THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 25, 1999

Brian Watts

BRIAN WATTS: Okay, got off to not a good start. Started on the back 9. Made 8 on 11, 5 on 12, and there I was 4-over. Then the miracle happened, I guess. Birdied 13, 14, 15, 16, and 18 really got it going pretty well. Got it going really well starting on 15. I birdied 3, 4, 5, and then I parred in after that. So everything was going real well tee-to-green. Started on about, I'd say, either probably the 15th hole, started on 15th tee box, and then started driving the ball in the fairway and hit a lot of good-quality iron shots, and obviously made a lot of good putts today having eight birdies.

BRIAN WATTS: Drove it in the fairway. And I was kind of -- I started off on 10. Smoked one right down the middle, little 8-iron into the hole just on the back fringe about 20 feet, 2-putted; barely missed it. 11, smoked one down the middle, 4-iron perfect down the left fairway. There is two fairways there on 150 yards to the front of the green in the middle of the fairway, 78 to the hole, and just thinned that sand wedge just a hair right over the back, plugged it in the back lip of the bunker, which was about probably three feet from the edge of the water. And all I was trying to do was hack it out down the bunker line so it could come back up onto the green. And I only hit it about 15 feet, then I was pin-high, knocked it out. It almost stayed on top, but the green's real small up there where the pin was, and it just went past the hole, down the hill. And I 3-putted from that position for 8. Then one bad shot led to a triple bogey, and I was like: Wow, what a great start this is going to be. Then hit a 3-wood on the next hole about two yards into the rough, had no lie, hacked it out short of the green, chipped on, 2-putted for bogey. So here I am 4-over and not real good.

BRIAN WATTS: You probably can't print what I said. But we will go with -- (laughs) -- actually I tried to, a lot of times, to -- I get really down on myself -- especially if I have only missed one shot. Well, I guess the tee shot there on 12, too, but it wasn't a drastic bad shot. I was swinging so well on the range, but I try not to get down on myself this time, and I just tried to stay ahead. What the heck. Worse thing that can happen is either shoot in the 80s or miss the cut. Whatever, I am still going to live through the day most likely. So you know, I started on that next hole. 13th hole is a real tough par 3 obviously, especially with where the pin was today. And I just hit a great high 6-iron, just right of the hole, right on that TV tower. It funneled down to about twelve feet left of the hole and knocked it right in. It is like: There we go. And then drove it in the fairway on 14, which is good. I hit kind of a bad iron shot short right, but then I holed it on my chip shot. That is probably the shot right there that really got me believing that it could be a bit of a comeback. I never believed it will be this big of a comeback; but starting on 15 tee box, I started hitting the ball real well after that.

BRIAN WATTS: No. Golf Channel asked me that. I can't think of anything like this probably since college. And I can't even tell you. My memory is not that good.

BRIAN WATTS: Yeah, it has been a bit of an adjustment for me, because even though I played out here in 1991, all the courses are very new to me. Some of my practice rounds have been very intense because I am trying to learn these golf courses in one round, and that has probably been the most difficult thing for me. And secondly, the precision that you have got to have to play on this Tour, you know -- everybody talks about they think the courses in Japan are short, and that is not the difference. The difference is, you know, we are talking probably 100 yards different out of 18 holes, maybe 150. But the biggest difference is the rough. I mean, if you miss the drive just a little bit here, not just here at TPC, but about every tournament I have played so far, the other five, you miss the fairway, and there is no way you hit the green. In Japan the rough is not that high. Once you hit the fairway here on the U.S. Tour, then you have got a chance to make a birdie. But you still got to be absolutely precise on that iron shot. So those are probably the two biggest things that are a little bit different for me.

BRIAN WATTS: Well, I don't know if it is -- if that is the right thing -- if I belong or not. I think I play well enough to play on this Tour. But for me to feel comfortable, it is probably going to be throughout the year, because I have got to be able to play all the courses at least one tournament, or one time, I guess I should say. Hopefully next year will be a little bit easier on me. Same thing kind of happened to me in Japan. My first year wasn't all that good, all the courses were new. And I was able to turn it around there, so, hopefully I can do that here.

