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MCI HERITAGE

April 18, 2004

Stewart Cink

HILTON HEAD, SOUTH CAROLINA

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Congratulations Stewart Cink on the 2004 MCI Heritage champion. We got you here in the media center, it's been a long day after you finished with that round of 64. Talk about the emotions a little bit and we'll go into some questions.

STEWART CINK: Well, today was a -- it was a very long day. And I didn't realize how long it actually was until just now sitting down finally. It's the first time I've sat down in a long time. I played great today. I thought after my eagle on the 5th hole I might have a chance to put the pressure on to get something done today. And it worked out that way.

Q. Did your experience from four years ago give you an inkling that this might be possible today?

STEWART CINK: Absolutely. I knew this course had a history of getting the leaderboard bunched up at the start of the Sunday round. And I went out today looking at not who was leading, but who was in second place and thinking if I could get ahead of the guy in second that I might have a chance to get ahead of the leader. It's the way the course is. It's difficult to play the course with a lead. I know how difficult it is, because I finished 10th. Ted Purdy played a heck of a lot better than I did last year than I did today. He made a gutsy performance on the play. I kept missing putts on him. And it was a roller coaster ride the whole way. But I feel very fortunate to have won this tournament.

Q. Could you take us through the last 15 minutes or so, and sort of -- I guess there was some question?

STEWART CINK: Yeah, there was a question. A few people called in I think about something that happened out there in the waste bunker. I was moving a few loose impediments in the waste bunker, which you're allowed to do. The whole thing is made of little rocks. I moved rocks out of the way, and I didn't want the rocks to come in between the club and the ball. Because it's a 74 yard shot, and I needed to make clean contact with it. A few people called in and were questioning whether that was okay to do or not. We went to the video and with the PGA TOUR official we determined that I did everything within the rules. When I hit my ball in the bunker -- I can't call it a bunker, because that's not what it was it was, it's a waste area. The first thing I did was to go to Slugger White, who was with the playoff. I asked him what I could do, what I could do. Am I allowed to move this or not, or am I not allowed. He told me exactly what I was allowed to move, and I did what I was told I could do. And he was right, I was right, and we looked at it and that's fine.

Q. When was the first time it was brought to your attention that there was some question?

STEWART CINK: It was after I had finished and done all the photos and the autographs over on 18, and then about halfway back over this way to talk to everybody I saw Slugger and he said there's been a few calls and he was going to take a look at it. And, of course, I wanted to go see, too. I didn't want to just sit over here to wait for it to happen. Honestly, it was a little stressful because you play and you win and you play great and you're proud and then all of a sudden you've got something you need to address. And so I'm not quite as happy as I was 30 minutes ago.

Q. It seemed like Ted was pretty gracious when the decision came down?

STEWART CINK: Well, you know, we all play by the same rules. And Ted Purdy, he's an upstanding PGA golfer, and I like to think I'm the same way. He was gracious. But then again, I think if it was the same -- if the tables were reversed and I was in the same situation he was, I know I'd have been the same way he was. It's a black and white thing.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Stewart, can we go through your birdies and bogeys.

STEWART CINK: Yes. It's so long ago now, it's hard to remember.

No. 2, that was my first birdie. Hit driver in the fairway, 2-iron in the front bunker by the green and hit the hole with my bunker shot, went about four feet and made that.

No. 3, driver in the fairway, 7-iron to ten feet and made that.

No. 5, I hit a driver, 2-iron on the green about 18 feet. Made that for eagle.

9, I hit a 5-iron down the fairway, laying up trying to get myself yardage, hit a good second shot about 15 feet, made that, L-wedge, second shot.

10, I played 10 flawless, driver, 5-iron, it was a tough hole today, hit about three feet, birdied there.

11, I hit it -- good drive and I just pushed a 6-iron just a hair into a bunker, made sort of an average bunker shot about eight feet short of the hole and missed that, so made bogey there.

Then the key to my round were two pars that I made, because I really wanted to keep it going, I wanted to keep the pressure on. After bogeying 11, I didn't want to give up anymore shots.

On 12 I hit a good drive, good second shot that fed down a bank left of the green, it was a difficult chip, and I had to bump-and-run up through the fringe. I made a great par there.

13 was like a miracle. I hit a wedge a little to the right, caught the edge of the bunker, that's the hole with the bulk edge to the sand, straight up against it. There was no way to hit it high enough to get it out of the bunker, so I actually hit a bunker shot that glanced off the boards on the way up, bounced straight up in the air and landed and rolled about an inch about four feet from the hole. And then I made that. And it was just a -- I thought things might be going my way right there.

