THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT

June 2, 1997

Jim Furyk

JIM FURYK: I made all my birdies after breaks, actually. I came back after the first break and made a par-putt on 4 from about six or seven feet. And then hit a driver and a 3-iron to layup on 5. And hit a sand wedge about three feet and made that for birdie. Birdied No. 7, the par-5. I hit driver, 4-wood -- I can't remember the clubs anymore. I hit a sand wedge in there about five feet from the hole and made a birdie.

JIM FURYK: We got to 11. I was on the green with about a 9-footer for birdie when we got delayed. We went back out and I made that putt for birdie and on 13 I made birdie, hit a driver and 6-iron about 15-feet short of the pin and made that. And birdied 15. I didn't hit a good drive, hit a little thin and hit it low off the hill, and needed to get it up in the air. I had to layup with a 7-iron. Hit that fat, I had a 9-iron to the the pin, hit it about eight-feet behind the hole and knocked that in for birdie. Coming in I had some good chances, but the putts didn't drop.

JIM FURYK: I started on the 11th green, had a 9-footer for birdie there.

JIM FURYK: I'm happy to get it over with, but I think everyone was just -- we'd like to see a 72-hole event if possible, but it just wasn't possible this week. I think we're fortunate with the forecast to get in 54. So I'm not really sure I ran out of time. I played real solid golf this week, Vijay just played better.

JIM FURYK: Last three weeks I've played very solid. Three top tens the last three weeks. I think -- I won't say that I was on top of my game as well as I was maybe when I won some other tournaments, like when I won Las Vegas and Kapalua, I was playing probably as well as I could. I made some mental errors there, or I actually would have won by some more. This week I wasn't maybe hitting my best or doing some of the things my best, but I think this might be the best I've ever played, the most I've ever got out of my game for a tournament. I didn't make a bogey all week, made 12 birdies, finished 12-under. I played very solid golf. And actually Jimmy Roberts reminded me of that in the locker room, I wanted to strangle him. Don't jinx me. It didn't end up being a jinx.

JIM FURYK: Vijay was standing on the fairway behind me, was he still at 15 --

JIM FURYK: He was two back. Actually that putt would have been really nice to put a little heat on him. Was he in the middle of the fairway?

JIM FURYK: This is getting worse and worse as we go.

JIM FURYK: That makes me feel better. Now I can smile about it. I felt out there with a few holes to play, I told myself before I played I needed to birdie at least two of them and get to 13, and reevaluate the situation. And when Vijay got to 15, I thought I'd probably have to get it to 14-under, make two birdies coming in. I had a chance the last two holes for birdie, I would have really liked the one to go in and make solo second. It would have been nice to at least make him make par on the last hole. But I hit the best drive, I hit the best 6-iron and hit the best putt I possibly could, but it didn't go in.

JIM FURYK: 16, I hung to the right, probably 35 feet and left it about two-inches short of the hole. I hit a driver and 7-iron on 17 about 15 feet. And I didn't hit such a great putt, I didn't read it right, and I left out to the right. And 18, I had about I'd say about 12 feet behind in the left. So I had a downhill left-to-right putt. And I hit what I thought was perfect. I had Lee Janzen about a foot farther on the same exact line as me. And he missed it on the high side, hit it a little hard. I hit it pretty good speed, it went past and caught the upper lip.

JIM FURYK: I had a good putt and that's part of golf. So I can't complain.

JIM FURYK: You don't have to be playing your best to win. I doubt anyone -- Vijay is not going to come in here and said he shot perfect or played his best golf. It took me a few years to learn that out here. I always felt like if I had a bad hole or couple of bad holes in a row I wasn't going to win, that wasn't going to be the first week. When I won Las Vegas and Kapalua in my second year, I really did play very well. I made some mistakes, but I was hitting the ball so well and putting so well, I felt like I was going to win both tournaments. And it wasn't until my third year I won Hawaii and I really didn't hit the ball that well, I just played smart golf. I got the ball in the hole. The course really favors my style. That's when I sat back and I kind of learned something, you really don't have to play perfect to win. I heard a lot of veterans say that, but I never -- as a rookie, being young, you don't really understand. You don't know what it's like. So I learned from that and realized that if I go out there and make a couple bogeys or have a bad hole, it doesn't mean the tournament is over, it's going to be harder to win, but you're not out of the tournament.