BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSIC

January 18, 1998

Fred Couples

FRED COUPLES: Well, I am thrilled to death, as anyone would be to win, you know, I had a great week. I'd like to say one thing: I have played the last two years in the non-celebrity field, just to give me a break from a lot of things, and I thank the tournament chairman for letting me do that. And this year was very easy to play in front of 50 people instead of 5,000 cameras. And, I feel like that was a big advantage. So, next year, I will be hitting off the first tee with Bob Hope, so it wouldn't be quite the same. That was a great way to start. As far as the week, it felt great to be on the course, you know, I have a lot of confidence in my game. I practiced enough to feel like I would come in here and be able to hit the ball. And I got off to a great start, as I said, when I came in here, whenever, Thursday about, 64 on Wednesday. And then the week kept going. And today, I hit the ball very well. I have a new driver; hit a couple mediocre drives, but I blasted a few too. So, it was a very comforting feeling. Again, I felt like I played a good round of golf. And I got just enough putts to go in and hang in there with Bruce, and him not birdieing 18, left the door open for a playoff. And, in the playoff, I got it right where I wanted. You know, up near that top shelf, and Bruce had a very difficult pitch on the new green which I think makes the hole much harder. I really felt like a 4 would win; whether it was him or me.

FRED COUPLES: You have a lot of birdie putts, first of all. I missed a few, but I made a bunch. You know, today I putted pretty well. I 3-putted the -- I birdied the first and bogeyed the third hole from 85 or 90 yards to the pin. That was not what you want to do in the last day in a shootout, and, ended up 3-putting from 40 feet. But, the other days, made a lot of putts and, you know, I felt good putting. I felt -- I always feel better hitting the ball. But, you know, I think I made a few knee-knockers, and it just was a good day. I played very well. I felt good about the way I played. And towards the end, you know, I think I was always trying to catch Bruce. You know, you kind of say, "Okay, you need a birdie. You need a birdie," and the long putt on 17 rolled right up to the edge of the hole and looked like it was going in, and I felt like on 18 you can make eagle. I felt like the way we hit our drives, we were all going to make birdies. I left the putt just short and then Bruce hit a good putt both times and missed them both. You know, ended up having one more birdie than Bruce.

FRED COUPLES: Yeah, I putted great. Putted great.

I am not ever going to go through a week where I don't miss any putts. Like I said a minute ago, you have a lot of birdie putts because you are hitting a lot of wedges. I made my share. Yesterday I was pretty bad, the back 9, at Indian Wells, but I birdied 17, 18 to hang in there and stayed close.

FRED COUPLES: Well, I think, you know -- gratifying? I love to play golf. Sometimes I don't show it. I love to compete and any time you do something well, it is gratifying. This is not the greatest win I have ever had, but it was a great time to win a tournament. So, a lot of things with me are important and winning again was very important. I really felt like I still have the game to win. That is the only reason I play. I don't play this game to come out and just hope my back will do fine. I come out to compete and when I stop doing that, I will quit. This just proved to me that I can still win and I plan on winning more tournaments. I plan on having a great year.

FRED COUPLES: I don't show -- what did I just say? I say lot of things. (Audience laughter.) What was --

FRED COUPLES: If I am not playing very well I don't look like I am having a good time, and I am really not. I think last year, a lot of times when I played, it was pretty frustrating and I wish I wasn't out on the course. That is kind of what I mean by that. Whereas, this year, if I am not playing well, I hope to be more of a battler; not -- I don't give up, but not play quickly and rush and go around. I think I plan on hanging in there a little longer if I am not playing like this. This is a great week. There will be weeks where I am going to be first off the tee the last day and going to make $3,000. But I need to keep playing and that is the only way I am going to get better again is if I pay attention to what I am doing.

FRED COUPLES: You know, I was hoping. I didn't think I would pick up four shots on Bruce or Andrew. So, unless I had an unbelievable round -- I had a great round, but nothing that should have surpassed them. But, I felt like we all played pretty well. And once you are in a playoff, you know, you don't need to worry about too much. You just go out there and Friday and hit your best shots and I hit a couple of good ones and I had the same shot that I did in the regulation, the same club, same shot, fade-in there, I just hit a little harder and there was less wind, but it ended up in a great spot. Easy chip. I would have loved to have chipped it closer. But, you know, felt good to see if I can make a 4-foot putt.

FRED COUPLES: Well, you know, if it hadn't hit his cart, it probably would have been not with a very good angle to the green. And, the way it kicked back through the one bunker, I don't know -- it could have hit the cart and gone the other way out-of-bounds, and, that is what I did on 9, it kicked back into the rough way left, but I had a fairly easy shot and I hit a great shot to about ten feet; made birdie. So, I could have made 5, and made 3. That was a big shot.

FRED COUPLES: I don't think -- there is quite aways. It would have been, at worst, in some tall junk, but I think the out-of-bounds, I think, was a lot further right.

FRED COUPLES: Yes. It was the one he was getting a ride there. Scared the heck -- you know, scared the heck out of him.

