KEMPER OPEN

June 7, 1997

Mark Wiebe

MARK WIEBE: I didn't know that.

MARK WIEBE: Well, I'll bogey one tomorrow and that will end that streak.

MARK WIEBE: Let me see. Really didn't know what to expect with the weather today. It was dicey as far as rain, and the wind was blowing pretty much, so right away, I tried to get myself to be patient and hit as many greens as I could starting off, and hopefully that I would get a birdie or two and get me rolling. But when you have conditions like that, the golf course plays different, and it's -- you know, like it always is, it's a game of patience. You can get out there and lose some shots on those first five or six holes that you don't want to do.

MARK WIEBE: Okay. Let's see, which was the first one?

MARK WIEBE: Well, actually, 6 surprised me, because I hit a pretty good drive, but I didn't know I was going to have a 3-iron in. So it kind of takes out the layup. And I hit my shot, although that green is really tough. I hit it long in between the traps and had kind of a tough little chip shot. I thought I had a pretty good chip, but it just barely got on. I must have been, oh, 15 or 18 feet. But I had left a couple putts short in the previous five holes. And being a downhill putt, I didn't have to worry about leaving it short. So I made that putt. And I made a great par at 8, just a great par at 8. You'd have to be out there. But I was long right, down in one of those dip things, and just, I hit a great chip up. I was hoping to get it within 10 feet, and I hit it about 5 feet. That was probably my hump putt, because making par there after being where I was was pretty good. And I made the putt for par, and I went under birdie the next three holes. No. 9 played goofy with the wind. We were thinking a pretty good 6-iron. I hit it pretty good, and it went pretty far long. And I had about a 20, 25-foot putt, I guess, and hit it and, jeez, I just knew it was going to go in. It was just one of those deals. And I hit a bunch of putts today that went right in the middle. No. 10, I hit a 3-wood off the tee, 7-iron to the green where the pin was today. It was really tough to get at, especially from someone who likes to go left to right with the ball. So I had to kind of go the other way. And I hit a great shot in there. That was probably, I'm going to say, 15, 18 feet from the fringe. No. 11, I hit an 8-iron. I think we had 145 or 46 yards or something. And I just played it right of the pin. And that had to be about 25 feet, maybe. Made that. Made a great two-putt for par on 12. I had to go up and over the big deal in the middle. The par 5, 13, I hit a wedge from 119 yards, and, jeez, that had to be about 25 feet. And all of these putts went exactly in the middle of the cup. So that's -- that's, you know, a rarity. I take them anyway, but middle is really nice. And then I think that was it for me on the birdies.

MARK WIEBE: No. I hit one bad shot. I hit a bad 8-iron to 15, and made -- I putted from probably 20 yards from the putting surface, and actually ran it over the edge of the cup. But, no, there was nothing exciting. I missed some short ones, and I left one from another area on 17 on the lip, so I guess they all even out.

MARK WIEBE: Well, I really couldn't believe it, to tell you the truth. It's one of those times that I knew I was putting well, and I wanted to just step up and hit it. But I really felt like I needed to take my time to keep myself in, so I don't get too rushed and fast. And I think that's one of those -- I'm not making excuses, but I think that's one of the poa annua, the ball weaves a little bit, and I think it weaved or bobbed, one of the two. I was actually pretty shocked.

MARK WIEBE: That's a secret. No, I'm really just studying the lines on each putt. I'm really studying if I'm uphill or downhill and how much of the poa annua is in bloom and how much is still down a little bit. And that's -- you know, it's like I said yesterday, it's really hard, because we're not used to going out and doing that. And it's just another thing that you have to go over in your mind before you hit the putts. And I'll say it again, I'm really concentrating on hitting my putter solid. You know, as good as we are on the TOUR, we all tend to hit the ball in different spots on the putt. I'm not really far off. But it's not always perfect and pure. And I am really grinding on getting that solid because I -- I'm trying to get the ball on top of this grass to get it rolling and not weaving, and sometimes you can't help it. You know, I just had one of those days that I had the range from 25 feet and didn't have it from 10 feet. So, I don't know, I'm hitting a lot of greens, too.

