DAVE SENKO: Tiger, thank you for joining us. Maybe get us started, talk about your 4 under 68 today.

TIGER WOODS: I guess it was all right. I guess I hit it decent today, just not my speed on the greens was not very good. I had two three putts and I actually made a few others just to avoid three putting. I've got to obviously get my speed a little more under control for tomorrow and the rest of the week.

DAVE SENKO: Why did you invite John Daly and what does he bring to a tournament for the fans and everyone else?

TIGER WOODS: Well, he's one of the biggest draws in all of golf all over the world. Anywhere he goes, he brings one of the biggest galleries. We're running a business and we're trying to obviously make as much money as we possibly can to obviously put everything into a learning center. So obviously by John being here bringing all the fans out, brings more awareness to what we're trying to do with our Foundation. So it's a win win for everybody.

DAVE SENKO: Even if he finishes last this week, he's guaranteed his biggest paycheck of the year.

TIGER WOODS: That is surprising because with as much talent as J.D. has, it's hard to believe that he doesn't have any status next year on any Tour. Obviously he's gone through some interesting things last year off the golf course. It's understandable that he was distracted when he was playing.

DAVE SENKO: He said the injuries were the key thing, his back, he just couldn't swing for weeks at a time.

TIGER WOODS: Well, his back is bothering him because he's got front to deal with (laughter).

DAVE SENKO: He said he doesn't do yoga or yogurt.

TIGER WOODS: The easiest thing to do is work on the back, work on the front.

DAVE SENKO: This is your first tournament in almost a month, maybe a little bit less than that. Obviously you want to win, but what do you look to do? How do you evaluate yourself this week as far as where your game is?

TIGER WOODS: Well, that's a great question. I'm just trying to basically work on the same things that I have done pretty consistently when I was in Asia and then obviously Hawaii for the Grand Slam. I played those two and a half weeks, played pretty good. I just need to keep doing those things.

I played nine holes Tuesday and then I played all 18 yesterday in a Pro Am and hit some really nice shots. I didn't do it consistently, but I was kind of hoping that it would be more consistent today. Actually I drove it pretty good today, which was nice. My iron play was decent, but things that I was working on during that stretch I'm pretty excited about because I think that's something that hopefully when it comes together will be pretty good for next year.

DAVE SENKO: Did you use a similar driver at Dunlop?

TIGER WOODS: I did not, no. I tested right before I went to Dunlop, I tested a couple golf balls over at Dunlop, but I never put one in play.

DAVE SENKO: It'll be in your bag for all of next year?

TIGER WOODS: I don't know. I don't know. I've got to get the launch conditions better. Because of the geometry of it, I'm launching it too high. I like hitting a little lower shot.

DAVE SENKO: Why did you pick Ollie to play with for the first round?

TIGER WOODS: Ollie has been one of my friends for a long time. I've considered Ollie a friend since I first played with him in the '95 Masters, the first round. He was great, and all the times I've played practice rounds with him when Butch and I were when Butch was working with myself and Ollie, we'd always play practice rounds together, and usually if there was another one we'd have Darren in there. We all know each other pretty well.

DAVE SENKO: (Inaudible.)

TIGER WOODS: He's got me beat. He actually looks like he tees it underground.

DAVE SENKO: This is a little bit off the wall, but in your opinion is it more surprising that you missed the cut in a major for the first time in your pro career or that it took ten years to do it?

TIGER WOODS: Probably ten years. I mean, you would think that somewhere along the line you'd have a bad week somewhere under the the most difficult conditions in all of golf. It seems I've gotten lucky a lot.

DAVE SENKO: (Inaudible.)

TIGER WOODS: I've come close, and the PGA in Atlanta, yeah, in '01. On No. 9 at Augusta, right?

DAVE SENKO: And in the rain and everything else.

TIGER WOODS: Top 10'd it, though. I got Ryder Cup points.

