CHRYSLER CHAMPIONSHIP

October 30, 2003

Dan Forsman

DAN FORSMAN: Here we are at 4-under, it feels awfully good at this Copperhead. I played with a snake but I didn't get bit today.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: One off the lead Charles Howell III who is 5-under.

DAN FORSMAN: 5-under is the course record now. But yes, the golf course, what can I say, they got it finally tuned for a championship venue and that's what we have out there. The wind was picking up today. I was surprised. I was hoping it would blow itself out yesterday after that front blew through. It came out to the east Tuesday in the south. Wednesday out of the north, and today out of east. Tomorrow it may be out of the west. We will have it all.

I got off to a good start. Fairly good start. I was striking the ball well. I felt pretty good starting the round where I practiced well on the range. I felt pretty much peace. I came to the first tee and was able to get it down the runway there reasonably well. I was parring the round. I couldn't get any birdies. I had a nice save for a par. I hit every green on the front except for No. 6. I hit it short of the green. I hit not a very good lob wedge and it ran by 15, 18 feet. It looked like I was going to make a bogey after I made a birdie at that point. I make the putt for par. It's funny how a par putt like that can keep the momentum going and keep your spirits up. I played along and had birdie putts at 7, 8 and 9 which I missed. 10 was kind of -- again, I'm hitting all of the greens is very good for me. I'm striking the ball well. 11, I had a birdie put missed it. 12, I had about an eight footer and missed it. My partner, Roy Sabatini says, "I'm going to call you par; because that's all you make," joking about it.

My thoughts then were, in the words of Valerie Hogan said, "You got to hit it closer, Ben," so on 13 I hit a 6-iron about like that, about three feet and made that for birdie, 1-under. Next hole I hit it in the right rough off the tee, I had to lay up left, I had a 9-iron, I hit it about four feet left of the hole for birdie, straight up the hill. That was a nice birdie for me, made it 2-under.

Then I had to play the hole in the wind, the front right pin. 15 was a tough hole any way. I hit a 5-iron it just landed on the front of the green, released to the hole, about eight feet short. I had a good line, kind of a double grain break, knocked it in the hole for two to go 3-under and then stood up at 16, and in a pretty good wind at the time, I wasn't sure because that's a new tee box, I wasn't sure if I could carry the right portion of the hazard. So I kind of took a conservative route, kind of beared down, got a couple of tree limbs and a trunk down the left side I was trying to aim at, hit it right at it. That was a question of whether it was going to be too much. It stayed in the fairway by a foot. I was able to play a 5-iron to the heart of the green, I just missed that putt from about 12 feet.

17, I hit a 4-iron to the green, and had about 25 feet, two putts.

18, drove it down the middle, had really good yardage, 139 to the hole, 139 total with a 9-iron uphill, and stayed right with it and hit a nice solid 9, it got to its apex pretty much on line, I heard the clock set by the greens so I knew it was fairly close. I really wanted to make that putt. I had been flirting with some of those. I had a putt like that last week, for example, on 18 at Disney. I missed, and I kept thinking maybe the law of averages, maybe this one will go in. I hit it inside right and it went right in the heart for a 4-under 67.

I started the day, I thought I would shoot under par. I'm very pleased obviously. Any time you shoot par or better on a day like today, that's a good score. The fact I shot 4-under is all the sweeter. It's a great start to a great tournament this week. I'm hopeful to keep this pace going the next few days. All I can do is play one at a time, it sounds sort of trivial and sort of boring, but that's golf, I suppose.

Q. You made a lot here during the J.C. Penney years; talk about that as well?

DAN FORSMAN: I used to love coming here playing the J.C. Penney. I was thinking the other day with all of the women wanting to play the men's TOUR, it's a shame we don't have that tournament. I think that would give us the opportunity; wouldn't it. The sponsors change and so forth and so on.

