowds were awesome. To come out this early and to have that many people support you like that, it was very special.
Have I ever been in that position? No, I haven’t. The only thing that was close to something like that was when we had that storm — what was that storm called at Congressional? Me and Brendon out there playing, my foundation crew and that was it.
Q: What was at stake today? What were you playing for?
TIGER WOODS: Just trying to shoot under par. Just to go out there and shoot the best score I possibly can. Just because I’m in last place doesn’t change how I play golf. Whether it’s the first day or last day doesn’t matter, play all out.
Q: When you walked out of here yesterday, did you expunge that from your mind?
TIGER WOODS: I wanted to hit balls, but my hand was a little bit sore from that, so I decided to take some time off.
Q: What was your thought process? Were you thinking about what went on or were you more looking at what you wanted to do today?
TIGER WOODS: It was kind of both. As I told you guys earlier in the week, I was changing a few things, and I was stuck right between patterns. And I had to go through yesterday — I had to go through those painful moments, just like I did at Torrey and Phoenix to be able to make the leap I did at Augusta.
Yesterday was the same thing. It was just unfortunately on a golf course like this where you can’t get away with much. It kicked my butt pretty hard.
Q: Did it feel like an 85?
TIGER WOODS: No, it felt a lot higher.
Q: Seriously?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah.
Q: You almost have to take a couple steps back to take a step forward, because in Augusta you looked like a different player. So how do you assess that a month later?
TIGER WOODS: Well, because I made a few changes, a few tweaks. The guys that have made tweaks, you have moments where you go backwards and then you make big, major strides down the road. That’s just the way it goes.
You have to look at the big picture. You can’t be so myopic with your view and expect to have one magical day or one magical shot and change your whole game. It doesn’t work that way.
Q: Any idea where those tweaks will take you in the week ahead, two weeks?
TIGER WOODS: Hoping a lot better than I am now. Today was more what we’ve been doing on the range. And to be able to step up and tag those drives like I did today and even shape some of the irons, which I was struggling with early in the week, I got those shapes back again, but doing it with a different pattern.
Q: How many shots were you hitting out there today with an eye toward Chambers Bay?
TIGER WOODS: Nothing. It’s more just the overall swing. Just trying to hit the ball obviously in the correct spots in the golf course but still continue to stay committed to our plan and what we’re trying to do.
Q: How did you play 18? Did you leave yourself too much in terms of the tree, too far right?
TIGER WOODS: First I had to hit the fairway. That was — I was trying to just track one down there and roll it down the middle, but I spun it just a touch. Just kind of upshot it a little bit, and that’s why I was behind the tree.
Q: What is your schedule the next seven days?
TIGER WOODS: Going home, probably take a few days off and just putt and just let this finger heal up a bit.
Q: What happened to your finger, was it a blister?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah.
Q: What do you think you’ll take out of this experience?
TIGER WOODS: I did not win, and I wasn’t even close. So hopefully in two weeks time things will be a lot better and I’ll be ready to try to win a U.S. Open.
Q: Was yesterday humbling? You’ve gone through that very rarely, obviously only a few times in the 80s. You’re doing that in the public, and guys have a lot of bad days out here?
TIGER WOODS: It’s hard. It’s real hard. This is a lonely sport. The manager is not going to come in and bring the righty or bring the lefty, you’ve just got to play through it. And that’s one of the hardest things about the game of golf, and it’s also one of the best things about the game of golf, when you’re on, no one is going to slow you down. Also when you’re off, no one is going to pick you up either. It’s one of those sports that’s tough to deal with it. For us, unfortunately, you have those days, they’re five hours long. And so those are long, tough days.
Q: When something like that is taking place yesterday, do you hear that stuff outside the ropes and can you appreciate people looking at you with everything you’ve done being shocked at what they’re seeing as it was all going on yesterday?
TIGER WOODS: You hear some interesting comments. Yesterday Andy said something on the 18, he says, do you have to deal with this all the time? And I said, yeah, it is what it is. He said some very nice things to me afterwards about it.
Q: (Inaudible.)
TIGER WOODS: As I told you yesterday, I was stuck right between the patterns. Today was what I’ve been doing on the driving range, and that was finally nice to see. I got a solidness back, I was hitting the driver with both shapes, cuts and draws. My irons are shaping it both ways again. But I was doing it in a different way than I had been. I’m doing it the way that I have been on the range.
Q: Did you have fun today, and were you expecting to have fun?
TIGER WOODS: I was expecting to grind. That to me is the fun part is going out there and just grinding and fighting for everything I possibly can out there. After shooting whatever I shot yesterday, to be able to go back out there and get to 3-under par and keep fighting and keep fighting, as I said, once — the first shot of the tournament is just as important as the last shot and you’ve got to play the same. So that’s the way I’ve always approached it. No matter what I’m shooting, that’s what I have to do.
Q: (Inaudible.)
TIGER WOODS: That would have been a lot more disconcerting, if I had shot yesterday’s round today. We would have had to probably do a little bit more work than what I’m going to have to do now. We know that it’s close.
Today was nice to be able to do that under a tournament situation. You saw the first two days I was fighting my game, I fought for every score. Today was a lot better ball-striking wise. I didn’t finish off very good.
Q: You played at a faster pace, did you find yourself having to slow down physically and mentally?
TIGER WOODS: No, I felt like I was playing my same rhythm. The only hard part about playing by yourself out there like that is you don’t get to see a shot with the wind blowing, what it does, if it gets stood up or if it gets blown. Putts, guys read on a similar line or opposite side to see what it does on the hole. That’s the harder part of it. Playing by yourself, speed-wise, I was able to maintain my own rhythm and cadence. But to not have a couple of shots when the wind picks up, especially on 12, it would be nice to have somebody go off first, because we were having to go into the wind, downwind, into the wind, downwind, so we were having to sort of guess.
