INTERNATIONAL PRESENTED BY QWEST

August 2, 2000

Michael Clark

MICHAEL CLARK: That's true.

MICHAEL CLARK: It's been a wonderful week. There was quite an adrenaline rush there last week. Yesterday playing in practice rounds all I could do -- it's a little bit harder to walk around up here than regular courses because you're so high up and it's a little hilly up there around the golf course. The greens are in fabulous shape and much much quicker than last week. The golf course looks like it's in perfect shape. In this format, I was asking guys yesterday, you know, what's what, and what do you get for a birdie and eagle and par. It's going to be an exciting week. The ball really sails. You can get the ball up, and sailing pretty high, it will go forever. Ought to be a lot of fun.

MICHAEL CLARK: That was huge. One of the things I didn't even think of. One of the last questions the Golf Channel asked me last week and I kind of spaz'ed out on them when I realized I didn't have to go to Q-School for a few years. Hopefully I won't have to go again, but I can assure you, I'll enjoy the Christmas and off-season because it will the first time in years since I won't have to worry about Q-School.

MICHAEL CLARK: We played on the Nike Tour, the BUY.COM TOUR here two years in a row 1997 and 1998 maybe. I can't remember if we played in '96. But you just kind of calculate that into your yardage. It seems to be the warmer it is, the later in the day, the ball seems to go a little bit further. Earlier in the day the ball doesn't seem to jump quite as much. A lot depends on the temperature. The way my caddie and I figured it is about 10 percent. You figure that to be flat yardage, and then you adjust to the wind and uphill from there. I don't know if that's the best way to do it or not. But I had a good tournament the last time I was here in Denver. I forget the name of the course. We were north of here. I played well there, and Boise I had several good events. The ball travels a little bit out there. Just something you calculate for. I hit the ball -- I don't consider myself short by any means and pretty long with my irons and hit them pretty high. Hopefully that will be an advantage.

MICHAEL CLARK: I know one year I missed the cut my first year. My wife -- neither one of us did real well with elevation. The next year, I think I finished 7th. But I'm not sure.

MICHAEL CLARK: I think so. Especially my situation, the way I've played this year, I think it kind of took a lot of people by surprise, that I actually won. Because I had not had a Top-10. I think I'd only had two Top-20s. And I'd only made last week, I think was my 7th cut for the year. So you know, you take somebody in that -- looking at that type of statistics, a guy normally doesn't win. But for about a month, I've been scoring real well and my coach and I worked on my swing. I have plenty of confidence in my game. When you're in that position you can handle it. In my position it was a huge jump-start to my career since I came from nowhere. It will hopefully build on things. To win in the playoff is a confidence-booster; eventually I'll rely on that because I pulled off some great shots under tremendous pressure. Looking back on that, I don't know how I did that, but next time I'm in that situation, I'll just trust my ability.

MICHAEL CLARK: I hope so come tomorrow. Right now, I'm pretty tired. It's been -- just imagine, just a wonderful, wonderful roller-coaster ride. It's kind of over, and you're trying to catch your breath. On top of which I got an 18 month old that won't sleep past 6:30. Yesterday 10 to 6. Getting caught up on sleep and rest today. I hope tomorrow I tee it up. My whole goal is to be ready to get after it tomorrow. I have to be fresh between the ears. My game is there. I played well last week, and the big key is to be there mentally.

MICHAEL CLARK: Not yet, I'm doing that next week. Next week.

MICHAEL CLARK: That's one of the things, we're going to look at the schedule. My schedule's changed. I planned to play this week and take next week off because I wasn't in. I was going to play four in a row take a week off and play the rest of the year. Now I'm in the PGA. I'll probably play the PGA and Reno for sure, and then I'll have to reevaluate my schedule. Main thing I want to do is be fresh to make a run in the top 30. I know it helps to be mentally prepared to do that, and you have to be rested. And a lot of guys take a lot of time off after the PGA. So I'm hoping that will be to my advantage to be fresh, and you know, more eager to play than others. Especially that I don't have the pressure of worrying about top 125 anymore, I should be a little more relaxed.

MICHAEL CLARK: What amateurs are playing?

MICHAEL CLARK: He's not amateur anymore.

MICHAEL CLARK: No, he's not.

MICHAEL CLARK: He turned at BC. I played with him there.

MICHAEL CLARK: I don't know. I heard somebody talking about turning professional this week, whether it was a good thing or not. Any time you have an opportunity to play on a great golf course and you feel like you're a great player, I think you have to play. It's a great measuring stick for these guys. It's a strong field; a little bit different format, because you throw being conservative into the wind since you get rewarded for getting birdies and eagles. It's not easy. Only a handful of guys have taken their exemptions and played their way out here. Tiger and Justin. I don't know if anybody else has done it.

MICHAEL CLARK: Gossett is supposedly a strong player. I haven't played with him. Hunter Haas, I've played with him. He has a lot of game. These guys are young. The biggest thing they face is being mature on the golf course. And out here you've got everything from women, to going out at night. There's a lot of distraction, and it depends on how bad they wanted it as far as their discipline is concerned. Charles Howell, I think it's the 4th event. And Charles I know played decent at Hartford, and then he played great last week. So he's riding high on his confidence. He was right in front of me last week and I saw him hole a shot. He is obviously a very talented player. Whether or not -- I don't think there's any advantage, disadvantage. Any time those guys get to come out and play, it makes them a better player. Even if they miss every cut and have to go to Q-School, they'll definitely be great players because they're around great players. If you want to be a great player, you have to be around great players and compete against them. That's the way you learn: Watch them practice and how they handle themselves. I do a lot of practice rounds by myself, and the few times I've done it with guys who have been out here for many years -- yesterday, Stewart Cink was going around every pin and putting. McAllister a few weeks ago did the same thing. It's an advantage to come out and see a course. If anything, they go to Q-School, get their card next year, it will help them get their card next year.

MICHAEL CLARK: No. Stewart came in -- I finished up 2 quarters to get my degree, and Stewart came in that fall.

MICHAEL CLARK: I tell you, it will be different. I really hope that my caddie is really fresh and can keep track of all that. I'm going to turn that over to him.

MICHAEL CLARK: Not yet. He doesn't have enough hands to handle what he's got going on anyway. Caddying is a hard job. You can always use another hand. If I hand him something else, it would make it that much harder.

MICHAEL CLARK: I heard it's a really good golf course. That's really kind of what you go for. I think it's a $3 million purse as well. To make a run at the Tour Championship, I need some good finishes, and that will obviously have some of the -- I guess, some of the other players will be at the World Golf Championship there. Notah won there last year. And I've never been to Reno, so it's just something I think for whatever reason will be a good fit for me. I know very little about it other than supposedly it's a great golf course.