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SONY OPEN IN HAWAII

January 13, 2005

Stewart Cink

HONOLULU, HAWAII

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Stewart Cink, currently one of our co-leaders, thanks for joining us. A lot of players still left on the golf course today, but no matter how it stacks up, 66 is a good score today. Maybe we could start with some opening comments.

STEWART CINK: Yeah, it was a good round for me. I think I played better today than I remember playing in a few years. Really just in control all day. I had a lot of opportunities to make some birdies and I really didn't putt very well. So to be 4-under with really not making anything, I'm very happy with that round.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Let's talk about last week at the Mercedes. You put yourself in a position to win and you played well all week. Anything that you can take out of that week that was positive?

STEWART CINK: Well, I played well all week, but I cost myself at the end just. I had a lack of commitment on a couple of shots, and with the wind blowing there Sunday, just like it was today here, you know, I definitely cost myself a tournament with those two mental errors.

So instead of brooding about it and being angry, I decided that the best thing I can do is to learn from those mistakes and really work on being committed on every shot and being ready to play every time.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: If you could comment on the conditions, the scoring average is over 72, obviously playing difficult with the wind. I think it's probably firmer than it was Monday or Tuesday.

STEWART CINK: It's really hard to hit the fairways out there because the fairways are drying out. The wind is blowing your ball, so as it lands, it's coming in at an angle and having a tendency to roll off into the rough. The rough is deeper than past years, too.

Q. You have to be happy with how things have started off this year.

STEWART CINK: I am. This time of year is not my strongest time, usually. To come from basically resting and vacationing to feeling like I'm in the middle of my summer form, it's great. I'm really looking forward to seeing what I can do the rest of the year.

Q. How much difference between the greens, between last week and this week, was it like something to adjust to, I would assume?

STEWART CINK: Yeah, there's a huge adjustment. The greens over there are slower and much more grainy. These greens here are very consistent and smooth and a good bit faster, but they are also grainy. But it's hard to see the grain because it's so tight and the conditions are so good. For me, it's hard to find the grain sometimes and even when you do find it, it doesn't affect the ball because the grass is cut so short.

Q. Were you ramming them by at first?

STEWART CINK: Not ramming them. In fact, I'm a little tentative because I'm expecting them to be a little faster, and I'm guarding against running it by. So I ended up coming up short a lot today and it was a little bit frustrating at times.

Q. What was more of an accomplishment, the eagle or the no bogeys?

STEWART CINK: The eagle will be matched by many today. The no-bogeys will not be matched by many. It was definitely a much more difficult task to go around that course today without making any bogeys, just challenging shots on every hole. The 9th is playing straight downwind, and I hit driver, 7-iron about six feet there, maybe eight feet to make eagle. So there will be a lot of eagles there.

The way the golf course is playing, the fairways are starting to bounce; and the direction of the wind, it's making it very hard to keep bogeys off your card.

Q. How do you account for playing so well so early without working at it in the month of December?

STEWART CINK: Well, I did play a tournament in December; I played the Target. So it's not like I stayed off the entire month.

We had a ski trip right before Christmas and I had about a week or so where I just didn't touch the clubs at all. You know, right after Christmas, the weather got nice and warm in Atlanta, and I was able to practice good and play some. Plus I've been pretty eager to get out. I was excited about the way I played last year, having two wins.

My work with Butch Harmon has been going real well, so I'm excited to see my results with that, and mentally I'm in pretty good shape, too. I'm eager to play, the weather has cooperated, and it all adds up to feeling like I'm in good form.

Q. How often do you get to work with Butch, being on opposite coasts?

STEWART CINK: I don't see him much, except when he comes out for television assignments with the European TV network. But I go to see him in Las Vegas at his place about four or five times a year.

Q. You're already part of the elite, Presidents Cup, Ryder Cup, Top-10 in the world, how far how see yourself behind players like Cink Els and woods, is there a big gap, do you think or do you think you're right on their tail?

STEWART CINK: I think there's a gap there. I feel like I can compete with them at any given point in time, but I feel like they still -- especially guys like Tiger and Vijay, Retief, Ernie, those guys just are there every single week. I'm sure they probably feel the same about their own games, but I feel like I have a long way to go to improve. My swing is still pretty good, but it's got a long way to go to get where I know it can be. My mind, too, I still need to work on being comfortable when I'm in the lead, and the only way to do that is to get there more often and just become accustomed to it.

Q. If you see yourself on a Sunday afternoon with Tiger, you two out way ahead of the field, do you feel comfortable or do you still feel a little bit intimidated?

