DORAL-RYDER OPEN

March 6, 1998

Tim Herron

TIM HERRON: I played pretty consistent, played the par-5s well. I hit in quite a few bunkers today off the fairway, but I putted well. I recovered out of the bunkers, had a few long leg putts and two putts. My putting is getting better, need to start driving a little better. It's hard to fit it in some of these holes with crosswinds and things like that.

TIM HERRON: I didn't even think about it, until you brought it up. AT&T you kind of just put behind you a little bit and kind of think of it as a bonus, I guess, going back there for me. So I'm just trying to play golf, trying to play well on the Florida swing.

TIM HERRON: It's always nice for you to have it back there just to say I have an opportunity to make some more money on the West Coast.

TIM HERRON: Hopefully it's a good thing. I like Florida. I'm playing all four events this year in Florida, I just like Florida. I like the wind a little bit and the condition of the golf courses. It's good conditions.

TIM HERRON: It was about the same. I think it died down a little later in the day, actually, coming in. There's a few holes where it gets sheltered where you think it's going to die down and you get out in an open spot and it starts whipping. A good example is 13, it always feels like it's dead there. You kind of have to play -- 12 and 13 you kind of feel like it's dead, because they have that shelter right there and then you get back out and it's still whipping.

TIM HERRON: Yeah, a hair off -- yeah, it's about the same direction. It might be cornering a little different.

TIM HERRON: Yeah, I missed the cut last year.

TIM HERRON: I think it's a better course. I think it's a hard golf course. It gives you -- the problem with me is that I hit a lot of drivers out here, where if I hit it good, I can carry the bunker. If I hit it a little thin, then I'm in the lip of the bunker. If you're kind of back in the bunkers you're all right, it's when you start getting into the lip, where you can get some problems. But all in all it's a good golf course. It seems like every hole, though, is meant to be played downwind, it would be an easier course if it was downwind, every hole. It really narrows up, like 8, you don't realize it's a hard driving hole. If you hit it mediocre you have an easy layup, but if you hit it good and get in the lip then you have to layup with a 9-iron and you're a 3-iron in. It's a little different out of the rough, where you can chase it down the fairway a bit. There's pros and cons.

TIM HERRON: No, I think I'm a fairly streaky putter, I holed a lot of putts today and I had great speed. That's what I've been working on. I'm either holing a lot of putts or missing a ton of putts. I think I like the greens down here, the Bermuda or the overseed, which are the next three weeks. I like the greens and hope for some good tournaments up to come, too.

TIM HERRON: Yeah, what do you think? Does it look like it?

TIM HERRON: Yeah. No, not at all. I've been called worse, let's put it that way.

TIM HERRON: Yeah, the cookies out here are too good. I can't just have one, I have to have two or three. Doug Martin always says he's just going to have one.

TIM HERRON: I've got to look at it. I made birdie on 1. I hit a driver, 3-iron, kind of ran it up the middle and 2-putted from about 20 feet. And par, par. Then 5, I made birdie. I hit it up into the lip in 5 off the tee, hit a great wedge shot. I had like 93 yards, and it went straight up in the air, I don't know how it got over the bunker, and had about a 15-footer there. And then 8, I decided to layup both days, actually, but hit a little sand wedge from about 80 yards, about 15 feet below the hole, and made it for birdie. And then I was playing with Steve Stricker on 9, had about a 12-footer there, kind of got a read from him and made that putt.

TIM HERRON: On 9, I just chipped a little five iron in there. I think it was 161.

TIM HERRON: Straight into it, yeah. 10, I hit 1-iron off the tee, 3-iron to the green and made a great 2-putt there, from about 80 feet, just kind of back right over the ridge. Then I played solid. I hit it in a few bunkers and played solid from there on out, knocked it on the ground, I don't remember chipping. I don't think I hit every green, though.

TIM HERRON: Nope. Well, yeah, I did on 11. I made about an 8-footer for par there. I hit it in the right bunker, got it up-and-down.

TIM HERRON: I don't know. I don't think anyone is going to run away with it this afternoon. The greens kind of get a little firm and crusty in the afternoon and it is the PGA TOUR, so you never know. Furyk I think shot right around 10-under today, which is pretty phenomenal.

TIM HERRON: Right.

TIM HERRON: No, not at all. You've got to go play the course. You're going to get some good breaks out here, and bad breaks, depending on the wind.

TIM HERRON: No, not really. It's the first two days, you kind of want to get yourself into position and see how it goes on the weekend, depends how it plays on the weekend. If the wind dies down a little bit, then you make more birdies. If it comes, up you can play a little more conservative, and play the middle of the greens. It depends. Kind of like these two days, you don't want to shoot yourself in the foot and make a big number. And with 17 and 18, a lot of these holes you can make a big number and sit there all day.

TIM HERRON: Whatever Mother Nature gives us is what you have to deal with. It doesn't really matter to me, I guess.