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BOOZ ALLEN CLASSIC

June 27, 2004

Charles Howell III

POTOMAC, MARYLAND

JOHN BUSH: We'd like to welcome Charles Howell into the interview room.

Charles, thank you for stopping by for a few minutes. 6 under par 65, I know you came up a little short, but you gave it quite a run on the back nine there today.

CHARLES HOWELL III: Yeah, it was close. Starting as far back as I did today, it's nice to play golf with nothing to lose. That's the mentality that I had. I knew it was going to take a great round for me and take a little bit of help from Adam, and it looks like it got pretty darned close there for a bit. I think I got within one, maybe two of him. It got close. He obviously made the birdies when he had to.

JOHN BUSH: Speaking of birdies, if we can, let's go through your card.

CHARLES HOWELL III: No. 1, I hit a driver and a wedge to about ten feet. Made birdie there.

No. 2, driver and a 3 wood, pin high, just right of the green. Got up and down from about 40 yards; holed about a 4 foot putt for birdie there.

Birdie at No. 11. A sand wedge par 3 to about 15 feet, made that for birdie.

12, 5 wood, 9 iron to about 20 feet. Holed that for birdie.

13 was a par 5. 3 wood, 7 iron just right of the green, chipped to maybe ten feet. Holed that for birdie.

14, I led off of the tee with a 5 iron, L wedge to about ten feet and made that for birdie.

15, drive and an 8 iron to about 15 feet; and that would be a 3 footer 8 iron for Johnny Miller's benefit, to about 15 feet and holed that one.

Then 17, I 3 putted 17 from the left side of the green. Missed a par putt from about eight feet.

Q. What did you hit on No. 17?

CHARLES HOWELL III: You know, the tee shot at 17, I was in between a 6 and a 7 iron there, and with the very front right flag, you know, I wanted to hit the 7 iron. I knew I was taking a chance with that club but I had to make two. That was I felt the only chance I had, and I just pulled it. I obviously hit the ball solid. I just pulled it there. Yeah, that's just one of the chances there where, once again, you've got nothing to lose.

Yeah, it was just in fact, the wind did actually come around to be a perfect 7 iron shot. I just pulled it. Nothing else to say, just a pulled shot.

Q. Five straight birdies is unusual enough. Have you ever done it before anywhere coming down the stretch of a tournament where you had a chance to win?

CHARLES HOWELL III: You know, when I shot 61 on Thursday and had a few in a row there. But that was under, obviously, a much different situation.

Coming from behind like this, no. I've had four in a row at the Greater Milwaukee Open, the year that I lost to Shigeki in a playoff. I birdied 15, 16, 17, 18 to catch him and lost to him in a playoff. I've had four; I haven't had five.

I had a great chance on 16 as well for another putt. I hit a good putt there, just misread it. I haven't had five, no.

Q. You may not have seen either, but Adam got a couple of breaks when he hit one on 13, reached the green in two and took a great bounce, and another he hit way left. Did you see any of the trouble or any of the breaks he got?

CHARLES HOWELL III: I didn't see anything. I did look at the scoreboard a couple of times to see how close I was getting to him. And then clearly, with three holes to go, I wanted to know how I stood. That's obvious. Had he kept making birdies as he did, it's a little different story. But had he made a bogey or two in there, coming down, it's a bit different. I didn't see the stuff. I was hearing things yelled from the crowd, but I never saw anything what he was doing, no.

Q. Have you two guys ever had a duel down the stretch anywhere, or is this the first of maybe many in the next 15 years?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, we played against each other in the Presidents Cup in the individual matches down in South Africa earlier this year. But that Presidents Cup match was the first time professionally we've played head to head against each other.

Q. When you're having a finish like that and trying to catch someone, if you had your druthers, would you rather be in the same group to keep a closer tab or is it easier being a group ahead?

CHARLES HOWELL III: No, I actually would rather have been the group in front of him like I was, because the best I could do was keep him wondering what I was doing. To make him have to hear roars when you hole birdie putts and wonder if it's my putt or if it's Aaron's putt, that's the best I can do is make him wonder.

If you're in the group with him, it then becomes a match play situation and shot for shot changes. But when you're ahead of him, you can't tell what the other person does until the entire hole is over. So, no, I like the group I was in; I just didn't like how far back I was.

Q. Did you think he was going to have to make a big number somewhere for you to catch him, or did you think you could do it with birdies?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Sure, I thought he was going to have to make a big number, sure. Starting out the day as far back as I was, and I believe I was seven back at the turn. But I still didn't know the back nine here, although it can give up a bit of birdies, it can also give up some trouble. You have water on quite a few holes and then the finish is not easy, as well. I would have loved to have been within one with two holes to play, with these two holes here. You know, unfortunately I wasn't, but that was my goal.

Q. Do you have any what ifs, with the kind of mediocre day you had yesterday?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Oh, sure. I've got what ifs that go 25 years long. I can go down a long list of those. Unfortunately we can't change those. I'm sure everybody in this field has enough what ifs to last you guys more paper than you've got.

Sure, I look back to bogeying my last two holes yesterday, and I also look back to shooting 2 under par on Friday morning teeing off at 7:40 with a good chance to shoot really low. Those are the two things, sure. But no, I could go on for years.

Q. You look at the two tournaments Sergio has won this year, Adam has won a couple of times, and again late last year you played well in a number of events. Do you feel like that group of younger players is on the verge of becoming more prominent on the Tour?

CHARLES HOWELL III: I think we're getting closer. I think in 2002 when I think we had 18 first time winners and everybody jumped on the Young Guns, so to speak, wagon, maybe a bit prematurely. Well, obviously then right after that is that obviously something got Vijay's attention and he started winning a bunch and other guys and you didn't have any young players win last year barring maybe once or twice.

I think we are getting there. There's still something to be said for experience, learning your own game, learning your own recipe for success, so to speak. We've got plenty of talent, I know, and that's speaking across the board for a lot of younger players. There's plenty of guys, and even guys you haven't mentioned such as David Gossett and Bryce Molder, Aaron Baddeley, there's loads of them. And it's just a matter of every one of us find what makes each other play well and then going from there and that's obviously what the other players have done.

Q. You waited around to watch Adam finish, and then I saw you say something to him. Could you tell us why you did that and what did you say to him?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Oh, well, you know, Adam and I have been friends or a long time. He played college golf at UNLV. I played at Oklahoma State and we played against each other there. Yeah, so, we've known each other for quite a long time.

What I said to him, I said, "Great playing," because it was. You know, I obviously felt that I was making him sweat a little bit, and then he comes back with two birdies in a row. So that's awesome stuff there. That's what you want to do. I just said "great playing" to him because we are friends. I'd like to be friends with him for a long time, knowing that we are going to be playing a lot against each other in the years to come.

Q. When did you know for certain it was over?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, when I got down on 17 green, and I was 18 under before I putted, I think he was at 22, and then obviously, I mean, unless he I don't know, unless he breaks a leg coming in, he's going to win the golf tournament.

You know, obviously I gave the putt on 17, a run for birdie trying to hole that one because you never know what's going to happen. But, yeah, for all intents and purposes, well, 17 green, yeah.

Q. What do you think Tiger is going to say about your performance this weekend?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Not good enough. (Laughter.) He doesn't think too good of second.

JOHN BUSH: Thanks for coming by. Great playing this week.

End of FastScripts.

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