GENUITY CHAMPIONSHIP

February 28, 2001

Robert Allenby

ROBERT ALLENBY: You want me to start with this course?

ROBERT ALLENBY: Course is playing pretty good. It's in good shape. And it is definitely a lot hotter here. Is that all you want me to tell you about the -- course is in good shape. Fairways are great. Greens are good. Obviously different, a different type of texture from last week's greens and fairways, but it's in good shape.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I can't see why it is going to be different. Maybe the difference is, it is not going to rain as much. The water that we are going to have on us is going to be sweat instead of rain. Yeah, I mean, who knows. Every week is a new week; you just never know what is going to happen. So...

ROBERT ALLENBY: Through the West Coast?

ROBERT ALLENBY: Well, I mean, he is human, isn't he?

ROBERT ALLENBY: No, I wasn't upset about it, at all. You either get to play or not, it is as simple as that. When you play in Europe, obviously they have changed the criteria now of getting in, top 50 in the world and -- but back then, five years ago or so ago, the rules were different. If you were an on this Tour, if you are a tournament winner, you got straight into the tournament. As a European player playing in Europe you just -- you knew what the situation was. You either won on the U.S. tour or you try and finish in the top three or four on the Order of Merit. That is what I did in '96, so I got into 1997. But I think it made it a lot fairer now. It never used to have the best field in a major, but now it is definitely up there.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I think it sets up pretty well. I can move it right-to-left and left-to-right. I think it is a course that you need to hit it both ways. Everyone says that you need to hit it -- the guy that is going to win is going to hit from it right-to-left the whole time. I mean, Jack Nicklaus fades the ball, but he also knows how to draw the ball; that is probably why he has won there so many times and done so well over the years. I think it sets up pretty good for my game. I think it is a course that you need to be -- need to have your iron-play on and you need to be a good putter. So I think if my putting is good on that week, then it can set up pretty well for me.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I won't be playing the week before. After this week I am going to play Bay Hill and TPC. So I have next week off, Bay Hill, TPC, then a week off before The Masters. Then I will play three in a row, from The Masters through to Houston.

ROBERT ALLENBY: It would be good if they can -- first of all, I think it would be good if they can move the West Coast Swing to May.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Whole West Coast?

ROBERT ALLENBY: Moving the TPC to May, that was the question. Yeah, that is fine. I don't have any problem with it. Probably good time of the year to play. Obviously the time that we play there, in like four week's time or whatever it is, few week's time, that is as good a time, as well. So I think Florida you can play at any time. That is the beauty of Florida, you could play two months ago and you could play four months from now.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I think it is a very good golf course; it is very challenging.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah, absolutely.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah, I think so, yeah. I think it's a tournament that, you know, if there was going to be 5 majors, that would be it. That would be the fifth. I think probably -- well, I know it probably has the strongest field out of all tournaments worldwide. You have got nearly pretty close to the top hundred in the world playing in that tournament. I think that is why the PGA is so strong.

ROBERT ALLENBY: That is right; so it has to be a strong tournament.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I play every week one week at a time.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Even with a Major right there. I am taking the week off prior to The Masters just to work on my game and you know try and get myself feeling pretty good and confident for it. But I think it is just important that every week that I go into, I treat it exactly the same and be physically and mentally prepared for every tournament. I think physically is the key because if you feel good then mentally you are good, you can think a lot better and you can go in there with a good, positive mind. So I think it's, you know, as long as I rest up, I am going to play some good golf.

ROBERT ALLENBY: No, I don't think like that, at all. I just see it as I got lucky again and I will just keep moving on. There will come a time you know -- prior to going -- teeing off in the six-man playoff, I went -- took myself off to the loo and had a look and sorry went to the toilet and -- I was just relieving myself and I was just thinking about what was going to come up, what was going to happen.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I was just thinking about what was going to happen. The shot that I needed to hit off the tee and then I was also thinking about, okay, this is another playoff and I just said to myself I am either going to win or I am going to come second. And I said, well, I have won 6 out of 6 and I just thought, well, just go for it and just do exactly what I have done in all the rest of them, which is, go for it, and just play very aggressive and just don't think about anything else; and that is what I did. I went out there and I hit a great tee shot and I knew that I had to hit the fairway. If you miss the fairway on 18 there is no way you can get on the green in two, without -- just no chance. I didn't want to hit it too far left because it doesn't go as far up the left side. It kills it because it is, with the big slope, it is wet and raining, so I just -- I pretty much hit it exactly where I wanted to hit it. I got myself a perfect look at the green and I had about a 2-iron yardage, but I thought it is wet, it is cold, I will go with a 3-wood and just ease off it a little bit and hit the exact shot that I picked out to hit, I hit it absolutely perfect. I landed it exactly where I wanted to land it. Sort of halfway up and just, you know, just sort of released down.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah, well, I guess you need a bit of luck. You need a lot of luck in these -- in those circumstances and I guess, you know, 7 out of 7, you got to have some luck on your side. There is a lot of guys that have been in playoffs that haven't won.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah.

