THE HONDA CLASSIC

March 9, 2000

Mike Brisky

MIKE BRISKY: No. 4 the par 5, sand wedge to about two feet. 5, the par 3, I hit 5-iron there to about 18 feet. 6, drove it in the bunker, hit 5-iron to about 35 feet. 7, hit a good drive, sand wedge to about three feet there. 8, hit 4-iron to 15 feet and then 9 I just chipped up to about five feet, made that. Bogeyed 10, birdied 15, the par -- 16, the par 5, hit a bad bunker shot, but made a 10-footer for birdie. Then 18 was my best hole of the day, good drive, good 6-iron to about eight feet. Knocked it in.

MIKE BRISKY: It just kicked in. I got no explanation. I have been struggling all year with the putter and I don't understand why it started on No. 4. I am not going to question it. I will take it and run with it as much as I can. Just happy I finally saw some fruit from the labor I have put in. I didn't hit it any differently. In fact, I felt my swing being a little loose today. It is not like I knocked the pins down on the front nine, but I got the ball rolling on the greens. As long as I gave myself a chance, seemed like it was going in on the front 9.

MIKE BRISKY: Yeah, I just haven't made anything. I hadn't been putting badly. I have been rolling the ball well, just seems like I'd have to putt decent and hit the ball real good just to make a cut and today it just really happened. Hopefully I can hit it decent pretty good tomorrow - might not make as many putts tomorrow. As long as I hit a little better, I will be in good shape.

MIKE BRISKY: No, my caddie and I have been working on it quite a bit this year. Basically stuck -- I have been rolling it good. He just encourages me to stay with it and keep on rolling the ball; they are going to fall. It is kind of disheartening, it is hard to take when you are in the middle of -- like last week at Doral you are seeing guys go way low; I am hitting it pretty decent and not getting anything out of it. You want to tell yourself to hang in there and keep on going, but it is not happening. It is so frustrating at times. I would like it to be a little bit more consistent, but I will take it as they come.

MIKE BRISKY: Phoenix I was pretty pleased; made the cut there; played solid. Again rolled the ball again pretty good. I didn't feel like I made as much as I should have, kind of finished in the middle of the field. I guess I can go back to Quad Cities last year when I played my best and just hit it solid all week and made a lot of putts that week. I'd have to go back to there.

MIKE BRISKY: That is about the most I have had. I have had streaks of 5 where I have been 6-under, but that is probably the most holes I have had in a row.

MIKE BRISKY: To survive, yeah, it is patience. To play well it takes more than patience, obviously got to get the ball in the hole. But yeah, it is trusting that you are working it out and you keep on practicing and the results are going to come. Again my caddy has been real good for me this year. Long time buddy of mine. He is a good player. In fact, he made the cut in Tucson and I missed. So we had a little competition there. He just kept on saying keep on working, keep on working and he said he doesn't see results sometimes 10, 14 days after he has really put in a good practice, and it came today, so...

MIKE BRISKY: Jeff Williams.

MIKE BRISKY: 9. (laughs). It wasn't -- I couldn't expect myself to make them because of the history that I have had, so it is like -- let's just put another good roll on it, see what happens, and a couple of putts I miss-hit just a little bit, but I got them on the intended line and they were rolling halfway decently and they still went in. When you got 20-, 30-footers, you don't expect to make those all the time will. All you want to do is put good rolls on them, give them a chance. By chance they were going in, and it wasn't until No. 9 where I had a 5- or 6-footer, a little slider there, I thought, man, this could be 6 in a row. I need to put a good stroke on it thinking well, if I was 20 feet, I wouldn't be thinking it. I'd just want to roll the ball well, but at six feet you expect yourself to make it. And fortunately put a good roll on it and it went in. The only putt I hit bad really bad today was on 10. I missed like a 5-footer there for par. Other than that, I was very pleased with rolling of the ball on the greens. The balls roll real well out there, good greens.

MIKE BRISKY: It has been very good. The early part of this year, minus Hawaii, I felt like I have been in every tournament. I have often made the comment to some of my friends if I wasn't missing the cut I'd sware I'd be finishing Top-20. I am close to winning. That is how good it felt and here I am one for six coming into this tournament, it is like my hands were in the air, what is going on here. I just got to trust in what I am doing and trust that the Lord has taken me to a place and, you know, just keep going.

MIKE BRISKY: No, came up a little bit on the back 9, but it is relatively calm as the wind blows here as you know.

MIKE BRISKY: Yeah, if you come out here with the intention of "I am going to win this tournament," I would think coming into today, 7:15 tee time, okay, I need to take advantage of this day and the wind going to be lying down, but there again, for me, it was like, let's just try to get something started this week and hopefully I can continue going and right now my object is not necessarily to win a tournament, but just to feel good about what I am doing and make some putts. My son kind of gave me a goal to get this week, I am not going to reveal yet. I am going to try to strive for that goal to make as many birdies as I can and hopefully hit the mark that he set for me.

MIKE BRISKY: He is five and a half.

MIKE BRISKY: Jacob.

MIKE BRISKY: Yes, he is. They are both here, both my sons and my wife. My wife's birthday is today, so be giving her a nice present.

MIKE BRISKY: They are in the nursery.

MIKE BRISKY: Don't want to disappoint myself. I am not giving it out. Maybe tomorrow.

MIKE BRISKY: Last year I went 66, 62, 68, 65, I think it was.

MIKE BRISKY: Third round, yeah, I think one or two shot lead going into Saturday. Well, I played so solid that day and I made two birdies no bogeys. That was one of my best stretches of golf, went like 40 some odd holes without a bogey. Couldn't complain about it really. I made a couple of putts that day and that is all I tried to do today. I made one hiccup today and my game is to where I got to make the least amount of mistakes as I can so I can get the most out of my game because I am not a power hitter. I am not one that will knock pins down, so I really got to stay patient and make a lot of pars and hopefully those putts will go like they did today.

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