STEWART CINK: Well, I feel comfortable because I don't really care who I'm playing with. Doesn't matter if I'm with Tiger or somebody who is playing their first PGA TOUR event, because all I can do is control my own ball, and the ball sure doesn't know who I'm playing with. So, you know, I'm beyond that part of my career, being intimidated just because I'm in the company of somebody else.

Now, is Tiger going to be a little more comfortable in the position he's in? Probably, because, you know, he's won 40 tournaments; I've won four. I'm proud to have won four. But I still need to become a little bit more comfortable and accustomed to being there in that position. That's what those guys have, Ernie and Tiger, those guys have won so many times they are accustomed to being in the position; that they know how to handle themselves and they are not fazed at all by it, and that's my goal is really get to the point where I'm not fazed by it either.

Q. Does that pertain like the 18th at Mercedes, 72nd hole?

STEWART CINK: No, it was a couple of shots stood out in my mind where I got out of my own skin. That one wasn't one of them, because some earlier mistakes I made forced my hand there. I had to go at the flag unless I wanted to just make second place, and I wasn't looking for second. I was trying to make three on that hole.

And that's what I mean, the little mistakes were strictly the result of being in the heat of it and not handling myself quite like I should or like I can. So figure the more I'm there, and I'm taking a lot from that already, and I applied it today, so maybe this week I'll have another shot to learn more.

Q. What are your thoughts on Paul Casey, the controversy and how do you think the players on Tour look at it?

STEWART CINK: Well, I think most players think that he was probably being coerced by a media writer. He was probably led to the well and he took a drink. I don't really think that he hates me because I was born in the United States. I don't hate him because he was born across the ocean from me. We're all people.

We talked this week a little bit. In fact, Nike, you know, I'm a Nike player and he's now a Nike player. The Nike rep out here introduced me to him, although we knew each other, he told me that he was going to be introduced to the media as a Nike player. I said, "He doesn't need to be introduced to the media. Everybody knows who Paul Casey is already. His name has been in the paper a lot of times." (Laughter.)

So I don't really have any personal angst against him or anything like that. I think he just made a mistake. He's a young guy.

Q. Other than winning this week, can you specify any specific goals for the year?

STEWART CINK: Well, I actually -- one of my goals over the last couple of years has been to not make any. Goals, because I think that what goals do for me is they set up -- they set up expectations, and if you don't meet your expectations, you consider yourself to be a failure.

I don't really think that that's the way my mind works. I've been out on Tour eight years now, this is my ninth and I've learned a lot about myself and the way I work. Setting up goals has been something that puts me into thinking about the future more than thinking about the present. Golf is a game that demands being in the present.

Q. How did you avoid the bogeys today?

STEWART CINK: Well, I drove the ball extremely well today. I was just -- my swing was feeling great. I felt like I was totally in control all day off the tee. You know, that's the key here. The fairways are very narrow and they are difficult to hit. You can put your ball into play, and you have a lot easier time making par or better on every hole, and that's what I was able to do.

Q. How did No. 1 play today?

STEWART CINK: No. 1 was brutal, as usual, when the wind blows out of the southwest. I missed the fairway a little bit left there and had to lay it up. Hit a terrible lie and just made up -- I had about 100 yards for my third shot and had about a 20-footer for par. It was nice not to start out with a bogey.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Let's touch on your round. No bogeys, one eagle, two birdies. No. 9.

STEWART CINK: Yeah, No. 9, it was playing right-to-left and downwind so very short. That hole is just ripe for the taking out there, and I hit a driver in the fairway, which is the key and only had a 7-iron left and hit it about eight feet.

Then 15, that was downwind as well and I played a 2-iron down the fairway and hit a sand wedge about five feet.

18, I was really proud of the way I played there because the wind was left-to-right off the, tee and you have to curve it right-to-left. And for me that's just -- that's not my cup of tea at all with a driver. I sat up there and trusting my swing and hit a beautiful draw right in the fairway. 3-woods are just on the fringe about 40 feet and 2-putted.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Any good par saves?

STEWART CINK: Yeah, I mentioned No. 1, about a 20-footer. Also on 14, I sort of hit a poor chip about eight feet short and made that one.

Putting is also challenging today. I don't think anybody mentioned -- or I didn't mention the putting yet. The greens are pretty fast and the wind really affects the ball quite a bit. It's a challenge just to keep yourself still, much less keep the ball in line. When you have an 8-footer for par, it's just not the same as having it on a nice, calm day.

Q. What was your second shot? What iron did you use on the second shot on 1?

STEWART CINK: I just used an 8-iron because I was in such a bad lie, just hack it down the fairway. I had about 230 yard to the hole.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Stewart Cink, best of luck the rest of the week.

End of FastScripts.

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