THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT

May 31, 1996

John Huston

JOHN HUSTON: Today went pretty well from the start 'til almost finish, but it was a really just a terrific day. Everything went well, and it is a fun game when the putts drop in.

JOHN HUSTON: First hole, I hit a 5-iron 18 feet and made that putt for birdie. Number 2, I hit a pitching wedge 12 feet past the hole, made that putt for birdie. Number 3, I hit a pitching wedge about 15 feet, made that putt for birdie. Number 4, I hit a 4-iron about 20 feet, made that putt for birdie. Number 5, I hit a 4-wood just over the back of the green and chipped it about 25 feet short, made that putt for birdie. Then 2-putted from about 30 feet on number 6. Number 7, I hit 3-wood about 3 foot, made eagle.

JOHN HUSTON: I had 264 to the pin, but the wind was helping a little bit. And then 8, 9, I had really good chances and didn't make them.

JOHN HUSTON: Number 8 I had about 12 feet straight up the hill, and number 9 I had about 12 feet straight down the hill.

JOHN HUSTON: I hit an 8-iron, then I hit a 9-iron to number 9.

JOHN HUSTON: The one on 8 was going right at it, just kind of dove right at the last second over the edge, but then the one on 19 kind of hit something early and hobbled off to the left. Then number 10 I had about a 50-footer, that was going into the last second, kind of broke left out of the hole. Number 11, I hit a sand wedge about seven or eight feet, made that putt for birdie. Number 12, I hit a 9-iron about 20 feet, made that putt for birdie. And then number 13, I hit a 7-iron about five feet, made that one. 14, I hit a sand wedge about a foot, I hit that one. Then number 15, I hit it just over the back left in two and chipped down about four feet, made that one.

JOHN HUSTON: 4-wood. And number 16, hit 4-iron about 40, 50 feet left of the hole and putted it about 8 to 10 feet by, made that one coming back. And then number 17, I was in the middle of the fairway with a perfect lie and perfect yardage and just a 9-iron and just pushed it in the bunker and hit a really good bunker shot out about three feet, and the putt just -- I don't know if I pulled it or if it hobbled a little left, but it looked like when I got to the hole it went to the left instead of right, which I was thinking it was going to do. Still had a lot of hole when it spun out. Last hole I hit 8-iron about 15, 18 feet. I thought I made it and just kind of straightened out the last second and it went over the edge of the hole.

JOHN HUSTON: Yeah, you know, last week on Sunday I started out, birdied 5 of the first 6 holes, had a couple of other good chances, and I had a really good 9-iron on number 9 that I thought was going to be close and for some reason came up short and hit the rocks and went in the water, and I made triple. And all of a sudden, it is not any kind of a great round, so I just wanted to make sure I didn't make any mistakes and keep giving myself chances. And after -- when I eagled number 7, I knew that everything was clicking pretty good.

JOHN HUSTON: We had to wait a lot. We moved along pretty decent until about 13, 14, then it was really slow the last few holes and that made it kind of tough. But I was just -- I was playing so well, I didn't want to let that bother me, and it didn't. I kept hitting good shots other than the one at 17.

JOHN HUSTON: I had 142 yards. It was a little downhill and little bit of a right-to-left wind and just perfect distance for a 9-iron if I hit it on line, and I just pushed it.

JOHN HUSTON: Yeah, I shot 62 last day at Disney to win, and actually I shot 60 -- I shot 12 under 60, on the Mini Tour tournament one time; I had a chance on the last hole to shoot 59, but I didn't make birdie there either.

JOHN HUSTON: That place in Kissimmee called Overoaks.

JOHN HUSTON: When I had made birdie at 14 and I knew that 15 was coming up, playing pretty easy and I figured if I birdied 15 and I have three holes to have a good chance.

JOHN HUSTON: Yeah.

JOHN HUSTON: Overall, yeah. The only -- I'd certainly like to have the shot at 17 back, but other than that, almost every shot went the way I wanted it to.

JOHN HUSTON: No.

JOHN HUSTON: 142 and a little downhill.

JOHN HUSTON: Yeah, because when I looked up it was left center. It was a putt that should break a little right, and it just -- boy, just spitted out pretty large, actually spun out about two and a half feet.

JOHN HUSTON: Yeah, you know, I think part of that was being -- having the round on Friday, you know, if it was on Sunday, it might have been a little bit more difficult thinking about the tournament itself, too. I was saying outside that I really wasn't looking to see if anybody else was, you know, if I was leading or I didn't know if anybody else in the afternoon was playing really good or anything. So really, I didn't know how I stood in the tournament. I was just trying to birdie every hole.

