MCI CLASSIC

April 17, 1997

Lennie Clements

LENNIE CLEMENTS: Well, we were very fortunate going early. You know, it was a very comfortable morning. Had a little breaker on for two holes, then from there on it was just basically perfect until we got, like, to 16th tee. The wind really started to come really hard. And it is going to be pretty nasty if this stays. I don't know what the forecast is for. Key to my round, obviously, was scoring. I made no bogeys. So, little bit of scrambling coming in on 17 and 18. But, those holes right now are playing about as hard as I have ever seen them play. 17, 182 yards hit a 3-iron basically as hard as you can hit it. And 18, it is just not so tough off the tee, but that second shot with the crosswind and pin tucked left is brutal. To finish par is kind of like icing on the cake.

LENNIE CLEMENTS: I birdied three of those first five, and had two fives on the par fives, so, that is kind of wired. I have been 3-under but not without birdieing the par 5s. Driver on the first hole; had 8-iron in, hit it a foot. That was a real pleasant way to get started. And two putts on the par five from about 25 feet for par. Nothing fancy there. And then on 3, I hit a 7-iron from 154 yards about twelve feet and made a nice putt there. And 4, we had a little bit of a swirling wind. Wasn't like it was perfectly calm out there. That might have been the key to the day, because I swung a 5-iron there and hit it about three feet behind the hole and made that for birdie. That kind of just really set my day. There, through really, all the way in through the back 9, just nothing but solid pars. I did have one scramble on 9. Got it over the green into a bunker and made it, got it up-and-down.

LENNIE CLEMENTS: That was a nice putt. About ten feet, I'd say.

LENNIE CLEMENTS: Yeah, 14, going to be very difficult today. A little bit. You can't really tell what the wind is doing. You want to think it is down, but it is actually left-to-right there. And the pin is right in the front on 4. I hit a 7-iron. I think it is 145 yards today. I hit 7-iron in there about twelve feet behind the hole maybe 15 feet. Made a nice putt there.

LENNIE CLEMENTS: Well, 17 -- well, actually started blowing at 16 real hard. I had like 150 yards and hit a 7-iron, came up to -- 25 short of the pin, so I only hit a 7-iron about 135 yards, maybe, 138 yards. But 17 was 184 yards, and it is kind of just anything you can keep to the right and low right now. Two guys I was playing with, both went way left and I went just a little bit long right. Had a relatively easy chip. Chipped it up about three feet and made that. Then 18 is -- 18, it is just brutal. It is just the green is so small coming with the crosswind that you are just trying -- what you are trying really not to do is miss it left, because then you would be coming downwind up the hill and the pin is cut left, and I just had a pin-high right with a 4-iron from about 185 yards and chipping right into the wind. I chipped it about two feet. So it worked out well.

LENNIE CLEMENTS: Well, obviously if you just assume that it is going to stay blowing like this for three or four hours, I don't know how high the scores can really go. But certainly, by tomorrow, it is going to warm up to whatever it is going to be. It could be -- it will be like the warmest when we go off, so, I am sure they will set the course up accordingly. I mean, depending on how brutal it gets this afternoon. But, I mean, certainly an advantage if you went off early today. It is obvious now. It is just dead advantage. But the thing about this golf course is you could shoot 6, 7 over on a nice day. So, you know, it is not like it is a gift. But it's certainly an advantage if you take advantage of it.

LENNIE CLEMENTS: Well, you know, the greens, being so small, you have just got to start putting the ball in the fairway, and you have got to just try to keep the ball on the fat side of the hole. If the pin is in the back just, kind of playing front edge, and if it is in the front, you have got water, you are just trying to get it over the trouble and just kind of think your way around. Lately, what has been going on with my game is, I mean, this isn't a total shock. It is just nice to get in with a nice score. That is one thing I haven't been getting a lot out of my game, is the scoring. I have been, the last couple of weeks, I have missed the cut by like a shot or two. TPC, a shot; at New Orleans, and in similar conditions, just windy-type stuff. A chip by the hole at 17 and missed a chip by the hole, 18, and missed or maybe 3-jack from one of those positions, and it is 67; you look at 70 or 71, so, today I took advantage of a few bad shots that I hit, got it up-and-down. It is really not necessarily bad shots. At 17 you can kind of hang in there and try hit a good shot. That wind can blow your ball straight down and left into the water and you are looking at 5. So, just trying to kind of feel it around.

