home

jobs

	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 24, 2004

Mike Weir

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Thanks for joining us for a couple of minutes here. You're playing for your fifth PLAYERS Championship. Start with some opening comments about the golf course and coming back to play at THE PLAYERS Championship.

MIKE WEIR: This is the fifth time. The golf course is in tremendous shape this year. Obviously with the wind blowing out there the last few days, the course is getting hard and firm already. But I think they'll be able to keep that under control. And it's going to be a good test. The rough is deep as usual. There's a premium on driving the ball in the fairway. If you're not driving in the fairway you're going to have to get it up-and-down from a hundred plus yards trying to save par. I think the person driving it well is going to have a big advantage this week.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: You won the in Nissan Open. Talk about how you are having another great year this year.

MIKE WEIR: Definitely I did build the start of this season up from last year. I didn't have much time off with a lot of the off-season nonregular PGA TOUR events that we had. It just kind of flowed right into 2004 for me. I got off to a little bit of a different start and then started playing well in Phoenix and Pebble, and obviously won and so I played well. I haven't figured out that Match Play course yet. But other than that, the West was good for me.

Q. I think I'm going to pick you as the favorite to win because all the guys around you in the world rankings played last week at Bay Hill and got absolutely creamed. What all did you do last week while they were --

MIKE WEIR: I was practicing. I was practicing back home in Utah. It was nice. It was perfect weather. So I practiced a little. I had my brother out in town. We did some golfing, skied a couple of times. That's what I've been doing. I spent some time at home. As I was saying earlier, I didn't have a lot of off-season time. This was like my off-season, three weeks off. I got in routine, where I was driving my kids to school, enjoying being at home, and getting caught up on some things around the house.

Q. What did Butch do today on 17?

MIKE WEIR: He hit it over the Sunday pin. The pin was on top in the center, and he kind of pushed it a little right. He was trying to blame me for the wrong club, but I wouldn't let him get away with that. He didn't hit a very good shot, a 9-iron. Actually it wasn't that bad a shot, he just pushed it a little bit.

Q. What do you think of that hole? Do you like it?

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, it's great. It's a great hole. It's great for the fans. It's great for everybody. Everybody gets excited when you get to that tee, and so much can happen there. You can see great shots in there. You can see the wind die and see shots go in the water. You can see everything. It's exciting for us as players. It gets your adrenalin pumping. You want to hit a solid shot in there. It makes for great drama in the tournament.

Q. Did you hit a right-handed shot in there?

MIKE WEIR: I hit one off where the caddies were hitting it. I flagged it over the top of the pin about 20 feet.

Q. Byron's club?

MIKE WEIR: I hit a 7-iron.

Q. How does that 17th compare for atmosphere in goofiness to the one in Phoenix, the late par-3 in Phoenix?

MIKE WEIR: I think it's quite a bit different. 17 in Phoenix, everybody is really rowdy. I think more here the people are just excited. And they're not cheering for a bad shot, they really want you to hit a good shot, where in Phoenix they're kind of hoping you miss the green so they can boo you.

I think it's different that way. But it does get loud. It gets loud on the weekend, Saturday and Sunday, it gets pretty loud on that hole.

Q. More betting in Phoenix?

MIKE WEIR: Probably.

Q. What have you done there on 17? Have you dunked it?

MIKE WEIR: I think I have one time.

Q. One?

MIKE WEIR: Yeah. For the most part I've played the hole pretty well. I guess, I think I probably played it under par. But not for sure. But I made a couple of birdies on it last year. I think I made a 5 there last year, so maybe twice. I forget, on my second round I did make a 5. But I think I made two birdies, as well.

Q. Sorry to bring that up again.

MIKE WEIR: Yeah.

