	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

SONY OPEN IN HAWAII

January 14, 2005

Jeff Sluman

HONOLULU, HAWAII

JEFF SLUMAN: I made three birdies yesterday and I eagled today and obviously I'm hitting the ball well off the tee and hitting a lot of greens. I couldn't be more pleased with not only the score but how I'm playing. Starting the year off kind of on a fresh note, the last real competitive individual event was in Tampa.

The golf course is kind of designed for tradewinds, and we've got Konas. So the longer par 4s are playing into the wind and crosswind. Especially even yesterday and somewhat today, it's tough to get the ball in the fairway.

And the rough is pretty penal out there. If you hit it in the wrong spot, you're going to have trouble, certainly if you hit it on the green, but even trouble getting it out into a good position in the fairway. I saw Tom hit a couple of times into the rough and really took some gigantic lashes at it just to advance it 100, 120 yards.

Q. As much as you've played this course, as well as you've played it, have you ever gone 36 holes and no bogeys?

JEFF SLUMAN: Oh, yeah -- here? I don't know about here, but I would think so. I think when I won in '99, I didn't have a bogey on the weekend. So that was how it would probably translate at least into 36.

Q. Talk about your eagle.

JEFF SLUMAN: It was on No. 9, the par 5 playing downwind. I hit a nice drive and a 4-iron to about six feet, seven feet and made it. That was it for the day. Everything else, 17 pars, had a lot of good chances and hit a lot of nice putts. But overall, a similar round to yesterday, very solid, no bogeys and a 5-under. And like I said, couldn't be happier being in the position I'm in.

Q. How did No. 1 play today?

JEFF SLUMAN: Pretty difficult. Yesterday, driver 3-wood. Today driver, 2-iron. It's a stout hole.

Q. When is the last time you hit 2-iron into a par 4?

JEFF SLUMAN: 3-wood, it's been a while. It's still 480 into the wind. It's been playing awful long, and obviously the thing there is you have to get the rascal into the fairway off the tee shot, pretty good tee shot.

Q. Did you come over here early to prepare?

JEFF SLUMAN: No. I always put the clubs away, but I played at Shark Shootout and did some physical workout with a gentleman in Chicago. Trained with Greg Rose who runs the Titleist fitness thing. I went pretty much non-stop for a month and a half, and I went down to Palm Beach for ten days right after Christmas and played every day with my coach.

So it's something that normally I don't do. Usually I come over here and kind of work my way into the year. And this year I decided after a relatively disappointing year, 2004, that I needed to do something a little different and shake it up and that's what I did.

Q. What are the biggest things that you need to work on?

JEFF SLUMAN: Well, putting certainly. My ball-striking was pretty good last year. I wanted to get my back a little healthier. It was sore, worked on me all year really. There's always stuff that needs to be worked on. You see after Vijay last year, he's working as harder as ever or harder. There's always something you can do just to try to get accomplished.

Q. You still using the short-long putter or the long-short putter?

JEFF SLUMAN: I'd say it's the shortest long putter on Tour. I've putted and I feel very, very good with it. I don't see going back to anything right now.

End of FastScripts.

About ASAP Sports • FastScripts Archive • Recent Interviews • Captioning • Upcoming Events • Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297