It's good to be Sergio

Does it seem as though the American media and American fans think there are only two players in the world?

They're great players, obviously, but it does sometimes seem like, when we're playing in the United States, that what some of the other players might do is not as important.

Do you enjoy competing head-to-head against Tiger?

I always enjoy going against the best.

Is he the best?

Yes, at the moment he is.

Could you see yourself knocking him off as No. 1?

Hopefully, yes. Not at the moment, but someday. That's what you work for. That's why you practice.

During the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage, you firmly implied that Tiger was getting preferential treatment. You played in bad weather and said if he had been scheduled during that time, the round would have been suspended because of who he is.

That was in the heat of the moment. I said if he had been on the course, they would have called it. We'll never know. I played and didn't play well, and maybe I should not have said what I said. But what's past is past.

Last August, you and several other players were amazed when Tiger hit a ball that landed on the roof of the Firestone Country Club clubhouse during the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Yet the clubhouse was declared to be in bounds, and he got a drop with no penalty.

A lot of us were surprised. Even Tiger said his ball should have been O.B. It didn't even stay on the roof. It bounced over and almost went across the street, to the other course from the one we were playing. I was eating lunch at the time, watching on TV with a bunch of guys.

Did you choke on your sandwich?

No. My life does not depend on that. The ruling was made, the clubhouse was not O.B., and you move on.

How do you determine when to give your opinion and when to bite your tongue?

I'm learning how to cool down. At the same time, if people ask me a question, I want to say what I think, not what I think people want to hear. If I say something I don't believe, then I'm not being myself. But there are times when, if you go against the current, you get killed. You say something and people read it, and you get beat up for it. So, you have to decide whether it's worth the energy.

After the 2002 Ryder Cup at The Belfry, Jim Furyk was quoted as saying the Americans were defeated by "11 gentlemen and one little boy." He didn't care for how you handled yourself.

Look, no matter what I do, I never try to hurt anybody or show anybody up. He does things I don't like, but I don't let it bother me. That was my first win in a Ryder Cup. That was the most important thing I'd ever done in golf to that point. I was 22, I was very excited. I try to respect everybody, and I hope that works the other way, too. If somebody on the American team makes an important putt and gives it a fist pump like I do, I'm not going to say he shouldn't do that. Tiger gives fist pumps all the time. So does Jim. I don't criticize them for that.

After the Ryder Cup last year in Ireland, it was reported in Europe that some of the Americans were upset that you and your partner, Olazabal, were "jabbering in Spanish."

Really? I didn't hear that one. I don't know who that would be on their team. On Friday morning, we played David Toms and Brett Wetterich. On Saturday morning, we played Phil and Chris DiMarco. The other two matches, I played with Luke. When I played with Luke, we talked in English. But if I'm playing with Jose and we're lining up putts, why wouldn't we line them up in Spanish? We're both Spanish, aren't we? I didn't really notice that we were bothering anybody. And if we did, I don't really care.

How would you define yourself and your emotions?

I'm not a robot. I try to be open, I try to be friendly, but I don't kiss anybody's ass. What you see is what you get. If somebody does something wrong to me with no reason, then that person doesn't deserve my time. I have a long memory. We all do.

During last year's U.S. Open, you overheated a bit and were thinking about throwing your driver away.

Second round. I hit a bad drive on No. 14. I wasn't doing too well, and I was trying to make something happen so maybe I could make the cut. Anyway, I hit my tee ball on No. 14 into the woods. So I asked a rules official near me, "If I throw this driver over those trees, will I get fined?" He said, yes, I probably would. Then he said, "Why don't you donate it to charity?" I said, fine, good idea. So I gave it to him. I hit 3-wood on 15, 16 and 17, then a 5-wood on 18. I wasn't planning to hit driver there anyway.

Did you share that strategy with Mickelson?

[Laughs.]

Tell us the shoe story.

The shoe story? ... Oh, the shoe story. That was at the World Match Play at Wentworth in 1999. It rained a lot weeks before in London, and I was wearing very short spikes. Throughout the practice rounds, I was slipping. Then when I played Retief, he was up by two holes and missed the fairway on his drive at No. 15. I knew I needed a good ball off the tee. But I slipped again, hooked it into the trees, and so I took my right shoe off, threw it ahead of me and kicked it.