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VALERO TEXAS OPEN

September 16, 2004

Jim McGovern

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

Q. How were the conditions out there?

JIM McGOVERN: I sweat if it's 50 degrees, it just doesn't matter. We were on the beach a month ago for 10, 12 days, home a bunch. It's been nice, cool weather. I really knew Tuesday afternoon that I was going to have a long week of sweating. I knew it.

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Jim, very nice 64, your low round, I guess, in a little while.

JIM McGOVERN: Yeah. You know, it's tough. It's been a long few years, but I had a hip surgery in December and it took me a lot longer than I thought, I think, to get over it. I really feel like I've worked hard at it, and I'm playing good. It's tough to explain to my wife and other people that I'm playing good when I'm shooting 76 like I did last Saturday, but I actually played pretty good there in Canada.

I'm hitting the ball solid again and putting the ball real nice. That's the key. I mean, if I hit the ball solid, I'm going to be all right. I think I'm going to roll it okay. I'm not the greatest putter in the world. I'm pretty streaky, and I'm starting to roll it pretty good. I hit the ball solid today.

PHIL STAMBAUGH: You just want to take us through your round? Start on the 10th hole.

JIM McGOVERN: 10th hole was a lot of dew out there. It was actually as cool as it's going to be. I was sweating by the time I got to 10 green.

All three of us made bogey there. Good drive, 4-iron up the hill and missed the green a little left and chipped up to about eight feet, missed that putt. I hit a pretty good putt and missed it.

11, hit driver, wedge to about 12 feet behind the hole and made that one. It was a good shot.

I hit a good shot on 12, as well. Nothing. I made a lot of good shots. I missed a few shorties, but if you give yourself as many chances -- 16 I hit 5-wood off the tee and flipped a wedge in there about 12 feet, made that, right behind the hole.

Then hit a 6-iron on 17 about ten feet behind the hole, made that one. That was a good shot, right past the hole.

1, hit not a great drive, hit it just in the left rough, laid up and hit a wedge in there about six feet, made that.

2, hit a good drive and a 9-iron about 15 feet, made a good putt there, it broke about a foot. You don't get a lot of breakers out here if you're on the right level, but that one broke a lot.

Then 7 and 8, I actually laid up with 5-iron on 7, hit a 60-degree wedge in there about six feet, seven feet, made that.

8, I hit a 5-wood left again, rolled off the hill right in the middle of the fairway, and I didn't hit a very good wedge there, but I had about a 15-footer, made that one.

And then made a good par at 9, hit it in the bunker and had to lay up.

Q. Is this the kind of course that suits your game, or do you have to kind of suit your game to the course?

JIM McGOVERN: For me it's always been I've tried to work the ball from the fairways towards the pin from the middle of the green, trying to hit a little draw -- trying to hit a little fade if the pin is on the right, hitting a little draw if it's on the left. I've actually gone to a little bit straighter shot the last month or so. I've worked hard on hitting it a little straight. Probably my stronger shot is right to left, but I'm trying to get it left to right. I just think the golf course sets up real good for me now. I'm driving the ball real solid.

I feel like I've been driving it pretty good the last few years, but boy, it's a foot in the rough, and I keep telling myself I'd rather be 10 yards, 20 yards in the rough than a foot. I'm not strong enough to hit it out of the long, long grass. If you can hit it out of where they're walking it's not so bad. I've hit a couple of shots the last few years where I've just driven it a half a foot in the rough and it's just dead. I don't move it 100 yards.

The golf course suits me good because I think I'm a little bit lower ball flight than a lot of guys, and the fairways are soft from the rain, I guess. It's not playing like it normally does, hard and fast, but I think it's going to stay in the fairway when you hit it. It's drying out quick. I mean, that's for sure. This morning was a little wet from the dew, but the golf course is beautiful.

Q. Tommy Armour shot, of course, the unbelievable score last year. When you think about shooting 64 and it's by no means safe --

JIM McGOVERN: I never worry about -- what I like to do is wait until nine holes are left on Sunday and see how I stand and make some decisions from there, aggressive or stay sharp or whatever. Usually it's one of those moves where you've got to play sharp the last nine holes. If you can just put yourself in position after 63 holes and give yourself a chance, that's the key.

