Press conference - Vijay Singh

JULIUS MASON: Ladies and gentlemen, we have a very enthusiastic Vijay Singh joining us today, PGA Champion and Masters Champion, who is joining us at the 82nd PGA Championship. He is going to let you know what is on his mind right about now and then we will have q and a.

Vijay, welcome to Louisville.

VIJAY SINGH: Thank you. Nice to be here.

JULIUS MASON: With that, does anybody have any questions for Mr. Singh?

Q. I just wondered about your own mental preparation for the morning, with the opportunity to play with Mr. Nicklaus after his loss, and how you will try to handle what is going to be a very delicate situation?

VIJAY SINGH: I just heard about it coming into the door. So, I don't know how to handle it right now, but there is nothing we can do. I have to go out there and concentrate on my game.

And it is a sad loss for Jack, but I still have to play the golf tournament and be serious about what I am doing. So, that is what I am going to do.

Q. Will that concentration level be sapped somewhat by also being paired with Tiger Woods and all the hoopla that has been surrounding him for two years now?

VIJAY SINGH: No. I think it is good for me to be playing with him because it gets me a little bit more -- I don't know, I can be there and be a little bit more aggressive on what I am doing. I will obviously be concentrating on my own game and I am ready for it.

I practiced hard for this, and for all the majors, as a matter of fact, and I am going to go out there and try to win the golf tournament.

Q. Do you think the course is suffering in comparison to being played -- a major being here at the same year that there are majors at Pebble Beach and St. Andrews, and do you think in different years, this would be considered more of a major championship venue?

VIJAY SINGH: I have always said that this was a very young golf course, but that doesn't mean that it is not a golf course suitable for a major event.

I think the players seeing the golf course this time around is changing their views about it. It is a sad thing that two big, you know, golf courses, St. Andrews and Pebble Beach is at the same time as. I think the names have actually overplayed this golf course here.

But, in my feeling, I think this golf course is suitable for a major, and it is good enough to be -- to hold a PGA any time, not just this year.

So, I think as the years go by, guys are going to like this golf course more and more. And it is a tough golf course. It is a good challenge. You still have to shoot the numbers over here.

Q. Last year you came in with the pressure of trying to win two PGA's in a row. This year, Tiger has that pressure. Do you prepare mentally any differently without having that pressure this year?

VIJAY SINGH: I don't think so. I think every time we set -- the pressure is all before you get to the tournament itself. But once you tee it up, I think the ball is in the air and you just go on and play the game like you do any other golf tournament.

Before the tournament, of course, there is a little bit of a hype about it, but once you get started, it is just another golf tournament and the concentration would be right there and then, and not in defending it or playing a major.

I think once you get started, it is just like any other golf tournament. Like I said, your concentration has to be then and there and not what are you doing there, if you are defending it or not. I think Tiger can handle that pretty comfortably.

Q. Could you talk about the course, how it sets up for you and your game? And how you are playing right now going into it tomorrow?

VIJAY SINGH: Well, I am hitting the ball pretty good. I have been struggling a little bit last few weeks, but it seems like my game is coming back.

The golf course requires pretty accurate tee shots and I am driving the ball pretty decent. And the greens are small and undulating. So, you have got make sure that you hit it on the correct side of the greens; otherwise, you are going to have pretty difficult putts. Try not to miss the green too much because it's very, very difficult to get up-and-down with the rough around it.

So, I am playing pretty good. I think the golf course suits me. I hit the ball pretty high, and hopefully there won't be too much wind over here that it changes our game plan.

I am putting good, which is a good plus for me right now. I am very comfortable on the greens and feeling really good about my putting. So, that is exciting.

Q. How will you play 7 now that the alternate fairway has opened?

VIJAY SINGH: Just got to play left side, I guess, the short side. Probably 90% of the guys are probably going to do the same. If you do miss the fairway, it is still a lay-up. From the right side, unless you hit it really good drive, it is a 3-shot hole. From the left side, you can actually reach the green.

