Woods was attempting a record-setting 5th win in a row at the Bay Hill, but a pair of 74s (in the second and third rounds) ended that quest. Tiger also talks about two big coming events: The Players Championship and The Masters.
Two back-to-back 74s - is there anything positive that you can take out of last two days?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I'm swinging a lot better, that's the funny thing. I'm hitting my irons terrible but I'm driving it well now. I just need to ... 90 percent of my shots were really good. The things I'm working on are starting to come together. It's just the other ten percent are off the charts. Need to bring that back.
Has putting been a problem, so many times before, if you hit a poor shot ...
TW: Well, when you've got 15-footers, that's the closest you've got for birdie and you've got up-and-downs from 20 feet, come on, you know you can't make those putts all the time. It's not that I'm not getting up-and-down. I'm putting the ball in the wrong spots to get up-and-down. You give yourself bad angles, you have no chance.
Is there a fine line between trying to make things happen and forcing them to happen when the game is not clicking?
TW: The game was just a touch off, but I drove the ball well. I felt like I hit some good shots out there. As I said, 90 percent of my shots are really good. If my other ten percent are not playable, that's the problem. They need to just (be) missing the green on correct sides instead of short-siding myself or just missing the fairway on the correct side. Now I'm leaving myself with no angle into the green.
It's just a touch off. But pleased at some of the things, if I do it right, it's pretty good, and when I do it wrong, obviously it's really bad right now.
How disappointing is it not to have a chance to make history with winning the same tournament five years in a row?
TW: Hey, I had tried my best. It's not going to happen, but hopefully I can get it going and play well next week and get it going for Augusta. If I can win that one, I think that will be a little bit bigger than this one.
What's your feeling going into next week? ... Do you feel like you've got the time to work on the issues that you have to work on or is it something that might take you until you get to Augusta?
TW: Well, I'm excited about the things I'm working on. I'm really excited about some of the shots I'm hitting. Driving the ball better than I have in a long time. Starting to get distance back which is great. Just a matter of getting my misses where they are playable again, because when I do it right, it's great. When I do it wrong, I'm just not giving myself the correct angles into the greens or I miss the greens, it's not on the right side. You need to miss the ball on the correct side and I'm not doing that.
Anything you can pinpoint in your irons that's causing problems?
TW: Yeah, the takeaway, the backswing and the downswing. Other than that, it's all right.
There have been no repeat winners at The Players Championship; any (reason for that) that you can pinpoint?
TW: That's just one tough-ass golf course, as simple as that.
Is that why it's tough to repeat at majors?
TW: Yeah. At majors, it's different. The only time we ever play the same golf course again is Augusta, and there local knowledge plays a lot into it. And plus it's a much smaller field, too. Well, it used to be. It's easy to win there more frequently.
But The Players Championship, I mean, it's the best players in the world. It's the strongest field probably we play all year. Because of that, you have more players that are skilled that can win the tournament.
You were talking about consistency ... do you feel like you've had that consistency this year or the end of last year?
TW: I had it the first day, the first day this week. I really had it. I was so excited about some of the things that I was working on on Tuesday and Wednesday and they were coming together. Went out there on Thursday and I really hit it well. Didn't make any putts, but, man, I hit it good. That, to me, is exciting because I know my putting is going to come around. Just a matter of getting my ball-striking in there where I can give myself enough looks at putts. If I give myself enough looks at putts, I figure I'm a decent putter, I can make a few.