LENNIE CLEMENTS: It has been a few years since I have been here. This happens to fall on our Easter week and I have been home a lot in San Diego. I missed three or four of the last years, but the greens are quite a bit better. The condition of the golf course is just perfect. That is why you do see some good scores. But, as it dries out, it is going -- greens are fast because of the condition they are in. It is going to get tougher because of that. The putting will be the toughest part, I think, because it is going to get harder and faster. Especially those last few holes with that wind coming right off, you know, the water out there, and it is not like there is too much elevation or down low. Just coming right -- just really blowing your ball.

LENNIE CLEMENTS: You know what? That is kind of my point. I mean, now the weird thing about this is you have got some downwind holes that you can really play, maybe catch a par 5 or so downwind. That can be an advantage. Then on the holes into the wind, at least you know what it is doing a little bit more so. Not that it is any easier, but this morning it was a little swirly. It is not a dead gift, but, I'd rather be in with what I have got then -- anybody this afternoon that shoots par or better will be very happy.

LENNIE CLEMENTS: Just scoring, getting to the clubhouse, it has been kind of a sloppy year for me. On the west coast, I put up a couple of tournaments, I had paired back-to-back 69s; came in with nothing on the weekend and haven't really held it together yet for four rounds. It is a little bit frustrating. But, certainly, I have been there on both sides of the coin. And, you just try to be patient. That is the hardest thing to do. And, this golf course is probably a good week for me to come into because it is not the kind of course you start thinking to score early on regardless of the conditions because you have got to take it a hole at a time. There is a lot of trouble out there.

LENNIE CLEMENTS: Right now, I think you kind have got to look at guys with good short games, really. Guys that can scramble. You know, obviously, the guys that are playing well now, guys that came off good Masters this week, maybe a Jeff Sluman. Maybe guys that can control the ball down and play -- you got to look at your good wind players, guys that can work the ball a little bit Paul Azinger, say, for example, stuff like that.

LENNIE CLEMENTS: As far as control, I led greens in regulation two years ago, so I have been known to get it around okay. So, I think that my caddie has been so ticked at me for skipping this tournament for the last three years and it hasn't been for any disrespect for the golf course. I love it here. I have just -- there is just so much -- only so much you can do in playing hard through the west coast being from the west coast you support your area; right on through a little bit of Florida and TPC, New Orleans, stuff like that. Hopefully I will keep it in the schedule next few years. Mike Stevens is a great guy. He does a great job here.

LENNIE CLEMENTS: Oh, yeah, got to keep him happy. He is right behind the wife. (Audience laughter.) This is her first trip here, so she is having a good time.

LENNIE CLEMENTS: Is that right?

LENNIE CLEMENTS: That is a great score. Obviously like you say, you know, he got probably for being a little bit later in the morning section that he had the best start that you have, where there are guys that are 3- or 4-under coming in on those last four holes are pretty tough. He did a great start. Now, be interesting here how you - how he is playing. I will read about it and see some of the clubs he was hitting there to the other side.

LENNIE CLEMENTS: 67?

LENNIE CLEMENTS: Oh, well certainly, I mean, he is obviously hitting some greens. Doesn't surprise me. He rolls it as good as anybody and he is playing with a lot of confidence right now. I mean, other than maybe Tiger, I mean who could have more confidence than Brad Faxon right now?

LENNIE CLEMENTS: Okay, guys. Stay out of the wind.