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BELL CANADIAN OPEN

September 8, 2004

Stewart Cink

OAKVILLE, ONTARIO

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Thanks for joining us for a couple of minutes here prior to playing in the Pro Am. You had a great run recently, being named to the Ryder Cup, winning the NEC Invitational wire to wire. Talk about that string of couple of weeks. It was a great couple of weeks for you.

STEWART CINK: It was, thanks. I felt I was on the top of my game since the John Deere. I was playing well and waiting for something to happen, but being patient. Five or six tournaments in a row, a couple good things did happen. The Ryder Cup pick was a huge relief and then the win at the NEC, obviously was sort of the highlight of my career so far.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Talk about this week. You have a big week next week at the Ryder Cup. But obviously this is Canada's national championship, a big week for you here, too.

STEWART CINK: To me, this is the biggest tournament of the world, that's the way I look at every tournament I play in. I'm looking forward to next week, but I'm not looking ahead to next week yet. I've never played the golf course before today. This will be my first go round, so I have a lot to accomplish a lot to do the next couple of days. There will plenty on my mind.

Q. I will ask you to look ahead to the Ryder Cup. Do people really understand the pressure you guys are under I don't want to say at the bottom of the order, but talk about that a little bit.

STEWART CINK: I think people understand because they know the Ryder Cup, it's known for the pressure and you hear a lot of stories about people shaking so much they can't tee the ball up and stuff like that. I think people have an idea. But there is pressure on the lower half of the team, because no one wants to be the weakest link. Just like the TV show, no one wants to be the weak link. And you have 11 other players to support and the captain that you don't want to let down, and the whole country, riding on your shoulders, so there's a lot of pressure for everybody, but maybe on the guys lower down because they haven't been there as much.

Q. What do you think of Jay Haas as your fellow's captain's pick?

STEWART CINK: First of all, winning NEC took a lot of pressure off me, I feel, because I don't feel like I have anything to prove. First of all, the Ryder Cup, will determine whether the picks were good or bad. There's no way to look. There is a lot of speculation going on and I think that everybody pretty much is in agreement, both the picks on our side and the picks on their side are good picks. There's not a lot of controversy going on right now. That will be determined when the Ryder Cup is played.

For me, I feel I have a lot of confidence after my win at the NEC. My game has been in pretty good shape, I've rested now for two weeks. I'm looking forward to getting back into playing form this week and we'll see what happens next week. But I'm looking forward to the experience and a good time.

As far as Jay Haas, he was no surprise to anybody that he got picked, as well as he played the last two years. He adjusted his whole schedule just so he could make the team

Q. You weren't surprised at Colin Montgomerie being picked by the other side?

STEWART CINK: I didn't understand how their qualification process was working anyway, with the two 5 man lists. They had World Ranking and an Order of Merit list or something, I didn't really know who was up for picks and who was automatically qualified. When they played their last tournament I wasn't really watching golf too much. I was sort of off on vacation. I'm not surprised those two guys got picked over there either.

Q. A lot of players prepare in different ways. What caused you to come here this week? What was motivating you?

STEWART CINK: I like playing a week before the majors, and I consider the Ryder Cup being a major as far as preparation. I was going to play the week before it, and it happens to be the Canadian Open.

Q. From your experience, talk a little bit about the differences between the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup?

STEWART CINK: As far as I can tell, there's not that much of a difference. I've only played in one Presidents Cup, it's been on American soil, and one Ryder Cup, on UK soil. The differences that I could tell were the venues. The team comradery behind closed doors is about the same, the competition may be a little more intense at the Ryder Cup. But again, the one I played in was maybe a little unusual because of the year delay. I've only had experience with two. As far as I can tell, I don't see that much difference.

Q. What's the difference, last time you played in the Ryder Cup you also played the week before, but you had pretty much everybody on both teams in the field, now it's only about a half a dozen.

STEWART CINK: I have to correct you on that. I played in Tampa, me and Hal Sutton played in Tampa.

Q. What was that like, going from Tampa nice recovery by me, huh going from Tampa and jumping right in?

STEWART CINK: It was an unusual experience. Hal and I were both busting our rear ends to get from Tampa with our wives to the Ryder Cup. We blew the theory of everybody is going to arrive as a team out of the water. We both wanted to play that week, but neither of us were in the AmEx, so just getting there was an event on its own.

But once we got to The Belfry and to be behind closed doors there and be able to relax, it's great. With the Ryder Cup you're shut in all week, you don't get out much.

Q. Secondly, when you talk about liking to play a week before a major, if this is Bell South, for example, you're worried about your game and getting your game set to go play the Masters, now you're still worried about your game, but how is it different going over as a team player as opposed to an individual?

STEWART CINK: I don't think it's different at all, because you play golf as good as you can play, whether on a team or as an individual. I'm hoping I'll be in good form at the end of this week so I'll be peaking before next week. That's the idea of playing before the majors and the Ryder Cup. If I can hit my shots, execute and plan well, and if I can play to the highest of my abilities, I'll be a good team player. That's kind of the idea here.