DAVE SENKO: During Ryder Cup time, for Daly, why were you pushing John?

TIGER WOODS: Well, one, he's long. Anybody who can hit the ball long and has got that much talent, you want on the team. Like Freddie. And J.D. is usually a pretty good putter and he's got a pretty good short game. Any time you have length going out there and the best ball atmosphere, or even alternate shot, you can put a lot of pressure on guys. Considering that golf course, how it was playing, you figured it was going to be soft and not rolling, so I figured a longer hitter would have a tremendous advantage.

The matches I played, I had a huge advantage, put the ball in play and I was so far down there that the rest of the guys couldn't get it to roll out. J.D. hits it further than I do.

DAVE SENKO: (Inaudible.)

TIGER WOODS: I think they're probably right on that one. I think the last two Presidents Cup teams that we've been on, every one of them is a member of our Tour, the international team as well as us obviously. We all play the same Tour, so it's the same guys. But the Europeans don't see John all the time.

I also just think that if you get him with the right partner who's pretty consistent and allow him to go ahead and free wheel it, there's no telling what he can do. But he's never been given the opportunity.

DAVE SENKO: Top three players in the world according to World Rankings are Americans, but that's in terms of the Top 10. I know maybe you answered this earlier in the week, but does that say more about where American golf is or how good golf has gotten globally?

TIGER WOODS: Golf has expanded. It's now become a global sport. I don't think anyone would have guessed that one of the top players in the world would be from Paraguay, when Carlos Franco got on Presidents Cup teams a couple times. That's how the game of golf has expanded and has grown. The youth of South Africa and Australia and the guys in Japan now playing well, you know, if you just look at our Tour, it's not primarily Americans that are up there anymore in the Top 10; it's mostly international guys with Americans sprinkled in there. I think that's changed and a lot of guys are coming over here and playing here in America and showing the way for the guys back home. And all of a sudden it spreads.

DAVE SENKO: We've seen guys with talent and they finally break through, and they usually play out the year pretty well, for example, Geoff Ogilvy at the PGA and whatnot. What do you expect from him because sometimes we've seen guys like that maybe take a year off, so to speak, and then come back and hit some stride. What are you expecting to see from him next year?

TIGER WOODS: As much talent as Geoff has and the times I've gotten to play with him this year, he's playing a lot better. He's done some good work on his swing, he's always been a pretty good putter. He's got great touch around the greens. For him, he's getting out of his own way. He can get a little hot out there at times on the golf course, and he's got that under control a lot more now.

I think that's one of the reasons why he's done well in major championships. You have to focus a lot more in majors, and for him I think it settles him down.

DAVE SENKO: Fred, 3 under 69 today, maybe just a quick rundown on your day, get your birdies.

FRED COUPLES: Well, it was a good day. You want birdies? Birdie on the 1st hole, hit an iron on the tee and hit a sand wedge to about three feet. Pulled an iron on 3 left of the green, putt from 10 feet, 12 feet off the green and left it short, missed a 15 footer for par and made bogey. On the 5th hole, par 5, I hit it on in two and two putted for birdie. 11, driver and a 3 iron and two putted for birdie. Bogey 12, par 3, I hit a bad iron in the right bunker and blasted out and two putted from quite a ways.
Next hole, hit it on the green and two putted. Then 16, pulled a driver left and got lucky, stayed on a little piece of grass by the hazard, wedged out and hit a sand wedge to about 10, 12 feet, made it for birdie.

DAVE SENKO: What do you think about these days? Do you think about '07 Ryder Cup, anything like that?

FRED COUPLES: I have right now been working on my game, and I feel pretty good. I certainly don't feel as good as I did a couple weeks ago. My little plan is to see Tom again more often, which is the back guy, and play quite a bit at the beginning of next year. That's my plan.