Q. You mentioned the greens. You said that you don't get too many breaks. I'm just curious, what does it look like when you're out there reading them?

JIM McGOVERN: There's a lot of grain on these greens, but if you're in the right level, there's not a lot of break. There are some undulations out there on some of the greens, about two-foot right in there where you're definitely going to have some breaks, but if you can keep it on the right level with that pin, it's not going to break as much. The key is the speed with the greens. You can have a putt that looks right edge and the grain is going to hold it out there so you can't get it all the way out. That's what I noticed about it.

But they're very true. They haven't changed really at all from year to year. They haven't changed at all. They're great.

Q. You mentioned earlier about shooting a 76 and feeling like you really played well. What was it about --

JIM McGOVERN: I drove it -- last Saturday I drove it a few times just a -- one hole I think I was an inch into the rough, and I didn't hit it from here to the putting green. I couldn't hit it 40 yards, and I said, "God, it makes you wonder, just swing harder, maybe it'll go further in the crap." (Laughter). That's the way I feel like I've been driving it. It's close, but boy, like they say it's a game of inches; I hate that thought, but it sure is. I haven't driven it badly for years, but I've always felt like I was a pretty good driver at the golf ball, but if you look at my stats, they're probably not great just from being a foot in the rough.

Q. How do you deal with that mentally when that starts to happen to good players?

JIM McGOVERN: Slam a club -- no, just kidding (laughter).

Q. Do you start thinking about when is it going to happen?

JIM McGOVERN: It does creep into your head sometimes.

Q. As a Tour player what do you do?

JIM McGOVERN: Try and go through my pre-shot. That's pretty much the only thing I'm trying to get done. I got a little lazy I think the last two swings today off of 8 and 9. 8 I was lazy with my legs and I pulled it and I got lucky, came out of there. 9 I wasn't going to get lazy with my legs, so I slid in front of it and blocked it just a little bit and it caught that bunker.

It's always a game. You know, playing mind games the entire way around. I love it. I love all sports, but boy, this one, there's no one else to blame but you, and I like to blame my caddie a lot (laughter).

No, it's great. I love it. You know, it's such a thinking game. That's the greatest thing about it. It's not all about brawn. I know it helps to hit it 30 yards further, but even the short guys hit it far, Heath Slocum is one, Zach Johnson, a lot of guys who aren't the longest hitters in the world. I'm not a long hitter by any stretch of the imagination, but, you know, I think that's the great thing about the game. You don't have to be the biggest or the fastest or the best. I mean, you can be in the right frame of mind. That's the key to the game out here.

Q. Some golf courses require that more than others do you think?

JIM McGOVERN: Thinking more, no question about it.

Q. Is this a thinking course?

JIM McGOVERN: You've got to place your ball out here. It's not like you're stepping up on a lot of holes, on the front especially I don't think, and ripping driver. You don't have to hit driver on 2, you don't have to hit driver on 4, you don't have to. I hit driver on 2, 4 and 5 today, but you don't have to. 7, 8, definitely not drivers for me. 9, you don't have to but you can. You've got to get your ball in play out here.

It's not as much rough I don't notice this year, but when they had a lot of rough here it was really a thinker. There's still rough out there in spots. I've had it in a few of them already.

Q. I know you've played in a lot of tournaments where the heat is a factor. I remember St. Louis a few years back was really brutal. I think tomorrow here it's supposed to be 97 or 98, a lot of humidity. Do you look at the weather forecast and think, "I've got to have water, have to do something before I get out there"?

JIM McGOVERN: I sweat no matter what, but I drink water all day long for the most part. I might have a couple beers, but -- (laughter).

I'll drink water all day long, drink Gatorade, eat a banana, keep my energy a little bit up, but sometimes I almost forget to eat while I'm out there, I'm just trying to grind it out.