Q. This week obviously you want to win, but how much is this week of preparation to two weeks from now?

MIKE WEIR: Well, I do want to win this tournament, no doubt about it. And we all do, everybody here looks to this tournament as being very important. If you can add this championship to your resume, it's a feather in your cap, for sure. It is a little bit of preparation, just because of the course condition; the firmness of the greens are similar to Augusta. So that is preparation for it. But I don't think anybody is looking past this week to Augusta. If you are, I mean, you're going to be in trouble, because this golf course will bite you for sure.

Q. When you said you practiced at home, me thinking of Utah and thinking of this weekend and two weeks from now, I wouldn't think there's any correlation, but I'm assuming you practiced shots back there in fact you wouldn't use over these next two weeks?

MIKE WEIR: Yeah. When I come into these couple of weeks, I like to try to work my fade. That's not a natural shot to me, right-to-left. My natural shot is left-to-right. I've been practicing that in the last couple of weeks. And this week I have to fade it a few times out here, as well. It works well going forward, too.

Q. Condition-wise, Mike, which tournament, which major does this compare to, probably U.S. Open, PGA?

MIKE WEIR: It's kind of a mix, you know. It's probably closer to U.S. Open in that there's such a premium on driving the ball, here. But then around the greens I think it's similar to Augusta, with some rolling greens, ball runs off, you're going to have some difficult up-and-downs. So around the greens it's similar to maybe to Augusta. But off the tee it's like U.S. Open; you have to drive in the fairway or you're going to pitch it out, especially someone like me who doesn't have power to move it through the deep rough.

There might be a few guys that can muster a 7-iron out of that. But for most of the field you're getting it back in play and getting it up-and-down out of the rough.

Q. Do you think that's why we have such great names that win this tournament year in and year out?

MIKE WEIR: I think so. I think it does identify the guy who's playing well this week because all facets of your game have to be on. You have to drive it well. But you're not going to hit it perfect. You're going to have to get the ball up-and-down. You have to putt well. These greens are at that point where you hit the ball too hard, it's not running two feet past, it's running eight feet past. Your touch has to be good.

So it just identifies the player who's playing the best, who has the whole package going this week.

Q. In terms of the mental preparation you're done for all facets of your game, how does the test at 17 compare? What are you thinking when you're standing on that tee? What are you thinking about or trying to block out?

MIKE WEIR: I'm not trying to block out anything. The only thing I'm trying to do is visualize what I'm trying to do, depending on the wind and where the pin is. There's a couple of pins you might be more aggressive with and a couple that you won't be. I think any pin towards the back of the green is a little

bit -- if you land it up there, you can easily take a big hop and hop over the green. There's a couple of pins you have to be careful of. It depends on how you're feeling each day. You kind of judge it by the day.

Q. You never see water when you stand on it?

MIKE WEIR: I don't.

Q. Golf aside, how demanding do you expect this week, next week and the following week to be, time management skills, demands on your time?

MIKE WEIR: It will be a little busier than in the past, obviously being the defending champion at the Masters. It's going to be busy. I'm flying home on Sunday evening, and I'll be flying back into Atlanta on Tuesday. You know, it's going to be a busy time, and I know that. I've got to prioritize my time a little bit and manage it and just get organized. As long as I have it organized, it's no problem. I have to put Danny to work.

Q. You've defended tournament titles before. Is being the defending Masters champion, does it feel any different going into Augusta? Do you think it's going to feel different than defending any other tournament?

MIKE WEIR: I think it's going to definitely feel different. I was there this past Sunday and Monday and played the golf course, and it was fun to get back. I hadn't been back since I won. Tournament week will be different. Hosting a Masters dinner Tuesday night with a lot of the greats of the game will be exciting. I don't know what I'm going to say to all those guys, but it should be fun.

When you get to the first tee, it's going to be a little different experience. It was different when I was back at the Hope as defending champion, and Riviera has quite a bit of history, so that was a good feeling. Going back to The Masters as defending champion will be really special.

Q. Along those lines, what Bob was asking about, just all the stuff that you had to go through as the champion, did you find that it kind of built all through last year, and maybe peaked at Hamilton? And did you get a bit of a break and now it's going to peak again?

