FEDEX ST. JUDE CLASSIC

June 11, 1999

Ted Tryba

TED TRYBA: Got off to a good start. Any time you shoot 29, you get off to a good start. I played 7-under the first nine holes. I birdied the first three, which really helped. Parred the 4th. Birdied the 5th. Parred the 6th. And birdied 7, 8 and 9. Those are fortunate birdies. I hit it so close so many times on the front nine, it seemed repetitious. I kept getting the same putt; left edge. Let's see, 1st hole I hit it about four feet. 2nd hole, I made a good putt, I made about a 12-footer; 10, 12 feet. 3rd hole, I laid it up; pitched in. I made about a 6-footer. And I parred the 4th. The par 5 5th, I made about a 5-footer. Parred the 6th. Went to the 7th; hit it about two feet. Went to 8; hit it about four feet. Went to 9; hit it about three feet. So there was not a lot of yardage in those putts, but they were close enough to get in the hole.

TED TRYBA: I don't know. I just felt like yesterday, I hit some really good putts that just swung out of the hole. Today, it seemed a lot easier to keep the ball on line. I just felt like playing in the morning, the greens were a little smoother. Not as many heel prints, not as many spike marks. And they were definitely receptive from the water last night.

TED TRYBA: I don't think it's the type of course or the type of tournament. I'm sure they are going to toughen it up. You can look at the pins out there today; they are not easy. I just think it's the type of situation where you have -- because of the temperature and type of grass you have on the surface, you can't make the greens firm enough; so guys are going to score. I think there's nothing wrong with that. I think people like to come out and see birdies. They like to see good shots. I don't think 10-under should win this tournament. It might take 20. But I think people will see a good show.

TED TRYBA: It was getting hard adjusting to putting on as much skin moisturizer as I had to. I just feel the sun is getting a lot stronger, and I've really got to protect myself, because it's just getting, you know, you get damage on your skin. And I cut myself when I was at home, and then I kind of went out and played when I was in Orlando and I got burned on my nose here; so, I've covered it up the last two weeks.

TED TRYBA: I started out not playing really well. And really thought like I was going to have a career year and felt like I could -- like I was doing anything I wanted with the ball, and then played really good on the West Coast. Came back home a little tired. And then I tore cartilage in my rib cage Monday at TPC, and that really kind of set me back for about eight weeks. This is my 10th week in recovery. And you know, just because of the heat, I think because of last week and this week, I feel so much better. I had some rest before that, and I mean, I went to see a doctor to get on all these herbs and vitamins to try to repair the cartilage. It's been painful, but these last two weeks, I've felt pretty good.

TED TRYBA: I took two weeks off after The PLAYERS Championship; thought it would go away; it didn't. So I had a choice to either stay home or go out and play through it. I tried to go and play through it. I missed two cuts out of five. I just knew that I couldn't go. I wasn't going to play my best. I knew I could not play my best. My caddie probably caddied his best caddie through the year, because we really had to think our way around the golf course because I knew that I just could not hit the shots that I wanted to hit. I was playing away from the flags, trying to 2-putt not get myself in trouble,. Just try and make cuts and see if I could make something happen on the weekends. But eventually it became so frustrating because I could not do it. My body would not do it, and I would flinch on it, and I would feel the pain, and it would bother me.

TED TRYBA: Right after. And then I played four weeks and then took two more weeks off to try to heal it up. I flew to Baltimore to go see a specialist about it, and he got me on all these herbs and stuff, and they seem to be working. I thought it was bogus when I left, but I did what he said and it's helped.

TED TRYBA: I don't know. It's just joint builders and cartilage builders. Just herbs.