Right now I'm trying to tighten my swing up, and I'm kind of figuring out that when my back actually starts to go bad, I can't do it, so my swing gets longer to protect my back, and I just kind of figured that out in the last three or four weeks by practicing and feeling good. Tom couldn't come here but he's going to come after Christmas and get me ready for next year, and I'll see him about every three tournaments I play and hopefully that will work.

I could sit in here from the time I was 40, 41, 42 up until right now and tell you like last year I had a great shot at winning LA and certainly had a great shot at winning Augusta, and those are my goals. I love the West Coast, and after that it was pretty much downhill.

DAVE SENKO: Could you explain the FedEx Cup?

FRED COUPLES: No, I don't know anything about it. You know, I don't really know. I mean, next year if I'm really killing myself playing well at the beginning of next year, then I'll worry about it. But right now I figure if I'm 40th on the Money List or 80th on the Money List or 144th on the Money List, I get to play in the first FedEx Cup. Whoop di doo.

I mean, we'll see. I'm not knocking it, it's a nice thing, but I'm more interested in playing well and not really I think it's a nice thing, I think it's great. I'd rather see someone on the PGA TOUR play incredible golf and win $10 million in a tournament by winning the tournament on a really, really good course, and if we couldn't get a 9 rating for that, then we need to look around and see what we're doing.

But as far as playing and doing all that, I'm not knocking it, I'm just saying I haven't even looked at it. I don't even know for a million dollars I couldn't tell you what tournaments are in the FedEx Cup. But I can tell you where I'm going to play next year, the Bob Hope and San Diego and LA. Those are important things to me.

In May I may turn it around and start to really worry about it. Again, that's not being a slight. I think the Tour needs a little boost in something, and hopefully the FedEx Cup will be it.

DAVE SENKO: You're starting at the Hope?

FRED COUPLES: I'm not going to go to Hawaii, yeah, so the Hope.

DAVE SENKO: You spoke about happy memories of Riviera and then Augusta, coming close to winning both, and then you said the rest of the year was pretty much downhill. Was that largely back related or a few other factors?

FRED COUPLES: You know, I went to Wimbledon for eight days and had the greatest time ever, and after that I went to the Scottish Open, and after that my back went out, I don't know when that was, maybe early July. From that point on, I tried to I mean, I was close in Ryder Cup points so I kept playing and I couldn't get my back loose and I couldn't really do anything. So it was pretty much I know, it was not a very good stretch. I just couldn't ever feel good.

DAVE SENKO: Do you ever ask yourself "what if" with this back issue? For those of us who have written golf for a long time, seems like we've been writing about your back since God knows when. It's been your whole career.

FRED COUPLES: If I was on steroids in '92 we'd be talking about that for the last 15 years. You know, I don't have a problem with it. I don't walk around saying my back hurts and doing this, but there are times certainly I wouldn't be playing great golf every week if my back didn't hurt. I wouldn't be able to play golf if my back really, really hurt, and I don't. So therefore I try and play.

But there are a lot of tournaments contractually that I need to play golf to represent Cadillac and Bridgestone and all these companies, so I do my best to play as many as I can, and when I really feel well, I try and play maybe 20 or 21 tournaments.

But getting those extra three or four when you don't feel good are extremely hard because there are tournaments throughout the year that you really want to play in, and if you overdo it and hurt yourself and miss Augusta, then you've made a huge mistake, or the British Open or any of those.

You know, I don't look back I could be worse, I could have a wrist problem, and that would be a heck of a lot worse trying to play golf with a wrist problem or some other things. You know, I'm able to play. I've learned how to play with a sore back or a bad back, and sometimes I do really, really well. But it's hard to stand up there and really perform when you do well and play with Furyks and Ogilvys and Tigers when you don't feel great.

But I can still get it around. I'm 47, had a back problem for 15 years, and it just keeps getting worse, and the guy that works on me thinks I'm a freak that I'm able to continue to play. You know, I owe a lot to him, and he makes it kind of possible. I've tried a lot of stuff, and nobody can get it to where it feels like I can go two months and feel really, really good.

