GENUITY CHAMPIONSHIP

March 2, 2001

Stewart Cink

STEWART CINK: Thanks.

STEWART CINK: I feel real good about what is going on the last couple of rounds, I am hitting the ball pretty close to where I am looking. My putts are starting pretty close to where I am looking, I do not see why I cannot keep going. You gain confidence from what you did in the past, not what you expect in the future. I will go into the next few rounds feeling pretty good.

STEWART CINK: Well, the most receptive hole,, I made birdie there, that was the highlight. 18 is one of the toughest on the whole Tour. To birdie that hole I guess that's somewhat of a highlight. My round was kind of average, if 66 could ever be average, today was it. Nothing spectacular really happened.

STEWART CINK: 9-iron.

STEWART CINK: It is southwesterly. Your wind on 18 is pretty much across from the right. It is an easy wind for that hole. Anything out of the left or into you, there, is hard. In the morning, usually the wind comes from this way. In the afternoon it switches from off the ocean, easterly, then 18 gets hard.

STEWART CINK: Wedge.

STEWART CINK: Downwind there yesterday, too. It switched when we got on the other side.

STEWART CINK: I like the grass here. I am a huge fan of Bermuda. I grew up playing mostly Bermuda. I never realized they could get it in this good a shape until I first came to Doral. It is awesome to see your ball roll out there. I feel comfortable here.

STEWART CINK: I love the grass, the Bermuda, the weather is more predictable here. We had rotten weather on the West Coast. It is closer to my house. My wife and kids are here, they got to come down, pretty easy flight from Atlanta to here. That is big for me. I like having them out. There is a lot of things. It is -- it is a lot simpler for us to play the Tour on the east coast when we live in the east coast than the west coast. I am sure the guys on the West Coast would argue the other way.

STEWART CINK: It is close. I shot some good scores the first couple of days here, so I am getting there; although I am still not exactly where I want to be. My swing is still a little bit inconsistent at times. I know exactly where I want to go, that is a good thing. It is not a mystery. I know what I need to do. I am getting close. It is a matter of taking it from the range to the golf course.

STEWART CINK: I think they do. That is a good point. I think I go out to the West Coast, I feel if I make the cut, finish in the top 20, I have done okay. Maybe my expectations change a little when I come back here.

STEWART CINK: My favorite course on Tour is out west, Riviera. I love the tournament in Phoenix. You have Mercedes out there, if you win, you won't pass that up, because it is too far to go. Then there is Australia. There are four tournaments I love to play in.

STEWART CINK: If they can move Phoenix a little east, I would be there.

STEWART CINK: There is several things. First of all, the golf course is just designed by such a genius, George Thomas. Technology will never drive that course to obsolescence, too many nuances. If the greens are hard, obviously it is difficult to get the ball close. If the greens are soft like this year, it is just as hard, because the ball spins backwards. Either way, the ball won't end up anywhere near where the pitch mark is. That makes it difficult to get it close. Also, the greens out there, the greens are not easy to make putts on. I think the reason the scores were so bunched up is because nobody really made everything; it was very difficult to get the ball to go in.

STEWART CINK: Scrambled a little bit on 1, knocked it into a bunker, fatted it out, hit 8-iron five feet, made that. 7, driver in the fairway, a pitching wedge about 10 feet. 8, driver 4-wood, just on the left collar, two putted. 10, I was in the front right bunker in two, got up and down. 16 I hit a sand wedge about 3 feet. 18, 9-iron I hit about 8 feet.

STEWART CINK: I hit in the right fairway bunker on 17. Hit it on the, from there, on the collar, about 40 feet from the hole.

STEWART CINK: 8-iron.

STEWART CINK: No, it played a lot shorter.

STEWART CINK: That is pretty much history. I felt different immediately after that. It did not show. I finished 18th in THE TOUR Championship. I felt like I accomplished a major goal to play well in team competition. That still is with me. I do not think about it when I am on the golf course. There are some things that I feel are different about my game this year, than last year. The major difference is that I changed golf balls, not just -- just been able to control the ball I am using, like no other ball I ever used, it has been great.

STEWART CINK: Titleist model to a Nike Tour accuracy. I hit a lot of balls pin high, I feel I know what it will do, it is predictable. That is just golden peace of mind standing in the fairway knowing what will happen when I hit a shot, that is what we look for all year out here.

STEWART CINK: I am not sure, really, because it is so different, The Presidents Cup, either with a partner or Match Play, you can shoot 75 in Match Play and win. It is -- you definitely do not want to tell yourself on Sunday, I can shoot 4-over on the last 9 holes and win; because I don't think that will happen. I will go back and remember, if that is the case, and win, other tournaments, where I have won, where you feel like you have to birdie every hole to stay in pace with the leaders; but, that is not the case, so many tournaments are lost out here; a lot fewer are won. You have to let it happen.

STEWART CINK: Yes. What it did for me, it guaranteed the Ryder Cup will be on my list of goals every time it comes around. Also guaranty, if I miss one, I will be disappointed.

In the past, I was not disappointed about missing it. We had a lot of fun at The Presidents Cup. I am sure every one is just as much fun.

STEWART CINK: Winning is fun, too.