MARK WIEBE: Well, I'm kind of busy thinking about all this stuff that I have to do with my golf swing, and like I said, on the putting. So my plan's going to be the same. You know, I'm working on my swing every day for the last three weeks, I guess, and I'm so busy going through trying to remember what I'm supposed to do to hit the ball straight. But I don't have time for any other thoughts. I'm tickled to be in the lead. I think it's great. But I'm just as much tickled to, I think, take a pretty good game into next week. So it's kind of a double deal for me. And, you know, I'm just going to do the same thing I've been doing. It's working. So if I changed it, I'd really be an idiot, you know.

MARK WIEBE: That would be something that would be written, but I don't see it as that. I see myself as having a long career. This is my 13th year. You know, I want to play until I can't compete. And -- I'm not looking at my career stages as much as, like I said yesterday, momentum. I'm trying to build momentum, and that's all. If I was to go out and win, I'd have more confidence, more momentum. And if I don't, hopefully I'll still take confidence and momentum with me for the following weeks.

MARK WIEBE: You know, I don't think so. I think Nick is a great player and one of the world's best. But, you know, I think if we're intimidated, we don't have a chance to beat those guys either. If anything, I would say it's more exciting to be in a tournament and have the lead with some pretty big names. But intimidated, no. I know him I've played with him. He's a golfer. When we go out and get in the gallery ropes in the first rounds, we're all golfers. He just has more wins than I do.

MARK WIEBE: You know, I haven't won since 1986. If I were to win this week or any other week, I don't know that it would mean any more or any less with any field. You know, I'm -- I would love to win, and I would -- actually, I would love to play well. And if a win comes about from that, then that's fine.

MARK WIEBE: Well, I've never had a three-shot lead going into Sunday. The last time I felt like I really had a real strong chance to win, was when I lost to Vijay a few years ago at Westchester, and I've been in the hunt. But I haven't felt as good about my golf game as I did against Vijay or now. I felt like I was in control then. I've had a couple tournaments, I don't know how many, but I probably had a chance to do well and maybe win. But I didn't have -- I haven't had the edge.

MARK WIEBE: Yeah, it was three-hole playoff.

MARK WIEBE: Yeah.

MARK WIEBE: Well, I've got to tell you, you know, I don't think any of us sit around and think jeez, I haven't won for 10 years, because it's not a good thought. You know, I just feel like it's nice to be playing well. And I'm going to tell you the truth, I'm not going to think about winning or anything. Like I said, I'm too busy trying to figure out what I need to do with my swing to make the ball go straight and figure the poa annua and this and that. So, no, I don't think any of us sit here and think the night before about winning. I don't think Faldo goes home on Saturday night and thinks about okay, it would be really great to win. I think he goes and does his thing. That's why he's so good.

MARK WIEBE: Well, you know, I'm not sure, because I haven't really been sneezing or sniffling that much now that I'm on all these pills and medication, so I don't know that the weather has that much to do with it. I know when it rains and stuff it stifles some things, but it brings out others. I think the molds get high when it rains. I don't think so. I think the only thing the weather dictated was that the course was going to play a little more difficult.

MARK WIEBE: Last week, Tuesday.

MARK WIEBE: Uh-huh. Right after I qualified for the Open, I went back and got shots.

MARK WIEBE: Yeah, it's -- you know, I really feel that, you know, again, I can -- I feel like I'm a little shaky. And then, again, I'm putting pretty well. So it's hard to describe how you feel. It's just -- it's just something for, even in my body, that I really don't want.

MARK WIEBE: Yeah, kind of a rush. And my heart every once in a while races. But, you know, at night when I'm lying down watching a game or something, I'm -- so I don't think it has anything to do with golf. I just think that's what I have to deal with right now.

