Tiger’s Ryder Cup press conference: Saturday

Q: You guys fought back, 4-down at the turn, but played good down the stretch.

TIGER WOODS: We were 6-under on the back nine with one to go. We were six out of eight holes, and had a chance on 18. Just didn’t do it.

Q: What turned it on on the back nine for you?

TIGER WOODS: I don’t know, just kind of happened to be that way. Just kind of had to make some birdies and we were able to get it going.

Q: Proud of the way you guys fought back?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, we fought hard. Unfortunately it just wasn’t enough. Strick’s made a huge birdie at 12. We gave ourselves two good looks on 18 and didn’t get it done.

Q: How much are you looking forward to tomorrow?

TIGER WOODS: Well, being up four is nice. So we are really looking forward to going out there and hopefully– we are in a great spot right now to win the Cup.

Q: How much do you think sitting out in the morning helped you out physically and mentally?

TIGER WOODS: It was nice to be fresh, no doubt. This is a long grind to go all five. I’ve done it before and it’s hard. And I felt great this morning, and it was nice to kind of sleep in and get a little bit of rest. Watched the guys on TV and tried to get out here and watch them a little bit. Captain says, hey, it’s good cold out here, stay inside, stay warm and be ready for your match.

Q: Saturday night is always a big night at The Ryder Cup, captain’s speech and all that; how much do you guys want to crush it and finish it early tomorrow?

TIGER WOODS: We want to get off to a quick start and get as many points as you can out of the get-go. And hopefully we can do that. I’ve played well the last two afternoons and didn’t get a point. It’s tough. Yesterday I made a bunch of birdies and today I made five on the back nine and it just wasn’t enough.

Feeling good about my game but just unfortunately haven’t got a point. Yesterday I played terrible in the morning. Really, really struggled. Turned around in the afternoon and unfortunately we ran into a guy who made more putts than anyone I’ve ever seen.

And this afternoon, we got down early, battled back. As I said we were 6-under through eight holes on the back nine playing the last hole, and I thought we were going to get all-square there at 17. It was a nice birdie at 16 and then I stuffed it there on 17 and Luke stuffed it inside of me. It was a great match all around.

Q: Nice to see young guys like Keegan and Dufner?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, as I said, this is the new generation of guys. The guys I grew up with are on the Senior Tour. So it’s nice to have a new, young generation of guys, and they are all playing well. The thing is, we are all playing well coming in here, all 12 guys, and this is probably the best collection of 12 putters that they have ever had. It’s proving out to be the case.

Q: When Davis told you you weren’t going to play, how did that go? Were you okay with it?

TIGER WOODS: Absolutely.

Q: Everybody sat at least once.

TIGER WOODS: That was the plan going into these matches. I put so much effort into that last match yesterday afternoon, and I was pretty spent. It was nice to get a little bit of rest. This is way different than Presidents Cup when you have over four days. Five matches in three days is a lot, and hey, I’m not young anymore. I’m one of the older guys. It’s nice to get a little bit of rest.