FUNAI GOLF CLASSIC AT WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT

October 26, 2003

Stewart Cink

DAVE SENKO: Maybe talk a little bit about your round today and we'll go through your card real quick and get some questions.

STEWART CINK: Well, I played pretty well today once I got off the tee. I didn't have very much success off the tee today. I was just a little bit wayward just in the rough here and there, and you really have to be in play in the fairway to be aggressive on these holes where the pins are cut today. I think that is really what hurt me the most today.

DAVE SENKO: Let's go through your birdies real quick starting at No. 2.

STEWART CINK: 2, I hit a wedge in there, L-wedge about 15 feet. Made a good putt.

And 6, I hit a 7-iron to the par 3 there about 25 feet and made another very good putt there. I felt like I really had some good momentum. It's not like I was birdieing every hole. I felt like I was pretty calm, no nerves whatsoever, and just felt really in control.

While I continued to feel that way for several more holes, I couldn't get the putts in, I couldn't get my irons very close and I mentioned before, I missed the fairways and just kept playing from the rough. And it caught up with me on the back nine. I made a couple bogeys and that's the way it goes.

No. 12, that was really one of the poor shots of the day for me. I hit it to the right of the 7-iron and plugged it in the bunker, short-side and soft-plugged. I made a pretty good attempt at an up-and-down. 15-footer for par is not really what you want, so made 4 there.

16, after a bad drive, I pulled one out of the hat there a little bit, out of the lateral hazard, but my ball was right in the sandy ground. It was a good yardage, just had to put it back in the sand, made a good bunker shot to about ten feet and made the putt there.

Then 18, just another case where I just made an error off the tee. Hit it to the right and didn't give myself much of a chance for reaching the green in two. Actually was trying to put it in the greenside bunker, got hung up in the rough and I didn't have very good chance at getting up-and-down from where I was. I hit it past the hole and that was just a pretty easy way to make a 5.

I'm disappointed because I played -- all week I played well and trying to win, and today I just couldn't seem to -- couldn't seem to put it together where I had a chance to be aggressive on the fairway enough times to really get any momentum. Second is good, but I felt like I could have played with a lot more pressure today.

Q. Guess you were not expecting Vijay to come back to you on a golf course like this.

STEWART CINK: I wasn't at all, especially the way Vijay hits it. He's on top of his game and he's hitting the ball as long as anybody I think now, and he's hitting it straight and he got tons of confidence, he's making a lot of putts and I knew he was not going to make too many bogeys. I knew I had to do four or five birdies on the back nine and I just didn't do it. I could only manage one birdie and a couple bogeys. So it was really -- a little bit anti-climactic for me, because here I was after about seven or eight holes.

Q. There are those players that like to watch the leaderboard and know what's going on and others say they don't look at it and want to play one shot at a time and whatever happens, happens. Which one of those are you?

STEWART CINK: I've been both in the past. I came out today thinking I probably wouldn't watch the leaderboard too much and then I caught a glimpse of it on No. 7 and saw that I was tied with Vijay. I thought he was probably more ahead than he was. I was 2-under at the time and he was 2-under at the time and I thought he might have been more ahead. When I saw that I felt a little relief instead of tension because I actually realize that I wasn't behind. I still had every chance in the world to win. I knew that if I kept on with my game plan and just executed that I would at least have a chance. At the end, I did have a chance, but too many shots out of the rough cost me.

Q. On 11, when you had about a 10-footer, could you see Vijay across the way on 12?

STEWART CINK: I was lining up my putt so I really wasn't watching. There was a lot of people in between us so I didn't know they were over there putting. But then when I heard a roar, I figured it was Vijay.

It was funny, but yesterday when I was on that hole Scott Verplank who is right around the lead with me chipped in right when I was about to putt and I told him, because when Vijay made that putt, well, gosh it would not be 11 green, if it wasn't somebody over I'm trying to beat, chip-in every hole or putt or something. I had no where I stood. That was kind of a turning point because I knew he was going to be at least one ahead and I had about a 10-footer although it was a tricky one, a big breaker. I really wanted to get that one.

Q. Do you feel a little bit energized having played very well this week and putting you on the cusp of THE TOUR Championship?

STEWART CINK: I haven't really seen the Money List. I've been more concerned with not being concerned about it. But I'm not going to hang myself today because I made bogey on last hole or anything. I'm happy that I get to finally go into the last regular season event with knowing that I gave myself a chance to move into the Top-30 instead of having to worry about falling out.

Yeah, I'll be excited next week. I'll go and do what I can.

Q. Inaudible?

STEWART CINK: That's the first Masters I've missed since '97. Every year I've been on the Tour I've played in the Masters until this year, so that was a tough one to swallow.

Q. Do you watch it when you don't qualify.

STEWART CINK: I watched it. I always watch when I miss qualifying because I'm a golf fan as much as a golf player.

Q. No commercials.

STEWART CINK: Yeah, that's right. TiVO's got to work extra hard.

Q. When you're back home talking to your buddies and they ask you about Vijay an what he's like, what do you tell them? We have a perception, and there are many perceptions, what's your read?

STEWART CINK: Yeah, I agree with you. There's probably a lot of different perceptions. My read of him is he's goofy in a funny way. I mean, I'm goofy. I like goofy guys. Vijay and I get along. We're not real close but he's got a good sense of humor. He likes to dish it out and he can take it. And he's just very cocky in a good way for golf and you have to be cocky to be able to compete out here.

I think he's got -- some people probably think at home that don't know him that haven't been around him think he's probably a cold guy because you see a lot of stuff about him brushing off the media and stuff like that, but that's not what I see from him.

Q. That's kind of a rotating door, rivalry, with Tiger be it Ernie or David or Phil, what kind of dynamic does Vijay add that the others might not have?

STEWART CINK: I think Vijay is the most consistent out of those players for sure. Ernie can be brilliant at times and it seems like he loses interest sometimes a little bit, too. I don't remember a tournament where Vijay did not come and play and he finished high. His average finish this year cannot be worse than fourth or fifth. He's just played great. It does not surprise me at all, that out of the four that were 18-under, that it was him that went out there and took it.

Q. We were talking in the press room earlier, is it a good thing maybe that golf could have a guy who sort of wears the black hat, because I think in some ways he's perceived of as being kind of a surly, grumpy New York Yankees, maybe to pull against, I don't know, at least the fans are looking for somebody and they are watching?

STEWART CINK: You mean like the old guy you love to hate? Well, I don't know, if having a lot of victories is a reason to hate somebody, I hate him. (Laughter.) I mean a lot of people probably do pull against him because of especially this year the Annika comment. It was blown out of proportion really to the point where, obviously, Vijay, he didn't even want to talk to anybody about it a long time. That was unfortunate that that comment was made or whatever happened there. That's not really my business. But I hope people don't pull against Vijay for that. I don't. I like to see Vijay win because I think he's a good guy. Personally I like him and I really admire him. He's got a lot of skills.

Q. From your point of view who would you give Player of the Year at this point, Vijay now has four wins, Tiger has five?

STEWART CINK: Well, I think it's between those two. I don't know, I'd have to look at the -- I'd probably do research. I'd spend five minutes doing research and figure out who I'm going to vote for. I think it's one of those two right now. TOUR Championship will have something to do with it. Can we wait until after the Presidents Cup events?

Q. When do those ballots go out?

STEWART CINK: A couple weeks after the season.

Q. It's been a moot point for five years running.

STEWART CINK: If I win next week and then I win THE TOUR Championship, I might vote for myself. (Laughter.)

End of FastScripts.