MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 11, 2003

Mike Weir

JIM BLANCHARD: I'm happy to introduce to you Mike Weir, our leader. 6-under through 30 holes. Mike, if you would make a few comments and then we'll open the floor for questions.

MIKE WEIR: Sure. I am glad to be in the press room after 30 holes. But it was a long day out there. The golf course played very long, especially early in the morning. But I think the maintenance crew did such an outstanding job to get the golf course ready. And as the day wore on, balls were starting to release a little bit in the fairways and shots into the greens were really releasing through the greens. So you really had to control your distance, which I did well. I drove the ball very well today mainly and my putter was very good. I made a number of putts inside of 8 feet to save pars and that's, I guess, why I am at 6-under right now.

JIM BLANCHARD: Thank you. Questions?

Q. You seem to be concentrating very well out there in the morning particularly when it was so slow, almost 6 hours. And I'm sure you were working very hard on just doing that.

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, I knew it was going to be a tough challenge to stay with it mentally on a day like this. And as you said, the round took about six hours. There was a lot of waiting, so a lot of time for your mind to wander. And I just tried not to allow myself to do that, especially once I got over the shot. So I think I did a good job of that today.

Q. I believe I saw that you were the only player in the first round not to have a bogey. How did you manage to do what nobody else did?

MIKE WEIR: I 3-putted the last hole for a bogey. So I did make one. But I think that mainly it was I made a number of comeback putts, five or six-footers coming back. But I hit a lot of greens and I'm hitting most of the fairways. I think maybe I missed one or two fairways, so that's kind of setting up the golf course for me right now.

Q. Could you comment about the length of the course today?

MIKE WEIR: It played extremely long. I hit a little 5-wood into the first hole. And in the afternoon I got a 5-iron into the first hole. But the golf course is playing very long. I think the golf course in the condition and the job that the maintenance crew has done here, that there weren't too many mud balls out there for as much rain as we have had. It's pretty amazing. So even though we had some longer shots in there, or I did, I was still able to control my distance because there wasn't too much stuff all over the ball.

Q. How did you play 5 today and how much tougher is that hole now?

MIKE WEIR: I hit a pretty good drive there today, this morning, and it was playing downwind. And I think I hit a 6-iron I believe in this morning. So that will be my second hole tomorrow.

Q. How important is it tomorrow to come out in the morning and continue what you're doing today and how difficult is that to do?

MIKE WEIR: Well, it is important to establish myself and get into a nice flow. I think that I got in a nice flow in my game early in the morning today and was able to sustain that through those 30 holes. So tomorrow I'm going to have 24 holes to play. I hope to establish a nice rhythm early in the round and maintain that for the rest of the day. That's my plan anyway.

Q. How difficult will that be in terms of the morning round?

MIKE WEIR: Hopefully not real difficult. It's difficult to, at this level, to get on a nice roll, but hopefully I'll be able to do it.

Q. First of all, as demanding as it was out there today, you get in a groove, you've almost played half the tournament. You can separate yourself from the field. Did you want to state out and play as long as you could?

MIKE WEIR: I would have loved to have finished my round. I was in a nice flow with my game. I was hitting my targets. I felt very good with my putter. I made two really nice putts to end, so that was really nice. I made a 8-foot curler on No. 2 and maybe about a 6 or 7-foot curler on number 3 to finish the day. So really I had a good feel with my putter. I would have loved to keep going.

Q. All of Canada wants to know this: Did you watch all three overtime periods in the Detroit game?

MIKE WEIR: No, I couldn't make it. I watched one overtime. That was it.

Q. At TPC the horn kind of blew at the wrong time for you on the Friday night. Do you feel today it kind of blew at a good time? Three is not the easiest hole or pin to get at where it was today. And you just kept rolling stuff in.

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, it's kind of nice to start on a par-3 and you tee up your ball on a par-3 and hit a nice solid iron shot there and maybe get off and rolling tomorrow. So, yeah, as you said, I had to sleep on the 17th hole at the Players, which wasn't very good.

Q. It was one the first holes, but you made a wonderful putt there, 35 or 40 feet or whatever for par right there?

MIKE WEIR: That was a very important putt. I hit a 5-wood into the hole a nice shot, but it released and rolled down and I was trying to skip it in the bank and the second bounce hadn't ran over and I had 35, 40 feet and rolled that right in on the first hole for par. So that was one. You're not really expecting to make that one so it was a nice start.

Q. Can you talk about the three birdie stretch there? And also, is this a progression you feel like what you've done so far this season both mentally and physically as well as you've played this year?

MIKE WEIR: I'm not sure what three birdie stretch on?

Q. The three straight.

MIKE WEIR: 13? Yes, 13 I made a really nice putt maybe 20 feet from behind the hole. 14, I was just over the green and chipped in. And 15, I hit a nice wedge shot in there to six or seven feet and made that one.

But to answer the second part of your question, yeah, I feel like my game's been very solid this year and I have always felt like the next step for me is to try to contend in major championships and so far I'm doing it. We'll see if I can do it all week. I hope I can.

