DEUTSCHE BANK CHAMPIONSHIP

August 27, 2003

Tim Clark

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Tim, you played last week and I think you had an opportunity to play the course today. Maybe you could give us some information on that.

TIM CLARK: Yeah, obviously I'm looking forward to playing again this week. A lot of good things have happened the last few weeks. Obviously I'm feeling pretty good. Obviously this is quite a different course the last couple of weeks for us, a bit of a longer course but more wide open. Kind of looks like it's going to suit the longer hitter, but with the wind like it was today, there's going to be a lot of shot making out there. So, we'll just have to see how it plays on Thursday.

Q. Are you surprised that you got onto the Presidents Cup team? How did you find out about it?

TIM CLARK: Obviously, leading into the PGA I was kind of out of the race and didn't expect anything. But after my play there, I thought I did have a bit of a chance, and obviously Gary had to think about it pretty carefully. There was a few guys that he could have chosen. I'm guessing he sort of looked at my major finishes and finishes in the bigger tournaments, so that's what persuaded him.

What was the second part of that?

Q. Did he call you?

TIM CLARK: Yeah, actually Ian Baker Finch called me on Monday morning, he's the co captain, and obviously he's here in the States, so it was easier for him to call me and told me. Obviously, I was extremely excited about the prospect of going to South Africa and playing. It got me in the field last week in Akron, which was another bonus, so it sort of changed my plans for the next few months.

Q. Why have you done well in the major tournaments this year?

TIM CLARK: I think it's pretty easy to pinpoint, really. I think I just focus a lot more. For some reason I enjoy playing a with a little bit of pressure, or it just sort of gets the adrenaline going and I seem to play my best golf when I feel like that. Particularly when I got into contention on the weekend, my game just went to another level. That happened a little bit at Augusta.

I guess what I'm working on right now is trying to get that way on Thursday this week. I need to get in that same frame of mind, get the same sort of confidence going, which I've found hard to do the last few months.

Q. What does your performance a couple of weeks ago at Oak Hill do for your confidence and what does it teach you about yourself?

TIM CLARK: I think it really does a lot for me. Obviously, I've had to play under pressure before. I've won several tournaments on the Nationwide Tour, and in South Africa I've sort of had to play under pressure.

A major is the ultimate, it the ultimate pressure, the ultimate tournament. I was able to perform, so I come out of there knowing I can do it. Like I say, what I really want to do now is get that sort of focus just at a regular Tour event, sort of on a Thursday. It's really hard for us to I wouldn't say hard for us to get motivated because there's a lot to play for. But that adrenaline comes around very seldom and the top players are going out there trying to win every event, and I think that's with a guys like us who haven't won, we need to go out there with that sort of frame of mind.

Q. Have you gone to a sports psychologist?

TIM CLARK: I have been seeing someone this year, Dr. Richard Coop, and he has helped me extensively. Obviously, as golfers, we continue to learn every day, I think even the top players are always learning something about their own game and what they need to do. So, it's a learning process, and I feel I've improved steadily over the last few years and look forward to continue improving.

Q. Along those same lines, have you given any thought to why this year on TOUR veterans have done so well and guys who haven't won before have done well at the majors?

TIM CLARK: Yeah, I think it is quite strange, really. But I think everyone who is playing on the Tour now has a very good golf game. I mean, it's very hard to sort of you know, you haven't come out with smoke screen and get away it; you're just not going to survive. I think last year, so many first time winners was very strange. But I think we see first time winners, and this year, veterans winning, so other veterans thinking, why shouldn't I be winning. I guess it's a bit of a psyche thing; once people believe they can do it, they go ahead and do it.

Q. Can you talk about not only playing a Presidents Cup in South Africa, but playing for Gary Player and how much that means to you?

TIM CLARK: Oh, it means yeah, it means a lot. Not only just Gary Player, there's Jack Nicklaus captaining the American side. Obviously these are people I've grown up idolizing; and just the people that are even playing on the teams, Nick Price, Ernie Els, the International Team, guys that inspired me to get where I am today. You look at the American team, it's just loaded with great players, it's just extremely exciting. These are people I have an opportunity to learn from. Obviously, you're going to go there wanting to win and play well, but at the same time, going to be learning and enjoying the experience being with all of those great players.

Q. Did after PGA, have you checked yourself thinking, if only, it could have been winning this tournament?

TIM CLARK: Not really. When I walked off the course, I was extremely happy with how I played. I kind of walked off only seeing the positives: The fact that I had gotten myself into position that I could have won, made six birdies on Sunday, played great. And then I guess a couple days later, I sort of thought about it and said, you know, four bogeys on the back nine, if I don't do that, I win the tournament. And it's sort of come to me now, thinking pleased at how I performed, but really, I could have won that tournament. I think that's another thing I should take from it the next time I'm there, really say, "I can win this thing." And I believe that on Sunday, too, I did come close in the end. I lost by a few shots, but it was a lot closer than that in my mind. The highlights, you're just going to see Shaun Micheel and Chad Campbell, and really, I was pretty close to winning that thing.

Q. So what is the Cleveland golf secret to the PGA Championship?

TIM CLARK: They have just got great guys, you know. I don't know, again, just another coincidence. Like I say, all of the players out here are really good, and with Cleveland, they do have a fantastic group of guys. All of the guys that play for them, it must be good recruiting. Must be really friendly guys who all get along and have a good demeanor on the golf course. I think particularly there, it was all about patience; you couldn't get angry about hitting it in the rough and chipping out. That maybe had something to do with it.

Q. Why do you think there are so many international players this week; the field has quite a few of them?

TIM CLARK: Well, first thing, I think it's pretty obvious they were here playing the PGA and the world events, so I guess they figure they may as well stay another week and play.

We've heard a lot of good things about the course and it's a new event, great sponsorship, and so I guess it's fitted well in the schedule.

Q. How is the course?

TIM CLARK: The course is pretty good. As I say, not really suited to my game, but I think I can get it around there. It's pretty long, pretty wide open. It's certainly going to help to be able to carry the driver a long way. But like I say, they might not play it all the way back. And if the wind blows like it does today, it's going to be good ball striking out there.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you, Tim, for joining us. We appreciate it.

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