Q. I was curious, I know you're having to think the course, having to do so many things, pre-think your shots and everything else. Here comes the heat and the conditions on top of that. Does that play into your mind game at all as far as the --

JIM McGOVERN: Not really. You know it's going to be hot. I mean, that's the only thing. I watched the weather last night, and it looks like four days of this. I thought, you know, when I was hitting balls this morning there were stars out, and I thought, boy, if we could play at this time, if they could move those lights down there, it would be great. It was hot last night at 9:00 o'clock when I was walking into the hotel, it was hot.

It's something that if you just keep yourself hydrated and keep yourself going, I don't mind the heat at all. Like I say, I sweat a lot, but it also makes me a lot looser, makes it a lot easier to get loose. I would rather I think the heat than 40 and wind right now. I'd rather have heat.

Q. I noticed you're wearing soft spikes. How is it out there these days on the greens? Are you coming across a lot of spike marks?

JIM McGOVERN: Last week I thought I noticed a lot, but that's bent greens. You don't notice it as much here with the Bermuda, you really don't.

Q. You were early today. How about tomorrow afternoon, it may be more of a factor?

JIM McGOVERN: You'll see a little bit, almost like scuff marks in a sense. It might help you actually in deciphering the green. No, I have no problem with it. Everyone has got to deal with it. There were times where I've hit ten-footers and it's hit a spike mark. I'm not tapping it down. I'll leave it for the next guy (laughter).

Q. How many guys are still wearing traditional spikes?

JIM McGOVERN: If I had to guess, none of us in our group today, but I'm going to say it's 20 percent of the guys still wearing them. Some are short, and last week I played with Michael Clark, and his were long. I could see his every footprint, but he's pretty good about -- guys are good about tapping them down around the hole. Everyone is.

Q. Does that issue ever come up at meetings?

JIM McGOVERN: No, not really, I don't think. I think it's just part of playing the greens. There are guys who swing hard enough at it that they need spikes to grip the ground a little bit better, but I just -- it feels better on me, a lot lighter, a lot easier to walk, no complaints. I don't slip much, I really don't. Once or twice a year maybe, but not much.

Q. I just wanted to ask you about the hip surgery. How is that?

JIM McGOVERN: Good, feels great in this weather, that's for sure. There are some days it's not so great. It feels a little stiffer. But I can't complain. The beginning of the year I felt good coming in, I worked hard at it after the surgery. I came out a little early. I love Pebble Beach and I went out there to try and play. I probably shouldn't have, but I did, and it's always sloppy out there.

Then March I had two car wrecks ten days apart. One was my fault, I was definitely changing radio from Radio Disney, whatever my kids were listening to, to whatever I was, and I looked up and everyone was stopped, and I went right under someone. I had my truck so nosed down, it went under them.

Then ten days later I got run over going to the golf course in Lafayette, Louisiana. A guy blasted me. I was driving 35, 40 miles an hour in the right lane and he was making an illegal left across three lanes of traffic, and he had three trucks stopped that were letting him do it. He hit me and I never touched my brake. Next thing I knew I was over in the ditch, and I thought, "What the hell just happened?"

Q. What were the injuries that you had?

JIM McGOVERN: Shoulder and neck still, but this weather is great for it. The first accident I knew was happening. You know, I was prepared, standing on the brake and had my head through the roof trying to stop my truck. The next day I could barely get out of bed I was so sore.

But the second one, he whacked me good, and my neck still gets me a little bit going that way. He asked me when I saw him, and I said when my ear hit his grille. I never absolutely saw him. I didn't know what happened for a minute as I sat in the car, what the hell just happened there, and then he came over and said, "Are you all right? My fault." I said, "Man, I never saw you." "You didn't see me at all?" "No, how could I?"

But I still get some soreness in there at times, but I think all doctors are witch doctors so I'd never go see one of them (laughter).

Q. I wonder how many golfers out here are saying this heat is great, just makes me feel wonderful?

JIM McGOVERN: I don't mind. Like I say, if I'm going to sweat, I don't mind if it's 100 degrees. I can't imagine what the towel is like. It's got to be ten pounds heavier for my man carrying it around.

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Thanks a lot, Jimmy. Good luck tomorrow.

JIM McGOVERN: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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