THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 22, 2000

Hal Sutton

HAL SUTTON: I played pretty good so far this year. I had a chance to win Phoenix and didn't do it. And that is what we are out here for, is to win. I have driven the ball very well. I have not put my irons as close as I'd like to put them. And I think that I am not making as many birdies as I normally would like to make. Hopefully, that is changing.

HAL SUTTON: I played none Monday. I played nine holes yesterday, and I played none today. When I played yesterday, the fairways were really soft. The greens were somewhat firm for as soft as the fairways were. I can't really answer your question yet.

HAL SUTTON: I made a lot of changes. I made some changes in my shafts, in my irons. I was wanting to try to make sure I was doing the right thing with that. So I was spending a lot of time hitting because -- and my arm has been hurting me a little bit. Trying to get as much done with as little effort, I guess, is what I am trying to say. I have played this golf course enough. I think I can get around it without -- I played that back nine so I can get that 17th hole one time before the tournament.

HAL SUTTON: Usually just the Pro-Am round and then go. So I haven't done anything a whole lot different than I normally do it. Other than I have been here Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I wouldn't normally be here Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

HAL SUTTON: I think it is a big problem because it is hard to decipher who is who, and we know they are there. If you remember paying attention from one week to the next, you notice who it is, and you don't want to be ugly to someone that is not an autograph seeker. I mean, that is just a normal autograph seeker. But I mean, we kind of like to get rid of those guys that are having them come up on Ebay or whatever. They got their own little personal shops or whatever the deal is I don't know what they do with them. They are a nuisance, I know that.

HAL SUTTON: I don't know the solution to that problem.

HAL SUTTON: If I see a guy standing around with five or six flags in his hand, I usually won't do that. But you know what? It is pretty bad. You don't really want to tell what you do, because they figure out another way to approach you after that. So you try to hide your strategy almost from them. Isn't that terrible that we are sitting around talking about this?

HAL SUTTON: Was it brought up? I don't know. You know what? It came up some place I was at yesterday, but I have been to so many meetings that I don't remember which one of the meetings it came up in. It has come up. I have to go to more meetings this week than I normally had to go to. So that is part of the reason why I haven't played any more than I have to.

HAL SUTTON: When it came up, they were talking about, it was problem last week at -- in The Legends. And they addressed it with staff, so -- and that they are going to try to do that more. I think actually the Tour has been taking pictures of these people and they know kind of who is who. Same people show up every week. They always got their deal over their shoulder, got their backpack or their whatever.

HAL SUTTON: Lower ball flight. It is usually helpful when the wind is blowing (laughs).

HAL SUTTON: Early on in my career, I wasn't. But as I have changed my swing last four, five years, I have gotten to where I hit the ball a lot higher. And it has become increasingly a problem for me to get the ball close to the hole with shorter irons the higher I hit it because, you know, based on the wind, the distance of the club is varying a lot, and it is hard to judge that.

HAL SUTTON: Yeah, well, until you get down into your scoring irons, your 8, 9, pitching wedge, things like that, then you want to be exact on your distances, normally a little bit flatter trajectory is a little bit better with that. Guys that hit it long and high with their woods and their long irons, usually what they are referring to. Everybody's probably trying to do the same thing with their scoring irons.

HAL SUTTON: It's the only month, you mean summer month? Is that what you mean?

HAL SUTTON: I am hesitating because I don't know if I have got a feel for that or not. Pretty nice scenario right here. I think there is a lot of people that seem to think that the TPC might have more of a major status if we moved it into May. One of the things that I think would happen if we moved it into May, and I don't live here, but I bet you the wind blows less in May than it does right here now. And I think the golf course would play a lot different if we moved it into May. I think this time of the year there is a possibility guys have to hit more of a variety of shots than they would be in May.

HAL SUTTON: Do you think we can say it any differently than it has been said? And I don't even know what your question is.

HAL SUTTON: He is going in a different locker room than I was going in, or he wasn't close to my locker anyway. I don't really like to think that way. I will tell you this: By praising Tiger all the time, I don't know what it is doing for Tiger, but it's certainly putting a defeatist attitude in the guy that is doing all the praising all the time. I don't know how it is affecting Tiger.

HAL SUTTON: I tell you what, I have only played with Tiger once this year, first two rounds at Los Angeles. And I felt like it was important that I send a message to me and him in those two rounds, you know. One, that I could beat him, playing with him; and two, that he knew that I could beat him playing with him. And I know that was Thursday and Friday of the tournament. That is the only part of the tournament. But, you know, I think when -- that will turn into some Sunday somewhere. And I need to know going into that, that, hey, I have beat him in these circumstances. And that proves ones thing, that it can happen again. It proves the same thing to him too. So I think that answers in a backwards way what you were asking there. I think that you need to have confidence that you can beat him. If you are going to praise him all the time and tell him how great he is and his game is superior to everybody's you have ever seen in your life, well, you know, doesn't matter how good yours is. You have just said he is better than you.

HAL SUTTON: What? Praising him? All that sort of stuff?

