MICHELOB CHAMPIONSHIP AT KINGSMILL

October 5, 2000

J.P. Hayes

J.P. HAYES: Well, it was nice to play with somebody who is playing well for one thing. It was a great day. The weather was perfect, very little wind, the greens were good, and I am playing pretty well. So it is kind of a good mixture.

J.P. HAYES: Sometimes. I mean, today it seemed to. We had a good time out there, and Mark was struggling a little bit today, so it was nice to at least have somebody that I can watch make some putts and knowing that it could be done. Sometimes you wonder if it can be done if the guy you are playing with isn't doing it. But we had a good time.

J.P. HAYES: I played well here in the past. My first Top-10 on Tour was here back in 1992. And I guess because of that, I have always had kind of a fondness for the golf course. That was a big week for me. That was my rookie year, and so yeah, I have always liked coming back. I haven't had as a good a finish since, but I have been close. Played well here.

J.P. HAYES: It was a long wait. I don't know, it didn't really do a whole lot for me because I played so miserably early in the year, but it gave me some hope for the end of the year anyway. In 1992 this tournament was a lot earlier. It was in July, I believe, so there is still half of the year left. But gave me some hope for the end of the year. Made it fun, anyway.

J.P. HAYES: Yeah, I guess. I think it is playing longer than it usually has. I think the fairways are a little bit softer, maybe a little bit more -- a little bit muddier. Other than that, it is -- this course never changes, just depends on how wet it is.

J.P. HAYES: 15, yeah, I wasn't able to go for that in two. I hit a sand wedge from about 60 yards and made about a 10-footer there. Then 2, I hit a 3-iron to about five feet, made that putt. 3, pitching wedge to about three feet, made that. 6, I hit an 8-iron to about 15 feet. Then 7 I just had a little pitch from the side of the green and hit it to about eight feet, didn't hit a very good pitch really, and then made that for -- that was my last birdie.

J.P. HAYES: I think I putted for birdie on 16 holes, 16 or 17 holes, so I had -- I had one bunker shot, hit it to about a foot, and I think that was the closest I came to making a bogey all day.

J.P. HAYES: That was No. 12.

J.P. HAYES: Front right green-side bunker. Pretty simple bunker shot, but...

J.P. HAYES: I can still finish in the top-30, so, that is my ultimate goal. After, that I guess be top 40, be on that. Doesn't really make much difference, I guess, except for the Invitationals. I have got the Top-70 locked up, but I can still finish in the Top-30, I think that would be pretty realistic. It would be a good goal for me.

J.P. HAYES: Well, I didn't say they were close, but (laughs) it could have been a little better, I guess. I left two, in particular, right in the jar, about an inch short, so -- but I made a couple too. So I think it is about what I should have expected from how I hit the ball. I hit it well.

J.P. HAYES: I don't know. Just I have gotten gradually better over the years. Then I got a big break in 1998 when I won, for some reason that has changed my whole attitude, my whole game, you know, everything that was a big hurdle to get over, and I have been improving ever since. I feel more comfortable out here I guess.

J.P. HAYES: No. I knew I had some work to do, but I knew eventually that I would make it.

J.P. HAYES: Yeah, that is a difficult green. That back right pin placement is -- you almost can't fly it back there because it is going to go long. If you hit it short, it is not going to get up the hill, so yeah, it's a great pin placement. Tough green.

J.P. HAYES: I have had a lot of good things happen this year on the course. Several chances to win, in contention a bunch, the PGA was a lot of fun. Off the course everything is good, so I couldn't ask for more off the golf course. On the course still could I win.

J.P. HAYES: It didn't really change that much for me but I was nice to get in contention. It was a ball. Just a little bit different out at a major, so it was a lot of fun to experience that and hopefully learned a lesson there.

J.P. HAYES: Seemed like there were two or three of us that were -- what they were -- what everybody was calling no-names, that seemed like had a chance to win Bob May and Scott Dunlap and myself were kind of in contention all week. So it was kind of fun to get the people, you know, excited and they were egging us on all week. It was a lot of fun. They were behind every one of us. I think they all secretly want the Tiger to one though. (laughs).

J.P. HAYES: No, I don't -- doesn't bother me. I mean, I think it bothers me more for other players than it does for myself. Bob May didn't deserve that name at the PGA Championship because anybody who has followed his career knows that he is a world-class player. He has won several tournaments all over the world, so I didn't think that he deserved that, but he wore it well and almost pulled it off.

J.P. HAYES: Yeah, but, I don't know. I guess it makes for interesting stories more than anything. But it doesn't bother me.

J.P. HAYES: Yeah, I don't know. You wonder what you have to do, but on the other hand there is a lot of big names out here, so, it is tough for all of us to get a piece of it.

J.P. HAYES: I did. I got a lot of positive comments from people that didn't otherwise know me or that I had never met before, but happened to watch the tournament, so I think it was good for me. It was good for my sponsor, they got a lot of air time, so everybody came out ahead.