MICHELOB CHAMPIONSHIP AT KINGSMILL

October 9, 1999

Mike Weir

MIKE WEIR: Today again I played -- I was happy with my play. I played a very solid round of golf. Kind of contrasting 9's. I felt like I played well on the front side. Wind was gusting a bit. I misjudged the wind a couple times. Other than that, I was very happy with my round, the way I'm playing. Excited to get back in this thing.

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, great.

MIKE WEIR: Seems that way. Hopefully the Front 9 sets up well for me. I haven't played it the greatest yet. Hopefully tomorrow I'll change things around a little bit. Had lots of opportunities. The first five holes, I had plenty of opportunities. Ball just didn't go in for me.

MIKE WEIR: I did, yeah. I had all kinds of chances on those first four or five holes. Didn't get any in. Turning one over, I needed to stay very patient. I played much better then.

MIKE WEIR: I don't think I did. I don't think I had one until the 15th tee.

MIKE WEIR: 1st hole, 3-wood and sand wedge to ten feet. I made that putt. 2nd hole, 5-iron to 12 feet. A driver and 4-iron beside the green. Chipped it to eight feet. Driver and an 8-iron to four feet, missed that one. I think I hit a 6-iron. Actually I was about 20 feet on No. 3 and rolled that one right into the lip. Then 4, 2-putted. 7, I drove it in the fairway bunker. Hit a nice 6-iron out of the bunker. I had I think a hundred yards. Pushed it a little bit, hit on the bang, kicked a little bit, seven or eight feet, missed that putt. 8, hit a 3-wood too far, went down the slope, had kind of a funny downhill lie and was in a divot. I tried to hit a punch shot off the downhill lie, hit it heavy, short, made a nice chip to about two feet and parred it. That was a nice save after bogeying the hole before. 9, hit another good drive, had a 6-iron. Hit a really nice 6-iron. The wind gusted a bit, hit off the front, rolled back in that deep stuff, chipped it out about eight feet, missed that putt for bogey. The backside, hit a good drive and 7-iron to four feet on No. 10. 3-wood and a 9-iron to four feet on No. 11. 3-wood and a 9-iron to maybe 15 feet, 18 feet, add made that one. 5-iron on 13 to maybe five feet, made that one. 14, had a good birdie chance from about 12 feet and missed it. 15, I hit a driver and a 3-wood on the front of the green, 2-putted that one for a birdie. 16, I hit a driver and a 9-iron, maybe 12, 14 feet, left it short right in the middle of the hole. 17, hit a little punch cut, 6-iron, a little bit left. Wasn't that bad of a shot. Hard bounce, bounced all the way across the green, worst lie all week. Had a good chip to ten feet. Left it hanging, half the ball was hanging over the hole. Got unlucky. 18, hit a good drive. Hit an 8-iron to about maybe 18 feet right below the hole. Left it short right in the middle of the hole, about an inch short.

MIKE WEIR: I could tell by the sound of the ground underneath where he was chipping. He's a great short game player. I could tell he was trying to hit a flop shot. Just kind of a little unlucky. Probably like we talked going down the fairway, probably would have been in the hazard anyway if it didn't hit off the reporter's camera and went down into the hazard. Probably would have hopped in there anyway. Just a little unlucky really. Catch kind of a bad hardpan lie over there.

MIKE WEIR: I don't know if that will be much of a factor. In Vancouver, obviously people were really pulling for me. I used it as a positive because I did have so many people pulling for me. I kind of fed off their emotion the last two days. Tomorrow, the crowds are great out here for both Notah and I. I don't think it will have that much bearing on what happens.

MIKE WEIR: I think I tied for the lead a couple times. I don't know if I've actually been. Good question. Atlanta, I think I was one back. Tucson, I think I was tied. Vancouver, I was back.

MIKE WEIR: I think I've shared it.

MIKE WEIR: No. I try to make every one the same. I don't place too much emphasis on it. The things I have learned this year that I can draw upon is Thursday is just as important as Sunday. I really learned that this year at the Western, the Western Open, where I was four shots behind Tiger starting the last day, and almost caught him. Had a good chance to win. To give him four shots, I learned where I gave a lot of shots away was Thursday. I did that again this week. This week was different because I was a little bit rusty. Actually, I didn't feel like I gave any shots away on Thursday. That's just the score I shot. I remember at the Western, I felt like I gave some shots away. That really cost me the tournament there.

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, it was, exactly.

MIKE WEIR: It's tough. Par 5s up there are like par 4s. I had a good drive on one, 5-iron, hit a wedge. Big difference. To answer your question, I try to keep everything the same. Tonight I'll do the exact same thing as I did last night. Just have a normal meal. My brother-in-law just drove in. He's in the Army at Fort Bragg. Drove up to watch me play tomorrow. Have dinner with him, take it easy.

MIKE WEIR: No, this is awesome. I love being in this position. I've worked really hard. Someone said, "You kind of burst on the scene this year." I feel like I worked really hard the last seven years to get to this point. Didn't happen by accident or without a lot of work. Like any guy who's out here, it always comes from hard work and perseverance. That's what we play for, to be in this position. I love it every time I'm here because you never know when you're going to be here again. So many good players out here.

MIKE WEIR: I think I always carry the flag for Canada. I try not to think about it when I'm playing. It's just a fact. It's great actually to have the whole country behind you.

MIKE WEIR: I think so, yeah. The more often you're there, the more comfortable you feel. I felt very comfortable today. I didn't panic when things weren't going well on the Front 9. Kind of let things happen. I didn't get flustered. I kind of just went about my business. Sometimes it turns out the way it did today, that you do come back, sometimes it doesn't. You have the best opportunity of it happening if you don't try to force things. That's what I learned, I guess.

MIKE WEIR: My caddy keeps an eye on it. The golf course, really there's -- except for maybe 15, there's a chance that you don't get a drive, might be a bit of a gamble. If you're out there in the 250 range, a bit of a stretch. Besides, that I would play the golf course the same. If I'm two ahead or three behind, I wouldn't all of a sudden hit 3-irons off the tee. If I was four up, I'd do the same thing. I guess I'll stick to my game plan, won't have to watch very much, I think.

MIKE WEIR: Not really. I mean, obviously I felt like I left some out there. But that's the nature of the game. You can't always have -- if things would have went perfect again today, I would have shot 63 again. That's not the way it is sometimes. I felt like early in the round I had some opportunities, didn't capitalize. I'm not going to dwell on it too much. I played very good. Hopefully I can do it again tomorrow.

MIKE WEIR: Is it supposed to rain tomorrow?

MIKE WEIR: The course could make for more birdies if it gets softer. Just got to kind of pay attention to those things a little bit and watch it, start making a lot of birdies. But I don't really have it on my mind. I've never really done that. A lot of guys do do that. Coming into the last round of the Masters, Jack would say, "If I can shoot 65 today, I have a chance." I don't think he did that when he was ahead. I think if he was maybe four or five behind, he was always thinking that way. That's the way I kind of go about it, I guess.

End of FastScripts….