NEC WORLD SERIES OF GOLF

August 21, 1997

Stewart Cink

STEWART CINK: Okay. Double bogeyed the first hole, which is never good, but then I bounced back with birdies at 2 and 3, so that is probably -- I probably started off better than if I had just parred those three holes. Because I had a good feeling, I felt like I could make a few birdies, which Firestone doesn't give up to many birdies usually. That kind of set my round going and I was in the fairway almost all day and when I was in the rough I seemed to be able to get out of it with a decent line and even made -- I think I made two of my birdies out of the rough, so that is kind of lucky, get a couple of good breaks like that. But I was pretty consistent before and after the double and took advantage of some of the easier holes and played the hard holes safe and got through those with pars and it all added up to 1-under, which I am pretty happy with.

STEWART CINK: No, I have never played here 'til Tuesday.

STEWART CINK: I didn't hear anything about the course before I came. I knew it was a hard course because you see scores like 6-under. That means it is a hard course. I didn't know what the rough was going to be like and after last week, it is not as hard as last week, but there are places like where you are not going to be able to hit more than 8- or 9-iron out of the rough; (laughter) hope you get a good lie. Like I hit it in the rough on the third hole today in the trees and actually had a good enough lie where I could get a 7-iron to the green, hit it close, made birdie. Then had one on 11 where I was in the rough and only had sand wedge to the green there, so got it on the green, made birdie there. But occasionally, there are places where if you get in there, you have just got to chop it out in the fairway.

STEWART CINK: I didn't get rained on, no. It was wet on our warmup, stopped raining just when we got off.

STEWART CINK: I will go over the special holes. No. 1, I hit -- I was in the fairway 3-wood and big right-to-left cross wind there, and it is hard to tell sometimes whether it is helping you or hurting you, so club selection was kind of tough. But, I hit a pretty bad shot, pushed it into the right bunker and it plugged the pin, was on the left side and coming out the green, kind of was a crown on the left and it falls off left of the pin down into the rough and I caught my sand shot a little thin out of the plug and it got on down to the green in the rough. From there I didn't have a very good lie and just kind of hacked it out onto the green and 2-putted; made double bogey, just stockyard double bogey. So, I was disappointed. But, last week I made quad on the third hole, so I know what it feels like. No. 2 is probably the easiest hole on the golf course. It is very reachable in any wind. I hit in the fairway off the tee which is, probably the biggest shot on the hole is probably your tee shot there getting it in the fairway. And, I had like 245 to the hole and I hit it just right of the green, in the rough and then got up-and-down. Made about a 4-footer for birdie. Third hole, drove it in the right rough, but I was in the gallery spot, so the rough was trampled down pretty good, and (laughter) the wind was left-to-right there and the pin was up front by a pond. So, I took an extra club just to make sure I got over the water and luckily it was just perfect, hit it about six feet, made the putt. Then the next hole was a bogey, I think. No. 4, that is probably the hardest hole on the golf course, statistically, I would think. Hit a good drive there, still had 2-iron to the green, pin was in the very far back corner. And missed the green to the right in the rough and just didn't get up-and-down. Then what is the next non-par?

STEWART CINK: 11th hole, I went through that, already hit driver in the right rough and I had 105 yards, hit sandwedge about four feet made birdie that. Was really good lie too. 14, I had hit 3-wood off the tee, kind of a lay-up hole, 6-iron to about six inches, which was well within my range. And bogeyed -- 16, I bogeyed, I hit two good shots to lay-up; had about 123 yards to the hole and with that big crosswind left-to-right there, I just misjudged a little bit and thought I needed birdie full wedge. I threw it into the back rough. Pin was cut in the back, so didn't have any green to work with. Didn't get up-and-down, bogey. And 17, hit 3-wood off the tee. It is kind of an inbetween hole for some players. For me, a driver goes right into this big steep hill which is a very tough shot. And, for the longer players will probably able to hit driver on top of the hill flat. I laid it up with 3-wood down to the bottom, hit 6-iron about six feet and made a good solid birdie there. That was a nice comeback after 16. Then 18 I played pretty well. Just driver fairway, and missed about 10-footer for birdie.

STEWART CINK: That was driver.

STEWART CINK: Driver, driver.

STEWART CINK: On 16?

STEWART CINK: Oh, yeah, not that I was thinking there is only 2 par 5s, I don't need to make bogey here, but out here the whole key is not only Par 5s, but there is only like three or four holes that you have really got to be aggressive and make birdies on. That is definitely 2 and 10, 11 and 16, really. That is about it. You don't have any other gimme holes. And I made bogey on that one, so I feel like you are given, at least, probably a shot, maybe shot and a half, to the field. Those holes played under par today, which, you know, you always have to -- seems like you always do something like that, in the course of four rounds, so maybe that will be my only one for the week.

STEWART CINK: Well, it has been nice out here. I played about 10 events before this year, so I kind of got a taste of it, knew what to expect. But, I feel like now I am getting to know the players and the officials and Lee. I feel like it is kind of a home for me now and I got a two-year exemption, so I'll be out here for a little while. And, by the end of that third year, I'll be a voting member which is kind of good. Your first three years you are not a full member yet and you don't accumulate those retirement points until after your third year, so I have got that covered. And, it is nice to go from city to stay, I guess, to a certain extent. My whole family is out all the time and I don't have to say good-bye to my kids too often. So, it has been great. My son is going to be going to kindergarten next year, so that will be ending soon. Probably be more of a struggle.

STEWART CINK: Thanks.