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JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

July 11, 2004

Mark Hensby

SILVIS, ILLINOIS

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Mark Hensby, congratulations on winning the 2004 John Deere Classic in a very exciting playoff with John Morgan. Maybe just talk about your thoughts. Congratulations on your first PGA TOUR victory and winning $684,000, a great week for you, and you also had a Top 10 last week at the Cialis Western Open, so a great two weeks for you.

MARK HENSBY: The week before the Western Open I had Fluff caddy for me, and at the Booz Allen I was playing so well, and he just said to me, "You're playing so good, just don't worry about this week and go get 'em next week," and obviously last week I played nicely, and then this week I kind of rolled on from that.

It's been good. I felt like I played really well earlier in the year and obviously didn't win but felt like I was close, and then went through a rough spot after I finished 2nd at Atlanta. I started to put too much pressure on myself, started to try a little bit too hard. I had a month there where I didn't play well, and the last month has been good.

Q. Obviously you've won a couple other titles in this state, but can you talk about winning this one and progressing up the ladder so to speak?

MARK HENSBY: Yeah. I mean, Illinois has been great, as I said out there earlier. I won the State Amateur over here, which was probably my first big amateur tournament I ever won, and to win obviously a PGA TOUR event in Illinois is pretty special, too, because this is kind of where I got my career started, in the United States, in Illinois.

It's a dream come true to win on the PGA TOUR but obviously to win in Illinois, that's extra special, too.

Q. How did you end up here as an amateur?

MARK HENSBY: There were some people from Australia that -- well, I didn't know so well, that lived in Chicago, so they just helped me out, let me stay with them for a while when I first came over.

Q. What made you want to come over here as an amateur rather than as a pro?

MARK HENSBY: Well, good question. I don't know. I've never really had the funds to turn pro back when I was 21, 22, but I saved up to come over and see what it was all about, see how I'd do in the amateur tournaments and then turned pro after that, so that's kind of how it happened.

Q. Why not turn pro and play in Australia?

MARK HENSBY: I never wanted to play down there really. I shouldn't say that. I just felt like my game, the way I played, was more suited to the United States, and growing up watching TV in the United States -- I should say watching TV in Australia, I just thought I really had this dream to come over here and play, so I just figured I'd go the opposite way around.

Most guys turn pro in Australia and come over here. I did it backwards.

Q. I noticed on the scoreboard you finished with ten straight pars, a very steady performance, like eight in regulation, I'm counting the playoff, but do you feel like that's the kind of player you are, the steadier she goes, course management type of player?

MARK HENSBY: Honestly I like courses that are tougher like Cog Hill, like last week. I shouldn't say a little tougher, but where you don't have to shoot low numbers to win. I feel like I can usually get it in play and make a few pars. But coming down the stretch, it was funny, I was trying to make birdies, but I made some decisions that were I think right decisions but just didn't come off. You obviously have to play aggressive, but I knew I had a two-shot lead and then I looked on the board -- I looked down 18 and I saw John Morgan running around the 18th green, and I was like, well, that must have been something special, and that's when I first looked at the board and saw, uh-oh, he'd made that to go to 16, so I've got to do something.

Q. If you could talk about your decision not to go to the British Open and probably in essence help make John's dream come true, to go back almost where he came from and go play?

MARK HENSBY: Well, it's a pretty easy decision really. I mean, I just don't feel like I could go over there and play my best golf, traveling tomorrow. I mean, it's just -- I'm would get there Tuesday night, have one practice round and tee it up. I mean, first of all, I've traveled all over the world and I know it's just not that easy to climatize yourself, so it was really a no-brainer.

Last week if I had have gotten in position I would have taken this week off and went over early, which now I'm glad I didn't obviously, so yeah. I feel pretty good inside that I actually gave John the position because obviously he's from there and it's a dream for him to play in that. He can thank me later (laughter).

Q. What does that mean for next year? What if you qualify for the British Open next year? Do you come early and defend here or not?

MARK HENSBY: I will, but the fact is that I'll have more time on my hands to go over there and at least maybe play a couple tournaments previous and then come back here and defend and just go and hopefully not have any rain delays.

As I said, it's not so much the point that -- obviously I could go and play, but I've never played over there. I've never played a course like that. I don't feel like I could get ready in one day for a tournament. It's a major and it's a pretty tough test.

