FORD SENIOR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

July 12, 2003

Mike McCullough

MODERATOR: As we said, you hit 10 of 18 greens and you're 11 under 205, tied for the lead going into tomorrow. You've played really well here four of the past five years.

MIKE MCCULLOUGH: Yeah, right now a lot of things are happening.

MODERATOR: Just general thoughts about the day and your standing going into tomorrow.

MIKE MCCULLOUGH: I mentioned it early, but it's worth repeating, Gil Morgan and Ernie are my teachers. My youngest Mark has been taught by them also. Between the three of them out here all week long, not Ernie, I know what I want to do, and Gil changed something in my swing about four weeks ago at Grand Rapids, and we finished well, we played through the US Open and finished well, and amazingly some of the positive is still bursting through. I think we're getting better, but occasionally I'll hit some terrible shots, like I said on 14 today.

Fortunately I made putts when I had to and salvaged some otherwise disastrous holes, but I owe it entirely to the changes that the guys have made, and I really appreciate the guys sticking with me and Mark sticking with me, and it's positive. I'm sure not hitting the ball with a lot of control, and that is really bothering me. I'm aiming at my targets and missing them pretty badly. I'm missing them in places I can still play with. Yesterday, my score wasn't very good. Basically, from the standpoint of the whole field, I had the same problems yesterday, but the ruffs ate me alive yesterday. I wasn't able to do that today, and the first day I was able to get away with the bad shots. They're in there.

MODERATOR: What is it about this course though? You now have nine straight rounds. Do you feel comfortable when you come here?

MIKE MCCULLOUGH: Mark and I got up this morning, and I said I play so well here I almost put too much pressure on myself. He said, well, you shouldn't put any pressure on yourself. He said, you've already executed better than other people. The pressure is off of you. If you have a bad round, it's not going to bother anybody. I kind of put that in the back of my head. I said, what the heck. If it's a good round, it's a good round. If it isn't, it isn't.

When you have bad weather like you have had and we still have 43 people -- isn't there a large number under par? There is. Somebody is figuring some things out.

MODERATOR: Take us through your round if you could.

(Score card done.)

MODERATOR: Any questions here?

Q. You're in this room every Saturday night.

MIKE MCCULLOUGH: Did I come in on Sunday last year after Stewart? Yes. I came in.

Q. How precarious was that second shot at 14? It looked like you even had some trouble getting a stance there even to push it back into play. What was that like?

MIKE MCCULLOUGH: The stance wasn't as bad as I appeared to make it. I didn't want to fall, and also I didn't want to start falling as I swung. I wanted to make sure I could get it out of the hazard. Either that or I was going to take relief, but I didn't like the angle from there. I told my caddy I would rather take the chance to hit it sideways, and that was the reason I took the chance, but I think I was just trying to make sure I wouldn't slip.

I played in Atlanta three years ago. Right on that same hole, Red, he hit a shot down the hill, and I don't know what Red's age is, but you figure it out three years ago, and he walked down in there and we're trying to get him out. He would not leave until he found the golf ball. There was another one down there. We had to send the club in to pull it out. He wouldn't come out until he reached the other ball. I remember Red falling in there. I was thinking about that. It's irony that you should ask me how did I feel.

Q. Is 14 still the one hole on the golf course that you kind of look to somehow get beyond and keep the round going? Obviously that was huge.

MIKE MCCULLOUGH: There is a lot of holes out there like that. You could probably on this Back 9 go through a lot of holes and say, this is a potential double or triple bogey hole. Other days, when the pins are in the right spots for your game, you could shoot pretty low on the Back 9. Each hole, it's a really fine Back 9. It goes right to left and left to right. At times, you can feel so comfortable on it; and other times, it's disaster all over it. 14 is one of the holes.

Q. You talk about the last four years here. The last three years I think you finished about fourth or fifth. What's it going to take to get over that hump and get a win tomorrow?

MIKE MCCULLOUGH: A lot of luck. Gil Morgan, as I mentioned before, he told me a long time ago, he said, you'll win tournaments you don't expect to win, you back into them, and other times you'll lose one you think you should have won. I would think that in light of who's in front of me or who's tied with me, there is a lot of experience in all three of us, between Craig and Tom and myself. There is a lot of experience there, and maybe the right execution, and it will be my week this time.

Q. Obviously winning a major is a big deal, but would winning this one make it even more special for you?

MIKE MCCULLOUGH: Any time the Players Championship is the major that we talk about, I think deep down inside a lot of us feel really special about it. I think the regular tour wishes that their tournament were a major. It's a very strong field usually, and there is a lot of pride involved in winning your own tournament. This is what it is. This is our tournament, and we're very proud of it. As to whether a win in a major would -- I've never experienced that to know how it would feel. I'll cross that bridge when I come to that bridge.

MODERATOR: Thank you.

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