THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT

June 2, 2001

Stewart Cink

STEWART CINK: Well, today was the first day I really hit the ball well off the tee. I hit a few fairways, for a change. And so, when you hit the fairways and you've got lift, clean and place, it's pretty much a green light on every hole. The greens are pretty severe out here, as everyone knows, and pin positions are severe, too, so it helps a lot to be in the fairway. I was able to hit the fairways today and attack some of the flags, and made a few putts.

STEWART CINK: It's been so long since I started. It's way past dinnertime and bedtime. I've got cobwebs. I birdied the fifth hole. I hit it to the right of the green in two and chipped on, made about a 2-footer. 7 was a really good birdie there. Tough wedge shot today with the pin position and the wind blowing. I hit it about eight feet and made that. Bogeyed 8, hit it over the green and was not able to get up-and-down. In fact, saved bogey. 12, hit a nice shot there. That's always a knee-knocker. It was right in between clubs today, but I punched an 8-iron and actually hit the flag there. That was nice. Glad it didn't bounce back in the water, though. Had about a 4-footer there. Made that. 15, I hit it left of the green in two, which is the place you have to hit it because the pin is on the right. I chipped it about two feet and made that. 16, I hit a 7-iron about five feet and made that. 17, I hit a sand wedge about ten feet and made that.

STEWART CINK: No, I don't think so. I think the guys that will finish in the morning will get a little bit of momentum from what they do. If you make a birdie on the last hole or something, that automatically gives you momentum going into the final round. So I don't think it gives you an advantage. It just depends on how they finish.

STEWART CINK: Absolutely. I'm very happy. That's one of the main objectives when you tee off so late is to finish. Definitely want to play well, but want to get finished.

STEWART CINK: I hit the flag with the pin, hit the cloth. It came through the cloth and hung up, dropped down by the flag. If it had hit the stick, it would have gone in the water. I've been on a streak lately of hitting sticks. I've hit sticks three times in three tournaments and it ended up bad. So, I'm glad it didn't happen this time.

STEWART CINK: Around me, you mean the leaderboard? A little bit. I always look at the leaderboard to see how everyone is playing. But, you have to remember, until I birdied 15, 16 and 17, I wasn't anywhere near the leaderboard. So I just made myself a little move at the end and finished up nicely. Then I saw my name pop up there. I was checking everybody out, but not because I wanted to get up close to them. I was just interested, and all of a sudden I made some birdies.

STEWART CINK: Well, it's just one of those golf courses that it sets up to my eye very difficult. Everything looks so hard. The pins look tucked, and the fairways look angled funny and all the bunkers are so deep, and the rough; it just seems like a hard golf course, and the field seems to shoot low scores and I've never figure that out. There are other courses on Tour that are opposite, where I think they are easy and the field shoots high, like Hartford, for example. One of those optical illusions for me and I've never been able to get over it yet. I've only missed one cut as far as I remember here, but I've just never put together much of a low round. I think 69 was my low round, ever, at this tournament. So, I've tied that and bettered it this week.

STEWART CINK: The wind is making it very tricky. The golf course is playing fairly long, and you've got some pins that are right on the edge of hazards, like 11. 11 is a brutal pin there. One of the players in my group spun it back off the green about 25 feet past the hole, right off in the creek there. That's borderline. But you can do it so easily. A good shot can end up in a really awful place. It's a little bit like playing at the Masters, where you have a fine line between heroics and failure.

STEWART CINK: That was Calcavecchia.

STEWART CINK: Well, you don't play match play against Tiger or anybody else. You just play the golf course. Even though the No. 1 player is in the field here, the golf course can jump up and bite anybody. You just have to play your own game and do your best. You never know when someone is going to make a bogey or two or a high number. So I'm not going to go out there and expect the leaders to come back. But I can't control what he does, and I'm not going to go out there and try and stare him down or anything. I don't think that would be very professional. (Laughs).