BRIAN WATTS: It is great. I mean, you just hop on a plane, even though I live in Oklahoma City and we have terrible connections.

BRIAN WATTS: Yes, basically every time, or here, went through Atlanta. But you are looking at five, six hours to get whereever you want to go. And that beats the heck out of that 23 hours it took me from door-to-door going over to Japan.

BRIAN WATTS: No, actually it is the caddie -- I have used -- this is my fourth year here with him. He has caddied the last three years with me in Japan. He is from Dallas, and they are actually even more new to him, because I have been to a lot of these places back in 1991, TPC, I was here in 1997. He was here with me too. But it is even more of an adjustment for him than it is for me.

BRIAN WATTS: Absolutely not. Japan has been nothing but great for me and my family. That is the reason why I don't have to go back and play this year at all. There is no -- nothing to do my contracts or anything like that. I don't have to go back, but I will be back. Just don't know how many tournaments. That is -- for one reason, that is to support the Tour over there. I am going to play five to ten events over there this year, because I am always going to be forever grateful to that place, because that is where I have become a good professional player because of that Tour and all the learning that I have done in the past six years. That is why I was able to play well at the British Open last year.

BRIAN WATTS: Well, you know, I have got a lot of friends over there now after spending six years there. I was over there 20, 24 weeks a year, believe it or not; I have got a lot of Japanese friends now, and I am going to miss those people. But hopefully I will be able to go over a few times this year and hook up with my friends.

BRIAN WATTS: Just a little bit, enough to get by. If I play well and come in the pressroom I can handle my birdies and bogies, how I played the course. I can handle my stuff at the hotels pretty much and restaurants and the taxis.

BRIAN WATTS: Yes, I can order some food. I don't miss too many meals.

BRIAN WATTS: Well, maybe I should choose a better word than intense. You see, as a comparison, when you have played six years on the Tour, like I had in Japan, I mean, shoot, on Tuesday it would be kind of lackadaisical, go out there, play nine holes, I played the course 30, 40 times, you know how to play a golf course when you see it, you know, probably in that 15 to 20 range. And then I play in the Pro-Am on Wednesday, just kind of hit some putts, hit some shots. See, this year, even though I played 1991, they are all new to me. So it is like, boy, I have got to do a lot of learning on Tuesday. I am not in hardly any of the Pro-Ams because I was 90th on last year money list, so get one chance at it; I have got to learn a lot and so there is a lot of studying going on, so that is what I mean by intense.

BRIAN WATTS: Right checking out. You see the golf courses here, the fairways are so firm on this Tour, other than at Pebble Beach, I guess, and/or the AT&T, that -- I mean, it might be -- the run-out might be 295 and I don't hit a driver 259, but on this Tour, you get a 5-mile-an-hour wind behind you and it is no problem, I mean, if you hit the fairway. If you don't hit the fairway you are back there at 255 or 260, but so there are so many things to think about. It is so hard to adjust to the fact that you need to hit a 3-wood on this hole even though you have got 300 to your run-out. All the fairways in Japan, the grass is like a zoysia, and you get no roll at all.

BRIAN WATTS: You know, I never dreamed that so many people ask me about that bunker shot on 18. I never -- even though I knew it was a great shot, all that kind of stuff, I never dreamed so many people would either recognize me or ask me about it 'til this day, shoot, it is almost a year now. But worked out great.

BRIAN WATTS: It seems about eight months (laughs).

BRIAN WATTS: I was in Japan, it was Thanksgiving week when the announcement came out; at least over there, came out in the papers. And I was real sick that day. My caddie called me back at the room and he goes: You see the paper this morning. I said: No, what is going on. Top 50 in the world get into The Masters. I am like: What. I just -- I couldn't believe it. I was striving to finish second on the money list over there, and pray for an invitation because they usually invite the top two Japanese players and they didn't do it one time back in 1994 to me, but I was hoping that this year they would invite me. All of a sudden just got the bonus, top 50 rankings, I was tickled to death.