Q. I know you didn't play in 1999, if you could address the way the Ryder Cup changed from that point, the way it has been propelled to one of the more popular sporting events in the world?

STEWART CINK: That was such a huge comeback by the U.S. team there, it's kind of hard to explain how that even happened. Everybody just playing above their heads and at one time like that to come back from that deficit, I think that sort of captured everybody's spirit and got everybody tuned into the Ryder Cup, even more than they already were, and this year, I expect it to be similar to that. It's sort of it's an event that transcends just one sport and it brings the whole world in. There are people that don't ever watch golf that will probably watch the Ryder Cup. That's why it's a big deal to make the team.

Q. I assume when you win an event like NEC it allows you the luxury to alter your itinerary and what you might have done. How important is it for you to recharge your batteries and take that time off so you can address the rest of the season, which happens to include the Ryder Cup?

STEWART CINK: The rest of the season is quite busy. I have four tournaments lined up between now and well, the next four, one is the Ryder Cup and one is in Ireland, I have a busy schedule coming up. My kids are already complaining I'm going to be gone so much. I had to take time off to spend with them and recharge the batteries, like you said. You can't keep playing forever. You would like to because when you're playing well, you don't want to stop. You know you have to stop, you just can't keep going forward. If nothing else, the mail is piling up at home and I have to address some of that.

There's only one change I made, I dropped the Buick Championship and I added this. That's the only change as far as my schedule. I don't expect to change anything else this year.

Q. I was wondering about the differences between being a viewer of the Ryder Cup and being a participant, and maybe being able to harness some of that emotion and energy you feel when you want to leap through the screen and be a part of it, and now you have to a chance to be a part of it?

STEWART CINK: I've grown up watching Ryder Cups. I felt the same way, wanting to be a part of it and wondering what it would be like to tee up that first ball and have the nerves like everybody talks about, and then I had a chance to do it. The one thing I realized when I did it, you practice enough and you play enough, as a pro you're habits are so engrained as a golfer, no matter how nervous you are, you still tend to act the same way and you still swing the club the same way, you hope anyway. I found that I was extremely nervous just like they said the first time, but the machine kept on working, and everybody else's did too. I'm hoping this time it will be the same way.

Q. Why has Europe one six of the last nine?

STEWART CINK: That's a good question, because it's such an even match. If you put the two best teams, the two all star teams together from any of the major sports, it's always going to come out one and the other, one and the other. If we took it out from about 1990 through, say, 2030, I think it's going to be 50/50. It's going to be such a close run.

Q. It's been one and one and one and the other, one and one and one and the other.

STEWART CINK: But before that, it was a lot more us than them. If you take a longer span of time, it will even out. It's like the stock market.

Q. When you brought Continental Europe into the fray and things started changing around 83, 85, then it's been predominantly Europe?

STEWART CINK: They have a great pool to draw from. They have some unbelievable players every year. It's always different too, just like our team always changes. I think the last 10 years or so, when they've been on their run of winning against us, I think what it comes down to is they've putted better than we have. It seems like last time we had some players, me included, that just didn't play great, and a lot of the guys that played on their team played great.

Q. Are you guys the underdogs?

STEWART CINK: Well, if you look at the record, yes, I guess we would be. They've won six out of the last nine, right? You just said that. I don't know if we're the underdogs. It's hard to handicap it, because we're golfers, we're not other athletes who go out and play almost the same way every time. The ball, the course, there are so many other variables.

Q. Is there another week in the year where you have to put on a tie as much?

STEWART CINK: Maybe if I have a wedding to go to, definitely not. That would be like going for four weddings in one week. There's no other week that I have to wear a tie so much.

Q. Do you mind?

STEWART CINK: I don't mind. The golf part is one thing, I treat it like it's my profession, I'm trained to do it. Away from that is when I can sort of be in awe of the fact that I'm on the Ryder Cup team representing the United States. That's when I have to put the jacket and tie on, and me and Tiger and Phil will be in the same clothes. That's where you go, whoa, this is the real deal.

Q. Looking ahead to the Presidents Cup, it's been looked upon as kind of the weak sister of the two Match Play events, probably more because of tradition. But just look ahead a year and look at the teams that are forming, obviously you guys will probably be roughly the same as the Ryder Cup team this year. I'm wondering if you could look at the International side with Vijay taking over No. 1, you have a guy developing like Stephen Ames from here in Canada, you have a guy like Adam Scott coming up, I'm wondering what the caliber of the Presidents Cup is going to be next year especially after this last one where you ended up in a tie.

STEWART CINK: If you look at the International team versus the U.S., I think it's closer than the European team versus the Americans, because you have guys like Vijay, Ernie, Retief, and Mike Weir, too, they're super high end world ranking type players, and it's a great match.

I think the European team is so cohesive, though, and they're unified, they have geographic ties. It's hard for Stephen Ames, Mike Weir and Ernie Els to feel cohesive as a team because of geographic ties. That's one thing that I think may hurt them on the International side, but they are a strong team on paper and it's always a close match.

