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FORD CHAMPIONSHIP AT DORAL

March 8, 2003

Mike Weir

DORAL, FLORIDA

JOHN BUSH: We would like to welcome you once again into the interview room. Once again, Mike, you are a lot of fun to watch right now. Obviously that was a great finish there. Especially on No. 17 with the eagle. When it was in the air, was it going in?

MIKE WEIR: You know, no, it was obviously coming down right on top of the pin and it landed an inch to the left of the hole. It's probably a good thing it didn't hit the pin. Obviously a great way to finish for a round that I felt like I played very well, but wasn't getting much out of it so to end off shooting 67, I'm happy with it.

Q. It looked like you might do it on 18?

MIKE WEIR: I had almost identical yardage. I had 3 more yards so I gave it a little bit extra and was looking good as well. But I will take the par.

JOHN BUSH: Let's go through your round and get started with questions.

MIKE WEIR: 4-iron to 20 feet, just missed the putt there. I hit a 3-wood and a wedge to about six feet on 3, I guess.

5, I hit a 3-wood and a wedge to about 15 feet and made that one.

7, I bogeyed. I drove it in the rough. I hit it short of the green, chipped it 12 feet by and missed that.

Just off the back on 8 and didn't get up and down and 2-putted 9 so I was even.

I 3-putted 10 which was disappointing. Then I birdied the par-5, 12 I hit it right in front, chipped it to about three feet. The next hole I hit the best shot I had all day besides that wedge shot, I hit a nice 5-wood from 253 yards, landed just what I wanted, rolled over the back and caught a horrible lie to the first cut and lipped out an eight-foot for par there.

Then I made a nice putt for birdie from about 35, 40 feet. 17 -- made a great save actually on 16. Made a 12-foot par on 16.

I holed it on 17 from 115 yards. And got it up and down on 18 from 117 yards.

JOHN BUSH: What did you hit on 15?

MIKE WEIR: 15, I hit a 7-iron.

JOHN BUSH: Questions.

Q. What did you hit on 17?

MIKE WEIR: A wedge.

Q. Three putts on the last four holes then?

MIKE WEIR: Three putts on the last four holes.

Q. That helps the score?

MIKE WEIR: That helps.

Q. What were you trying to do, would you say, when you came to about 12, did you feel things getting away from you?

MIKE WEIR: No, I just tried to remind myself to stay patient because I was hitting good shots. I don't know, I didn't have a good feel for the greens and I felt like my good shots just didn't turn out very well. Obviously it was disappointing but I kept telling myself, look, there is still 30-some-odd holes of golf left for me or, sorry, 20-some-odd holes left. If I could hang in there, make a few coming in, give myself a shot tomorrow; that's all I wanted.

Q. Is that how you have been talking to yourself all year?

MIKE WEIR: Yes, that's been a big difference. Yesterday I am learning how to stay in there better even when things aren't going that well, I'm learning how to get the most out of my round.

Q. What would the Mike Weir of fall of last year be telling himself in the same situation?

MIKE WEIR: I don't know if I would have been as optimistic. But you know, I think that's where I am. I am kind of optimistic about my game. Whatever happens, I'm trying to figure out oh, well, this is what I have, even though I don't like it, try to figure out a way to get it in. I didn't have that attitude last year. Some of the time.

Q. Billy Mayfair was in here earlier saying that he was getting to results-oriented and just starting to play the game, not get so result-oriented. Is that similar to maybe one of the issues you had last year?

MIKE WEIR: I think so. Not to beat this, I feel like I talked about it last year every day, I think I was just trying to have a perfect swing, a perfect putting stroke, perfect everything, I was just trying to be too perfect more than anything instead of playing.

Q. What was the last time you holed out like that?

MIKE WEIR: I holed out at the Bob Hope like that on Friday's round, I believe. Maybe it wasn't quite that far, about 110 yard shot.

Q. You holed one at the British a couple of years ago?

MIKE WEIR: Yes, I think did I hole one at the British.

Q. You have had a bunch since Vancouver?

MIKE WEIR: Yes, I have holed a few shots.

Q. You comeback from 7 and four --

MIKE WEIR: 7 and four shots, yes.

Q. Wherever it was, you know what I'm trying to say?

MIKE WEIR: 7 shots in L.A..

Q. How different is it now on this course and with the board the way it is which is fairly packed in there?

MIKE WEIR: It's pretty packed in there, isn't it. It seems like the low scores today were shot early. Thus it's pretty bunched up because the afternoon guys, it was tougher to score, I felt like the wind actually picked up this afternoon. Where it has been doing the opposite in the morning blowing in the morning and dying down in the afternoon. There is a lot of guys with a chance this week, or tomorrow, and I think it's going to be the player that gets off to a fast start and keep it going through those mid-holes which can be difficult. So that's my game plan tomorrow is hopefully get open to a fast start and keep things rolling and go from there.

Q. How do you explain the comebacks, is there certain comfort there?

MIKE WEIR: Sure. It might be a bit that you know there is almost nothing to lose, and you have more of an aggressive mentality. At the Bob Hope there was -- I was in the last group, 4 behind, Tim Herron had a 4-shot lead over Jay Haas and myself, there was only one guy to catch. Plus it was a difficult day. Where at L.A. there is so many guys in front I needed to get aggressive and get out there and get off to a good start and post a really good number because there is so many guys in front of me there. Where tomorrow there is probably 3 or 4 guys maybe, two or three guys in front of me. So I will be able to, you know I don't have to press too much in the beginning of the round. It would be nice to get off to a good start. You just kind of watch the board a little bit. You kind of feel how the golf course is playing and you pick and choose your chances when you need to take them.

Q. Could you go over 10 again.

MIKE WEIR: I hit a 3-wood and then a 3-iron on --

Q. Way right?

MIKE WEIR: Just on the right center of the green. Putted up. I hit it too hard, putted about 8 or 9 feet by, missed it coming back.

Q. Could you talk about the second shot at 18 what your situation was?

MIKE WEIR: Well, I was buried. It was an awful lie with 2 trees in front of me, the only option was to play it over to the left there. I wanted to get it over to the left as far as I could to give myself an angle because I wanted to be directly into the wind for my third shot I didn't want to have crosswind. That was my thinking.

JOHN BUSH: One more question?

Q. Given the fact that there is quite a few guys bunched around you, not necessarily ahead of you will you be watching the board at all tomorrow closely?

MIKE WEIR: I think a little bit, Ken, I noticed this year I kind of paid attention to the board maybe a little more than I have in the past. It seemed to work out well. I'm not going to be a board watcher watching every hole but I think I will be aware of it more than maybe what I have in the past years and see if somebody is really getting off to a hot start. Again it doesn't change my approach to my game out there. There is really -- the times you will be aggressive is maybe near the back. There will be some difficult pins with iron shots going to the green. It doesn't change my approach off the tee because it's straight forward off the tee here. I may need to be more aggressive with some iron shots later in the day. We will see.

JOHN BUSH: Mike, thank you for coming by, good luck tomorrow.

End of FastScripts....

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