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CNN Live Today

Interview With Tiger Woods

Aired June 17, 2002 - 10:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Tiger is on the prowl bigtime. Tiger Woods is only two tournament victories away from a grand slam, which has never happened before in one year. With this smooth putt here -- this happened to be for a bogey -- Tiger won the U.S. Open yesterday in New York, and he is the first golfer since Jack Nicklaus back in 1972 to win the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year. Woods is now gunning for four majors in the same year, and that puts him on the way to making history.

Now on the final leader board, you see Tiger at the top. He's followed by perennial bridesmaid Phil Michelson, Jeff Maggert and Sergio Garcia. And I must say, as one who watched it, Phil Mickelson put on a heroic performance yesterday and may have pushed tiger into taking over that tournament the way he did.

Now Tiger Woods talked about his U.S. Open victory and the elusive grand slam with Bob Fiscella of CNN's sports, and here now is that one-on-one conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FISCELLA, CNN ANCHOR: Tiger, congrats, second U.S. Open, eight career major. I've got to ask you, are you running out of self space.

TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: No, no, you can always find shelf space for these. These are awfully special.

FISCELLA: First two holes you come out, three puts, a couple of hiccups. Sergio said he thought you were nervous. Was it nervous?

WOODS: Of course I was nervous. I'm nervous every time I teed up. That means I care. If I'm not nervous, it's the day I quit, because obviously, I don't care anymore. I came out, and I figured my speed was off, but it's Not like I was struggling; I was two over par. I hit the ball well on the first two holes, and I said, you know, just continue doing it. I've been putting well and all week, and no sense in changing now, and go ahead and keep hitting the ball well, and more importantly, just work on my pace.

FISCELLA: Physically and mentally, was this the most grinding week that you have ever spent on the golf course. You had to battle the wind, the rain. You were like the post office, you did deliver. WOODS: Not physically, but mentally it was certainly a lot of work. I mean, this golf course is so brutal. It's playing so long, and on top of that it's narrow, and if you miss the ball in the rough, more than likely, you are not making par. And you had to get in the ball to play in order to have a chance to win the tournament.

FISCELLA: Was this more special than some of the other majors in the fact that you played here in New York before these rowdy fans on Father's Day, and with 9/11 so much a part of this golf tournament?

WOODS: And not only that, you know, there's so much going on here this week, you know, but these fans were absolutely tremendous. They were so supportive. Some of the people went over the line, across the line. But you know, those who didn't, I was trying to as polite as I could to those fans and courteous as I possibly could, because those fans really wanted you to play well, and it was neat to be in that environment. And today was with Phil playing as well as he did, it was just a lot of work.

FISCELLA: I know you don't like to talk about the grand slam. You take it one tournament at a time. But we in the media love to talk about the grand slam. Are you ready for the media crunch that you are going to receive at Muirfield. And do you allow yourself at some point during the day or night to think about it?

WOODS: Well, I've done it before. So I can say that. So I'm just going to go ahead and take it one tournament at a time, and more than anything savor this one.

FISCELLA: You're now become the fist player since Jack Nicklaus in 197 to win both the U.S. Open and Masters in the same year. Your eight career major, to pass Arnold Palmer. Are you the greatest of all time?

WOODS: I don't think that's right for me to even speculate. I think that's for the fans to throw out there. You know, I certainly don't have the playing record that Jack has. I'm young. I'm only 26. I have a long way to go. I am going to try to improve, try and get better. I don't know what my career has in store for me in the future, but I am certainly going to give it my best.

FISCELLA: Tiger, appreciate. Congrats.

WOODS: Thanks, you got it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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