And then 15 I pulled it a little left and I was in the same type of situation in that waste, with the little pebbles. Laid it up down the fairway, hit a sand wedge about six feet and made that.

17 I hit it in there close, and I was trying to birdie the last two holes, thinking 11-under par would be enough. Missed about a five-footer for birdie there. But that was important in the playoff, because I knew exactly what club to hit.

18 I played great. I hit it down the fairway and then on the green about ten feet and made that for birdie, and that was a huge birdie.

Q. That shot on No. 13, when you were against the bulkheads, did you take a guess on what the ball is going to do, do you try to play a certain shot there?

STEWART CINK: I was trying to hit it as high as I could. My ball was semi plugged, too. I knew I wasn't going to get it out of the bunker. The way they're in there at about probably a 70 degree angle, about like that. And I knew if I hit a regular bunker shot that caught the boards about half way up, that it wouldn't come back and hit me and wouldn't go over the green either. It was a calculated guess. All I had to do was aim it. And I aimed it and it came out just exactly the way it should have. It was -- like I said before, it was sort of a miracle.

Q. How long were you waiting between regulation and the playoff?

STEWART CINK: I mean, it felt like a year (laughter). I don't know how long it was. It was probably two hours. Not knowing what was going to happen.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: He had just finished No. 9.

STEWART CINK: He was on 10 fairway when I finished. So I had lots of time. It was probably an hour 30, 40 minutes, anyway. I've never been in that situation before. I didn't know what to do. I knew I had that amount of time to pass. So I cleaned out my locker. I ate half a cheeseburger and a half a turkey sandwich. I called a few people. I watched a little bit of the tournament. Not as much as you might think. And then I kind of set a target for when Ted's group, the last group was on 16 green, I would kind of work my way out to the range and just hit a few more balls. And that's what I did. I just went into sort of hitting the shots I was going to need to hit in the playoff, a lot of 3-woods and a lot of 7, 8, 9-irons and wedges, and went and hit a few putts. And it just seemed like it was inevitable it was going to be a playoff the way it all unfolded.

Q. Did you hear noise at all? He made a big par save at 17.

STEWART CINK: I was able to hear the noise on that one. All of a sudden an official with us, John Much was there. And he was able to keep me informed, sketchy details. He said he made a par save on 17. I didn't know what it was. They told me it was about 15 feet later. I was like, that was good. So he was really clutch with his putts on the last few holes, including the playoff. A couple of times he looked like he was going to give up a bogey and give me a good chance to two-putt from a short range. Tell you what, he was making those par putts.

Q. What does it mean to win again now, it's been a few years?

STEWART CINK: It just means everything for me. I've worked really hard on my game. I've been through some really tough stuff. And mentally I've been to the bottom of the barrel and back. I honestly never really knew if I'd ever have this chance to win again. I knew I'd have chances to win, but you never really know if you're ever really going to. I was really proud of myself the way I played today. I kept my focus strong and I really didn't make very many mistakes at all.

Q. I think you said on TV that you had emulated Ted's swing at some point?

STEWART CINK: Yeah, in a way I had worked on my swing really hard in college to get it on plane. First time I knew what a swing plane was. I used Ted Purdy as a model, as a contemporary model. I used Ben Hogan, but I used Ted Purdy as a contemporary model. The only thing I had of him was snapshots of his swing in my mind, little clips of him hitting a shot at TPC at the woodlands where I was watching through the trees where I had a good angle of his swing and he had a nice on plane swing. Who would have thought we'd end up in a playoff. It's true, though. And he has no idea. He may know now. Until today he had no idea I looked at his swing and tried to mimic parts of it.

Q. How much -- what kind of chance would you have given yourself going into today? I'm guessing you've been in this position lots of times where you're 8, 9 shots off the lead and the chances are slim?

STEWART CINK: I really didn't give myself a really good chance to win today until the 5th hole when I went 4-under through the first five. And then I thought I actually did have a chance, because I think 7-under was in third place starting the day, I think. At that point I got 7-under and I thought it's just like I started the tournament and I'm in third place. All of a sudden I'm in more of a contention position than I was. But when I think back there was a tournament last week in Augusta, The Masters, I was only six shots back going into the last day, and I think I might should have readjusted my attitude last week (laughter).

Q. You were talking a moment ago about being at the bottom of the barrel last year, last year you talked about some things you had been through in terms of confidence and I think about fear of failure and things like that. Did any and all of that go through your mind today when the tournament got in, a couple of those putts that maybe would have won it earlier?