ROBERT ALLENBY: You have to go and ask them, wouldn't you? You will have to go do a survey. I really don't care. I just play golf because I love it and I just try and do what I do the best that I can and, you know, I really -- I am an individual. I am Robert Allenby and I don't try to be anyone else. Whether I win or lose then that is not a problem. But you know, I think if I keep doing what I am doing I think they will get to know who Robert Allenby is, who he is pretty quickly.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Institute of Sport. Yes, I did.

ROBERT ALLENBY: In the program there is only 11 guys there, that is it. It's not as if it's got hundreds of kids in it. There is only 11 a year.

ROBERT ALLENBY: For golf. They might have 6 or 10 guys and maybe somewhere between. I think they have about 10 guys. That is it.

ROBERT ALLENBY: They pick who they think has great ability as a youngster.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Pretty much just selected. You can't say, oh, I am going there; it just doesn't happen like that.

ROBERT ALLENBY: No.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Australian Institute of Sport. They take them in a lot younger. They house them, as well. That is based in Victoria, in Melbourne, where the Victoria Institute of Sport is. They have nothing to do with each other. They have great coaches and they have great coaching facilities and I always -- I was very fortunate because, at the age of 14 my coach, Steve Bann, he was my coach then, back at the golf club that I used to be at, and from there, the time I got about 16, 17, he became the head coach. He was recognized as probably the best coach in Australia and he got the head position for the Institute. So for the Victoria Institute of Sport -- some then from there, I was getting even more tuition from him. They just, pretty much they just pick -- they don't just pick who they want, they pick kids that they feel that have the ability to go on and they just -- the Victoria Institute of Sport can help them with their education, golf game, their media skills, just everything, everything that we need to deal with, our travel arrangements, so that then, when we do turn pro we know what to expect. I once went to the British Open, Victoria Institute of Sport paid for all that, paid for me to go to the British Open to qualify. It ended up I qualified, went through three qualifying sections and got through and missed the cut by a shot. Then played two tournaments and went to France for a week and Holland for another week and played the French Amateur and the Dutch and just played all these tournaments in the space of about six weeks, then went home to Australia and that was the greatest experience of all time. When I turned pro I was ready to travel. Ready to --.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah, I knew what to expect. They send kids away, they make sure that they book their own airfares, they book everything, arranged, everything. Ring up the tournaments, ask them for the invites, the whole lot. Because, when you turn pro, you have to do it yourself.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I know more of Aaron than Adam Scott, but I mean, both of them have a lot of talent, a lot of talent. Aaron, he is a great player. He has a great swing. He is a pretty awesome putter. He has an all around good game. He is very confident, very confident kid. I think Adam Scott is exactly the same, but they show it in two different ways. Adam is very quiet, keeps to himself, and just goes about his business and he has broken through and I think he has got a great golf swing and there is a lot of talent there between the two of them. I think they can do some good things.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah. Obviously you know, he is a little bit more outspoken than Adam, but you know, they are both individuals, completely different.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I didn't play that well the first four, five tournaments; only last week I played well.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah, I think so. I went back to Australia after the States and I played two tournaments back there before Christmas, Australia Open and PGA and the second at the Aussie Open to Aaron and then won the week after, at PGA. Then I had a couple weeks off and then played the Match Play and then came over here. But you know, I have had around the world, I have had four wins in the last, whatever it is, 14 months or so. Well, it is not even that. But obviously I am playing some pretty good golf in between there. But I'd like to play a bit more consistent. That is what I am working on at the moment is each week I turn up, I want to finish at least Top-10 as my bad results. That is what I am working on. That is what I have got to work on. So just I want to become a more consistent player.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah the 3-wood and good putt (laughs) I am not sure. I just went about my business exactly the same. I felt like I wasn't swinging the club too well the first couple of days last week. But I was making some putts. But I just didn't make too many mistakes. If I missed the green I got up-and-down, stuff like that. So my short game is pretty good and then I started hitting it better and better as the weeks sort of went on. I kept ringing my coach in Australia and every night I gave him a call and (inaudible) Sunday night. Anyway -- I said I will just keep doing what I am doing - that was the message I left on his phone and hung up.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I think he was. He would have been watching, yeah.

