THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 22, 2001

Robert Allenby

ROBERT ALLENBY: Sure. I guess, you know, if there was ever a morning that was a good morning to shoot a good score around this course, it was probably this morning. There was not a lot of breeze out there, so it was a good chance to try and take advantage of it. Soft greens and, you know, as it was, I hit a lot of good shots. I probably -- I probably actually could have had a lot better score, as well. I think I left quite a few shots out there. But then again, I hit a few bad shots throughout the middle of the round and happened to make some good up-and-downs to make some pars. The way I finished was nice. It's always nice to birdie 17, at any time. Then 18 is always a good hole. I thought I hit a pretty good shot in there with a 6-iron and came up maybe a few feet short of being perfect and left myself in some really thick rough. As it was, I made a great up-and-down to make par. So it was a good way to finish.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Normally. As I said, I left quite a few shots out there. I missed a few. I probably missed about three or four putts inside ten feet for birdies. Even less than that. You know, this course is, as we all know, it can be -- it can be a monster, and then it can be quite tame. Even at the best of times, it's half a monster. You know, I think depending on where they put the flags on certain holes, if you short-side yourself and leave yourself in the wrong spot around the green, it's an instant bogey. I've played this course quite a few times, and today my goal was to go out there and try not to short-side myself and always hit the smart shot and leave it so that if I miss it, hit a bad shot, I still have plenty of green to get up-and-down with. There was probably only one occasion or two occasions that I was short-sided, but I made a couple great pitches to get myself out of the mess. But, obviously, with the weather that we've had, the course is really soft, but the winds the last couple of days have really dried it out. You know, the fairways are still a little bit soft, but they are getting -- they are getting drier a lot quicker. Especially with the sun that we've got today. You know, tomorrow we'll be playing a completely different golf course. So, it will be interesting so see how the week goes. You know, we all know that this course gets tougher and tougher as the week goes on. The greens get firmer, and they get faster as well.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Today, yeah. Today, definitely. Even the afternoon guys, yeah, they can -- I don't think the conditions out there are any tougher this afternoon. If anything, the wind seems to be dying a little bit. But I think it is pretty much the same. The wind was up on about the 3rd hole today, so there's no different -- it's no different from this morning to now.

ROBERT ALLENBY: What level would you like, out of ten?

ROBERT ALLENBY: I think today is probably -- it's probably just in the middle. You know, it not playing at its toughest, that's for sure. It's not at its easiest, because of where they put the flags. But, you know, if your ball-striking is on and you are hitting some great shots, then you have a great opportunity of making a lot of birdies and with the way the greens are at the moment. But, you know, I would rate it in the middle. I would rate it about 5. And I'll guarantee you by Sunday it will be up around an 8 or 9. And it also depends on the wind, as well.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I guess because the rough this morning, early -- the greens were just putting perfect. As soon as you hit it, you ought to know from 20 -- 10, 20, 30 feet, you ought to know if it is in or not. That's how good the greens are putting. The speed of the greens is virtually perfect. They are going to get quicker, sure. But they are definitely not slow. I mean, downhill putt, you've got to baby them. All credit to the groundsmen to getting the greens to as good as what they have got them. They are virtually perfect. You know, it's funny, because when we play this course, we are not -- we are normally used to the ball releasing, but when the ball is backing up the way it is and there's a lot of slopes on these greens, you can hit it to -- I mean, a couple of times today, Joe Durant and myself, we hit some shots that, you know, landed like a foot from the hole; we've got a 25-footer coming back. Some holes and some shots are going to be easy, but then -- sometimes on some holes. But other times it's going to be hard, because of where they put some of those flags, if you get a little bit of spin, the ball is going to spin just all the way down off the front of the green. So it can be easy. Then again, it could be hard. So just because the greens are soft doesn't mean that the course is playing its easiest.

ROBERT ALLENBY: This week. I mean, I'm here this week, so obviously, this will be the tournament. You know, I mean, this is the tournament that everyone wants to win, as well as the four majors. If it was going to be five, this would be it. But all credit to this tournament. I mean, it has the best field in the world, any tournament in the world. This is the highest-ranked tournament. If there's a tournament that you ever want to win, it's the TPC.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Not at all. I'd put it on an even keel. You'd have to put the majors maybe one foot in front because they are a major. At the end of the day, those four majors, you know, when you retire, you've won a major. You know, if you win five TPCs, it doesn't count as a major, but it should because it has the strongest field in the world.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I think, you know, today is only Thursday. There's a long way to go in this tournament. Anything can happen the next few days. I just hope that I'm -- I just have to play well the next few days and put myself up there on Sunday. You know, my game is getting better. My physical strength is a lot better. Just everything about me is so much better. I've got a lot of confidence, and I believe in my ability to hit the shots when it counts.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I've never seen Peter Thomson hit a shot, live.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Okay. Well, obviously, to win five British Opens is a pretty -- pretty awesome feat. It didn't matter what day and age you do it in. You know, to win a major tournament, then you've got something special; to win it five times is even more special. You know, when I was growing up, it was -- the majority of all of the attention was Greg Norman. But I think between Greg Norman and Peter Thomson, they both -- they both have sort of, I guess I've used them as role models. Especially, I mean, Peter Thomson, he's a very laid-back person and very dry sense of humor. He's a very, very unique man. The times that I've spent with him over the years have been fantastic. The Presidents Cups and then also there's been times during tournaments that I've gone up to him and asked him a few questions about my game and what I should do, where I should play, and he's been very good to me in that way. But I can only wish that I would have been around when he was playing so I could have seen the tournaments, the British Opens that he has won and all of the tournaments that he has won.

ROBERT ALLENBY: 2, I hit a 3-wood for my second shot into the front, left rough and pitched it up to about three feet. 6, I hit an 8-iron there to about ten feet. 10, I hit a sand iron in to about a foot. 14, I drove it into the right rough. Chipped it out. Hit it onto the green with an 8-iron about 30-odd feet and 2-putted for bogey. 3-iron into 16 to about 15 feet. I 2-putted that. 17, I hit 8-iron to about eight feet behind the hole.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Playing about an 8-iron. (Laughter.) It was -- playing about 155 yards, I think.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I don't think. I know. (Smiles). Yeah, when I grew up in school, I'm not old, you know. I'm still in my 20s. When I went to school in Australia, everything was meters. Everything was metric and none of that yard stuff.

ROBERT ALLENBY: He's Australian. He's a young Australian, so he understands meters.