PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 13, 2001

Charles Howell III

CHARLES HOWELL: I got a few holes in today. I played 14 holes today. The golf course looks good. I've played here a few times but obviously not under these conditions with the long rough and the new tee boxes set back there pretty far, but the golf course looks good.

CHARLES HOWELL: Nobody. The best way to play. (Smiles).

CHARLES HOWELL: Sometimes I do, yeah. We all go out and play by myself, and to hit extra balls and I get a little bit more done that way. I think to play a true practice round, I like to go out by myself and chip and hit some putts and you can take your time. You can do that on Monday.

CHARLES HOWELL: I'm a lot more comfortable this week. This golf course does set up for me a lot better. U.S. Open, despite being a golf course I had played a few times, it didn't set up that well for me. It took the driver out of your hand a lot. I think I only hit two drivers per day and could have gotten away with not hitting one. Today, I've played 15 holes and I've hit driver on every tee box except the par 3, so that's a good advantage for me. Any time you get out on the golf course and you can play a lot of drivers on it, it definitely plays into my hands or a longer hitter's hands.

CHARLES HOWELL: Well, I think for anybody that knows me, I'm pretty settled. I never was on a date in high school. I went to the prom and I was forced to do that my senior year by my mother. But, no, it's been good so far. She's travelled with me the last six weeks, and it's nice to have someone there all the time, there's no question about that. I'm totally focused on my golf 101%, which is the best and the only way to be, I think, if you are going to be great. I think my focus level has risen up here the last couple of weeks, and my play has shown that.

CHARLES HOWELL: That's a funny question there. I'm definitely thinking about that. That's definitely 100% on my mind, for the Top 40 to get into Augusta. But as the rule stand right now if I were to finish Top 40, I would not be in the Masters. That is beyond me. I can't explain it, so I don't even try. That's the way the rule states right now, if I finish Top 40, I won't be in Augusta. From a theoretical sense, I could finish second every week coming up, unless I finished 10th on the Money List, I couldn't play THE TOUR Championship, either. That's the way the rule states right now, and hopefully if I were to finish Top 40, then the Masters Committee would hopefully grant me an exemption into there.

CHARLES HOWELL: I hope so. I'm from Augusta and I know Augusta National is my favorite golf course. I've made it a clear point that's the one tournament I would want to win over any other tournament in the world. Hopefully, all that stuff will weigh in positive for me. But I think so; I hope so.

CHARLES HOWELL: No, I'm definitely appreciative of the PGA. That was great. They never once made a deal about my quote/unquote unofficial status. That was never even questioned once. From last year after day one after the PGA I appeared on the Money List. It was awesome. We never had a question whether or not I was in the golf tournament. I owe a lot of that to the PGA of America. That was great. I thank them for it, too. But it will be neat playing a major in Georgia, that's for sure. Obviously, it's not Augusta, but darn sure it's a major. I'm glad to be here. I've played this golf course a few times. Hopefully, we can have a couple majors we play here in Georgia.

CHARLES HOWELL: Well, being Monday, they are still pretty quick, which most of the time on Mondays the greens are fairly slow, to be quite honest with you, even at the U.S. Open in Southern Hills. And comparing Monday to Monday at the U.S. Open, these are a little quicker and most definitely these greens can get fast. Obviously, I've only played qualifiers out here, but you can tell by the contour and slope of the green they can get pretty quick. I'm sure by Sunday afternoon, you will have guys mumbling.

CHARLES HOWELL: Oh, most definitely.

CHARLES HOWELL: I think the second most important factor is going to be accuracy. This is bermudarough, which is not very easy to play out of. The ball sits down in the bottom of it and it is hard to get it out. With the golf course being as long as it is, if you hit the ball in the rough, you are going to have a hard time hacking on the green you have 170, 180 yards out. I think the guy that drives it in the fairway this week with this length is definitely going to be up there on Sunday. Granted, short game is important every week, but I think this week puts a premium on driving accuracy, as well as distance, both of them. You can't lay back to a 2-iron, that's for sure.

CHARLES HOWELL: No.

CHARLES HOWELL: From what I can remember when I played it last, I'm pretty sure it's a driver up the right side there. You pretty much just take your chances on the driver to have a second shot into the green. I know you don't take any risk going for that green in two, if you are in some rough or if you have an iffy lie in the bunker over there. It looks like that water is going to be in play off the tee, but I couldn't tell quite how far up that water runs.

CHARLES HOWELL: Well, I learned a lot about patience. Up to that point, I had played a lot of golf tournaments and I was starting to get pretty comfortable with the tour and the atmosphere and so forth and so on. When I got to Southern Hills, it was kind of a different feeling and you could tell it was a major, just as here. There's a lot of people out here on Monday. There's a press conference on Monday. There's a lot of new things like that that separate this tournament from what you might call regulars or whatever you might want to term a non-major. But it's definitely different. I learned a lot about patience. I learned the value of a par. You see the scores that we saw last week at the Buick -- I wasn't there, but I saw them. You know, if you shoot those kind of scores here this week, I think somebody's head is going to be rolling. You just learn to value par in a major, that's for sure.