ROBERT ALLENBY: That is exactly right.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I just kept working on the same things that we had been working on you know, leading up from the start of the year and for the first few tournaments I just kept working on it and just you know, I think it -- the more pressure I put my self under on Sunday the better I swung it. Which is always a good thing.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah, sure. I am excited about all tournaments now. But I just hope that by the time The Masters comes I am still playing the same way and feeling the same way. I can't see why not. I mean, it is all there. Just got it go out and produce it.

ROBERT ALLENBY: About a thousand to one.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah.

ROBERT ALLENBY: You said if I was the bookmaker.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I don't know. I got no idea. Same as the rest of the field. Apart from maybe one other guy.

ROBERT ALLENBY: You have got to think that. You have always got to think in the back of your mind that Tiger is going to play well. He plays well in -- he has played well in all the majors so far. He doesn't -- this -- obviously the first few tournaments he has played he has finished a little bit back, but you know, you can never ever count him out. He is one extraordinary player and has a lot of talent and I think he has -- he is so mentally tough that you know, he can just -- he can play crap for the next few weeks and then The Masters comes and he is likely to just come out and win it. Everyone says, oh, he has turned his slump around. So I don't understand why they call it a slump, but just because he doesn't win, that is not a slump. But you know, he is a player he is always a danger, so such a great player. He is always the one -- he is world No. 1. He will be for a number of years.

ROBERT ALLENBY: It shouldn't count. Grand Slam is four majors in one year. That is how I think everyone -- that is how we all determine it. Grand Slam is done in one year.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Well, that is one thing that definitely in the back of my mind has been for a long time is I want to be the first Australian to win the U.S. masters. So you know, obviously Norman has had a few chances and it hasn't happened. So it is still there up for grabs. It just make me even more determined. Because to be the first one would definitely mean a lot.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I do a lot of training, all sorts of training. A lot of cross training and just -- I mean, look at me I am a whippet.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I have about 6 beers a night.

ROBERT ALLENBY: (Laughs) I have a trainer. Stuart Appleby, Geoff Ogilvy, Stephen Allan, Craig Spence and myself we have all -- we are all chipping in and we have hired a trainer to train us all and used to be the head trainer at the Victoria Institute of Sport.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yeah.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Quit his job in Australia and he is full-time with us. So we have a trainer every week now.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Most of the hotels we stay at have a gym. If not, then obviously there is the trailer, but we respect the -- you have to respect -- have the respect for the other players because then also bringing a different trainer in to the trainers that we already have on the Tour, so we just stay aside and we go elsewhere. But if you are going to do it properly, you have got to do it this way. It is the best investment, I believe. I haven't had a problem with my body this year apart from an ankle injury that I had the first few tournaments but that was from orthotics. But last year I kept getting few little niggles in the back and lower back which is very, very common for a golfer. I haven't had anything this year. I feel every week I feel pretty strong and I believe that better you are physically, the stronger mentally you are. So the 5 of us, we have put in...

ROBERT ALLENBY: I have been -- obviously I have been using Vern since 1990, so I have been doing a very similar program, but the stuff that we do now is so much better and so far advanced and so much better for your body better for the golf swing.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I am working out six to seven days a week. Stretching twice a day seven days a week. So if you are doing all of that, running, bike, weights.

ROBERT ALLENBY: No way.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Craig Spence's caddie, Cameron.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Ferguson. Yeah, just had him for last week and this week as well. Yeah, it was good. Good change.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Caddying for Craig Spence next week. That is his full-time caddie.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Just for last week and this week. I had an American guy for the week prior in out in the desert in Palm Springs.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Well, last couple of weeks quite a few.

ROBERT ALLENBY: Yes.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I just know that my caddie is back in Australia.

ROBERT ALLENBY: I think I am smart enough to realize who is good and who is not. I think the first instinct is whatever comes out of their mouth first and the way they act and the way they behave and whatever that is -- that has got to determine whether I like them from the start or not. Spending so much time out there you want to like who you have got. I spend more time with them than my wife. So it is pretty important. Want to make sure you get along with someone.