STEWART CINK: It went through my mind. But one of the things I've worked hard to do is wondering why it goes through my mind and what I can do to combat that. And now I don't get afraid anymore when I miss putts, because I know it doesn't mean anything except the ball doesn't go in the hole. Everybody misses putts. I'm one of the best putters on Tour, and I know that. Today I putted like I'm one of the best putters on Tour. In the playoff I had a few that didn't want to go in. They weren't great putts. The one on 17 in the playoff, the birdie putt I had from about eight feet, it wasn't a great putt. But it could have gone in because it had good speed, but it didn't want to go in. The one on 18, the birdie putt I missed from about eight feet, it was a great putt and it just did not go in. Two years ago I would have probably fretted and started worrying about what's going on and mechanically what's wrong with me. But after the work I've -- after the work I've done and the work I've been through the last several years I've learned you can't do that, you have to totally stay in the present. And it paid off today with victory.

Q. What's the difference between your conventional putting and your belly putting?

STEWART CINK: There's no difference. And that's the beauty of it. I got the putter made up for me, just exactly the right length so I wouldn't have to change anything on my putting except the shaft goes in my belly button, that's the only thing changed, if anybody is looking out there to try belly putting. It forces me to stay still, and that's really important putt, and it's been great for me.

Q. When Slugger told you you have to go in and look at the video, did you fear that maybe unintentionally you had done something wrong?

STEWART CINK: No. Because I knew walking off the tee I was clear with Slugger exactly what I was allowed to do, and I knew I had done nothing wrong. But what I was afraid of is somehow I win this tournament and there may be question marks about it or an asterisk. And if that's the case, then I'm really sorry, I'm really sorry. Because I went in there knowing exactly what I was allowed to do, I did it. And I hit a shot that if I hit it again, if I try to do it again right now, I don't know if I could replicate that shot in a hundred tries. It was such a -- it was an unbelievable shot. I don't know how it came off like that. And so, no, I knew I'd done nothing wrong, but it's a little worrisome to me that there was a question at all.

Q. Stewart, can you talk about the shot? I know you only had a couple of yards to --

STEWART CINK: Yeah, my plan on the shot was to go a little past the flag. And actually, if you back up a year, I was about one shot out of the lead coming in that hole, and I hit exactly the same shot off the tee and I fatted it out of there, left it short of the green, impossible, made bogey. My chance to win left. And so I didn't want to do that this year. And I knew that I needed to play the ball past the flag and give myself a chance to two-putt coming back down or maybe make a long one. When I hit it and it came off, I mean, it was like it was meant to be. Some of those rocks and pebbles that are in that area there, they actually did get between the club and the ball. It wasn't a clean contact shot. It was a little heavy, about a dimple or two high on the face maybe. And when it was in the air I knew it was going to be enough distance to get there, but it wasn't what I was planning on doing.

Q. All three wins in a row out here came from a bit behind. But on Nationwide I think you were the guy who kind of ran away from the fields. What's better?

STEWART CINK: There's no better. I mean, every win it feels so different. You have so many memories, little -- just little images from the day, different times, all the way from this morning hanging around at the condo until it's all over. But there's just no way to say which one is better. I would rather make it a little less stressful on myself and go ahead and win it by about eight or nine shots, so it's a nice, easy stroll up 18. Maybe next time I win one it will be.

Q. You're ranked 17th overall in standings, your all-around game, and your second in putting. And how is your driving accuracy this week? Was that an improvement this week?

STEWART CINK: My driving accuracy is probably the weakest stat in my portfolio. I know it is. But I think it's also a little misleading, because I've driven the ball really, really well this year. I'm not hitting every fairway. But my shots that miss the fairway now are two or three yards off. They're good shots that are just barely missing. Last year, the year before -- the last several years, as a matter of fact, I've hit shots that came out of nowhere, and you can't recover from those on the PGA TOUR. But this week and last week and almost every week this year, with the exception of one tournament, Bay Hill, I've driven the ball really well and given myself a chance to be in contention if I do the rest of my game well, and that's where it starts off the tee.

Q. You've eliminated the wild shot and you're keeping the ball in play?

STEWART CINK: I'm keeping the ball if play, but I'm not hitting every fairway, but I'm keeping the ball where I've got a reasonable chance to get it up.

Q. What are you doing to make that change?

STEWART CINK: I've been working really hard with Butch Harmon for the last year-and-a-half. I can hit it both ways, turn my driver right-to-left, which I thought would be impossible to ask. I've always been a fader. So it's really helped me out. He's helped me, I've worked hard to get there.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you, Stewart. And thanks again. Congratulations.

End of FastScripts.

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