Tiger Woods defends his Buick Invitational title from tomorrow (Thursday) at Torrey Pines, near San Diego
and has been discussing the equipment in his bag as well as the Accenture World Matchplay which he defends on February 25 at La Costa.
You have made some changes recently, not least with your driver. What else is new in the bag this year?
The only thing I have changed is my driver and the golf ball that I am using now. I went to a faster-core golf ball (Mike One TW). The cover is still the same, so it gives me just a few more yards, but I can still do the same things around the greens because it is the same cover. My Ignite driver is faster. I had a lot of room to grow in my driver. I am nowhere near the breaking point, the threshold, but for me, I found that I was able to actually turn the ball over and draw the ball.
How well did you played in the Accenture Matchplay last year?
It was by far the best I played all year. I drove the ball
Beautifully; I controlled my irons pretty good and above all, I really putted well. That's what you have to do in matchplay - you have to be able to putt well in order to win and I putted well the entire week.
I went three or four matches without making a bogey so it was a fantastic start to the week and then I continued on into the weekend and faced some pretty good opponents.
You talked about how this one was the hardest of the WGC events to get. I think you said you were "stoked."
Yeah, that's my Southern California vocabulary coming out, I guess. I think it's just because it's matchplay, and if we had to play it every week, our playing careers would be cut in half because there's so many emotional ups and downs you have to deal with.
And if you get through six matches, it might not seem like a lot, but it's the ebb and flow of each match that
Gets you stressed. You've always got to stay in the moment. You can go home at any time.
How big a factor is playing more than 18 holes in a day?
Well, it's something we're used to in junior, college and
amateur golf, but we don't do it very often in professional golf. Most amateur events are matchplay where, if you do get to the final, you have played quite a few matches and quite a few rounds.
In pro golf, it's the Accenture, the Ryder Cup and The Presidents Cup, and that's the only time you ever see more than 18 holes in one day unless you have rain delays. But it takes a toll on your body. There's no doubt about that.
Can you put into perspective what it meant to win the Accenture, compared to maybe some of the majors?
As far as ball control, it was one of my better weeks. I
certainly have played better, but to have played that well for five straight days in six rounds of golf, there is no tournament on Tour that we have to do that in.
So from that aspect it was nice to be able to play consistently each day and put a lot of pressure on my opponents. It's hard to compare it because you are dealing with matchplay and strokeplay, two totally different animals.
With the Accenture Matchplay under your belt, the
window as far as tournaments you haven't won, gets smaller. Riviera (home of the Nissan Open) is coming up. What do you need to do there better that you haven't done?
I'd love to win there. I finished second the year Ernie Els won in 1999. It's one of the best venues we play all year and is one of the most difficult and one of the most challenging. You have to hit the golf ball well in order to win at Riviera.
If you look at three guys who were in contention last year - Charles Howell, Mike Weir and Nick Price - all three guys hit the ball beautifully, day in, day out. Look through the past champions at Riviera and most are great ball strikers. For me, I just have to go out there and hit the ball consistently well for all four days and try and keep myself in it.
The TV commercials you are doing with Accenture, look
like a lot of fun.
Yeah, I had a lot of fun doing them. The one I hit out of the trees was probably the best because I hit one of the best shots I have ever hit in my life, and people never saw the results of it.
I had to hit this big sweeping hook out of the trees and couldn't make my normal follow-through because I was probably going to break my club. That's what the camera
angle wanted; that's what the director wanted, so it would look cool.
So I hit the shot out of there and it landed right next to the flag. All the people in the gallery, actors and extras, said, "Nice shot." I was like, "Oh, really?" That was the best shot I have ever hit.
How have your fans around the world responded to your recent engagement and how are the wedding plans progressing?
The fans have been very kind and respectful and excited to see me take this step in my life and in her life. It's been nice to have the warm reception we get wherever we've gone.
As far as the wedding plans, we haven't even thought about that yet. We're actually kind of soaking this up. This is a big major step in our lives, and we're just kind of taking it easy.
*The Buick Invitational (first prize $684,000) will be played over the north and South courses with Wood's nearest rivals expected to be Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson.
The European contingent includes Carl Pettersson (runner-up to Woods last year), Darren Clarke, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and a rejuvenated Jesper Parnevik.
