THE HONDA CLASSIC

March 9, 2001

John Huston

JOHN HUSTON: I got off to a little bit of a slow start, but, you know, I got it around, birdieing, I think 8 was a big birdie for me, and then I birdied 9. But I think that it played a lot tougher today, because the wind is in the opposite direction, and I think it is a tougher wind for this course. It blew a little bit harder today than it did yesterday.

JOHN HUSTON: I haven't been playing very well lately. I've been kind of struggling lately. I played last week, but I missed the cut -- I mean, I made the cut, but I didn't play very well. But, before that, I had not played a lot. So I'm kind of just getting started back after the first -- I played the first few weeks. You know, I think maybe I'm just kind of playing my way into it.

JOHN HUSTON: I think that, yeah, it's an advantage. I think that I'm used to playing in the wind and certainly, I think the greens are a big factor. I feel very comfortable on these greens, and I don't -- I don't usually play a lot of the California tournaments, just because of that reason. I think that's why most of the Florida guys do well when they come back here is basically because of the greens.

JOHN HUSTON: I think somewhere around -- at the turn it started blowing pretty good. Maybe after about ten or 11 holes. When we turned back to come back the last five holes into the wind, it was blowing pretty strong.

JOHN HUSTON: Yeah, I birdied the last two holes. Actually, 17 was playing downwind, but the other ones played -- the two par 5s, 14 and 16 were easily reachable yesterday and I couldn't get there today.

JOHN HUSTON: No. I think you try to still stay aggressive, because you know you still have to keep making birdies. But you know you just hit different types of shots and the wind starts blowing. Take a little more club and try not to balloon the ball in the wind.

JOHN HUSTON: No, not really. I think there will be probably one or two guys that will get to double figures or under.

JOHN HUSTON: It will be tough. There's some harder pins today, too. There's some pins on a couple of the par 3s that are tough to get to. But I think that probably there will be one or two guys that will probably get 10- or 11-under.

JOHN HUSTON: Yeah, I think about it. But I haven't come up with any answers. I wish I knew, because when it's bad, it's pretty bad.

JOHN HUSTON: When it's good --

JOHN HUSTON: Yeah.

JOHN HUSTON: No. That would be a pull-time job for him if he started talking to me.

JOHN HUSTON: No, because I think everybody knows what someone in that profession is going to tell you without them telling you. I mean, everybody knows what you're supposed to say to yourself and think and how you're supposed to do everything. You know, you have to actually feel it, too. You can say what you want to say, "I'm going to hit every shot good," but you have to feel it. So, no, I really haven't -- haven't put a lot of stock in that. But that's just me. It seems to have helped a lot of guys.

JOHN HUSTON: That's amazing. No question. That's amazing. I can't even remember when I was 16; I would have had no chance. But it seems like there's a lot of the kids who are getting better younger. There's a lot of really good young players. You know, I don't know what to attribute that to. Probably better coaching and a lot of -- a lot of the kids you know, go to like a Leadbetter Academy or something like that. But didn't have that 20 years ago.

JOHN HUSTON: Is that right?

JOHN HUSTON: It seems that way. It seems like it's -- but golf is kind of a funny thing. You know, players get to a certain level. You know, a lot of the guys that were really good in Junior golf when I was playing are not playing anymore. So they kind of hit a level. But definitely, I think it is a big advantage to go through something like that, to get better younger. They certainly know how to play. I had no clue until I got out here. I was still learning how to play when I got out here.

JOHN HUSTON: Oh, yeah. Some junior tournaments, but not -- I wasn't traveling around like a lot of these kids are now.

JOHN HUSTON: I can't imagine. It's probably a lot easier here because it is a little more forgiving. There's not a lot of penalty strokes and you can kind of get around here. So it might be a little easier here. But still, that's amazing to play that good at that young of an age.

JOHN HUSTON: I would have never been ranked high enough to be ranked anything.

JOHN HUSTON: Like I said, this course is a little more forgiving, and I'm hitting it a little bit better. But it is -- you know, if you don't hit a perfect drive, you still, most of the time, will have a shot here. Whereas, like last week -- last week's a pretty tough driving course, and whoever is driving it well is going to do well there.

JOHN HUSTON: I don't know, I think you get on a little bit of a roll. You see some putts going in and you feel like you're going to make them all. I think it is probably more of a rhythm thing, and, you know, a good feel for the speed of the greens.

JOHN HUSTON: Well, you try to do it, but it just comes and goes. It does with everybody, to a certain extent, and that's why the better players are the better players is because they don't have near as bad of penalties. And I've gotten a lot better. In the last five year, I haven't missed near as many cuts as I used to. I still don't play as consistently at the top as I would like to, but a lot more consistently than when I first came out.

JOHN HUSTON: Just the experience and knowing how to get it around, when you're not playing your best and you're not making a lot of big mistakes. Not making doubles and high numbers. Keeping yourself in the game.

JOHN HUSTON: Well, I don't know if you can say that. But certainly, there's a lot better chance once you get off to a good start. You'll notice that the guys that seem to play well the first day, most of the time will have a good week, even if they don't win or finish in the Top 3 or so. They still -- you know, I think it is very important, momentum, and getting off to a good start out here.