JOHN HUSTON: Yesterday I was playing pretty well the first 8 holes or so, and then number 9 you were picking up a lot of mud yesterday. I hit kind of one of those mud-balls that went in the water on number 9, made double, and then I had a 3-putt on top of it. And you know, nothing was really clicking yesterday.

JOHN HUSTON: No, not other than the fact that I have -- it has been feeling like I was going to play good. I have been playing pretty well, but not scorin. I have been having a lot of rounds with 5 birdies and 4 bogeys. Every time I miss a green, I make a bogey. And coming in, you feel like you hit the ball pretty well, but you shoot one under and that most of the time doesn't do much out here.

JOHN HUSTON: Well, I knew he had shot 60 at Tucson or somewhere at one time, but I didn't -- he didn't say anything about it or anything.

JOHN HUSTON: Well, me and my caddy -- my caddy is kind of my best buddy. He has been caddying for me for three years so we were talking about a lot of things and laughing at some of the comments that were coming from the crowd.

JOHN HUSTON: Oh, I don't know if I can say.

JOHN HUSTON: Brian Smith.

JOHN HUSTON: Yeah, I think so because, you know, after I made the first couple of putts, you know, then you get over it, and there is really not any doubt in your mind how you want to play the putt for whatever reason. You just look up and you are seeing right where you want to putt it. Every putt that has break, you are just seeing right to that point where you want to putt it until it breaks and your speed is really good.

JOHN HUSTON: It is kind of like playing with the bank's money in Vegas. You just don't feel like you can lose. You got the big "cush." If you don't birdie this hole, you birdie the next hole and -- you just feel like you giving it -- instead when you get one or two over and you are trying to force it; you really need to make a birdie and you are forcing trying to make it and it just won't happen.

JOHN HUSTON: Yeah, I don't know how much more I could have taken. I am sure I will sleep pretty good and come back out tomorrow and I don't truly know what to expect tomorrow. My game feels pretty good, so there is no reason why I shouldn't come out and play well the last two days.

JOHN HUSTON: You know, I haven't had that many really good rounds. I had a lot of really good rounds on the Mini Tour and I usually came back -- of course, the Mini Tour were two-day tournaments and if you shot really good the first day, it was pretty much over, if you come out and play decent, so, I have usually played pretty decent after playing really well, so you know, I am not --

JOHN HUSTON: I have had going here -- there is a lot of holes out here that just jump up and bite you. It doesn't take much. There is a lot of what I would call double-bogey holes where you could be a little bit off; ball bounces off; you are in the water, or -- and it doesn't take much out here, so you got to -- you got to play all 18 holes out here really thinking good.

JOHN HUSTON: That is what I told my caddy on 18. I said, I bet Jack came up here and kicked that ball out of the hole.

JOHN HUSTON: Probably not more than 4, 5 under. I have made a lot of birdies here, but I have never been able to escape without one of those doubles.

JOHN HUSTON: Yeah, I got off to a pretty good start, pretty much like the last few weeks. I have played pretty well and haven't scored all that well. My short game has probably been the weakest link and I have been pretty patient this year and keep thinking that good things are going to happen and I feel like my game is getting pretty good, so, you know, I'd say this year I would say that I haven't gotten very much out of the way that I have played.

JOHN HUSTON: Pretty much every hole except for like 14 or something. Yeah, I'd say almost every hole.

JOHN HUSTON: At 14? Yeah, there was a pretty good wind blowing there in your face when we got there. To me, that hole is all at the green. It is not that narrow of a fairway and I don't like kind of a long shot into that hole. The 3-wood actually took off a lot hotter than what I was trying, I really hit it hard so, but I ended up I had 104 yards, a perfect sand wedge distance and that hole is a lot easier hitting a sand wedge in than an 8-iron or something.

JOHN HUSTON: I had 148 yards to the pin on 18.

JOHN HUSTON: Yeah, you were getting little bit of roll. Not a lot, but you were getting a little bit of roll and I guess the big difference was there wasn't the mud on your balls that there was yesterday. That makes it really hard to judge coming into these greens where the pins are tucked in little nooks and crannies, and that mud does funny things to it, and it dried out enough this afternoon to where you weren't picking up the mud.

JOHN HUSTON: Yeah, I would say more so probably tomorrow than Sunday. If it doesn't rain, it is going -- the greens, especially, are already picking up quite a bit of speed from what they were Wednesday and Thursday.

JOHN HUSTON: I would say really good. I was tied for the lead going last day at the Bob Hope.

JOHN HUSTON: No.

JOHN HUSTON: Bay Hill, yeah, I am going to go home and.....

JOHN HUSTON: Yeah.

JOHN HUSTON: All right, thanks a lot.