CHARLES HOWELL: No, not to go to Tour School is a huge relief, probably more than I could describe. Missing and going to Tour School last year was no fun at all. Tour School is not a place to play to have a good time or make a living, I can tell you that. It is not an enjoyable experience. I don't care what the golf course is or whatnot. No, that is a huge relief for me, and obviously for the people around me. Actually, coming here to this golf tournament, it's -- I would love to play the Masters for sure, but I'm here at the PGA now. This is a major. This is a great tournament here. I hope that I can finish off this season well if I get to a position on the Money List where I'm able to get in by virtue of that, great, and hopefully I can do it next year.

CHARLES HOWELL: Well, I'd say Tiger Woods and all square going into 18 and me birdieing 18 to win. That would be perfect in my mind. But for that matter, it could be anybody, as long as I win, for the perfect scenario.

CHARLES HOWELL: That was quite an experience there. I remember I bogeyed the 11th hole the last rounds to go into -- really I thought I had shot myself out of the golf tournament. I believe I was six shots back at the time, and coming in, birdied six of the last seven to get to the playoff so I was on a roll there. Then I go to the playoff and I think I went too fast on everything. It seems to me, how I can remember every shot I can hit the last round, and it seems that those shots I hit in the playoff just went a little bit quick. What I learned from that was just to kind of take my time. If I had to do it again, I would probably sit on the 18th tee just a little bit longer. Maybe try to picture the shot I'm playing trying to play the way I want to play the hole. I think those are just things that you learn. Obviously, I've had a third place finish before that, but I was never in a playoff for that. Shigeki is a great player; and probably the one person you would want to lose to, it would be him. He's always smiling. That definitely gave him a reason to smile there, but, no, if I had to do it again, I would probably slow down a little bit more.

CHARLES HOWELL: Well, had I won Milwaukee, I don't think it probably would have changed a whole lot coming into here. Granted I would have had a Tour exemption under my belt and whatnot, but I don't think it would have helped a whole lot coming into here. In my mind I did still tie for first, even though I did lose the playoff. When it comes to just the 72-hole scoring, I did tie there. Shigeki played a great 18th-hole playoff on me. He made birdie; and anytime you can birdie a hole especially under pressure to win a tournament, I don't think it is unrealistic. I am 22 years old, but like I said before, I feel like I'm 22 going on 30 now. Playing for over a year out here grows you up quick. It might be 22 on my driver's license, but I don't think I act like most 22-year-olds do. Tiger won the Masters when he was 21; I don't think it is realistic at all. I think the game is changing a lot. I think the younger players are more prepared to win. I think they are trained better to win. So because of that, I don't think it is unrealistic to see a young player win.

CHARLES HOWELL: It definitely plays into my hands, changing golf courses to make them longer. If a bunker is 270 yards to carry and pull the tee back to 290 yards, I can just carry and that just eliminated 40 or 50 others guys that cannot carry. So there is definitely a trend in golf to build the tee boxes back and so forth and so on. The changes at the Masters, those are fine, if you want to make the golf course longer. I don't like to see Augusta National ever change. I'm probably bias because of that. You could change any other golf course in the world; it could not bother me, but that one. Just the fact that you can compare record books whether the golf course is 6,900 yards or whatever they are going to make it, you are still going to have a guy shoot 1-under or 2-under or whatever they shoot; they are still going to be a winner. I consider Augusta National hallowed ground, almost. But on the same hand, make them as long as you want to, I don't mind.

CHARLES HOWELL: I fall into a category under past champions and special temporary members. I am able to get into a couple of events, my number falls behind 150 from last year's Money List. I'll get into some of them on that and the rest of them, sponsors' exemption. From here, I'm going to play next week in Reno, and then the following week at Air Canada in Vancouver; and after that I'm going to have to decide what my schedule is going to be. My goal this year is Rookie of the Year this year, so I have to play a certain amounts of events from the time I joined the Tour, which is Memorial, which is 15 events from that time forward. I know I'm playing this week and the following two after that, and then we'll see after that.

CHARLES HOWELL: No, there's not any jealousies there. David and I played against each other for a long time. It is great to see him win. I think him winning just gives me confidence so that I can do it. And, you know, I've been really consistent all year long. I've had a lot of really top finishes. I've had chances to win a lot of golf tournament this is year. Even last year, I had a chance to win John Deere, and this year I've had a chance to win quite a few of my last six events here. I've been playing really consistent, which has been good to see, which is what it's about out here. You play 26, 27 events out here and consistency pays off. You see a lot of that in guys like Scott Hoch. A lot of players like him, Phil Mickelson, it's unbelievable the level they play each week. That means a lot to me there, and hopefully if I don't win, I can still contend a lot the rest of this year. So that will hold some ground, but still try to win one.

CHARLES HOWELL: Oh, it does for sure. When I was being recruited by managers, I read an article that Justin Leonard had quoted in there that it was the best thing that he had ever done in golf up to that time -- that was before the British Open. He'll probably change his mind now. It's hard to do, not easy to tee it up in your first events and knowing you have seven events to make X amounts of dollars and it is right in front of you. The hardest event was the Kemper Open knowing I had to make $9,800. It sounds really easy, but had it been 50,000 or 60,000, it probably would have been easier, knowing it is just not: Make a cut, make a cut. But it has definitely been an honor, to be compared with those guys in any sort of way was an honor, to do something very similar to what they have done has been great.