MERCEDES CHAMPIONSHIPS

January 3, 2002

Frank Lickliter

TODD BUDNICK: 7-under 66. Looks like your day got started with an eagle on 5.

FRANK LICKLITER: Yeah. Those are four great starting holes. Missed a little one on 4 from about five feet. Went to five and hit just a perfect drive. It was a perfect number to hit a cut 3-wood in there. I hit a 3-wood in there maybe no more than five feet.

TODD BUDNICK: 6, birdie.

FRANK LICKLITER: 6, I drove it right down in front of the green, chipped it past the hole about 12 feet, made it coming back.

TODD BUDNICK: Bogey on 12.

FRANK LICKLITER: Bogey on 12. I drove it in the left rough and had a little flyer with my pitching wedge, hit it just over the green, forgot it was into the grain right there. Left it ten feet short, just missed the putt.

TODD BUDNICK: Birdies on 13 through 16.

FRANK LICKLITER: 13 I hit a wedge to about 12 feet, right of the pin. 14, I drove it right in front of the green. I had about 30 yards to the pin, chipped it to two and a half feet. The par 5, I drove it way down around the corner. I had a 2-iron in my hand. Hooked it into the hazard left, I mean way gone, deep. Went down, dropped -- ended up dropping 144 yards, holed out an 8-iron.

Q. With what? What were you hitting on that?

FRANK LICKLITER: I holed out an 8-iron for my birdie. It was kind of cool (laughter).

Q. On the flat?

FRANK LICKLITER: No, just short, went in.

TODD BUDNICK: 16.

FRANK LICKLITER: 16, drove it down there 80 yards from the green, hit sand wedge to about eight feet, right of the pin, made the putt.

TODD BUDNICK: 18.

FRANK LICKLITER: 18, 3-wood down just in front of the green, had 78 yards to the pin. Tried to play the break in the grain. I flew it past that. It stopped pin-high about 20 feet. Made it.

Q. Pretty good debut at Kapalua.

FRANK LICKLITER: Yeah. It was fun. It's a fun golf course. You know, you look up. It's gorgeous no matter where you are. I mean, it's spectacular.

Q. Also what it means to you to be here.

FRANK LICKLITER: Yeah, it was a lot of hard work to get here. You know, this is a really cool tournament because you know everyone in the field has won. Some of them have won more than once. It's where I always wanted to be, you know, in the top part of golf. This is just one event, but this is a good one.

Q. Obviously a feeling of accomplishment when you're in the locker room, you're around 31 other guys who have won this week. Is there a difference in that feeling that you've gotten this week as opposed to June through September when you get the feeling of being paired in that upper echelon? That's also another signal.

FRANK LICKLITER: Yeah, it is. In my career on the tour so far, I've gotten a little better every year. It's going to take a lot of work to do that this year. I'm looking forward to that. That's going to be fun.

You know, I have a lot of work to do in order to get back here next year. I'd like to play here for the rest of my career. That would be very cool.

Q. Are there goals specifically? You have the one win now. What's the next step for you?

FRANK LICKLITER: Two wins, you know.

Q. Two total or just another one to make two?

FRANK LICKLITER: Well, you know, my goals -- those are actually very private, but they include winning another tournament as soon as possible. You never know when it will be. But to get my game in shape to have the opportunity to win, that's basically all you can ask for.

But, you know, I've got my eyes set on the majors. I'm doing things with my swing to open more doors on the golf course to give myself a better chance.

Q. Why are everyone's goals so private?

FRANK LICKLITER: You know what, I'm not sure.

Q. Why can't you say, "I want to finish Top 10 on the Money List this year"?

FRANK LICKLITER: That's one of them. That's one of them (laughter). But in order to do that, you can't just say, "I want to finish Top 10 on the Money List." You write that down, but how do you do that? That's what you have to focus on. You don't focus being Top 10 on the Money List. If you think about that, you're not taking care of the things you need to take care of over here in order to get there.

