THE HONDA CLASSIC

March 13, 1999

Eric Brooker

ERIC BOOKER: No. 1, it was a different golf course today. No. 1 was actually the first, what, three or four hole were all downwind, so I hit driver there just short of the green about 50 yards from the green, chipped it by the hole about 10 feet and made the putt. And then 3, I bogeyed; right? I bogeyed that, 3-putted. Just tough -- you actually have to play the wind a little bit, too, out here, the wind is blowing so hard, if you are downwind on the greens, you have to think about being a little faster, so I kind of misgauged that one with myself. No. 3, 4-footer short, missed the putt, hit a bad putt there. Then I came back with birdie on the fourth hole, which was -- I just hit two shots, hit it in the bunker left with a 3-wood and sand wedged couple of feet by the hole and made that. I came back with a nice little bogey on the next hole, it is a tough green. I hooked the ball a little too much, the wind was coming out to the right, almost went in the water, had a decent chip and -- about eight feet, missed the putt, so, you know, basically today is one of those days, you know you are going to make bogeys hopefully making some birdies to offset your round which I think is what I did, I hit maybe four birdies.

ERIC BOOKER: So overall I don't think I really -- I missed one tee shot and that was 18, I was just -- 18 is one of those holes you just don't -- you can make a big number on there if you are not careful. The wind was coming out of the right, I draw the ball, so it was not like I was going to go down the waterline to get it to the fairway. I kind of played to the bunker but I didn't plan on hitting it 20 yards left of the bunker. I had kind of an awkward lie there, but might be getting off track if the 11th hole I birdied, par-3. Hit a nice 9-iron, it was downwind, I think it was -- the yardage was something like 180 or something to the pin, but it was like 140, 159 or something to carry the bunker, but it was -- downwind so I carried it just right, took a big bounce there about 15 feet right-to-left, putt and made it. I got pumped up after that putt because I knew I was, you know, I think that brought me back to even par and I had some holes coming up. The 12th hole I made par, but that's a tough hole, it's 470 and I hit -- ripped a perfect drive down there, nothing exciting there, but I did 2-putt, actually made a good 2-footer, 3-footer for par there. 16, was a good hole. I hit a perfect drive down the middle. I was going to lay up about 60, 70 yards from the green on that, pin's tucked left, it's not a hole you really want to gamble and go for because if you are in the bunker you got no green to work with, but my -- I kinda hit a bad shot there, I kinda pulled -- hit a fat 6-iron left into the bunker, now I got an 80-yard bunker shot into that hard green. I'm sure Johnny Miller was up in the booth sitting there saying this is one of the most feared shots in golf, which basically it is. But it came out just right and had been 15 feet and made that. I was feeling pretty good about that time, and fortunately I bogeyed 18, but I'm sure that was playing tough today.

ERIC BOOKER: Well, you know, I have answered those questions before to myself. I'm just getting more of a habit of it, which is what you want to do, get yourself in these situations. Yes, I think I'll sleep good tonight because I didn't sleep that great tonight. Today I went out there and played some solid golf. It was tough out there and I hit, like I said, I think I drove the ball today better than I did any of the other days. Actually I don't think I missed a fairway. If I did I was in the first cut, so. . . I don't know what the scores were like today. I don't know -- does anybody know if they're like averaging 73, 74 or was it par? Was there a lot of low rounds?

ERIC BOOKER: The good thing out there is that you gotta play the ones downwind, you gotta play them well, you gotta make birdies on those holes because when you play the ones into the wind they are going to play tough, which on the front side, you know, 8, 7, I think 6, I mean they're tough holes. That one hole -- I hit 3-iron in there, rip driver, rip 3-iron and that pin was in a scary spot. I thought I made the putt and it kept on rolling by the hole about three feet, I had to make that for par, so overall, I'm happy with the way I played because, you know, I basically -- I did what I wanted to do and unfortunately I didn't score as well as I'd liked. I'm still the leader of the tournament, and I go out there and if I can do the same thing, somebody is going to have to play pretty good to beat me.

ERIC BOOKER: Did Roger Maltbie say something?

ERIC BOOKER: I just sort of threw that, just to get a little excitement. If I miss it no big deal, if I make it, it makes a statement.

ERIC BOOKER: Joe Namath?

ERIC BOOKER: When?

