DORAL-RYDER OPEN

March 6, 1998

Michael Bradley

MICHAEL BRADLEY: Hopefully I'll hit it as well as I did today, the next couple of days, I'll have a pretty good chance. I struck the ball well, made a few putts. Hopefully I'll bring that over the next two days.

MICHAEL BRADLEY: I started on 10.

MICHAEL BRADLEY: Uh-huh.

MICHAEL BRADLEY: The course is playing pretty tough but the guys out here are so good, it doesn't surprise me. Regardless of what the conditions are, on any given day they can shoot a low number. If you had three or four guys shoot 60 or 59, that would surprise me. The guys are too good these days. Nothing really surprises me.

MICHAEL BRADLEY: That surprises me, because when we played this morning it was windy. I guess the wind didn't blow that much Wednesday morning. Obviously it picked up during the course of the day. We teed off at 8:24 it was fairly windy. I'm shocked the course is playing easier. The tee is 25 yards up on 18, but other than that, the course is playing the same.

MICHAEL BRADLEY: Let's see, No. 10 I hit it about a foot off the green, had about a 30-footer for eagle, obviously 2-putted. 12, no, 12, I didn't. 1, I hit a driver and 6-iron about 18 feet and made it. And then 8, I laid up and wedge it on about 15 feet and made it. I guess technically you could say I knocked it on 2, because I putted on 10 and 1.

MICHAEL BRADLEY: Because there's a 20 mile wind downwind. And the fairways are firm. That's what that's called.

MICHAEL BRADLEY: You have to go check my stats, I don't know. It's like anything, if you drive the ball well, especially on the par-5s, you can take advantage of them. Because if you're not knocking them on, your green-side bunker, your just in front of the green, if you're driving it in the rough and chopping it out and leaving up to 160 yards your odds aren't as good making eagles and birdies, it makes sense. I think the key every week out here or a lot of times is just driving your ball well. It sets up everything. If you don't drive your ball well, it's very tough to score. If you have a good day, not driving it well, shoot 1, 2-under, but you're not going to shoot 5, 6, 7-under, driving the ball crooked, it's not going to happen, especially on the weekend.

MICHAEL BRADLEY: Just try to hit fairways, try to hit some good iron shots, try to play smart golf, maybe get a few putts to fall. That's all you can ask for, really.

MICHAEL BRADLEY: I heard that they'd sold out. I don't know, have they ever sold out before?

MICHAEL BRADLEY: It's great for the game, it's great for the public. I sympathize with Tiger with having to deal with all that, especially the kid is 21 years old. The guy is obviously a great talent, but I don't know many 20 years old that should be subjected to that. But he's obviously acted well beyond his years in dealing with it. But I don't envy his position. As a golfer I envy his position, but just socially I think it's tough for him. But I guess that's the trade off.

MICHAEL BRADLEY: I've mellowed quite a bit since I was in high school. I don't know, I think just with age.

MICHAEL BRADLEY: Strategic. Just a good example, like yesterday, No. 2 was straight downwind and the pin was 6 over the bunker, you could get up and hit a driver, and could probably hit it 5, 10 yards in front of the green, now what am I left with now, I've got in green to work with, I'm straight downwind, how am I going to get close? Now I lay back, hit a 3 or 4-iron off the tee, have 130, 40 shot in, and try to get it close that way. Better course management, stuff like that.

MICHAEL BRADLEY: I have putted horrendously on the West Coast. It's been the worst I've putted since I've been on Tour. I had one round where I putted decent at Spyglass at AT&T, otherwise I haven't had a good putting round on the West Coast. I've place decent, but haven't shot the low numbers.

MICHAEL BRADLEY: I made some putts today. I might go out tomorrow and have 36 putts. I don't know. I don't know if I was not reading the greens well or I wasn't stroking it well, I didn't have a lot of confidence putting on the West Coast, I never have. I've never played well on the West Coast, basically for that reason, poa annua greens, they baffle me.

MICHAEL BRADLEY: I was hitting okay. Tucson and LA I was hitting the ball well, but my putting was still bad. I shot 71 yesterday and that was about as bad as I could have played seeing how bad I hit it. If I could hit it Saturday and Sunday like I did Thursday and today I'll be elated. I didn't get myself in many problems. I drove well, had a lot of good looks that I didn't make, but if you could put me tomorrow and Sunday where I hit it today, I'd take it in a heartbeat. But unfortunately I can't do that.

MICHAEL BRADLEY: People -- I don't know what it is. I feel just as comfortable if I was up in the northeast or playing in Texas or where it's -- I don't know what it is, the West Coast for some reason, I struggled with the greens. But I don't feel any more comfortable here than I would any place else. Obviously it's home for me, but I don't say, "Oh, good I I'm coming to Florida now, I'm coming home." I don't feel like I have any big advantage over anybody just because I'm from here.

MICHAEL BRADLEY: Well, if you're at this level, if you're not ready to go Saturday and Sunday, it doesn't matter. You should be ready to go Saturday, mentally. Physically, you're human, you never know what's going to happen physically, how you're going to feel that day, but mentally you should already be in the game, if you're in the position come Saturday. Physically you're human, and sometimes the mind and the body don't quite do the same thing, but I think mentally you should already be where you need to be for Saturday and Sunday, if you're fortunately where I'm at right now.

MICHAEL BRADLEY: 2, I hit 5-iron wedge about ten feet behind the hole, made it. 3, I hit driver, sand wedge about three feet and made it. 8, I drove it in the right bunker, laid up with a 5-iron and hit a wedge about 15 feet and made it. 10, like I said, 10, I hit a 2-iron and a 3-iron on the front fringe. And 2-putted. And I believe that was it. The rest were 8 pars. Nothing too major, just --

MICHAEL BRADLEY: 18. Hit a good drive on 18 and hung a 5-iron out to the right, in the right bunker, and hit a pretty good bunker shot but it released probably 12 to 15 by the hole and made it. But other than that everything was, with the exception of a couple of 3, 4, 5-footers for par, nothing major.