Tiger Getting Ready for Muirfield


Though he didn't play in the tournament that benefits his foundation, Tiger Woods was on hand for all four days of the AT&T National. The $6.5 million PGA Tour invitational was won by Bill Haas on Sunday at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.

Woods was unable to play - and defend his title from the previous year - as he's still recovering from an injury to his left elbow. He first started feeling pain in the arm during the Players Championship in May, which he won, and reinjured it during the U.S. Open in June at Merion.

Despite being inactive since the U.S. Open, Woods remains well-ensconced as the No. 1-ranked player in the world. The four-time winner in 2013 enjoys a comfortable edge over No. 2 Rory McIlroy and third-ranked Justin Rose, the winner at Merion.

Woods said Sunday that he was pleased that the AT&T National returned to Congressional, where the membership has been "fantastic," and that he was impressed with the play of newly crowned champion, Bill Haas, who closed with a 5-under 66 to beat Roberto Castro by three shots.

Here's what Woods had to say during his session with reporters on Sunday. He noted his elbow is getting better and he should be ready to go for the first round of the Open Championship at Scotland's Muirfield on July 18.

TIGER WOODS: You know, I've played well here, and I was defending. All in all, it was a tough week from that standpoint but a great week from the Foundation standpoint and what we were able to accomplish this week, and then to have Bill win this tournament was huge for us.

Q. What do you think of the way Bill played?

TIGER WOODS: He played beautifully today. He played well yesterday. He just made a few mistakes. Today he just cleaned it up. 9, 10, 11 were the tournament right there. He handled his business through the tougher stretch of holes and pulled away.

Q. Your interaction with Congressional members on Wednesday and here, how has that gone? What vibe did you get from that?

TIGER WOODS: It's been great. The membership has been fantastic. We've enjoyed our time here. Trust me, we'd like to come back.

Q. You've not had any - well, I mean to say, you had quality winners, you, K.J., whatever. What does that speak to for Aronimink, Congressional?

TIGER WOODS: I think overall, not just - Aronimink, we were there, but also, I think, this golf course and even Aronimink too, they're ball striker golf courses. You have to hit your ball well. You look at our list of champions, even the Open winner's here, they've all been pretty good ball strikers. You just can't fake it around this golf course. It's too big and too demanding.

Q. With a guy like Bill who's a perennial top 20 guy, what is he missing to get into that perennial top 10 level? He's like a level away, it seems like.

TIGER WOODS: I think it's just a little bit of confidence here and there. A lot of it is, I think just like anybody, whether you have a hot stretch with the putter or not. Last - during the - what was it, two years ago, when he had the FedEx Cup run, he timed out pretty well, and it worked out. You just need to have the right timing. He putted well this week, made a lot of putts. As I said, you have to hit your ball well here. He hit it better than most of the guys did this week.

Q. Tiger, the weather wasn't perfect. You actually couldn't play. What do you make of the tournament?

TIGER WOODS: The tournament's been incredible. The weather forecast wasn't supposed to be very good. Pretty high chances at one point, 70 percent chance of thunderstorms, and we got the storms to stay away. The people came out and supported. This is a huge sporting town. They really support their sports here. They've come out and supported us, and this year has been no different.

Q. Is that what you expect, when you see less golf in this town the past couple of years. Have you seen it increase?

TIGER WOODS: It was a golf town. Unfortunately, they lost the permit for a few years. Fortunately enough, we had the opportunity to bring it back here to D.C. and bring it back to a great golf course in Congressional. I think the people really appreciate their sport, and golf is certainly on - a lot of people play it around this area, especially this time of year, and they've come out and supported it.

Q. What do you do now to get ready for the British? Anything different than what we heard on Wednesday?

TIGER WOODS: I'm still doing the same thing. I start the strengthening process this week and see where that puts me. And then ball striking after that.

The transcript for the above interview is courtesy of ASAP Sports.