BUICK CLASSIC

June 22, 2001

Robert Allenby

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yes, absolutely. I guess I wasn't feeling the best out there. I was actually 100% better than yesterday. I was very -- I was fortunate yesterday that we had the rain delays. I only got to hit one; only managed to hit one shot yesterday. Yesterday, I had food poisoning, I wasn't feeling too good. And even today, I felt good this morning, but I haven't been able to eat anything for two days. I tried to get down a beef burrito as quick as I could at lunchtime in about the 20 minutes I had. I think it is still sitting up somewhere in there. Then I didn't have any time for it to get settled, that's for sure. But I'm pretty happy with the way I played. Holed a lot of good putts. I think the back nine today was probably -- it was getting tough as far as mentally for me and physically because I was getting tired. But I just managed to hang in there and hit some good shots at the right time and it was a nice finish with a birdie on the last.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I had some sushi Downtown. I am not going to tell you where it is. It was some other players right up there, they might go there, so -- (laughter).

ROBERT ALLENBY: Downtown, New York. Manhattan.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I thought that's when it was, yeah.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I think it just -- obviously, I played seven years in the European Tour and this is only my third season, full season in America, so for some reason, it just didn't fit in the last two years with my schedule. I don't know why. But this year, the tournaments change every year, you know, some tournaments go here and they go there and this one just -- it fitted really well with my schedule. I think the last time I played here in 1993, I didn't play very well. So I probably had bad visions of this place. But then when I got here Tuesday, I played nine holes and I liked what I saw. There were holes out there that I definitely remembered and you know, so far I am liking it. I am sure I am not going to dislike it on the weekend either.

ROBERT ALLENBY: As far as like today?

ROBERT ALLENBY: Like 36 holes?

ROBERT ALLENBY: Just got to get it into your mind from the start of the day that we are out here for a long time, and we teed off at 7 o'clock this morning and it is now -- we probably finished at about half past five, so that is a long day. It is more than most office workers work anyway. But my legs are tired and I am looking forward to going to bed.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah, I guess the good thing about now is I can sit back and I will be able to relax tonight knowing that I can sleep in tomorrow. I probably won't be off until maybe 12:30 at the earliest. So yeah, it's going to be nice now just you know, today was such a hot day, long day mentally and physically, I am pretty drained. So now I have got plenty of time to recharge the batteries. Whereas, guys will be going out there now. I just heard Sergio Garcia has been announced when I was on the 18th green. He is just teeing off for his second round. It was at 5:30, so he's in for a long night, and then he is going to be back here at 7 o'clock in the morning. You know, it is a tough deal when you have got to stop and start like this in between rounds. But that is just the way it is. We have no control of the weather. But start of the day as I said, you have got to get it mentally prepared and knowing that you are going to be out there for a long time.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah, I guess I felt 100% better than yesterday, so I was just happy to be out there and happy to be playing. I just tried to have good tempo on all my swings, and yeah, I mean, I wasn't trying too hard, put it that way. I was just trying to let it happen. Just been fortunate that I was out there, not in bed.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah, it is nice. Obviously I always knew how good I could play and the type of golf that I could play. And you know, after the car accident in 1996, for the first couple of years I wasn't sure if I was ever going to get back to playing the way I was playing now, or the way I have played the last two years. So it's just nice to be playing well. It is even better to be playing well in America because this is obviously the best Tour in the world and there are so many great players. It is a good time to be playing golf and to be playing well.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Just my wife. My wife Sandy, I think mentally physically she was the one that sort of got me off my, so to speak, ass, and got me back in the right direction. I have a very close family as well. That obviously always helps. I think mentally deep down I am pretty tough and when there's a bad situation going on then you need to dig deep and pull it out and grab it by the throat. I think that's what I did and I think that is why last year I had so much success and it sort of continuing on this year as well. But I'd like to play a lot more consistent than what I have been playing. But that's what I am working on at the moment and obviously if I can keep trying to put myself in these positions, but there's a long way to go. There's still 36 holes to go in this tournament. Scott Hoch I think he's probably just teed off or just about to tee off. He is 4-under, so, he is only one shot behind. He has got 18 holes to play, so, he can shoot a good score today and pass us by a mile.

ROBERT ALLENBY: No, I never was feeling sorry for myself. She just helped me overcome the situation because at the same time it was probably about a year -- probably about nine months later I met Sandy and prior to the accident about four months prior to my accident I went through a divorce and had the car accident as well. So was dealing with quite a lot. Just happened to have met Sandy and that just took my mind off everything and put my mind back on my golf and moved me forward.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Not at all. It doesn't make any difference. I mean, more people the merrier. I am not -- I think I have proved myself in front of big crowds before and it doesn't matter if there's one or one millions peoples out there. There's 12 million viewers probably watching the TV, maybe even more. So you don't even think of those sort of things. You don't have time to get nervous or anything like that. I think one of the greatest things about this tournament is Tiger Woods is in the field. I want to play -- I have always said that I want to play the tournaments that Tiger is playing because obviously he is the best and we -- all us golfers want to beat the best in the world. It is nice that this tournament has got Tiger playing in it. It doesn't matter who is in the field or how many people are watching. Never going to get intimidated.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah, I think the media you know, they say that when Tiger is not playing a tournament that it's not a tournament, which is pretty stupid because there's another 156 guys out there that are pretty awesome. You got guys like Sergio Garcia, David Duval, Phil Mickelson, you know, Davis Love, I mean, Fred Couples, I mean it just goes on and on and on and on. These guys have been around a long time. Tiger's only been around a short time and except for Sergio, and you know, all of a sudden everyone is writing all these other golfers off and it is just Tiger Tiger Tiger, which is fine, because he is good. I mean, he is awesome, no doubt about it, he is the best in the world. He is the best that anyone in this day and age has ever seen with the way he plays and with the charisma that he plays with. I think that as far as the way golf is going and I mean, it is exciting, but don't put it wrong, there's a lot of great players as well as Tiger Woods. I think a lot of you guys sometimes forget that there's another 156 players playing in this field.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Well the best thing about it is, with all the attention being on Tiger there is no pressure on anyone else. So really we have a free run of going for whatever we want. It is amazing how good he plays with all the attention and how much pressure is put on him, all the attention, I think that proves how good a player he really is. But I think sometimes you know, media don't see the other side, the other people, the other players. There's a lot of great players in the world.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I have beaten him a couple of times. There's a lot of guys that have beaten him a few times. I mean, you are talking about a golfer that, he is -- I mean, I don't know how good I can say he, but I mean, he's damn good. He's brought golf to a different level. It only makes us try even harder because he plays so well. So he is good for the game. He is good for us and he is good for everyone. That's why we love it when he is in the field, but when he is not in the field we still enjoy it because there's still, you know a lot of great players to beat. I think it is important that it is not just the Tiger Woods show. It is the PGA TOUR and the PGA TOUR is made up of, you know, what, two, 300 players. But he is definitely made the game very, very exciting. I think that is probably why the TV ratings are so high when he is playing. It is good for you. It is good for us. It is good for everyone. I sound like I am trying to sell something. (Laughter).