Jimmy Pitenis, an 11 year old Ormond Beach Middle School 6th grader, was selected from all the Scholastics Magazine Kid Reporters to fly to New York City for a one-on-one interview with Tiger Woods on Tuesday, August 28th. Tiger is promoting his newest golf video game, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008.

Tiger Woods was a busy man on Tuesday, August 28th. He began his day of interviews on the Today Show with Matt Lauer. Then Tiger rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, before visiting the Game Stop Store, then heading to Chelsea Piers on the Hudson River. His reason for all these stops was to promote his newest golf video game. EA Sport’s Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008 video game was introduced to the public. At Chelsea Piers Golf Club, Tiger gave a golf demonstration — long shots, trick shots and even a left handed shot. The press from dozens of sports channels and magazines interviewed Tiger one-on-one.

I was fortunate to meet and interview Tiger Woods as well. I was so looking forward to being close to the greatest golfer of all time. He is the hero of so many people. I found Tiger to be very kind and eager to answer all of my questions.

Jimmy: How would you explain the Official World Golf Ranking to a kid?

Tiger: You want to be number one in the world. Other than that, how you get there I have no idea of the points, adviser, rolling period. If you get a lot of W’s that’s fine.

Jimmy: What is your next goal in your golf career?

Tiger: Keep getting better, that’s the whole idea, keep pushing it, keep bust in’ your butt to get better, rack up some W’s in the part that counts, especially the majors.

Jimmy: What should kids do who want to succeed in sports or other careers?

Tiger: Work, work hard. There are no short cuts. Look at my father, he used to always tell me to get out there- you get out what you put into it. You put a lot of effort and a lot of hard work, you’re going to get results. But more importantly, if you don’t work hard you’re not going to get any results, but more importantly, you don’t deserve to get any results. So you always have to outwork your opponent.

Jimmy: How did you get your nickname?

Tiger: Tiger? Well my dad was in Vietnam and was in Special Forces and he had a counterpart who was Vietnamese and they fought side by side and he had this incredible instinct for combat. So my dad nicknamed me tiger and when Nam fell, they somehow lost touch with one another and then I was born a few years later and I was given the name.

Jimmy: Are there drawbacks to being so successful in sports?

Tiger: Anonymity. That’s something that I miss. I love my freedom and I’ll never have that any more.

Jimmy: What makes this video game different from all the other golf video games?

Tiger: For one thing, it’s more realistic. I think there is no other golf video game as realistic than this. You can take a snapshot of your face, download it and there you are in the game, and this video has that ability.

Jimmy: What do you recommend for kids to improve their putting skills?

Tiger: Practice. I mean getting out their and logging in the hours. I used to practice hours upon hours just putting.

Jimmy: Is there some special tool or machine that you would use?

Tiger: I use a gate curl is the only drill I ever use. Put one tee on the heal and one tee on the toe and try to putt through the gate. As far as using any kind of path or anything like that, no I’ve never done that, just log in the time, got to find out what stroke works best for you and it’s hours, it’s literally hours upon hours of working so the only way you can get better is work.

It was awesome to be in front of the world’s best golfer and having an opportunity to ask him questions about his golf game as well as his newest video game. His new video game has a new feature. You can scan your own face so that you can play golf with Tiger in the video. I now know the secret to his success. If he is going to be the best golfer in the world then he must practice longer and harder then any other golfer. I play golf ever day after school and I can tell you it is not easy to get a birdie or an eagle, and when I watch Tiger Woods play golf, his ability to control and direct the golf ball is truly amazing. The only opportunity I will have to beat Tiger is while I am playing his new video game.

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