DAVE SENKO: Do you feel like a freak?

FRED COUPLES: Do I feel like a freak? No, I feel like a normal Tiger Woods is a freak, LeBron James is a freak.

DAVE SENKO: (Inaudible.)

FRED COUPLES: You know, I don't look at it. I like to play, I really do. I mean, I wish if you look back, I don't think besides my first or second year, I ever played too many tournaments. Would I have been better off to play 23 events every single year? Of course. Would it feel as fun golf wise if I had played another 100 events in the last 25 or 26 years, I don't think so. I think I would be more than I already am.
But I pace myself at an incredible pace. Sometimes I don't play well because of it.

When I go to tournaments, I try and prepare myself where I can function and hit the ball, and I don't play great I dont play that well a lot of times, but when I start really
embarrassing myself, then I will certainly quit. But I don't see that time coming too soon.

DAVE SENKO: Back to the FedEx Cup, are guys talking about it at all? Is there any buzz? Do you think guys are as clueless
 
FRED COUPLES: I'm not dodging it. I got sick at the World Series, so I haven't been on Tour September and October. That's when things were changed, I know. I know they're going to cut guys back. I know a little bit about it. I don't even know when the tournaments are.

You know, I don't know why anyone would be excited about it. It's going to be the TOUR Championship, and if Tiger Woods doesn't win, it'll be because he doesn't play enough. You know, if Tiger Woods wanted to win any of this stuff, he would figure out how to do it. But I don't see him playing, I don't know, six or seven or eight weeks to win the FedEx Cup.

I can guarantee you one thing, he'll be ready to win the U.S. Open and the British Open and Augusta and the PGA. I think that's great.

Now, I'm not speaking for him, but when he plays and he gets in position, I'm pretty sure when the FedEx things comes around, he's going to be the one to beat, and Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk and Vijay because maybe he plays a little more. But to me those are the same guys that have been around for the last ten years.

So if the FedEx Cup I'd like to see match play events the last six weeks where guys are beating each other up and there's great matches. I mean, that would be truly effective. But 72 hole events, I'm probably going to get pummeled for this, but I'm also 47, not 30, and I don't really have a shot at winning $10 million and I can sit here and downplay it. Do I want to be in it? Yeah, because that will mean I've had a good year. I'm not going to win the FedEx Cup, but I still think I can win Augusta, and if I do that, then that will be a heck of a lot better than winning the FedEx Cup.

DAVE SENKO: But you've already got a green jacket.

FRED COUPLES: I am really looking forward to the FedEx Cup, though, I really am. Where are the four tournaments or five? Where are they so I can leave here and tell my friends? Where are they?

DAVE SENKO: Westchester, Boston, Chicago and Atlanta.

FRED COUPLES: So the TOUR Championship is the FedEx Cup? I thought the TOUR Championship was like the TOUR Championship.

DAVE SENKO: (Inaudible.)

FRED COUPLES: No, he just signed for six more years, and they're getting rid of the basketball in NBA? We're getting the FedEx Cup. Things are shaping up (laughter). Things are shaping up.

DAVE SENKO: (Inaudible.)

FRED COUPLES: I'm not going to East Lake. You've got to be in the Top 30, right, to go to East Lake, or have they changed that? So they dwindle down. That's a good system. The winner wins a million and a half?

DAVE SENKO: $12.

FRED COUPLES: Wow, that's a lot of money. But is it like poker where it's all cash laying on the 18th green?

DAVE SENKO: Aside from the FedEx Cup, all the medical treatments that you've had, is there any doctor or group of people that have said, Fred, someday medical science will be able to correct the problems that you have for other people?

FRED COUPLES: No. You know, I've seen maybe six or eight really, really top guys from San Francisco and New York and Chicago and Seattle and everywhere else, and a couple of them don't really know much about it. They just look at stuff.