Q. Did you know that this was where your game was or was it a case of, as you said, a big par on 1, scrambled for that birdie on 2 and if you didn't know this was your game coming in, where did you really get a sense that this is the level you're playing at?

MIKE WEIR: Well, it's hard to -- that early in the morning, it's real hard to get a feel for it. You can hardly feel your hands and a feel for your swing early in the morning you're just trying to hit the center of the greens and hit some shots. But I think I really started to feel a rhythm with my game probably starting at about number 5 probably this morning it started feeling very good. My game I felt like it was getting a little bit better as the week went on.

Monday was a washout, obviously. Tuesday felt a little bit better and it's gotten better as the week went on. My practices sessions. And I felt pretty good this morning.

Q. Could the delay have helped you a little bit?

MIKE WEIR: Could have, yeah.

Q. We all wrote all week how it's going to be bomber's course and you are not a bomber. Are you a bomber? We don't think of you as one. Is that a bad rap that we don't think of you as one? And was distance a major factor for you today? What are the kind of clubs that you had to hit?

MIKE WEIR: No, I hit some longer irons. I'm not a bomber, for sure. I have to make my wedge game work for me and rely on my putting and chipping and course management skills to really make some birdies on this course. I'm not going to have power on the golf course. I have to play very smart and that's what I've been able to do. So I always felt like the talk was that a bomber's week this week, but I felt like if you're still consistent, you have a good putter in your hand, that's the great equalizer with a lie.

Q. And what kind of clubs did you hit into 18 and other long par 4s?

MIKE WEIR: I hit a 3-iron this morning. A good drive and a 3-iron short. On the green, but short of the pin. And then this afternoon when it was starting to dry a little bit, I hit a driver 4-iron just over the back.

Q. Your second shot on 10 in the second round, was that -- what happened to that?

MIKE WEIR: I was in kind of a little muddy spot dead on the downslope. I just thinned it.

Q. A few guys have been talking about the long day, just the wear and tear mentally. That's one reason the scores seemed to go up in the afternoon. Did that enter your mind at all that this was a long day on a very long course?

MIKE WEIR: Well, I prepared myself for that. I told myself that last night. I know it's going to be a long day, just going to be delays, there's going to be a little wait between my first and second round. And to not let myself slide mentally. And so I paid particular attention to that. And because it is easy when you get tired. I said that earlier in the week when your legs get tired it's easier to slip mentally too. I was just well aware of that.

Q. How much scoreboard watching did you do today and at what point were you aware that you had hit top of the board?

MIKE WEIR: I watched a little bit today. I guess I saw the morning round when Darren was playing so well and I guess got to 6-under. And this an afternoon I kind of glanced maybe a couple times. I didn't know until I came in that I was actually leading, so I guess I wasn't watching it that closely but I was kind of once in a while.

Q. Follow-up on the scoreboard notion. We have gone longer probably without asking a Tiger question than in Masters history. Did you -- you finished the round at 6-under and a two-shot lead -- actually stop to check to see where he is? Do you know where he is right now?

MIKE WEIR: No.

Q. You said earlier this week that you felt you were a little too aggressive at the Bell South. Is your play today indicative of what you want to do? You laid up on most of the par-5s today.

MIKE WEIR: Well, you have to play your strengths and have you to play -- you've got to know what you're capable of at that time. Sometimes you feel great with your swing and you can feel like you can take on any hole. Sometimes you don't have that feel. So you got to see where you're at. You take what the golf course gives you and that's what I tried to do this week. And I felt good with my putter so I felt fine leaving maybe not so close to the hole but on the right side of the hole to give myself a chance.

Q. Do you allow yourself to think at all ahead?

MIKE WEIR: I am going to try not to. It's hard not to. I'm going to try not to. I think I did a good job of it today. Hopefully we have Saturday and Sunday and two long days and I need to do it for two more days.

Q. That said, Mike, it must be a bit of a thrill to be here and to be leading The Masters?

MIKE WEIR: Absolutely. It's a thrill. I said that when I came in. It's a dream of coming in here, I watched the news conferences in the last four years when I was playing here back in my room and it's nice to be here finally.

Q. I believe you played with Tiger at Medinah in the last group, right?

MIKE WEIR: Yup.

Q. How much different a player are you now than that Mike Weir?

MIKE WEIR: I'm a lot different. I'm much more experienced and my game's a lot different. I think it's more well-rounded. And back then I said I was coming out of the Q school that year and I was in the final group of a Major. I was probably a little out of my element. I wasn't prepared to handle it. But I learned from that and hopefully I can use that somehow this week. But I'm a much different player I think than back then.

Q. Your approach today and your approach tomorrow, obviously today you started and everybody was tied. Tomorrow you're going in, you know what you pretty much have to do but you have a lead. Do you have a different approach going in to tomorrow?

MIKE WEIR: No. No. I'm going to keep doing the same things I was doing today and hopefully I'll have as much control as I did today. Be able to place the ball where I want and we'll see what happens.

JIM BLANCHARD: Mike, a beautiful round of golf and a great day. Good luck tomorrow.

MIKE WEIR: Thanks.

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