THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY SOUTHERN COMPANY AND MERCEDES-BENZ

October 29, 1998

Billy Mayfair

BILLY MAYFAIR: Thank you.

BILLY MAYFAIR: I played really well. What can I say? I mean, I had no bogeys today. Kept the ball in the fairway. Seemed to hit the ball on the right side of the hole most of the day. When you do those things, you give yourself some opportunities to make birdies. I kept away from the bogeys today. I think that was the most important thing. I didn't make any bogeys out there. I made some good par putts. But like I said, I kept the bogeys off the score card, that's what pretty much kept my momentum going all day.

BILLY MAYFAIR: I don't know. I don't know. I guess I kind of like fast golf courses when the fairways are fast, the greens are fast and kind of hard. You know, Tulsa was that way. Today, standing on the first tee, the leaves were blowing all over the place, kind of like it was there. The greens are firm here. I guess maybe it's the conditions of the golf course. It also seems like whenever I am in the Top 30 on the money list, I'm playing really well. That kind of helps, too. It's just like everyone who is here this week has played well most of the year to get here to this Championship. I think those are really the reasons. Maybe I need to name another dog Atlanta or something (laughter).

BILLY MAYFAIR: No, I did not. I hit -- two times I hit it in the first cut of the rough, had perfect lies off of those. Like I said, I drove the ball really well today. I think the biggest, most important thing out there was when I did drive it in the fairway, hit good iron shots in the green, kept it below the hole. Steve Stricker, I played with, hit a few close shots, too. He always seemed to have more downhill putts than I did. It's just hard to make those putts. I had a lot more uphill putts today. I was real happy about everything that I did today.

BILLY MAYFAIR: Well, obviously, I think most of the guys here studied Bobby Jones and learned about him. It was neat to come here. There has been more talk, unfortunately, this week about the rough and that type of stuff said instead of the history of the golf course and how Bobby Jones started it. His house, where he grew up, is right down the end of this street. I think it's really neat. I think, unfortunately, the rough and everything, the condition of the golf course, maybe overshadowed that a little bit this week. From the players' standpoint, we all, at the end of the year, we're excited we're going to East Lake where Bobby Jones grew up. I think all the players here are real excited about it.

BILLY MAYFAIR: Anymore out here on this Tour -- I had a feeling this week, everyone has been asking me what I thought the score was going to be to win, what it was going to take. I think every day you're going to have one or two players play really, really good. If they'll play good all four days, they'll probably run away with the tournament. It's the type of golf course you can shoot 4-under one day, play just as well the next day, shoot a couple over. I know I've got to keep on playing aggressive, playing well, making putts. But to answer your question really, there's only 30 of us here. There's no cut. I think -- and I think the TOUR, the PGA TOUR, everyone likes to see maybe even par. When I won at THE TOUR Championship in '95, even par won. Like I said, I don't think it's that bad. It's not that punishing on us. There's only 30 guys. We don't have to play till 11:30 every morning. Get to sleep in. I don't think it's as bad as the US Open and all that.

BILLY MAYFAIR: I would have to say for the guys who just -- maybe 30, 29, 28, the guys who finished that on the money list, they had to play a lot more towards the end of the year. I was fortunate enough, I knew pretty much in August I was in THE TOUR Championship. I could pretty much route my schedule so I would come in here rested and ready to go. So I think some of the guys who maybe were struggling a bit with their game, played a lot at the end of the year, guys who needed just to play to get in here maybe are more tired than the guys who were in here since August and September.

BILLY MAYFAIR: I didn't watch the score board out there at all today. I knew I was up there pretty good. But even I was surprised when I looked on the board and saw someone was 7-under par. Like I say, if you hit the fairways and you hit it in the right part of the greens here, you can make a lot of putts, because the greens are in great shape.