One guy asked me if I walked when I played golf, you know, and he had no idea that I could walk 18 holes and play. The guy that works on it is convinced that we talk about it all the time. I don't want to be 55 and not be able to do anything, and as long as I can stay pretty straight, I'm actually doing okay. So all these exercises that I do, I go back and I try not to get the necktie look where you're hunched over. But I'm fairly sound.

I drove it with Davis, I'm driving it close to Daly at The Skins Game. It's just that I get really excited and then I kind of get away for a while because I physically don't feel that well. I've been doing it so long that I'm used to it. Again, when you're a lot younger and in your prime it becomes a nuisance. Now I go home and oh, well, try and pick tournaments. But I can't surgically doing anything. I just have to kind of pace myself.

DAVE SENKO: I saw you on the driving range sort of drawing your wedges and stuff and then sort of fading your longer clubs. Was that on purpose and is that sort of the back coming at all?

FRED COUPLES: I warm up a lot longer and I hit a lot of wedges, and I try to get my body just to get moving, and I hit soft draws, and as I get more and more of them, I hit it a little harder. That is correct, then I start to hit cut shots. When I swing well, it's okay to do. When I'm really flipping at it and I go on the course and I start aiming left and I cut it and I pull draw it, that's not a good position to be in. But yeah, that's correct.

DAVE SENKO: Henrik, just maybe get us started. You've got to be pretty happy with 6 under today.

HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, absolutely. It's a great score, and I might have done it slightly different than planned because I didn't get it going on the par 5s early, which I think is the key around this course normally, and I just made I think I made three birdies on the par 3s today. Iron shots were good and didn't get the putter going early on, either, but certainly on the back nine, made a couple in a row there and had some good iron shots, so it was pretty solid.

DAVE SENKO: Go through your birdies starting at 3, shot sequence.

HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, I hit too much club there in the back of the green, it was a long one, so I made probably a 30 footer for birdie. 10, I hit a six footer. It was a 3 wood, sand iron. 13, short sided myself right and had to chip it up on the green and made a long one, 25 feet, 30 feet. 15, par 3, hit a good 6 iron to about ten feet.
Next one, I hit the green in two, two putted for birdie. Then hit an 8 iron to about eight feet on 17. I just had a really good chance on 18, as well, that just slipped by.

DAVE SENKO: How far was your putt on 18?

HENRIK STENSON: It was probably about 12 feet.

DAVE SENKO: It's been a long, long season for you. Is there any element of tiredness there and is that a factor at all today, after last week especially in Barbados?

HENRIK STENSON: Not on the course, but I'm definitely running on fumes. This is my 31st event this year, so I'm in good need of a break, and I'm having one right after this tournament. I hope I can finish up the season with a good week here and get some rest and get ready for next year. We've got a team in Thailand and then we'll play three weeks in the Middle East. It's going to be sort of a Middle East swing, my home tournaments down there.

DAVE SENKO: Having played as much as you have, what was the allure of coming to this tournament? What made you decide to put this on the schedule so late in the year?

HENRIK STENSON: I mean, it's both I played both Sun City and this week that I didn't know of when I put my schedule down early this year. But you're not turning down these great events with a limited field and a good course and everything is well organized. It's not an option to turn this week down.

DAVE SENKO: Any concern you mentioned you're kind of running on fumes. Will you kind of cut back on the practice this week, not do much to try and stay fresh?

HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, I sort of had Monday off, last week had Monday off and half of Tuesday, and this week I had both Monday and Tuesday off. If we kept on going, I probably wouldn't even have started on Thursday.
Yeah, the clubs are away now. I'm not hitting a single shot afterwards, just try and conserve the energy I've got and use it on the course.

DAVE SENKO: Could you go through your travel routes starting with South Africa?

HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, I was sort of looking at it before I left from Dubai, going to South Africa, and I came up with probably just over 60 hours in a plane for these three weeks, from Dubai to South Africa and through London to Barbados to here and then back to New York and back to Dubai. We've got a few air miles.

