NEC WORLD SERIES OF GOLF

August 21, 1997

Davis Love III

DAVIS LOVE III: Well, I think the golf course played very, very hard. It was obviously some good scores, but they all seemed to be about the same score. It was hard to get really anything going with the wind blowing and the course playing that long. I did a pretty good job of concentrating most of the day. I was a little distracted a few times and really wasn't thinking about what I was doing, but once I made a few birdies right off the bat, I got into it for a while and then kind of lost my concentration a little bit at 12. But, I got pretty good most of the day and I enjoyed the day. There was a lot of people out there congratulating me still. It was fun and it was fun playing with Ernie. He was fun to talk to and fun to play with and it was a great day. Very happy to get my first round back after all the excitement underway, and to play so well was a bonus.

DAVIS LOVE III: I think it was. I think it played pretty long, especially early. It seemed like the wind was blowing hard. The first seven holes played very, very hard and except for 2, obviously they played very, very hard, and it was hard to get off to a good start. And, if you didn't drive it in the fairway, if you didn't drive it out there pretty long, it was a real difficult golf course. That is why you didn't see a whole lot of birdies or a whole lot of good scores.

DAVIS LOVE III: A 4-iron.

DAVIS LOVE III: Well, my own thoughts were distracting me. I was, you know, thinking of all things and thinking of what things have been going on or things that were going to go on. Just distracting thoughts. Weren't really concentrating 100% on playing today's round and, you know, sometimes you could think about things in between shots and get right back to what you are doing. Ernie and I would be talking about travel plans or tournaments and the next thing you know, I would be thinking about what I was hitting. I just wasn't quite as focused as I have been, but hopefully, I have got that out of the way today and tomorrow I'll be a little sharper.

DAVIS LOVE III: I hope I don't come back down. I still feel pretty excited, still a little bit in shock and I hope all of this excitement doesn't end for a long time because it has been a lot of fun.

DAVIS LOVE III: I think this tournament always seems to separate into great players playing well here, and it is a hard tournament to win because of that, because it is a hard golf course and the best players seem to come out on a hard golf course. I think that is to be expected. I wasn't surprised to see Norman up there and wasn't be surprised to see Mickelson and Tiger. You know, this golf course kind of fits that style of golf. And, they have played -- except for Tiger -- most of the guys on the leaderboard have played here quite a few times and are used to what it takes to play well on this golf course. It is going to be a tough tournament to win. I think this is a great, great field and it will be a real battle. I think there will be a lot of guys right around the same score come Saturday night, Sunday morning.

DAVIS LOVE III: I think most everybody in this tournament played last week, so it is a great field. Obviously it is not as deep a field, but a lot of the same players, most all the same players as last week, except, you know, last week they had, I don't know, 90 of the top 100 in the world. And this one is just obviously 30 out of 40 here.

DAVIS LOVE III: They have backed up a few tees. I think, I know 14 is longer or -- 13, 14 are longer. It seems like 16 and 4, 6, seems like they are longer. The tees have been redone, so I think it is a little bit longer. Plus last year, the ball was running a little bit. So everything is going to seem like it is not going anywhere this year and it was cool out here today, too. So we kind of had it stacked against us.

DAVIS LOVE III: Good drive, middle of the fairway. 3-iron to about 40 feet. And left my putt about 8 inches short, tapped in for birdie. No. 5, a 6-iron to ten feet, made that for birdie. No. 6, drove it in the first cut of rough left, 5-iron just short of the green, probably 50 feet from the hole. Pitched up about five feet short of the hole, missed it. And No. 11, 3-wood off the tee, a pitching wedge to about twelve feet and made that for birdie: 12, 6-iron in the left rough between the green and the bunker. Pitched up about six feet and missed it. Made bogey. 13, a driver and a 4-iron to about 35 feet. Made that for birdie. 14, drove it in the left rough, hit 8-iron on the front of the green about 50 feet. Left it three feet short and missed that. Made bogey. And then 18, driver, and a 7-iron to about 25 feet. Made it for birdie.

DAVIS LOVE III: No. We talked about winning a Major, the great feeling and all that. But, we didn't really talk about the following week.

DAVIS LOVE III: This is a week where you find out who can hit their 4- and 5-iron, for sure. The par 3s are long. You hit long second shots to a lot of the par 4s, so it is a big -- it is a big golf course and I think the guys that played good last week, they are probably going to feel pretty comfortable here this week because it is a lot the same. If you miss the fairway, it is hard to hit the green. And, if you hit the in the fairway, you still got a tough second shot.

DAVIS LOVE III: 4-iron.

DAVIS LOVE III: I think the farther we get into the tournament the more I'll be concentrating. I hope I learned from today and not let it bother me tomorrow. But, realistically, I usually have a tough time concentrating Thursdays and Fridays anyway. Bob doesn't worry about me if he can get me 'til Saturday. I need to just be aware that last week is over and that this is a big golf tournament. I didn't make too many mistakes today. So if I can be a little bit sharper tomorrow, I'll be right there.

DAVIS LOVE III: It is if you are hitting it good. If you are hitting it bad, you wish you were in Palm Springs. But, there is nothing better, I think, than hitting 3-iron or 4-iron ten feet from the hole. I think that is one of the best shots in golf is a mid- or a long-iron, soaring web in the air and coming down where you want it to go. To a lot of people it is a drive. But, to me, I think hitting a good long iron-shot is a very, very good feeling. Even just hitting a green for most people is satisfying, you know, with a long iron and hitting it right at it is a lot of fun.