FEDEX ST. JUDE CLASSIC

August 1, 1998

Kevin Wentworth

KEVIN WENTWORTH: I just -- it was a good solid round. Obviously got jumped-started by a hole-in-one on No. 4. Pretty steady. Nothing real flashy, hit some shots in there first for some easy birdies. Really limiting my mistakes, made a couple of mistakes, but nothing too major; just a pretty good day all and all.

KEVIN WENTWORTH: Hit a pitching wedge from about 135 to about five feet, made it. No. 4 -- birdies?

KEVIN WENTWORTH: Nothing fancy on any of those holes. No. 4, I think I had 183 to the flag, hit a 6-iron and hit about eight inches in front of the hole, hopped right in for a nice little 1. 5th hole, driver, 2-iron on the front fringe, 2-putted for birdie. No. 9, I hit it in the rough, to lay-it-up, and made a bogey.

KEVIN WENTWORTH: No, no. I just hit it on the back, on the back of the green, third shot, nothing fancy. 10, made a good save from over the green. 12, missed a short birdie putt.

KEVIN WENTWORTH: Probably six feet. 14, the par 3, hit a real nice shot in there about three feet right behind the hole.

KEVIN WENTWORTH: 186, 5-iron. Made a poor bogey on 15. Had a wedge from the fairway, missed it just left of the green about 15 feet off -- from the pin and knocked it down three feet and missed it. That was kind of a bad bogey. 16, knocked it on to about 18 feet, left it short of the jar for eagle. So it was a tap-in. 18 made a real good save from the right of the green to save my par there.

KEVIN WENTWORTH: You mean, for my better play?

KEVIN WENTWORTH: I think there is a lot of -- I mean, I am definitely not new to professional golf, but just a lot of little things that -- learning the golf courses, kind of learning the style of play is a little different. You really have to drive the ball extremely well on the Tour to play well week-in and week-out. That is something that has steadily improved for me. The weather -- I have played my last few years in Asia and my biggest battle is playing in this kind of weather or hotter and to start the year, the first few months in the cold was kind of like a shock to the system a little bit. I think it just takes a while to get comfortable with everything that is going on out here. It seems like each week I learn a little bit more and just get settled in a little bit more.

KEVIN WENTWORTH: Just kind of hanging in there. I was playing poorly early, and being new, I kind of compound it and I figured if I was just patient, my game would come around. It really has. Mainly driving the ball. I have driven the ball straight, and I think that has probably been the biggest difference over the summer.

KEVIN WENTWORTH: I really haven't. I mean, I think I have kind of -- somewhere in there, in May I probably resigned myself to say, you know, I have really used this year to learn and try to just gather information for the future and not really worry about my card. Not that worrying about it does you any good no matter where you are on the money list. But I mean, I don't even know enough to worry about it. (laughs)

KEVIN WENTWORTH: It was the first one. I have had two. This is the second one - one in college and today was the first one in competition. I have written down a few 1s on other guys' score cards, but never one on mine.

KEVIN WENTWORTH: Hottest place I have ever played was in Indonesia, in Bali. It is about two degrees south of the equator and the sun feels like it is about five feet over your head. It really makes days like these, that we have had this week really seem mild. It is just amazing, to just get around the golf course is a real chore.

KEVIN WENTWORTH: I haven't really looked at the board. I thought that if I could shoot that 4-, 5-under round, I would be within some sort of a chance to make a run. I mean, here I am talking like this and I have been just trying to make cuts. So I have played in Asia and in other places, Japan, and been in these situations and, today, you just try to get as many as you can and really I didn't never look at the board and there was no need to. You are just trying to get as many under pars as you can and -- you look at who was up there, Nick Price and Azinger and Hoch and all those guys, you figure they are going to keep shooting under par, so you have to just keep staying with them.

KEVIN WENTWORTH: It is funny, I tell stories all the time, and when I have to think of something, I am blank here. I think it is just a little bit adventuresome. We play in some third-world countries and you see some sites that you don't normally see, you know, things that come to mind is cobras wiggling across the green when guys are trying to putt. Goats running around on the golf course. You have got to back off your shot because there is a herd of goats running through your driving area. The driving is crazy on the streets. It is just a free-for-all, so, you see all kinds of crazy stuff. I am trying to think of something really funny. Nothing is coming to me right now.

KEVIN WENTWORTH: I ran into one one time in the Bush and he went one way and I went the other way and that was just fine with me. It is only some of the countries, India and Indonesia, has cobras, but not all of them.

KEVIN WENTWORTH: Yeah, I think so. I didn't play the Nike Tour or I have played a little on the Nike Tour because I always had a hard time getting to the Qualifying School. But I think it is. I think to travel -- especially as an American, I mean, we are so insulated. I think we are kind of raised to think that this is the only way people live. It is such a big country that to travel within the states takes a lot. I learned a lot. I think it was a great education for me, taught me to appreciate things a lot.

KEVIN WENTWORTH: There is no question. I mean, I live in California, so I am used to the dry climate. I mean, seemed like I sweat once I get out of the hotel room. But I think probably subconsciously having played so much in the heat, it just feels pretty natural for me. I just think that is because I have played in this weather a lot. But it does feel hot.

KEVIN WENTWORTH: If I was out in the lead and, you know, had a bunch of guys chasing me, maybe I would feel different. But I really don't think -- I will probably think about it more on the way to the course, but between now and then, I mean, there is guys that won a bunch more tournaments than I have right there, so I don't see that there is any reason to worry about it. I really don't feel that I have got a whole lot to lose. But I will be nervous tomorrow, I am sure.