DAVE SENKO: How many miles do you think it is?

HENRIK STENSON: I don't know miles, but it's about 60 hours in the air. It's just a little bit more than the average drive (laughter).

DAVE SENKO: I suppose it's easier to keep going when you get off to a great start like you have today?

HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, definitely. I've had a lot of really good finishes and wins have been when I've had a strong first round and then sort of kept going on the momentum, so hopefully this can be another one just the same.

DAVE SENKO: It's a fun event, though. Have you managed to play any practical jokes on any of the guys here this week?

HENRIK STENSON: No, I just had a blast yesterday with the boys in the Pro Am. This one lady, she was going to take a picture of her husband and myself, and she had the digital camera turned around. We were watching on the screen, and she took the picture of her own face (laughter). I mean, that sort of lightened up the whole thing a little bit. She's going to be excited that I mentioned that in the press.

DAVE SENKO: What about your long term goals? I mean, you've obviously come on a huge amount in the last couple of years. What kind of ambitions or targets have you set for yourself for the 12 months ahead?

HENRIK STENSON: I mean, I would like to try and improve my World Ranking and break into the Top 10. I mean, I've been 11th at best, and I think I'm currently in 12th. I feel like I've established myself as a strong player up among the top 20 in the world now, so just try and improve on that and get inside the top 10, and my long term goals are to improve on the majors. I want to be up there in the big events and hopefully win a few.

DAVE SENKO: (Inaudible.)

HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, I mean, PGA was good because I struggled a little bit this summer, so I just got it back on pretty good form there. I didn't play well enough for four rounds, and the week after I had a bad start at the Bridgestone Invitational and played bad on the weekend, but it still gave me a bit of confidence back, and then I went on to win in Germany the following week. It was sort of a bit of a kick start at the PGA and then I played well at the Ryder Cup and the weeks after, as well.

It's been a great year for me, and I played well early and then struggled a little bit over the summertime and got it going in the fall again. Hopefully we can play well all year round next year.

DAVE SENKO: You mentioned you didn't quite take advantage of the par 5s early today. What sort of kick started you this afternoon?

HENRIK STENSON: I made the long putt on 3 and then sort of nothing happened on the front nine, and then made the birdie on 10, a little bit you expect yourself to make a birdie on that hole. Then it was probably that long putt I made on 13 that got me to 3 under, then had some good shots from there on in and made the putts.
I'd say that putt sort of got it going a little bit.

DAVE SENKO: Just curious, the Europeans and Australians, a lot of the golfers have become pretty popular here in the States, and I'm wondering especially the last couple years you've had, can you walk into a coffee shop here and get recognized, or off the golf course do people tend to not notice you?

HENRIK STENSON: I can do whatever I want off the golf course and nobody would recognize me, no.

DAVE SENKO: (Inaudible.)

HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, more and more I'd say, but I think it's sort of still very related to golf course. If they see me in Dubai or Sweden and they see me at a golf course, they recognize me, but not so much off the course, which is nice.

DAVE SENKO: Has there been any benefits from sinking the winning putt in the Ryder Cup, psychological?

HENRIK STENSON: I think it was just an unbelievable week. I mean, the crowds, and we said that often, when are we going to play in front of home crowds again that good, if we're ever going to do it. It was just a great experience, and that's just a small little bonus getting mentioned a few extra times, holing that putt. But we would have won with or without it, so it doesn't mean that much to me.

DAVE SENKO: (Inaudible.)

HENRIK STENSON: A little bit. I mean, it's been mentioned a few times. I remember McGinley's putt was shown quite a lot on telly after the Belfry, but that was in a slightly different situation, as well. The match was much tighter.

But it's just nice to be part of the European team and to be able to win it on home soil.

