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BUICK INVITATIONAL

January 23, 2005

Charles Howell III

LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA

Q. Charles, have you ever seen a finish like that?

CHARLES HOWELL III: No, and I've watched a lot of Golf Channel. I've watched a lot of old highlight videos and I've never seen that before. I've seen Corey Pavin knock a few in the hole that stayed, but I've never seen or done anything like that.

Q. You hit a shot under the pressure, when you have a chance to win the tournament that well, what were you thinking after it happened?

CHARLES HOWELL III: I got out there and it was 95 yards. It was a perfect three quarter sand wedge. It couldn't have been a better yardage to drive it in the bunker, to leave with such a good number, that's pretty accessible with a back stop back there. I knew I hit the shot perfect. I knew it was going to be the right distance. And then to hit the hole and go into the water, I didn't have whether to laugh or cry.

Q. 64 in the third round last week, you tied for third. 64 in the third round this week, you're going to be in the top 5 probably. Talk about your game

CHARLES HOWELL III: I don't know. I'm kind of tired of setting these high goals every year when you start, because I think I've found that if you meet them you feel you're supposed to, and when you don't, you're frustrated. I'm just trying to play golf every day for 18 holes and see where it takes me. I've worked a lot on my short game. I've worked a lot on my wedges. I need to work on the spinning out of the hole into the water. I'll tackle that next week.

Q. Do you think they should have stopped play at all today? Did you want them to stop play?

CHARLES HOWELL III: I thought a couple of times they should have stopped play, for sure. There were a few times out there I thought it was a bit suspect that we were out there. I called for a ruling on the 17th tee there because we couldn't see 50 yards.

Teeing off on the 16th hole, the par 3, I couldn't see the flag. I know the hole is 230, but we could see maybe 180 yards. You couldn't see the flag at all. I guess it was the same for everybody. There were a few times it was a little bit suspect.

Q. You didn't have a shot to go for the green in two anyway because of your drive?

CHARLES HOWELL III: I drove it in the left bunker, so I was laying up. Honestly, the way the hole was playing and being a bit damp, it was a 3 shot hole anyway. Knowing that flag front to left, there are a lot of birdies there. It gives up a lot of birdies with that backstop. I knew it was a pretty accessible pin. No, I never had a chance to go for it in two.

Q. Had you had anything like that happen before? Obviously you've hit the stick before.

CHARLES HOWELL III: I've never even seen that on old videos, no. I'm young, I'm 25. Maybe I've got a few more.

Q. That could have been a big chip in?

CHARLES HOWELL III: That was a 54 degree wedge I hit from the fairway. It tried to go in the hole the first time. My caddy, Brendan said, "What do you want to chip this with?" I said, "Might as well give it a chance to go in the hole again," and it did.

It was weird. I moved up in the fairway a couple yards once I dropped it. I didn't want to hit a easy shot so I moved up in the fairway to hit a more forward lob wedge in there. I don't know. It's hard to imagine that ball it didn't tear the hole up either, I didn't have to repair any part of the hole. It went straight in the bottom and straight in water.

Q. The second one?

CHARLES HOWELL III: I knew the second one would stop because the rough would stop it. I was shocked on the first one, I really was. If the second one had gone in the water, it would have been par for the course. It was the first one that got me.

Q. Did you find out that Donald doubled?

CHARLES HOWELL III: I just heard afterwards.

Q. That didn't help?

CHARLES HOWELL III: No, it didn't help at all. The last four holes here are so tough, especially 15 and 16. I knew if I could post 15 under, that was our goal. Brendan and I were talking going to the 9th hole, if we could get to 15 under that would be a great day.

Q. 16 and 17?

CHARLES HOWELL III: I had great putts on those two holes. Those two easily could have gone in and just missed. But, oh, well, it's obviously a crazy game.

Q. Tonight are you going to be primal screaming or laughing?

CHARLES HOWELL III: If I wouldn't have hit another one, I would have been crying, if I could have ended the hole right there. I don't know. I've never had to deal with it before.

Q. These guys have to play on Wednesday. Obviously they want to get this thing done today.

CHARLES HOWELL III: I understand everybody wants to get it done. Heck, I don't want to be here tomorrow playing. But at the same time, you want a fair playing field. Not every hole is the same visibility. Some are great, some are completely foggy in there. Obviously they're all trying to get it done and it looks great now. I'm sitting here complaining about the fog, but now it's perfect. There were a few times out there when it was suspect.

Q. What was the key to 64?

CHARLES HOWELL III: I holed a few long putts and got under par. I think to play this course well, you need to be under par. You need to take a little bit of the pressure off. There's definitely holes out here where par is a great score. If you feel if you can get it under par somehow, it takes a bit of the pressure off. But when you're hanging on even par, like I was today, it definitely puts more pressure on you.

End of FastScripts.

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