FRED COUPLES: First of all, I think Lynx made a club that, you know, I feel very comfortable with. I picked it up within the last year. I have used it two weeks; hit it great in Wendy's tournament and this week, you know, it sounds like wood. It looks like one of my old wooden drivers, and, so far, I have let two or three people hit it. They all hit it very well. So, it is a very easy club to hit and it has plenty of length. So, the difference really from a Callaway is, you know, I hit the Callaway driver great, but this Lynx driver is better looking and I feel like it is very easy to hit. It was great this week. I drove it the back 9 today I -- I ended up pulling the drive on 14 where I made birdie, but I hit it very strong and very straight.

FRED COUPLES: I think this week I just felt pretty good. I may have hit it a little further. But I hit it -- I can only hit it so far. And, I don't think I am using the club that is shorter.

FRED COUPLES: Probably 285. I had 250 and 248 to the hole for my second shots.

FRED COUPLES: Yes.

FRED COUPLES: You know, I don't speak of golf last year. I think -- you know, you lose your father; I don't believe you can win any tournament and let that speak for itself. So, you know, golfwise, it wasn't a big deal to me how I played last year. This year, it is a huge deal. I don't want to play like that. But, you know, I didn't play. I never played. You know, so, for me, this is a great year. My girlfriend is back there and my buddy, John, and so I have a lot to look forward to. But, I think about my dad as anyone would, but I can't really even begin to say this has any good feeling about what happened. That is not --

FRED COUPLES: Sure. That is what I play. If I didn't play here, you know, someone else would have won and I felt good for them. So I think people feel good that I won and they were rooting very hard for me today. I think people are very sympathetic. They know I haven't played much. And, that is very nice. I had a lot of cards, a lot of letters, a lot of support, but this year, you know, I would love to continue to play golf and show myself I am still a good player.

FRED COUPLES: Nothing.

FRED COUPLES: Right after Vegas, yes. That is it.

FRED COUPLES: Yes.

FRED COUPLES: No, I have a lot of confidence in my game. Any time I step on the course I really think I can play good golf. It was great to start with a 64. I can't say enough about not playing in two months and coming out and feeling like, you know, hey, this is a new year, you know, I am off to a great start. Now, four days later, I have won, you know, I don't know if it is luck, if it is fate, if it is good golf. But, I feel like all that has rolled into winning. I was behind all day today. I was never any really anywhere near Bruce. I made a birdie; got within one and we struggled getting the ball close on 16 and 17 - which were hard holes - and then on 18, you know, I honestly felt like he was going to birdie it and win by a stroke. So, I feel lucky. First hole, I hit 60-yard sand wedge to a foot. Made birdie. Third hole, I hit a sand wedge terrible 40 feet and 3-putted. 6th hole, I hit a wedge ten feet; made it. The 8th hole, hit two woods in the bunker and blasted out to two feet for birdie. 9, I hit 9 out of the rough ten feet; made birdie. The 13th, par 5, hit drive, 2-iron, on the front edge; 2-putted for birdie. 14, I hit sand wedge five feet; made birdie. And on 18, hit the driver, 3-wood twice and ended up 2-putting once and chipping and making a short putt for birdies.

FRED COUPLES: No. Although when we stepped up in -- the group in front of us had just hit on 18. That is not what I wanted to see. We walked around or I didn't loosen up and it was okay when we stopped and signed the cards and I rode a little bit, but walked up. Once I stop, I am in trouble, and if I just keep moving and keep moving, I am okay. But, I didn't want to play one of those marathons like my buddy, Cook, and Gene Sauers said, there is no way I would have finished. So....

FRED COUPLES: They just hit. When we actually -- when we were standing there, one of the guys just hit. So probably -- ten minutes.

FRED COUPLES: You are disappointed and you just say, "Okay, let us keep playing." I mean, it is actually -- then you want to hold your position. You don't want to have 12 other guys pass you. Then I, you know, made a couple of putts and I got back to 3 and then it was 2. And, when I birdied 14, I was within 1 and obviously in the game. But, yeah, at that time, when I 3-putted the third hole, with the sand wedge, I am trying to make birdie and make bogey, you know, and Bruce birdied the first two holes. I mean, I basically thought I was done.

FRED COUPLES: 77 yards. It was actually good. Getting up over the tree was not easy because it was little bit of a messy lie, but it came out and once it hit and rolled, that was a good break to have as far as hitting it and flopping it up over the trap and letting it release. The greens were hard. I hit a shot left on 14 and had good yardage to hit a 60-degree sand wedge to hit it high above the tree. I felt I could hit it as hard as I could and knock it over the green, but knocked it over the tree. If I came out right, I felt like I could hit a decent shot. It turned out to be great.

FRED COUPLES: The greens were firm, all of them, but they were perfect. I think, you know, a lot of us are wearing soft spikes. The greens were -- I don't believe I had a putt that rolled anywhere near a spike mark. The golf courses, I said everyday we played, they were immaculate. I like the greens being hard because I really think 20-under was maybe 7th place -- what did -- I mean, that is not as low as it normally is. I think that is because the greens were firm. You are always going to get some guys like Bruce and Andrew that continue to, as we did, play a little better. But, I think the firm greens made the scoring not quite as low as it has been.

FRED COUPLES: Thank you, guys.