WGC NEC INVITATIONAL

August 26, 1999

John Huston

JOHN HUSTON: Right. And I bogeyed 14.

JOHN HUSTON: It's been so long ago, I may have to get a little bit of help. I birdied the 2nd hole. I hit a 3-wood just off the fringe and chipped up about a foot. And then I birdied the 9th hole. I hit a 5-iron about 30 feet. No. 11, I hit a pitching wedge about a foot away. And then No. 14, I drove in a fairway bunker and hit it short of the green. And pitched up about 20 feet and 2-putted.

JOHN HUSTON: I think that definitely the Fred Meyer helped. I have not been playing very well at all. And, you know, I went to the Fred Meyer, and I made a lot of birdies. But still, I had plenty of holes where I had some pretty bad tee shots and stuff. But, in a format in that, and you have a partner, such as Jim Furyk, he's never out of the hole. It gave me the feeling that I was at least playing a little bit better. I didn't play great today. I made some pretty good pars. I made a really good par on the 4th hole where I had a 100-yard third shot, and I got up-and-down. But you have to try to shoot a good score. This course is so hard. If you can shoot under par every day, I think you'll have a good chance.

JOHN HUSTON: It certainly feels like a little bit of a bonus because of the limited field. And any time there's no cut, that's a pretty nice thing to have. But, you know, I think you've got to approach it the same as any other tournament, and just go out and -- I know for myself, it's always been important to get off to a good start the first day. I know if I can finish the last few holes tomorrow and get that first round with a good 2- or 3- , 4-under score, I think I'll be in good position.

JOHN HUSTON: The fairways were wet. There's a lot of -- picking up some mud on the ball, which, as long as this course is and hitting 4- or 5-iron into the green, that makes it very difficult. But, you know, being second group off, the greens were so good that if you miss a green, you felt like if you chipped it anywhere within 10 feet you had a really good chance of saving par.

JOHN HUSTON: Me, personally, being in the position that I was in, I'm on the 15th green with about a 3-footer for par. If we would have gone out just now and gone out for an hour or so, I would have been finished, and I wouldn't have had to get up early in the morning. And they could have all played in the morning, and I could have came out about 11:00 o'clock and said: What time do I play? So I would have much preferred that. But, you know, obviously it kept raining. There was lightning in the area; so, it's hard to say that we could have finished or not.

JOHN HUSTON: I probably didn't pace myself as well as I should have. I played -- probably played a little bit more just trying to make the team. And by the time of the PGA, I was just so tired of playing, and it just seemed like all the rounds were running together. I just wasn't playing very well. When you go to a course like that where you've really got to be on top of your game to play well, it just comes out and, you know, it was pretty disappointing.

JOHN HUSTON: I think it's pretty much a push, you know, to play a little bit longer. But it will also be a little bit easier to hit the fairways and to hit the greens. The greens -- the green speed, I would say before it rained, I would imagine the greens were really fast. It's slowed down the greens some, where you can be a little bit more aggressive on your putts. It's going to play a little bit longer, but it's going to be probably a little bit easier probably.

JOHN HUSTON: That could work for you or against you. If he gets off to a good start tomorrow, he'll have the chances to keep going. And certainly, I don't think fatigue is going to be a factor of someone that's 29 or however old he is. It shouldn't be, anyway.

JOHN HUSTON: There's been some wet weather up here in Ohio. But it's a shame. I'm sure the course was playing pretty fast before we got here. But still, the course is in fantastic shape. It seems to be holding the water pretty well. It wasn't like -- there was no standing water when we were playing today.

JOHN HUSTON: No. You just sit and listen to the stories and stuff. Really, there was no telling how long it was going to be.

JOHN HUSTON: I probably can't repeat it.

JOHN HUSTON: I don't know. That first one kind of blocks all the other ones out.

JOHN HUSTON: I looked at my tee time. It was a great tee time, second off. I knew that the greens were going to be really good. I knew that if I just played decent, I should be able to score well, because I am putting pretty well. But, you know, if I can just keep it in the fairway, I think I should be able to shoot some pretty good scores.

JOHN HUSTON: It can work for you or against you. You know, it just depends on how you start each time. I mean, you get out and you get off to a good start, and you can carry that momentum. But it's hard to keep the definite rhythm, especially when you're going to the range and warming up and going back into the locker room. But if you're playing well, hopefully, you can overcome all that stuff anyway.

JOHN HUSTON: Well , it would probably be -- I would have to say -- I would say Tiger, but it's too big of a crowd; so I would say Phil Mickelson. I think Phil Mickelson would be the most entertaining player to watch.

JOHN HUSTON: Just because you're liable to see anything. Not that he doesn't hit the ball great, because he does. He hits it solid, and he hits enough shots into some spots -- and he can hit some spectacular shots. There's no shot that he's afraid to hit or anything. He's a great putter. I would say he would be the most entertaining to watch.

JOHN HUSTON: Oh, I think at this point, especially the guys that are in this tournament, everybody -- if you have a chance to win, you're going to have to take it, because, you know, everybody is making pretty good money now with the purses being so high that I don't think anybody is worried about playing safe and making sure they make a good check.