ERIC BOOKER: When I was waiting for -- we were waiting for my playing partner to hit up there, we just had some time to kill, so I just -- he was just kind of hanging on the green, I said, Roger, I'm going to make this putt. I just want to let you know before I do it. He just kind of smiles at me and says I'll tell everybody, but I thought he was kidding, but I guess he did.

ERIC BOOKER: No, there's no guarantees in golf. If you play it, you know what I mean, right?

ERIC BOOKER: The second hole, how did I play it?

ERIC BOOKER: No. 2, oh, I just -- I just hit a driver right over the bunkers down there. That's a tough hole because I actually drove it in the bunker next to the green and that pin's tucked left, if you play downwind you have no shot. I hit a bunker shot, actually landed pin high but it rolled 35 feet by the hole. It doesn't matter if I hit 3-iron off the tee and ended up in the fairway, I still didn't have a shot to that pin, so -- and I'm not one to go and try and do something fancy and try to hook a 9-iron in there 20 yards to get close to that pin. Actually, I was a little surprised that I got into that bunker because I was hoping I was going to be close and I could flop up a sand wedge maybe land it close, you know, maybe make birdie that way. This golf course has a few holes that you go for the pin and there are other holes that you gotta stay away from them, be satisfied with par.

ERIC BOOKER: Well, it's, you know, I mean I don't have a huge lead or anything like that. There's a lot of guys right there, they're all playing good. Anybody can win this tournament. Joe Ogilvie shot 65 today. You have one of those guys do that, he is probably going to win the tournament.

ERIC BOOKER: I think that probably helps me. You know, 2:15 is a late time to go play golf. I think the latest tee time normally is 1:30 maybe, but still, you know, those late tee times, what do you do, I mean you can only, you know, do laundry so much, you can only write in your diary so much, so you get -- you gotta figure something to do. Generally I come out early and generally do some chipping and putting, you know, if it's Thursday or Friday, and I have a late tee time I'll come out early and have breakfast and read the paper and just kind of relax, and then go out and just do a little short game work, kill sometime and enjoy the morning. When you are leading the tournament it is difficult because you have people tugging on your shirt, hey, good playing, you know, there's a lot of distractions. So you kinda want to stay away from that. But does anybody have the tee times for tomorrow? Anybody --

ERIC BOOKER: Last tee time?

ERIC BOOKER: Really, wow. So everybody is going to be out there fighting for a spot on the range.

ERIC BOOKER: Yes, that was very difficult. I think we had 219 or something like that, 210 to the front, it was like 240 to the pin. I have a tendency to hit my 2-iron kind of hot, so I was kind of taking 2-iron and kinda low, hot 2-iron, cut right to that wind and roll up. Actually I hit a good shot, but it landed like a butterfly with sore feet, just kind of hit out there and stopped. But it's still not a bad spot to be, it depends -- to chip it, but I didn't hit a great chip, made a good putt there to save par.

ERIC BOOKER: No, not really. You can't look that far ahead of it. All I want to do is go out there tomorrow and play solid golf. If somebody can beat me, great. My hat's off to them, I'll congratulate them and I will go out to the next tournament I play in and try to do the same thing. The only thing you don't want to do is beat yourself out there, you don't want to go out there and play and get caught up in it all, start thinking about playing in the Masters and start making bogeys or something like that. You just gotta go out there and, you know, play golf. It is as simple as that really. You just stay in the moment, you know, trust your game.

ERIC BOOKER: I think sometimes you gotta fight thoughts of thinking that everybody is chasing you and you gotta play exceptional golf. I think in the beginning I felt like I had, you know, I just felt like I needed -- like shoot under par, make some birdies, get a little farther ahead. And you just really can't force anything. You just can't -- you gotta be patient out there, especially in today's conditions, which I eventually did, just kind of worked out, you know. That's really all you can do, be patient I think is the only thing you can look forward to doing when you're playing in these conditions, you know, don't force anything. I think every time you force something you're just opening another door for a bogey because now you are not in your normal routine or you are trying to make something happen. If you just be patient, things will happen for you, so...

ERIC BOOKER: Well, I think I played -- I kind of answered some questions about my game today, so I feel comfortable about going out there and playing tomorrow.

ERIC BOOKER: Not tonight I don't think. I'm sure he's out there, he's thinking about beating me. He might give me bad advice tonight.