BRIAN WATTS: I was at the Casio World Open.

BRIAN WATTS: 30th or some, 35th.

BRIAN WATTS: You know, to be honest, Bob could probably tell you every round we played against each other from the time we were ten years old, I couldn't even tell you. Bob grew up in Havoline (phonetic), Texas. I group up in Carlton just outside Dallas. We are the same age. We have played lots of junior golf against each other, throughout the state, high school golf against each other; AJGA stuff. He went to Texas. I went to Oklahoma State; played college against each other, and we took a little bit of a different path as professionals. Bob has been out here since day one and done extremely well. I have kind of taken a different route. It took me five plus years to get going, I guess.

BRIAN WATTS: Yeah, they are here this week. Let's see, they came to two out of the four on the west coast that I played and then this is my 6th tournament so this is third one they have come to.

BRIAN WATTS: Absolutely. Travel is so easy. My son is only 20 months right now, and the travel to Japan, he came over twice, but it is just, so hard because you have got the jet lag, he doesn't know he is not supposed to be sleeping in the middle of the afternoon; then he wants to be up all night, and then when they would go home from Japan, the jet lag kicks in again. And you know, as adults we can tell our body, no, don't sleep, but it is really tough on him. So they only came over two times in the last two years.

BRIAN WATTS: Yeah, ironically you see, the Japanese really believe in their players. But they also know that because of their top player hasn't done real well outside the country that hey, you know, maybe our guys aren't quite as good. But when I came back after the British Open, it was a whole different look. They knew I could play well because I had won tournaments over there. But they looked at me a lot differently because I did it on the world stage instead of just in their country. The fan support that I received, I didn't go back until September, September through November, I just -- it was great. A lot of people are going to miss me, but like I said earlier, I am going to be going back anyways. Just won't be as much.

BRIAN WATTS: Yeah, they understand. It is the reason why Ozaki plays here. This is the place to play, if you are ever going to make a name for yourself, U.S. Tour or, you know, I guess I should say the European Tour also, but especially with the press here in America, and we have three of the four major championships along with the TPC, it is like this is where you can make a name for yourself. That is why a guy like Joe Ozaki plays here, not full-time, but most of his golf is played here, because he can make a big name for himself, if he happens to win a tournament some day.

BRIAN WATTS: Well, first of all, Japan in my opinion is by far the third hardest Tour. I played them all. I haven't played the South African Tour, so I can't comment on that one. But I have played all the other ones, a little bit in Europe, and Japan just worked out that way. Never planned on going there. Going back to how I got on there was I won the Asian Tour Order of Merit back in 1993 and that got me an eight-month exemption into Japan. So it pretty much was a no-brainer like, well, do I go back and play Mini Tour stuff in America or do I start playing in these three quarter of a million dollar purses; that was a no-brainer back in 1993. I just kind of continued staying there because I was doing so well, but I'd always hoped and dreamed that I would be lucky enough to come back here and play.

BRIAN WATTS: It is a very complex thing. It is so hard to sit there and compare how guys play golf -- how many Tours are there five, six, something like that, you can't judge how somebody plays here at the TPC and then you got somebody playing in the Australian Tour, the European Tour. It is nearly impossible. But you know, it is a real tough one for me to comment on because I have got a certain stand on it, and it is probably the best for me not to comment too much on this. But there is golf to played, put it this way, there is golf to be played outside this country. I think the Ryder Cup and The Presidents Cup matches show that.

BRIAN WATTS: 13, 6-iron on 13 to about twelve feet. 5-iron on 14, like I said, just missed the green to the right probably 50 feet, chip it in. 6-iron on 15 to about 20 feet, made it. 16, I hit a driver and 5-iron in the short bunker just short of the green, pin was on the right side and I knocked it out to three neat, made it. 18, I hit driver, 6-iron, I think that was about 20 feet also. 3, I hit a 6-iron to four feet. 4, I hit a pitching wedge to four feet. And 5, I hit a 7-iron to about 35 feet.

BRIAN WATTS: Thank for having me.