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JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

July 5, 2005

Mark Hensby

SILVIS, ILLINOIS

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Thanks for joining us this afternoon. Obviously last year was pretty sweet for you to win here. You come in this week off pretty good finishes, T3 at the U.S. Open and T16 last week, I believe, at the Cialis Western Open. Start us off by talking about this morning. I guess you went down to Gilda's House, which is the tournament charity. Talk about that and we'll go into the tournament.

MARK HENSBY: Yeah, I went down there and just had a look around and met a couple people. I learned how to knit something, a lady showed me how to knit. She was pretty impressed I picked it up straight away.

You know, it's good to go and see something like that once in a while. Obviously my dad passed away from cancer, so it's kind of something that I've been involved in a little bit, so I have a bit more understanding than a lot of people may, so yeah, it was a good time.

Q. Then you came on out here. Did you get around the course in a practice round?

MARK HENSBY: No, not yet. You guys are taking up my time.

Q. Did you play yesterday or were you here yesterday?

MARK HENSBY: No, I got here this morning.

Q. No idea how the golf course is playing?

MARK HENSBY: Uh uh.

Q. What's it like to come to a course where you're the defending champ and you have plenty of good memories?

MARK HENSBY: I don't know, I've never done it before. Obviously it's exciting, you know, just looking forward to it, looking forward to getting started really.

Q. I just talked with David Toms; he won his first one here and what he's done. He finished two Top 5s in the majors. Has last year's win carried over to this year?

MARK HENSBY: Yeah, I think so. I played well after playing well here, obviously winning. Well, obviously it gets you into more events and bigger events, and if you play well in those events, people start to notice you a little bit more. I'm not sure, I just think the game has definitely come along.

Q. What has improved besides maybe confidence?

MARK HENSBY: My game hasn't actually been that well this year. Obviously everyone says you're having a great year. I've only played well twice. It's just the fact that they're big tournaments. So I really haven't played well at all this year, so I'm not sure I've gained anything out of just maybe a little confidence. I haven't played that well and I still had a chance to win two of the biggest events on Tour.

Q. How do you explain that, that your game hasn't been that great, like in the tournaments where maybe the courses are supposed to be tougher and the setup be tougher, you play even better?

MARK HENSBY: I think because I missed a lot of greens, and if you look at the stats, I haven't really played very well at all. I haven't hit many fairways, haven't hit many greens. In a major, a lot of guys are going to miss a lot of greens and fairways, so they're just playing a lot of the guys are just playing how I've played every week, so I'm used to chipping and putting all the time, and they're not. I think that may have something to do with if.

Q. Do you like flying under the radar? Last year even though you won the playoff, Morgan kind of upstaged you with his theatrics; Michelle Wie, there was more people for that press conference than here. Does that appease you that you're going unnoticed?

MARK HENSBY: No. Michelle Wie is the story this week, and that's fine. It's something that every week, if Tiger is playing, it doesn't really matter if you're the defending champ or not. That's just the way golf is and that's just the way it is.

Q. You came up the hard way golf wise, Mark. Last year you achieved some consistent success week in, week out. How is it dealing with success? Sometimes it's harder to deal with success than it is the road to get there. Was the demand for your time and playing four days every time you played and that much more money, was that difficult or did it cause some adjustments in your life?

MARK HENSBY: Yeah, of course. I mean, some people like it, some people don't. I think a lot of the time taken away from what you generally do when you haven't played well, a lot of it is wasted time. But it's something you deal with, and obviously I don't like it that much, so that's what I mean with Michelle Wie being the story, it doesn't worry me. It actually helps me this week because I don't have to do as much as someone would probably normally have to do. So it's definitely something that if you play well you're going to get used to a little bit, but so far it's been all right.

Q. Is it difficult to not have an outgoing personality and having to deal with 1,000 of us all the time? Does that make it more difficult to do what you did to get well known in the first place?

MARK HENSBY: Probably, no doubt. You know, you guys have got a job to do and we've got a job to do. A lot of the questions that get answered keep getting answered they keep asking the same questions. I mean, for a stage for me, like I've never had to deal with it, I just don't see the point in it. As I said, I know it's your job, but I am not outgoing and I don't like doing it, but hey, it's part of the job.

