BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSIC

February 15, 2001

Mark Calcavecchia

MARK CALCAVECCHIA: I did manage to shoot 66, which considering I doubled the 3rd hole of the day, which wasn't good, obviously I four-putted. Ostensibly it was a 3-putt, I was about two inches off the front fringe, but I had a straight-up 20-footer. Blew that by about four feet and yanked the next one. I had to make a 3-footer for a four-jack. After that, I made eight birdies, playing the last 15 holes 8-under. I had some good chances, too, so it was a good comeback. Definitely happy with the score.

MARK CALCAVECCHIA: Well, it's not hard out here. You've got to remember, we are playing Indian Wells, not Southern Hills. This is the Hope, not the U.S. Open. I just said to myself, "I'm swinging great, I'm putting great. I'm going to make a bunch of birdies today." I just didn't put any pressure on myself to start doing it right away. I just happened to birdie the next five. I knew the par 5's here are easy and, you know, I figured if I could birdie all four of those, that's four more birdies right there and pick up a few others here and there. So I just came right back and hit a good shot on the next hole and made birdie. A good drive on the next par 5, only hit a 6-iron to the green. So from that point on, I was fine.

MARK CALCAVECCHIA: Well, you know, Faxon, I think, is Tiger Woods of putting. Tiger is clearly the best player in the world and I honestly believe without a doubt Brad Faxon is clearly the best putter in the world. He knows it. Ben Crenshaw never spent a lot of time practicing putting, either, because they know when they come out to the course, they are going to putt good, period, no matter what they are putting on. That's basically all it is. It's just he's fundamentally so good, everything is the same every single time he putts. I've always admired the way he putts, for sure.

MARK CALCAVECCHIA: You know, I had the same caddy for eight or nine years, and that was Drake, who I won with in Phoenix and then back in the early 90s -- no, I guess it was '94, I hired up another guy. That was in '92, and I got rid of him in June of '94. So from that point on, I've just been switching around. It's a good change of pace for me. The way I look at it, I would not want to work for me every week, so I can't imagine any other caddy would, is the way I look at it. Bones asked me if he could work for me, because I was planning on playing San Diego and then Los Angeles. So instead of flying all the way from San Diego back to Athens, Georgia and then back to Los Angeles, it made sense for Bones to stay out here in California. It was just a perfect fit and that's what happened.

MARK CALCAVECCHIA: Well, the guys I've used have all caddied for me before. They all know my game and I know their style of caddying. I've got a lot of caddy in me anyway. Sometimes with me, less information is better. Especially out here. I mean, Bones caddied for me -- he's caddied for me a lot. We won the Sarazen World Open back in '96 or whatever it was. Bones has been here before. He's definitely one of the top 5 caddies out here, for sure.

MARK CALCAVECCHIA: M-a-c-k-a-y, AKA, Bones. He eats five meals a day.

MARK CALCAVECCHIA: As I said, I four-jacked -- well statistically 3-putted, but like I said, I was two inches on the fringe and hit it four times with my putter so I consider that a four-jack. No. 4, I made a 15-footer straight-up for birdie after an 8-iron. No. 5, hit a 6-iron on the green and hit putted 15 feet for birdie. No. 6 I hit it just over the green on the fringe I was only 15 feet from the hole and I chipped it in with a 9-iron, a chip-in for birdie. No. 7, I hit a pitching wedge in there about 15 feet and made that for birdie. No. 8, I hit -- bombed another drive and hit it on the green about 20 feet for eagle and missed that. 2-putted for birdie. Then on the back nine, I missed a short birdie putt on 10, about a 5-footer. Then on number 12, I actually made a 30-footer. I hit it in the rough off the tee and misjudged my sand wedge shot and it came up on the front edge of the green about three feet short, but I made it for birdie. Then the next hole, the par 3, just another short birdie putt. The next hole, par 5, I hit another monstrous drive and an 8-iron to the green for my second shot to 15 and missed that. That was another tap-in birdie. Then on No. 18, probably my best drive of the day. Judy Rankin told me I outdrove Sullivan and Mayfair. I hit it about 40 feet short on the green and 2-putted for birdie.