Q. Is it better for you personally to go to Oakland Hills coming off like a tough golf course setup, which this is perceived to be this week, or would you rather be at a much easier test where you're making just a mess of birdies and stuff?

STEWART CINK: I would rather play at a course like this, although I don't know anything about it because I've never played it. If you say it's a tough setup, I'll go with a tough setup. I would rather have a tough setup where you're challenged, your forced to be on form, hit the fairways, difficult around the greens, fast greens, some wind, I would rather see tough conditions, that gets you warmed up and gets you in the flow of things before you go to a tournament like the Ryder Cup.

Q. Have you played Oakland Hills before?

STEWART CINK: I played in the 96 U.S. Open, and it's the hardest course I think I'd seen at that time. That was before a lot of things changed, the technology and myself. I've changed quite a bit too as a player. It will be interesting to see the differences. I remember hitting some long irons and having some brutal putts. Unless they've stretched out the holes a lot, it will be interesting to see. I don't know if it will be that long anymore.

Q. Bernhard Langer, what's the first thing that comes to your mind, the guy in the green jacket, or the guy that screamed in agony when he missed the putt at Kiawah?

STEWART CINK: The green jacket. I was 12. I remember, I think he dressed in red the whole time. I remember that red outfit. I was always impressed that even at 12 years old, I was impressed how he handled what I perceived enormous pressure where he could hardly breathe. That's what I think of.

Q. What do you think of him now, the more you've been around him and not that you've gone to dinner with him and spent a bunch of time, but as a professional, give us your take on him.

STEWART CINK: He's exactly like I saw on the television. I see now how he was able to handle the pressure of the Masters, winning it twice, and also coping with the fact that he missed a short putt not a really short putt, it was missable, five or six feet, but he missed the putt that the whole Ryder Cup was riding on, and then he went on to win the very next week my making a putt on the very last hole. To be that's really the mark of a great champion, a great person.

Q. With what happened in Boston in 99 and then overseas, sort of the patriotism and everything that surrounds the Ryder Cup, are you concerned at all about what the atmosphere might be on the course from the fans perspective and what are you hoping to see there?

STEWART CINK: You mean outside the ropes?

Q. Yes.

STEWART CINK: I'm not too concerned. I know it will be energized and it will be really loud, but there's I just trust that the people will behave pretty well. I know they'll be rooting for USA, and that's fine. I hope they do. It's hard to look in the future and say that I really think it's going to get out of hand. I don't think it will.

Q. This isn't about the Ryder Cup, I was just wondering your impressions. Tiger is no longer No. 1 in the rankings, is that a good thing for the PGA, or how do you view it?

STEWART CINK: I think it's a great thing, because he's still the No. 1 personality in golf in people's minds and he will always be that until he retires. For someone to actually play well enough to overcome his record and become the No. 1 player is No. 1, it serves for a lot of interest among golf fans; and No. 2, it gives a lot of us hope that we can do it too maybe. We have a long way to go but so did Vijay. Vijay trailed Tiger by 12 and a half points in '02, I trail him by way less than that now, so I know there is a chance I could do that. It gives us hope.

Q. The guys on the tour, how long have they considered Vijay to be No. 1?

STEWART CINK: I think last year it was split, because the Player of the Year vote was close, but Tiger won it. I think earlier in the season when Vijay won, he won two Mondays back to back and I think that was the third one of the year. People were saying, okay, can't argue with this guy anymore. Six months at least everybody figured Vijay was the top player.

Q. Do you look at him any differently?

STEWART CINK: Vijay? Tiger? Well, I think I've just gotten on accustomed to the way he plays. The shots he hits are still mind boggling, these iron that goes so high, the 2 irons and things like that. From that perspective, I'm more accustomed to seeing it now. I'm not just totally I don't feel totally overwhelmed by seeing him play anymore.

Q. It seemed there was a point, again 2 or 3 years ago, where Tiger was there, when he was on the putting green or range or whatever, the tournament had kind of a little bigger buzz, even among the players. Has that changed?

STEWART CINK: The players really never treat it any different. We are just trying like crazy to get the biggest piece of the pie we can get that week. If Tiger stands in the way, we know you have to play harder. As far as the fans, I noticed when I played with Daly a month ago and with Tiger two weeks ago, the Daly crowd was more boisterous and seemed more populated than Tiger's crowd. So that changed. At the Buick Open, and San Diego also, but most recently at the Buick Open. The Daly crowd is quite boisterous.

Q. Everyone knows how much Tiger and Vijay practice, is it really that much more overwhelming to guys to think, they've put in the work and that's why they're No. 1? When you're sitting back and watching that do you think how much harder do I have to work to achieve that status?

STEWART CINK: It's overwhelming to see that, because No. 1, I don't want to give up my whole life to this game. I give up a lot of it already. I don't know if I want to spend 9 hours every single day doing that. For me, I just need to find a good balance, and I have got a good balance. I work hard, I work the right amount for me. Maybe I need to increase it a little bit or start managing my time a little bit better so I can get more work into the same amount of time. That's the key for me. I don't want to just give my whole life to the game at this point. I think I would go crazy and play worse.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Stewart, thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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