HAL SUTTON: I'll tell you all a funny story. In 1987 I played with -- I stayed at the Ryder Cup with Jack Nicklaus. I was the only single guy on the team. I stayed in the same house with he and Barbara. And I asked him at that point I said, "Jack, could you do today what you did 15 years ago? Could you have the same record if you were playing with your best game right now versus then? " He said, "No way, Hal." He said, "The reason why is because it was only three or four guys that thought that they could beat me. But today there is a lot of people that think they can beat me." Well, "a la" Tiger, there is a lot of people that don't think they can beat him come right down to the stretch on Sunday. Probably a lot of doubt in their mind as to whether they can. Some of it is put there. Some of it is self-inflicted. Some of it is put there by you all. And some of it is put there by Tiger's own doing. The guy plays great. I mean, he plays the game at a level that few people have ever known. But that system doesn't mean he can't be beat.

HAL SUTTON: Yeah, I can beat him. I did beat him, last time I played with him I beat him. You know what, I am not going to sit up here -- I mean I'd be stupid to sit up here an tell you, I mean, I think on a given day I can beat him. I mean, day in, day out, he hits the ball 20 yards further than I do. He hits it a lot higher than I do. He has got a great touch around the greens. He has got an unbelievable competitive spirit. With all of those things coupled together, you have got a guy that has made over $2 million in a short period of time. Won how many tournaments out of the last 15? I don't know what it is, but it is a lot. We are describing the best player in the game is what we are doing. But that doesn't mean he can't be beat. I am not going to be foolish to tell you that I think if we played ten times I am going to beat him eight out of ten times I am not going to do that. But --

HAL SUTTON: On a given Sunday he could be beat.

HAL SUTTON: Yeah. The challenge for me to play well is still there. I really want -- I'd love to have a good tournament there. I have never played well there.

HAL SUTTON: I think you have to play a little bit more defensive than I play there, that I normally like to play. I have always been a guy that likes to try to attack pins and be aggressive and the penalty is high for missing in the wrong spot there. So...

HAL SUTTON: I don't know, every week is a bomber's course. I accuse them of setting up every week for a bomber's course. When I get here I see the fairways soft as they can be and the greens firm, I am like, oh, well what is new, you know. I mean, I would like to see something change on the Tour. I would like to see us play a variety of type golf courses. And I am not talking about changing the golf course. I am talking about, you know, let's play something -- Bay Hill, let's go back to Bay Hill. There was a time that that 18th hole was a very difficult hole to drive it in the fairway. That fairway was 60 yards wide last week; wasn't any way you could miss that fairway. You see what I am saying? So okay, if you are going to have 60-yard wide fairways, let's swing as hard as we can. Some guys can literally create more speed than other guys can. So you are going to hit a lot further. I mean, I'd like to see who can hit it straight again. I am going to give you another scenario. In 1987, 1988, 1989 there was one guy that averaged 80 percentile in fairway accuracy. Right now you can pull the stats up there are six or seven. Second place in those years, would be 72 and 73 percent. Now there is six guys hitting over 80% of the fairways and a lot of guys hitting 79, 78 percent of the fairways, lots of them. The equipment is better. The drivers are better. The balls are better, and we are playing wider fairways today than we were then. You see what I am saying? So what has it turned into? You tell me.

HAL SUTTON: If you were going to be -- if you had a son and you were going to teach him how to play golf, what would you-- what would you tell him to do, kill it or hit it straight?

HAL SUTTON: Swing hard, son, swing hard. That is exactly right. So, you know what, I'd love to be Tiger Woods now. But I am not. I am Hal Sutton. (laughs).

HAL SUTTON: Tiger probably doesn't feel like he has got near as good a chance at a U.S. Open as he does elsewhere.

HAL SUTTON: I don't know. We will see. We will see. I don't know.

HAL SUTTON: I like it when they get tight.

HAL SUTTON: No, I am going to do the same things. I will probably have a little different strategy at Augusta than I normally have, but I am going to do a little bit more point A-to-point-B-type playing at Augusta than I normally. I am going to move the pin around a little bit; try to put myself in a good position; pick the spots that you attack the hole. Try to do that a little bit better than I normally do there.

HAL SUTTON: Well, I'd say total driving is a stat that you really want to look at. Those guys that are in total driving is -- those are the guys that hit it the longest and the straightest. That is basically what it means. You are going to have some of those guys that are quite a bit straighter, but still have adequate distance. Then you are going to have some of those guys that have got extreme distance and adequate accuracy. That is where you are going to --

HAL SUTTON: You need to be really strong at one of those two things and adequate at the other one is what I am trying to say. A lot of people try to focus in on greens in regulation. I tell you that can go up a lot. If I feel that is all I really wanted to do, go out and hit greens, I could kiss scoring good-bye and I could see my greens in regulation go to 85% but that is not going to do me any good. I have got to get it close to the hole sometimes and that means I am going to short-side myself sometimes when the pin gets on the edge of the green, I will miss it to the short side and I will have it to go up and down, that sort of stuff. Scrambling stats, guys when they miss a green that they get it up-and-down, that is a big stat. Putting -- that they are keeping now with how many putts you are making for the greens that you hit, is important. But it is a little bit deceptive in that you know you might be hitting the greens and having a 40-footer every time too. So that is obviously going to raise that number up. Putting stats are most of the time directly related to how you are hitting the ball. And people don't really take that into consideration. But if I got a 15-footer every time instead of a 40-footer every time, my stats were going to go down, because I am going to make more of those 15-footers than I am 40-footers every time. If I am chipping the ball a foot instead of six feet, I am going to get it up-and-down a lot more.

HAL SUTTON: Total putts, definitely does. You can learn a little something from the stats, but you can get so hung up on them that it really can do damage.