Q. The thousand pound canary in the room, I guess, would be Michelle being here this week. Your thoughts on her you were very complimentary to Annika; I read about it, I didn't hear you say it myself. Have your thoughts evolved, changed, or do you stand by what you said a couple months back?

MARK HENSBY: Yeah, I guess. I mean, I don't remember what I said. You know, there's really not much to say. I mean, I don't really have any comment on it to tell you the truth. She's playing and that's that.

Q. From what you recall, you haven't played the course yet this year, but last year as the champion, what are some holes, some situations? Tell me a little about this golf course as you see it and what you need to do to be successful again on it.

MARK HENSBY: There's probably like four or five holes out there that you have to be careful on, and if you play them well all week, I think you'll probably get a chance. The good thing about this golf course is it's a great variation of holes. There's some difficult ones, there's ones you can take advantage of and then there's just some mediocre ones. I think the guys that play the five or six difficult ones well are usually the ones that are going to be there on Sunday.

Q. Can you say which ones those are?

MARK HENSBY: No. 4, 9, 11, 15 and 18.

Q. I just asked about five guys up at the range, and they all said No. 9 is one of the toughest. Why is that so tough?

MARK HENSBY: The tee shot is not as difficult. It's the second shot because you get a funny sort of a lie there, and obviously it's a pretty long shot into a green that's not real big from memory. I can't remember, but I remember hitting a long shot in, like a 3 or a 4 iron. Any time you're hitting a 3 or a 4 or a 5 iron into a green like that off a funny stance, it makes it difficult. It seems like it's always into the breeze, except today it's downwind.

Q. Any idea what you were on those holes last year?

MARK HENSBY: No idea.

Q. If this golf course the greens are going to be a little slower because of the humidity and the lack of rain. They're not going to push them too much. They're going to roll about 11, I guess, but the greens are going to be firmer and the golf course is going to be firmer. Does that offset I mean, what does that do to scores, any idea?

MARK HENSBY: Well, any time you get firm fairways, depends on the rough. I don't know how high the rough is out there, but obviously if the greens are soft it doesn't make that much of a premium hitting it in the fairway because if you hit it in the fairway you're still going to be able to stop it on the greens. I haven't been out there but someone said the greens are pretty soft. Obviously this golf course will be really low if it's like that.

Q. Does it concern you that you're not able to get out there and play practice rounds and get your rounds going or do you feel like it's falling off a bike?

MARK HENSBY: I never really play a practice round. I'll play tomorrow. If it's a course I haven't played before, I might play, but usually if I've played the course I just play the Pro Am and that's kind of enough. You know where you're going, so it's just kind of you get to feel how the course is playing and go from there.

Q. What is your schedule, Monday off, Tuesday practice round or practice range?

MARK HENSBY: Yeah, and Wednesday Pro Am. That's pretty much it.

Q. You said you've been struggling a little bit this year. Would coming back here to the scene of last year's success be a remedy or does that really matter? Is it more about what's going on in your view?

MARK HENSBY: I think it depends on what you take out of this week. I think if I play well here and just get some confidence for next week for the British Open, you know, obviously that's you've got to take one week at a time, but that's obviously the main focus is winning a major now. That's pretty much all I want to do now in my career is win a few majors and be done.

You know, just take something positive, just play really well this week and see what happens and just go from there.

Q. With that in mind, do you regret turning down last year?

MARK HENSBY: Not really. Obviously I would have loved to have gone last year and maybe I should have went, even if I would have got there as late as I would have, but as I said, it's going to be great to play St. Andrews as my first British Open.

Q. You played very well and you said also at times you struggled. Is that difference between those two, is it more a mental thing, a confidence thing more so than a stroke play thing or a technical thing? When you do have struggles, are they more technical or mental?

MARK HENSBY: I think it comes a bit of everything. You know, technically I haven't played well I haven't been swinging the club very well this year, and I know what I'm kind of doing wrong but I've had trouble fixing it. It's hard to play when you know you've got a little flaw in there and it comes out once in a while, and it's difficult. But at times it's been good this year and I've played well, but most of the time it's been a bit of a struggle.

But thankfully my short game has been well enough to actually keep me up there and do all right.

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Thank you, sir, for dropping by.

End of FastScripts.

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