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, I think so. That's probably how it all fell together last year. And, you know, last year winning The Masters, it was my first major; I didn't know what it all entailed and how it would be received and how busy I would be. Now I feel more comfortable about it or with it and it's another thing I just have to prepare for. So I feel like it won't distract me, in other words, from my preparation for the tournament.

Q. You said you just played up at Augusta, and they threw more trees in on 11, over on the right, making that hole harder. They're not making it any easier. Does that place more premium on those two par-5s on the back nine to get the job done on those two holes because birdie opportunities around the rest of there are pretty much nil?

MIKE WEIR: There's not too many, unless you happen to really hit a great mid-iron in there. But, yeah, you want to play those two par-5s well, no doubt about it. If you're not capitalizing on the two par-5s, even on the front sides, you don't have a good chance of winning. A big part of it last year was my wedge play on the par-5s. You're going to have to do well on the par-5s. I don't think there's too many champions that do well without taking a chance on those par-5s.

Q. Talk about the experience going back to Augusta. What were the emotions like? What struck your eye?

MIKE WEIR: Well, it was just fun to get to the first tee, and you know, my dad, I had a chance to take my dad there and play. Kind of each and every hole we went around and I just reminisced about a certain shot or certain spot and showed him where I was on a certain hole and what I was thinking. That was cool to relive that a little bit. And I had Brendan, my caddy, play out there, too. So I was able to take him down for a few dollars (laughter).

We had fun. It was a fun time to get out there and play the golf course. We actually stayed in Bobby Jones's cabin, which was cool. I had never stayed overnight there. There's a picture of Bobby Jones and President Eisenhower, the real one, in the room there. It was cool. You go through there and see the huge trophy. I got a replica size one, but The Masters trophy was a big, huge trophy, and see my name on it and the picture and everything. It was really neat, go up to the champions locker room, to go up there and see my locker, which is -- they pair you up, and my locker is with Doug Ford, to see that, and there was a lot of things to see that I hadn't -- since I hadn't been back.

Q. Do you think successfully defending at Nissan is a benefit to you going into Augusta?

MIKE WEIR: Well, I think winning a tournament really

is -- I think in some way, maybe, it may be a little bit of a benefit. I've never defended a tournament before, and that was the first time I'd done it. So now I know I can do that. Whether it plays a factor in Augusta, I'm not sure. I think more importantly just winning early in the year and getting my game going and feeling good about my game going into this week at Augusta.

Q. The other thing about LA was you won from the front, right?

MIKE WEIR: Yeah. Yeah, that was important. That was maybe a little more important to me, personally. The other times I'd had a lead out here on the Tour on Sunday, I had to close the deal. And even though Shigeki made it more interesting, I was able to do it. So that was real important to me.

Q. Do you feel like there's anything now in golf that you can't accomplish? When you first came out it's difficult just trying to break through. After winning your first major, is there anything you don't feel you can do anymore?

MIKE WEIR: That's a tough question to answer without sounding boastful. But, no, I don't think there's anything that I feel that I can't accomplish. I've won a major and I've contended in a few others. I've proven that I've played well in the U.S. Open, I've played well in a PGA. I haven't particularly played well in the British. That's something I need to improve on. I've proven that I can pretty much compete in big tournaments, so hopefully I'll keep that going.

Q. Do you still have that tradition where you donate a club that they put in the rack at Augusta?

MIKE WEIR: Yes.

Q. Have you figured out which one you'll leave?

MIKE WEIR: Yes, it's a wedge that I used in the tournament, so it's already up there.

Q. Why that club?

MIKE WEIR: Because I think it played such a significant factor in the tournament. I hit so many great wedge shots that week. And there's a lot of facets. My putting was great, too. But I didn't want to quite give up my putter (laughter). But I figured I could part with the wedge, and they could duplicate that. But I was happy with the putter.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297