Q. Sergio said one of his goals was winning the Money List on both sides of the Atlantic.

FRANK LICKLITER: That's impressive. That's impressive. Can he play enough golf tournaments to do that?

Q. When you work in the majors, World Golf Championships.

FRANK LICKLITER: Does he count them for this tour or the European Tour?

Q. Both, if you're a dual member.

FRANK LICKLITER: Really? I thought you had to pick one or the other.

TODD BUDNICK: I thought you had to determine one or the other, as well. I can check on that.

FRANK LICKLITER: Before you played in the tournament. That was my understanding. Maybe not.

Q. That's a really big-time goal then.

FRANK LICKLITER: Yeah, it is. That's cool, though. I think they're really private because I kind of ran out. I write down all of my goals. I wanted them all written down before today, and I don't have them written down before today. I've been thinking about them very hard. I've got some of them written down. A lot of it has to do with what I'm doing with my swing right now, too.

I didn't expect -- you know, I expected to play well. I didn't expect to be where I am right now. You know, this is brand-new for me, some of the things I'm doing. Man, it's really cool. You know, maybe today will adjust some of my goals a little bit.

Q. You could have them adjusted by Sunday.

FRANK LICKLITER: We'll see.

Q. How long have you been with Tony? Can you talk about the chemistry you have with him, what he brings to you.

FRANK LICKLITER: I've been with Tony two and a half years, I think. I picked him up at Muirfield in '99. Was it '99 or '98? Has it been that long? Tony is Australian. I don't know about all Australians, but this one in particular is very laid back. He's very cool. He grew up playing Australian rules rugby. He's a tough little son of a gun. He doesn't back down. You know, he's a go-getter. Very positive. It's unbelievable how positive he is. It's good for me to have him around because I can get irked at times, to put it in a nice way.

But, you know, that's good for me. He's got a very good sense of humor. Some of the jokes he has, I make him tell them in the ProAms because they're so funny. I love hearing them. A lot of it has to do with his accent, the way he tells them.

I mean, he's got so many good qualities as a human being, let alone a caddie. That's why I like being around him. I mean, I'll never say "never," but I see myself going through my whole career with Tony. That could change tomorrow, but as of right now, yeah, I'd say that. I've felt that way about Tony for quite a while now.

Q. Seems like you formed a pretty good friendship with Fuzzy over the years. There are differences, but similarities between the two, in terms of what they bring out in you.

FRANK LICKLITER: Yeah, I think so. Anyone who hangs around Fuzzy enjoys life, not just on the golf course. You enjoy life, everything, every aspect, family, the love of the outdoors. He loves to hunt and fish, be outside. Just enjoy what he's doing at that particular time, no matter what it is. That's a pretty accurate description of Tony. Tony could probably kick for any NFL football team right now, could be a kicker. He can kick it 60 yards with both legs. He's 40 years old, you know. That's impressive.

Q. There was a pretty bizarre incident in the Shark Shootout this year. Don't usually see confrontations like that. Can you talk about how it happened, what happened, have you sorted things through with Faxon?

FRANK LICKLITER: Yeah, Faxon and I are really cool. The only thing that happened was I said a word that I shouldn't have. I'm not apologizing for why I was upset. But the only thing I apologize for was what I said and where I said it.

Q. Why were you upset?

FRANK LICKLITER: Faxon and I, we've talked about this. Everything's cool. Everything was cool with me after we got off the golf course. I was actually fine going to the next tee.

I don't think we need to go there anymore. I mean, I made a mistake by saying the word I did, and I tried to apologize for that. I apologized to Brad and Greg and his wife, the Franklin Templeton people. It's a great tournament, it really is. It's competition, too.

Q. So what's silly --?

FRANK LICKLITER: If you think $240,000 in cash is silly, fine.

Q. Was there an insinuation that he was thinking you guys weren't playing by the rules?

FRANK LICKLITER: I think we're done talking about this. I'm done talking about this. You can ask all the questions you want.

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