BILLY MAYFAIR: They're a little bit softer today. The thing is, you need to look at the greens, whenever there's shade on the greens, the greens are really soft where the shade is from the trees. The 10th hole, I understand the 10th green, it was all shaded. If the green sits up in the air, there's been sun on it all day, usually it's pretty firm. That's how we're kind of telling. Definitely, the greens are softer and slower than they were on Tuesday during the ProAm. I can't remember greens being that fast as they were on Tuesday here. Not even at Augusta can I remember that, to be honest with you. I mean, they were lightning fast. In fact, I think if they kept them that short all week, they might have lost them.

BILLY MAYFAIR: Probably why they had to water them, because there was no rain in sight, either.

BILLY MAYFAIR: Covering the pin.

BILLY MAYFAIR: The last two holes, 17 and 18, are both real hard to see the lines when you hit it on the greens because we are in the shade. The trees are moving a little bit. It's kind of hard to see the line on both of those. 18, I think the green is pretty well-protected. If the wind keeps blowing like it is, the sky boxes are going to keep the wind off of it most of the day anyway. The greens should play pretty soft the rest of the week.

BILLY MAYFAIR: I didn't say easier. I said the green will be softer (laughter).

BILLY MAYFAIR: I played the first eight holes really well. Kind of got my feet wet, started hitting good drives. No. 9, down the middle of fairway. 250 to the front edge, downwind. It hit 3-wood, probably 50 feet from the hole. Just on the left edge of the green. The pin was on the far right. Hit my first putt probably about six feet by, made that coming back for birdie. On 11, I hit a 7-iron from about 170 yards, about ten feet short of the hole, and made that for birdie. On 12, I hit 4-wood off the tee. Hit 9-iron in about 140 yards, in there probably about four, five feet from the hole, right up the hill, made that for birdie. And like I said, on 13, I hit 3-wood off the tee. Hit 9-iron in there about six feet, just right of the hole, and rolled that putt in. All three of those birdies there, I hit the ball in the right spot of the greens and had uphill putts at it all day. I had some other shots on the front side where I hit it even closer. You just get going downhill here, have to be real protective. Didn't make those putts.

BILLY MAYFAIR: On 18 I had 236, I hit a 3-wood. Didn't catch all of it. Was trying to work the ball in a little bit from left-to-right. Just hit it in the front bunker.

BILLY MAYFAIR: Yesterday the wind was blowing right from the south. Today it was kind of blowing more to the southwest. You had to play for a little bit. But mainly the wind is blowing from the south. I guess, that's the traditional wind down here. So it was into our face on 18.

BILLY MAYFAIR: I want to see when Tiger pulls out a wood there, see what that reaction is (laughter). I can't remember the last time I hit a wood on a par 3, especially on the last hole, because we don't play par 3s too often on the last whole, maybe Congressional.

BILLY MAYFAIR: You could hit any club there at Cypress, any day.

BILLY MAYFAIR: Riviera is the 3-wood off of 4, at least, sometimes even a driver, if you get that ocean wind into you. I think the hole is going to play long. The only thing I could see, maybe the TOUR one day moving the pin in the front edge and moving that tee down one more level. That could be the only day I see us moving it down one to another level. Plus, you know, I guess the greatest line I heard all week, I asked the TOUR, "You guys going to play it all the way back on 18?" They said, "Yeah." I said, "That's about 240 yards, isn't it?" "Yeah, but Bobby Jones would have wanted it that way." Well, Bobby Jones couldn't get it to the green when he was playing it from that far back. Definitely makes it an interesting hole.

BILLY MAYFAIR: No, not really, I don't think. I've been working hard for this week and all, that but I don't think I'm one of the favorites going into this week. I think a lot of attention is towards David and Mark O'Meara, which it should be, because they both had great years. But if I keep posting some good numbers up there, maybe hopefully people will look at me. I think I got a good chance.

BILLY MAYFAIR: I think so. I think so. I don't know how David or Mark are playing today. I think if you can just get past all the hype and everything, I think once you tee it up on Thursday, you know, you're either focused or you're not. You go out and try to play the best you can.

BILLY MAYFAIR: Thank you.