MARK WIEBE: Well, honestly, I really don't sit around and think about my allergy stuff. It came up yesterday. And I don't really wake up and go, God, I hope my allergies are good today. I wake up and think, I hope I can think about what I can do today. I think getting these lessons from Kevin and working on my game is helping me, because for the first time in a while I have a swing thought and I know what I need to do, and I didn't make all great swings today. There were some bad ones. So I know what I need to do to hit the ball right. It's just a matter of getting my body to --

MARK WIEBE: Well, No. 9 is a tough hole. It's a downhill. Any time you have an elevated tee like that where your ball is in the air for 7, 8, 10 seconds, you know, the wind can play havoc with your ball. So it's a tough shot. I don't think you want to stand on the tee and be scared of it, because you might not make the good swing. You really have to make an aggressive swing there and take your chances.

MARK WIEBE: Oh, I don't -- you know, who knows. This is a brand new thing to me. I'm -- you know, I'm hoping -- the doctor told me it would take about a year for the shots to really get in and take affect. So this is to build up the system.

MARK WIEBE: Six weeks.

MARK WIEBE: Well, anything in golf feels major. You know, something that I could have my buddies look and see feels unbelievably different to me. But I would say it's not quite a fine tune. I'm not there yet. I'm changing. I'm making some big changes with my swing, feel changes.

MARK WIEBE: Yeah, I hope so. This has definitely given me some confidence. You know, the thing that -- what happens when we all go through this, we go through swing changes with Nick and Ledbetter or Norman or anybody, you know, we kind of want to be thrown a bone to let us know we're working on the right thing. So this is telling me, hopefully, that I'm working on the right thing and I'm not off some dirt road on my thoughts, and I'm striving to be better.

MARK WIEBE: I'm not surprised I'm playing well, because I feel like I'm a pretty good player. I'm surprised it's taken this long, actually. I really don't feel like I've played well for years. But, you know, that tells me that I was on that dirt road. I was working on some things that weren't correct that I thought were. And I think I finally am getting my thoughts back to where I'm working on some things that are positive, and I'm getting good results.

MARK WIEBE: Well, I think qualifying for the Open, this is baby steps, but qualifying for the Open gave me confidence. The way I played, I shot 69, 69. I hit some nice shots. That gave me some kind of confidence to come here, which I needed because I didn't get any practice rounds or anything. I got in Wednesday, hit balls and played Thursday. So I -- you know, I think I'm feeling better actually with the medication and stuff I'm on. I feel a little bit clearer. I don't feel like I'm all clogged up, and my swing is a little bit better, too.

MARK WIEBE: No. I would -- it would lose me if it was complex. I have to go very simple. I'm -- I'm just trying to get my swing to be not as long at the top and not so handsy at the bottom I guess at the hitting area. Those are the two -- my two thoughts.

MARK WIEBE: No. I called yesterday, and he's on the lesson tee, and that's what he does. He's the teacher pro at Castles Pines. Although he's moving to be the head pro at Nantucket at a new course there, so it won't be as easy to see him once he moves, because I'm not moving to Nantucket.

MARK WIEBE: Just to not be as handsy, use --

MARK WIEBE: To not be so handsy.

MARK WIEBE: Just to sweep the club back and make a full swing, I guess, would be the --

MARK WIEBE: No, I don't know the golf course enough. I'm still learning. I feel like we played the tee on No. 3 today, and I didn't even know there was a back -- well, I knew it because I walked by it, but I never hit a shot from it, because I don't think I've made the cut at this tournament very often.

MARK WIEBE: Well, I'd like to hit 18 greens, and I'd like to make about 9 putts, but other that, I don't have any -- anything that's outstanding. You know, I'd like to keep doing what I'm doing and, you know, it sounds pretty boring, but hit it in the fairway and get it on the green as quick as possible. And use my best friend, my putter.

MARK WIEBE: All right. Thank you.