CANON GREATER HARTFORD OPEN

June 30, 2000

Jim Furyk

JIM FURYK: I feel like I'm in good shape, especially after going out to tee off and seeing Notah, whatever he was, 12 or 13(-under) when I was on the range. And being nine shots back before I even started; so getting in within three feels great. I got off to a little bit of a slow start today bogeying 3 and not making my first birdie until 8. But really played solid the last 10 holes, 11 holes; played those 5-under. All in all, today went well, and I'm looking forward to the weekend.

JIM FURYK: Well, versus yesterday morning, I think yes, it was a little tougher. But it wasn't -- it wasn't impossible by any means. I think that, you know, it was breezy, but it wasn't, you know, blowing tremendously hard or it wasn't difficult to control the ball too much. I know it can be a lot worse, and the course can probably play a lot tougher. But it still gave guys a chance to score and, I still think you'll probably be seeing some good scores this afternoon, just probably not as many as in the morning.

JIM FURYK: They really were. I was a little -- not knowing what to expect on No. 1, playing downwind, I got to watch a couple shots -- one shot go into the green before I hit to the green, and it seemed to check out, but being downwind I, kind of landed a little farther short and didn't spin really well and stayed relatively short of the pin. That doesn't bother me any. I think that a lot of guys were saying early in the week on Tuesday that the greens were very, very firm. So I guess the rain we got is still soaking in and keeping them -- today they weren't extremely soft, but they are keeping them on the softer side now. We'll see what happens on the weekend. I don't know what the weather forecast is supposed to be or how firm and fast they want to make them.

JIM FURYK: No, not really. I think that -- well, it's just seems like that happens: You go to bed, you're a couple shots back, you wake up, go to the course and you're nine back. It makes it a little different, but really, you have to attack the golf course the same way, and, you know kind of get a game plan in your mind and really take what the conditions give you while you're out there and try to get in the hole the least amount of shots possible. Whether you're even par or 20-under par, you're still goal is to get the ball in the hole as fast as you can, and there's probably a way that's best for each of us to do that. So just try to hold up that plan and go out there and play.

JIM FURYK: I think some of the early holes were playing pretty -- relatively tough. I didn't drive the ball real well on the front side, and I got myself in a fairway bunker on 2 and 3, and also in a fairway bunker on 7. You know, I was 1-over par and I really wasn't putting the ball in play. And then from there on in, I think I hit almost every fairway. Hit it in the short cut left on 17. But for the most part, I hit most of the fairways and gave myself a chance when I could. A lot of those early holes were into the wind and playing relatively tough. So on the back side, I just hit the ball in the fairway, and I shot 3-under back there and turned it into a good day.

JIM FURYK: That's right.

JIM FURYK: I did.

JIM FURYK: I wouldn't say that. Yesterday, I gave myself -- for the greens that I hit, I gave myself a lot of good birdie putts. I had some good birdie opportunities, and for the greens I missed, I'm not sure what the final tally was, I don't pay too much attention to that. When I missed a green, I missed it always in a pretty good spot where I had a relatively easy up-and-down a lot of times, and my short game was very good. Pitched the ball very close. It seemed like other than -- 17th hole, I made a good 10-footer for par, but other than that, I was always putting inside of four feet for par; so my short game was good. And really, it wasn't an overly stressful day because my short game was very solid and I left myself some easy putts far par.

JIM FURYK: First birdie, like I said, was on No. 8. I hit a 3-iron to about probably 15 feet left of pin and made that for birdie. No. 9, I hit a 3-wood and a -- I'll go with 9-iron, short-term memory here; I'm getting old. I think it was a 9-iron, we'll say, that was about 10 feet right of the pin. I birdied No. 11 from 20 feet, and I hit an 8-iron off the tee. And I birdied 12 from about eight feet, hitting a 3-wood and a 9-iron into the green. And my last birdie came on 16. I hit a 7-iron to about 12 feet behind and left of the pin.

