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Tiger made birdie on the 14th hole but was unable to pull out the win.
Q. Has it been frustrating trying to shake those numbers?
TIGER WOODS: That's just what it is. I shot over par coming in and had a lot of work to do, and I gave myself a chance going into today. As well as I hit it all day today and to miss that many putts, I've missed them all week, so that's just the way it is.
Q. You were 4-over at No. 15 all week, and that's how many strokes off the leader you finished. Is that hole, in particular, going to gall you?
TIGER WOODS: Well, I made my best swing I made all week on 15 today. It was just a little 5-iron. I had to flight it just a touch, and I held it, and it was just about a foot left of the flag.
I couldn't believe I hit it hat far, and then when I got back over there, it was kind of a natural lie; it was into the green a little bit.
I think I played it probably a little too conservative, because if I hit it too hard, it's gone, especially into the green. You can catch one that comes out too quick. I just didn't go with it.
So it's all right if it ends up just off the green, or if it rolls out, it would be great, but then I just hit a poor putt.
Q. Was the course set-up as easy as it could be this week for a U.S. Open, given the conditions?
TIGER WOODS: I'm actually surprised it was this easy. But then again, they had to make this easy. You know, with the golf course playing as long as it is, a lot of guys were hitting long irons and hybrids and utilities and a whole bunch of different things into the greens.
All in all, with it being as soft on the fairways, it was that soft into the greens as well. For me, I was hitting a lot of 3-irons this week into the green, and they were holding within 10 feet. Usually, in some Opens, sand wedges are not holding.
So it was a different week. You just had to make the adjustments.
Q. Do you think the scoring could have been a lot less? What would you attribute to a score of, say, 4-under par winning if maybe there was a 10-under par total out there?
TIGER WOODS: I mean, the guys could easily have got to double digits. Obviously, Ricky was. He got to double digits.
If the wind didn't blow this morning and blow as hard as it's blowing right now, I think the guys would have stayed a little bit lower than they are right now.
Q. Is this more frustrating than Augusta to you?
TIGER WOODS: Without a doubt. Without a doubt. I striped it this week. I hit it just like I did at Memorial, and, unfortunately, I didn't make anything. I hit so many putts ... my good ones are not going in, and my bad ones aren't even close. It is a little bit slow and bumpy, but you have to be committed to hitting it that hard, and I left a lot of putts short. And then when I tried to hit it harder, I gunned it past the hole. But I didn't make the adjustment the right way.
Q. It looked like you were coming on in the back, and you had some momentum and you were not able to sustain it. How frustrating is it when you have that kind of momentum going?
TIGER WOODS: I had a chance today. I birdied 13, 14 and, as I said earlier, hit the best shot I hit all week at 15. Just ended up making bogey there.
Then I gave myself chances on the last three holes. I hit an 8-iron right underneath the flag right where you need to leave it [on 16], striped a 4-iron [on 17], and, on 18, I had to be a little more conservative because of where I was. But, overall, I gave myself so many chances and made nothing.
Q.: What did you think it would take starting the day?
TIGER WOODS: I thought 5 was going to win it outright and 4 was playoff. As I got out there, I thought I might have to get to 5 or 6 because of how soft it is. But, as soon as the wind started picking up, I said, 'Well, it might be 5 now.' And it looks like that might have been good enough.
The frustrating thing is you have to hit the putt so hard, then you don't want to give it a little too much and run it past the hole, because you know how bumpy it is coming back. You don't want to leave yourself those putts.
Q. Would you like to see [the U.S. Open] come back here again? Obviously, it was a tough week for this tournament.
TIGER WOODS: Absolutely, no doubt. This is a great golf course. It's just that the USGA just got the short end of the stick with the weather.
We have yet to play it hard and fast the two years we've played. It was kind of getting that way in 2002 in the beginning of the week until it rained on Friday.
But this golf course would play so differently. They never utilized the back tee on 7 the whole week. We played it way up. They had to put a lot of the tees up this week just because it's so soft, and I'm sure they probably did that on 18 because the fairways are basically under water. They had to move it up there so we are actually hitting it on the upslope.