So, I think, you know, I have made up my mind yesterday that it was going to be a straightforward hole; straight on the left side and go for the green.

Q. Your work ethic has served you well over the years. Does that make it easier to deal with the pressure of a major championship?

VIJAY SINGH: My work ethic, I guess, has got nothing to do with a major championship. It is how I feel; how I have prepared for it. I have practiced hard all these years, and right now, I feel very comfortable in what I am doing and very comfortable playing the major events, as well.

So, it really depends on how you swing the golf club, is how you are going to deal with the majors. I am very comfortable right now and I am looking forward to it.

Q. Have you also always wished you could play in a Ryder Cup, and do you think that the International team in October will have even more motivation coming off your victory two years ago and playing the American Team that won the Ryder Cup last year?

VIJAY SINGH: I have never thought about the Ryder Cup as, me being a member of it, because I could never be one. But The Presidents Cup has changed a lot of that. We wish that we can play the winner, European and American, which is American this year.

But we have a good side. We all get together. We talk about it all year in our own group. We look forward to this event and especially with a team that America has, very strong, and beating them in Australia, I think it is going to be a big event for us to be able to beat them at their home course.

I don't know, I think once it gets a little closer to the event I think, you know, we will get more and more excited about it. But we are looking forward to it, as much as American guys are.

Q. Does it bother you not to be able to use the driver on all of the 4s and 5s this week? How many of those holes would you not use a driver?

Vijay Singh in jovial mood during practice. Allsport.

VIJAY SINGH: I don't know. Let me see. There are not too many holes out there that you don't use a driver -- depends on the wind, as well -- the first hole where we probably are not going to use a driver, depending on how wet the fairway is and where the wind blows.

But it really doesn't bother us at all. Depending on the golf course, the situation, if they keep watering the greens, you know, all night, then we will have to pull the driver out. But if it gets dry and fast. Then we don't need to hit driver. We can still hit short irons to the green by hitting 3-woods.

So, it really depends on the condition of the golf course the way we decide. But it definitely does not bother me not to use the driver.

Q. Have you ever been confronted with a situation of a personal nature like Jack's where you -- at any time in your career where you had to think about playing a tournament or withdrawing, and how tough do you think that decision is, whether or not to play?

VIJAY SINGH: I bet if it was a normal golf tournament, he would have pulled out without thinking about it. But this is a major event, and I guess, I cannot speak for Jack, but to me, that situation like that arises, it hasn't happened to me yet, so I don't really -- but it is going to be a tough decision obviously.

I don't know what I would have done in his place, but probably would have played too. I mean, I feel that, you know, he hasn't got that many majors left in him, but you know, it is sad that it has come down to this, but I think the decision he makes is the best one for him and he knows best, what to do.

But, I don't know. If something like that would have happened to me, I don't know what I am going to do. It is a difficult choice to make. Whatever he makes, I think it is best for him.

Q. Could you just talk little bit more about the mindset that you have to take into a major and if it is a lot different than a regular event? And how much you have gotten more accustomed to that or more comfortable with that after winning majors in the past?

VIJAY SINGH: You know, you look forward to the major events all year. You plan your schedule, you know, according to the major events. Your mindset before a major event is which tournament you are going to play and how you are going to plan, how you are going to approach. You try to peak at the right time.

Playing last week, although, we played a big event our mindset is for this week, if you hit a bad shot or you try to fix that, not for last week, but for this week. So everything we do is more or less a build-up to the major and excitement of it, to play in the majors.

So I think we -- all the players out here have been looking forward to this one, especially as it is the last one of the four, and really trying to gear our game for this.

And, you know, I do the same. I really am excited a week, two weeks before the major and really work on my game hard to get it right. So, you know, it is a big event for us, for every player out here, and we all want to win it.

JULIUS MASON: Vijay Singh, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much.

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