DAVE SENKO: Do you look upon last week in Barbados, disappointment there, but was it a missed opportunity to enter a playoff for the World Cup or a great comeback by you and Carl?

HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, I hit some bad shots early on there. It was just pouring down on the first tee. You're running out there trying to get it over with on the second, trying to slow it down, and I managed to do that and it plugged in the bunker. We got off to a bad start and then worked our way back, and with the birdies on 12 and 13 we were right there, and then we just very disappointing that we couldn't make any birdies on 14, 15 or 16, and then we obviously bogeyed the last. It was disappointing.

It was still a good week, but would have wished for more having tied 2nd last year and just missing out on a playoff. But third time will be lucky next year.

DAVE SENKO: You mentioned being mentioned out on the street in Sweden. All the crowds following Tiger this week and John Daly, et cetera, tell me about your gallery today. How big was it or how small was it?

HENRIK STENSON: It wasn't that much spectators on the front nine. There were a few brave ones. Then as groups finished, certainly there was a bit more crowd on the back nine. I think we'll get more on the weekend. I don't know who I will be playing with tomorrow. Tiger? I'll have my crowds tomorrow, don't worry about it.

DAVE SENKO: (Inaudible.)

HENRIK STENSON: Yeah, I'm taking up membership. I'd say I'll play 50/50 sort of between American and Europe, mainly from the Match Play up until the U.S. Open I'm mainly going to play in America.

DAVE SENKO: (Inaudible.)

HENRIK STENSON: No, I played well enough this year to sort of get my card for next year.

DAVE SENKO: You didn't use the driver very often, I think, playing with Tiger in the Firestone I think maybe it was last year. Did you use the driver much today and will you be using it much tomorrow?

HENRIK STENSON: There are a few drives out there on the par 5s mainly, and that was the funny thing, odd thing today. I hit good tee shots on the par 5s but I managed to end up with 25 footers at best for birdie. So that was a bit weird to hit good tee shots and not being able to take advantage of them. But hopefully tomorrow it's going to be mainly on the par 5s where I hit driver, otherwise it's a lot of strategical tee shots around this course.

DAVE SENKO: How many times have you played with Tiger and what's it like playing with him, not only him but the galleries?

HENRIK STENSON: I played at the American Express in '05, played the first two rounds this year at Dubai, and I played with him in China at the HSBC tournament in China. In China it wasn't that good because the crowd was just wild.

Otherwise I enjoy playing with him. He's great to play with and obviously the best golfer in the world, so I really enjoy it, and I think the crowds are going to be a bit more behaved here tomorrow. There was a lot of mobile phones and cameras in China, so it got a little bit annoying in the end for everybody in the group. Everybody is looking forward to it.

DAVE SENKO: Real quick, Geoff, give us a quick rundown on your 68.

GEOFF OGILVY: I guess I played fairly well. I birdied the 1st hole. I bogeyed the 2nd hole, and after that it was pretty good, really, for the next 15 holes.
I hit it quite nicely, had a few bad shots, I guess, on the back nine, but I was chipping very well. I hit some very good chips out of the rough and was putting quite nicely and everything was all good, and then I hit it in a bad spot on the 18th and made a double, which was annoying.

DAVE SENKO: Can you go through what happened on 18? We were in here with Tiger so we didn't get a chance to see it.

GEOFF OGILVY: I hit a perfect drive with a 3 wood. I had 170 yards to the pin. I hit 7 iron. I hit it bad. There might have been mud on the ball, but it was a pretty bad shot. It ended up on the slope of the bunker, the steepest slope I could hardly even stand on it, it was ridiculous. And it took me a couple to get on the green and a couple of putts -- 6.

DAVE SENKO: First round, good way to open up for someone who hasn't played the golf course.

GEOFF OGILVY: Yeah, perfect, really. The weather was perfect. It was warm; you couldn't really call it a wind. There might have been a three mile an hour breeze. It was perfect. I enjoyed it. I played very well except for the last hole, really. A pretty good start.