Q. Are you at all surprised that you've accomplished what you've accomplished in this half a year on the PGA TOUR?

MARK HENSBY: I guess early in the year I was kind of surprised how I was playing, but then again, you know, I've seen so many guys in the last two years win tournaments out here that I know that I've played on the Nationwide Tour and other tours, so you just eventually feel like, okay, if they can win out here, I feel like I can, too.

I think I've matured so much more in my golf attitude, not so much my game. It's just the attitude about -- that's why I think I've played so well this year.

Q. You were not an overnight success. It seems like you've been building toward this for at least all this year and probably before that. Talk about your steady growth as a golfer and as a competitor.

MARK HENSBY: Yeah, I think where I grew up from, we just -- it was hard because I was really the only kid that played golf. All my friends played rugby and everything. I took a sport up that not many people played in Australia, and it's taken a long time, but where I'm from, if you knew where I was from, I'm not like Stuart Appleby and Robert Allenby and all the other strains who have been brought up a little bit different, who pretty much had help their whole life, where I kind of did it the backward way a little bit.

I know, I've just eventually grown on everything that I've done. I've just worked hard, and you just never give up. When I say that, I don't mean never give up on a game of golf, but never give up on a dream that you can keep getting better and better. I just kept working. I must admit a lot of times you don't believe you can get to where you want to go, but then other times you feel like you can.

I dream about it a lot, and I read books about sports psychology and just -- it's funny, I dreamed a lot about holding up a trophy and even just picturing it and picturing shots, and it's definitely helped.

Q. Have you felt this coming on in the last 6 or 12 months particularly in this season, this year? Have you felt yourself moving toward victory?

MARK HENSBY: Yeah, once I won on the Nationwide last year, I beat Zach in playoff, I played extremely well towards the end of the year, and I knew if I could keep that momentum going into this year I would do all right. Yeah, I really felt like I was just playing really well, and it just kept on.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about the second playoff hole? Obviously you put your shot on the green, and then just to watch John go through that? Obviously he put himself in that position with that awkward tee shot, but just to see his struggles and just to know -- you had to know you were pretty much going to have a two-putt to win?

MARK HENSBY: Yeah, because you're always trying to hole puts, and when he does what he did, it was like I knew I had two putts. He hit that shot off the tee, and I was like, well, that's in the water. I thought it was definitely left of the hazard, and it kind of took a nice bounce but then he didn't have much of a stance.

Then when I saw him hit that shot in the bunker, well -- the thing is in a playoff, you never know because guys do some strange stuff in playoffs. When he hit that bunker shot, I thought he made it because when it was coming around it had just a bit too much speed, otherwise he probably would have made it. I figured I could lag that putt up there, and it's hard to two-putt from 20 feet because sometimes you're trying to make a putt. Obviously when I got it up to --

Q. What club did you use on 16?

MARK HENSBY: 9-iron.

Q. If you could talk about your approach to today, obviously you started strong and you were close to the lead going into the round, but Jose was playing well. Did you feel like you had to come out and attack? You're even wearing the Tiger Woods Sunday color.

MARK HENSBY: Someone said that earlier. Actually I didn't realize. Honestly I thought I had to shoot 8-under to have a chance, it was just as simple as that, because the scoring was so good this week. I told my brother, "I'm going to shoot 8-under," and I got five birdies on the front nine and made a bogey on 9, but I just -- honestly I never thought I had much of a chance if he played well, but I knew, not only that, but there was so many players in between me at 10- and 11-under. Any given day anyone can shoot a low score, so I just figured if I shot 7- or 8-under I'd be right there. But as it turned out, it didn't have to be that way.

Q. Talk about 18. I mean, you left it in the bunker. What were you thinking knowing you had to get up-and-down?

MARK HENSBY: Well, I wasn't really thinking much. I mean, it was a hard shot, don't get me wrong. My short game is probably the best or one of the best short games I feel like out here when it's around the greens. There's not too many times -- in fact, you give me a harder shot, most times I'll get it up-and-down. I figured, okay, if I can hit a good bunker shot here and get into a playoff, that's kind of what I was thinking.

Q. You knew the putt was okay, you put a good stroke on it?

MARK HENSBY: I felt like it was a good putt.

Q. Was it a mistake from the fairway?

MARK HENSBY: Definitely. I took too much club instead of just taking a full 7. Stuart hit a 7-iron and I thought his ball was short of the hole, but that's just inexperience really.

Q. Can you talk about the times you were living in the car? Did you qualify for this tournament at that time?

MARK HENSBY: Actually, no. Actually this is the first ever Tour event I played in. No, Milwaukee might have been. I Monday qualified for this event, but I think I had lived here a couple years at that time.