JIM FURYK: Not really. I think that I try to play the same game plan. I'm a little surprised, coming out and seeing a lot of scores that low early on that -- I don't think that the layout is that easy. I think it's a relatively tough golf course, to come out and see scores that good threw me for a loop a little bit. But I try to play a practice round or two, and I try to get a game plan of how I want to play the golf course. And I wake up in the morning and I see what the conditions are and how each hole is playing and try to get a good feel for what's the best opportunity, what's the best percentage for me to play the hole, and I try to play it that way and not really worry about how the other scores are.

JIM FURYK: That's the reason that I'm here right now? I just really wanted to play. Normally at this time of the year, I'm slowing down a little bit after the U.S. Open. I take a big break and get geared up for the British. This year, I don't know, I took one week off, I felt really good and I wanted to get out there and play. I just was itchy to play; so I actually committed late last week, and I don't really -- there's a few events that are my favorites on TOUR that I commit real early in advance. But I like to kind of see what my body is telling me and how physically and mentally tired I am. The week before, I'll normally make a decision; or if I'm going to get out ready for a stretch of like three tournaments in a row. I'll commit to those the week before the first one I'm going to go play and go play those events. I normally take some time off, other than playing the Western, get ready for the British and go over. I really was itchy to play. I've been playing kind of mediocre for the last couple months, and I wanted to get out and try it turn it around and play better.

JIM FURYK: Yes.

JIM FURYK: '94, although the media guide, I understand doesn't say so. I was teasing somebody yesterday that said I've never been here, I think.

JIM FURYK: Yeah, I am. The golf course is in great shape. And really, I remember the golf course a little bit, I knew what I was getting into, and I'm happy I'm here. A lot of times, it's a scheduling factor. We have a lot of events on TOUR. We can't play them all, and a lot of times, it's just like I said, where it fits in the schedule relative to what guys play and want to play on their schedule. I'm very happy I'm here, whether I play well or play poorly.

JIM FURYK: I missed the cut. I know that. So I didn't have that much knowledge of the course. I don't remember what I shot. It wasn't good. I missed the cut. You can't miss the cut and play well. It normally doesn't happen.

JIM FURYK: You know, I particularly like the front nine better than the back nine. I've scored much better on the back nine this week, 6-under versus 2-under on the front. But the interesting thing about this golf course is it's like playing two different golf courses. Numbers 1 and then 10 through 18 are totally different than holes 2 through 9. And they kind of messed with 6 a lot, I'm sure, from the original design. I'm sure it didn't have 82 bunkers on it when it was first laid out. I grew up in Pennsylvania. I grew up playing old golf courses. Now that I live in Florida, I live at TPC at Sawgrass, so holes 2 through 9 remind me of what I grew up on; so holes 10 through 18 remind me of TPC at Sawgrass. I'm sure it was built some time in the late 70s or early 80s, and that's the style of design what this back nine shows. And from what I understand, the front nine is by Donald Ross, and that's all you need to say; he's designed some of the best golf courses in the world, and one of my favorites. And I enjoy playing hose holes. I guess I dodged the question pretty good and rambled on, but No. 4 I think is a great hole, a dogleg right. I like 5. I think that it's a good, long par 3; that it gives you ample green to hit, gives you a run-up area in the front. You have a lot of choices there for what style of shot you want to hit to the green. I even like a hole like 7, just a straightaway hole, right in front of you; see what you can get. And that front side, I very much like it. Not that I dislike the back; it's just a different style, and I'm more of a fan of an older-style course.

JIM FURYK: It's through the trees, but it has that -- I guess it could be, I don't know. It's been fixed up. It's been fixed up, if it was in the old design, it's been fixed up a little bit. They have a different appearance. It's like you walked into a different golf course on the 10th tee, it seems like. Was it originally a nine-hole course?

JIM FURYK: The original new design? That doesn't make any sense. (Laughs).

JIM FURYK: My caddy was telling me they used to play to the 16 green from the top of the hill and cross over on 17. I think he was on the bag for Jacobsen when he won here.