I don't know what Henrik Henrik probably didn't do what I did on the last hole. I've got three rounds to play and I'm still amongst it. You can put yourself out of it on the first day but you can't win it, so I'm still there.

DAVE SENKO: What do you have to do, do you think, for this next year after having a great year last year to make sure you go on the same path and continue to build on what you did last year and winning that major? Is there anything you can pinpoint from last season that helped you with that, and what do you need to do to keep doing to make sure you continue that success?

GEOFF OGILVY: I don't know, I've just got to keep doing what I've been doing, I guess. Work out if there's anything that I don't like that I do and fix that and try and work out what I did do right and try and do that again. So I guess I'm answering your question. I haven't really thought about it yet. I know there's plenty of areas of my game that I think could be better than they are.

I made some nice putts when I needed to make them really this year. I've probably had years where I've maybe even played better, but you make putts at the right time, get it up and down at the right time, hit the right drive at the right time, and good things happen, and they're intangibles almost.

I could definitely play better than I did this year. When I did play well, I played really well, but when I didn't have good weeks I probably wasn't as sharp as I wanted to. If I can stay consistent and stay positive about it it's going to be pretty hard. I could play unbelievably well next year and not have the year I had this year. A WGC and a major, I mean, that's pretty good. I could finish Top 5 every week and not win but have played better. It's hard to measure. I just want to be a better player next year than I was this year, and if good things happen, that's good.

DAVE SENKO: Just curious, the reception you got when you went back to Australia recently. Was it any different going back now after winning a major?

GEOFF OGILVY: Yeah, it was big and it was good. The Australian Tour is a tour that has struggled for a bit of profile the last few years. They've kind of lost a little bit of their shine, but this year they really promoted it well. They got a lot of people in the gate. I was really well received. The Australian media are starting to realize the Australians are actually pretty decent at golf again. That was really fun. We had big crowds to play in front of and stuff, and that was more than normal. It was really good.

DAVE SENKO: Can you talk about your pairing today? How far do you guys go back, and what happened to Adam on No. 8?

GEOFF OGILVY: He kept hitting it right edge and it didn't break, and then he hit it left edge and it didn't break, then he hit it right edge and it didn't break, and he had five putts. He was three feet for three, just one of those things. Everyone does it once a year or once every few years, and he did it today. Shame.

We go back I met Adam when he was probably 13 or 14 maybe, so whatever that is, 11, 12 years ago. He's always been a bit of a prodigy. Always been wise beyond his years. Yeah, we've played a lot together, especially in the last few years since he's been playing over here more. It was a good pairing.

DAVE SENKO: Do you think that pairing was by design?

GEOFF OGILVY: You'd have to ask I guess Target picked the pairings. I don't know. It might have been. Everyone seemed to get appropriate pairings for themselves here. I think it might have been by design.

DAVE SENKO: When was the last time you played with him together?

GEOFF OGILVY: In a tournament? First round of Atlanta in the TOUR Championship we played together actually. I got one back on him today. He did it right that week.

DAVE SENKO: They're expecting some weather this weekend. Do you think that will change the course that much and how much do you have to adjust?

GEOFF OGILVY: Yeah, I don't know how much weather. I think the temperature is going to drop, and that's not going to be fun if it's in the 50s and in the 30s in the morning. It makes the ball go a lot shorter when it's cold. I don't know how much it's going to rain or blow. Then there's a lot of elevated shots here, and in big winds it would be pretty tricky. I mean, colder temperatures are just no fun to play in and the ball goes shorter. I really don't know, but I'm sure it wouldn't get any easier than it did today anyway. Today was about as easy as it's going to play.

DAVE SENKO: Tiger mentioned he had trouble with the speed on the greens today. Did you find that as well?

GEOFF OGILVY: No, I putted quite well actually. My speed was pretty good. I thought they were pretty consistent.