Q. When did you live in the car?

MARK HENSBY: That was my first year out here. After about six months, the people who I stayed with moved back to Australia. I wouldn't say I lived in it. I mean, I slept in it (laughter).

Q. How long was that?

MARK HENSBY: You can't have a shower in your car. I mean, I slept in it.

Q. What kind of car was it?

MARK HENSBY: Some car I can't even pronounce. It was a junker. It was like a Scorpio Merkur or something.

Q. For how long?

MARK HENSBY: Oh, it was between like probably a month and a month and a half.

Q. Go back to 17. Do you feel like when you play that hole -- I don't know whether you were playing your bank shots --

MARK HENSBY: No.

Q. Is that the kind of thing where you say, this is my day, you hit it twice and they both end up in the middle?

MARK HENSBY: You never really think it's your day, but the first one was, like, I overdid it. It's a funny tee shot, you've got to hook it a little bit, and I overdid it. Then the second shot surprised the hell out of me. I think I hit a 3-iron, which I don't usually hit more than 15 yards in the air. I hit it so pure it kept floating up. I obviously got a nice break. It kind of scooted forward.

But that third shot wasn't easy, either. You're standing there with the ball below your feet and you can't miss it right. I felt like once I hit that shot, I was all right.

Q. It seems like you had a tough background when you talk about you didn't come up like Stuart and Robert.

MARK HENSBY: I grew up from a background with not a lot of money and not much help, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I think you appreciate it more this way. I mean, in America it seems on Tour that most of the kids come out of country clubs or have had financial backing behind you, which you do need with golf, but I mean, I definitely wouldn't have it any other way. This is more rewarding to me knowing that I did a lot of it myself. Obviously you need breaks here and there and you need help here and there. But I really will never forget where I came from.

Q. Obviously I can almost assume you like this course. What do you think of this course? Is this a really nice all-around test of golf? Your thoughts on the TPC at Deere Run.

MARK HENSBY: Obviously when you play soft like this you're going to see the scores the way they are. I heard people complain about how wide the fairways are and that, but that's only because they're playing so soft. You get the fairways firm, there's a lot of runoffs where you've got to hit your shot on a certain side of the fairway. That's what a lot of players don't understand is when you're playing it soft there's going to be low scores, but if you play this place firm, if you get to double digits, I think it would be a good score. It depends on the conditions how the course is going to play.

I read somewhere where Scott Hoch said it's just a country club and that and that and whatever, but if you miss the fairway this week on firm fairways, you were going to struggle with firm greens to even get it on the greens. It's unfortunate that it's rained as much as it has in the last couple months here.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: If we could touch on your round and we'll take one or two final questions. You came out of the gate with five birdies in your first eight holes.

MARK HENSBY: No. 1, I hit a 3-wood, 9-iron to about four feet.

2, I hit driver, 3-iron to about 15 feet, two-putted.

6, I hit 3-iron, pitching wedge to four feet.

7, par 3, 8-iron to ten feet.

8 was a driver and a pitching wedge to five feet.

Only bogey of the day, 9, driver, 3-iron and just pulled it left and didn't get it up-and-down.

Birdie on 11, hit 3-wood and a pitching wedge to about four feet.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Then talk about 17. I think your drive hit some trees but kind of bounced back in the fairway but way back though.

MARK HENSBY: Yeah, way back, and I tried to hit 3-iron under the branch and it kind of clipped it. It didn't hit it solid but it kind of hit on the bottom of it and kept it shooting forward, but if it would have been a couple inches higher, it would have come straight back at me.

Q. But you still gave yourself a pretty good birdie opportunity as it turned out?

MARK HENSBY: Yeah, I thought I hit a pretty good putt that just didn't turn.

Q. You were aware of your position on the back nine. I mean, when did you feel like "I'm in this thing"? How much leaderboard watching did you do?

A. I looked at the leaderboard on the short par 4 down the hill, 13, and I saw I had like a one- or two-shot lead, and then I was aware that I was hitting it, and then I didn't look at it again until 17, and then I knew I was in it all right.

Q. You said you dreamed of holding the trophy and thinking about it. Is it everything you dreamed of?

MARK HENSBY: Oh, definitely. Obviously it hasn't quite sunk in yet, but I think it's so rewarding after all the struggles that you go through in this game, and we all work so hard to get to this point, and obviously for it to happen is obviously very special.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Mark Hensby, congratulations.

End of FastScripts.

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