Tiger’s U.S. Open press conference: Thursday
Q: How disappointed are you with the results today?
TIGER WOODS: Not very happy, that’s for sure. It was a tough day. Got off to a bad start. I stuck that 6-iron in the ground on the first hole, and then just couldn’t quite get it turned around today.
Q: From the practice range to the course, you seemed to be hitting it fairly nicely on the range warming up in practice the last few days?
TIGER WOODS: It’s one of those things, just got to work through it. I’m trying as hard as I can to do it, and for some reason I just can’t get the consistency that I’d like to have out there.
Q: What’s the hardest part of today, Tiger?
TIGER WOODS: The hardest part is trying to leave yourself below the hole and you can’t because the putts coming down the hills are just — they’re tough to make, put it that way. But the bright side is at least I kicked Rickie’s butt today (laughter).
Q: Are you still convinced you’re on your way back to where you want to get to?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I am, I am. I know when I do it right, it’s so easy. It just feels easy to control, easy to do it, easy to hit all my shots. I just need to do it more often and build from there.
Q: How does it leave you feeling right now? What positives, if any, do you take into day two here?
TIGER WOODS: I fought, I fought hard. And that was my number. I couldn’t grind out any harder than that. So that’s just the way I played and unfortunately it was a high number today.
Q: When you made the changes in the past, was it this difficult to implement them as it seems to be now?
TIGER WOODS: Depends. Some of them, they were — the patterns were somewhat similar. Going from Hank to Sean was similar because you’re on your left leg. The bigger change was probably going from Butch to Hank, because I was on my right leg and I had to switch to my left leg, so that was a little bit different. But now we’re trying to go back the other way, so it’s — they’re all not easy to do. I’ve gone through tough phases in each one of these things and I’ve come out okay on the other side.
Q: This is about as tough as it’s been in your career?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it has, because I haven’t had enough — I haven’t played enough. I haven’t had a rhythm to play. I didn’t play much last year and I haven’t played much this year. Knee surgeries are pretty easy compared to a back surgery, the recovery time. And for some reason, it’s just a lot harder dealing with a nerve than a joint.
Q: How do you turn the corner, Tiger?
TIGER WOODS: Keep working. Keep grinding and keep working.
