Now he enters this week’s second major of the year, the U.S. Open, fresh off his second win of the season, the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance.

But Woods said Tuesday that the circumstances are different. He feels much better about his game this week than he did going into the Masters.

"When I went into Augusta … I did not feel comfortable hitting the ball up," Woods said. "And I got back into a lot of my old patterns. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out.

"But that’s what made playing Muirfield so nice is that I had those shots and I was doing it the correct way. And I had compression, hitting the ball high and hitting it long. That was fun."

A few other quotes from Tiger’s news conference:

ON WHETHER THE VARIETY OF SIDEHILL, DOWNHILL and UPHILL LIES WILL IMPACT HIS KNEE: "It’s finally a non-issue."

ON PHIL MICKELSON, ONE OF HIS PLAYING PARTNERS IN FIRST TWO ROUNDS: "I don’t think we’re going to talk about a lot. This is a major championship. We’ve got work to do. … I think this is one of those championships that I think the guys talk the least to one another because it’s so difficult."

ON HIS PRACTICE ROUND WITH FORMER STANFORD TEAMMATE CASEY MARTIN: "I haven’t seen him in a while. And he’s now the coach of the (Oregon) Ducks. And just so happy in life. It’s neat to see him. He played the TOUR out here, tried that and he was happy doing it, but it’s not like he is now. It’s good to see him in a really good place."

ON 14-YEAR-OLD ANDY ZHANG: "Just think about the experience he’s going to gain playing in this event. How well that’s going to serve him playing junior events and high school events."

ON HIS THOUGHTS AFTER FINISHING T-18 AT THE OLYMPIC CLUB IN 1998: "Frustrated. Frustrated. Just like you are at most U.S. Opens. I was frustrated. I was right in the middle of the changing of my game. And it was just a frustrating time going through that and playing this venue during that time was not easy."