The course we saw then was a whole lot different than what we are seeing today. You know I'm curious, not that I'm, you know, a statistician freak or anything. I walked the fairway, on the first hole, it's 19 yards across, the landing area from bunker to rough. I know you are coming off an elevated tee. Into the wind right-to-left, that's narrow. I talked to Jay Overton about it. He asked me what I thought. I said that first fairway was pinched a little tight. He said guys were flying over the bunker. I said not me. I happened to fit it in there. Then the other thing that makes it tough is you are right up against the trees. So if you block it you are asking for problems.

I paced a could of greens. No. 10, is 26 yards across. 18, is 25 yards across. That's narrower than U.S. Open width. The rough is not all the way around the course, U.S. Open depth but in many places it is. So I guess what I'm saying is, the golf course is going to yield some good scores, but it's also going to show itself to be difficult and challenging the rest of the way.

I know this: 67 is a great start for me. It could easily have been even par, one or two over. That's how fine the line is. I guess that's what championship golf is all about.

Back to the question of the J.C. Penney, we play the up tees for the gals to get an equal shake to get to the greens. Let's face it, No. 3, the dogleg right, we are hitting 2-iron and 6-iron from 185. If you leave them back there, they are hitting 3- and 4-woods back there. That's not fair. You kind of forced your hand to go into the narrows up there. Sometimes you pulled it off and sometimes you didn't.

The bottom line, the golf course is different. It seems like it's a lot longer. They have added some length. The tees play back on every hole. The Penney they moved it up. You always had your partners's best ball in the back of your mind. That's the dynamic; which kind of gave you a sense of I can be more aggressive here. If I spill one in the water maybe my partner will get me out of it. Whereas this day, today, the rest of the week, the onus is on me. That's the big difference.

Obviously, great memories coming back here. I won with Dottie Pepper. It was a great experience, one I will never forget. A great memory coming back to Innisbrook and Tarpon Springs and hopefully it would be a dream come true to get the chance to come through that again this weekend.

Q. Dan, what does it say about golf that tomorrow, or starting out you are going to be chasing a guy who is 20 years younger than you but yet here you are, you are able to compete with him?

DAN FORSMAN: It seems to mean, I was thinking about it little today, what's the future hold for me as I go forward here at 45? Am I going to be able to retain my youthful swing? Am I going to be pain free and be able to continue to compete against these young whipper-snappers as you describe?

All I can do is look to the guys who have been out here and who have transitioned to the Champion's Tour, Jay Haas and Peter Jacobsen who kept their feet in the game and kept the passion alive and wanted to continue to compete. I think that's me. I think I -- also along that line I was thinking like fine wine, you get better with age. That was my thinking. It was my turn to play so I ended it on that thought out there.

I suppose that the nature of golf is it's a game of the lifetime. We all heard that. Is it a professional game of a lifetime? That's hard to say. I suppose my answer to that would be it is if you have the passion and if you love the game and if you want to continue to compete. But if you come to Innisbrook and you say, my gosh, the course is too tough, the greens are too fast, this isn't what I was expecting, I got a bad tee time; you are probably not going to have much of a chance.

Right now what does it say about me competing against Charles Howell? It adds spice to the recipe. It certainly creates a little excitement I hope because -- we of all have been there in life. It deals us a tough hand once in a while. We stumble and fall and we feel maybe my best years are behind me. But who of us hasn't watched a guy, a veteran player, whether it be this guy for the Red Sox throwing the knuckleball or somebody like him that finds a way to still compete, when you look at him you say, how can a guy throw that kind of pitch and still be in the league? That's sort of the essence of what it is for me to go playing against these guys. I feel blessed right now. I hope I can continue to play as well as I have. My aim and desire is to continue to practice and play hard, be prepared so when I come out I can give it my all and feel good about that. Hopefully some putts will fall and it will get me in the mix.

Q. Along those lines do you have an appreciation for how well Davis Love played with some of the distractions off of the course that he has this summer?

DAN FORSMAN: Absolutely. I don't know all of it. I only know very little of it actually. My hat is off to Davis. It just goes to show what an incredibly talented player he is.

As a player you don't allow yourself to even go there because you are competing against these guys so you kind of go -- it's a bit like a guy in a boxing parallel, if you think this guy has the best right hand I have ever seen. If you are going to fight him you better not be saying a lot of that. Even though it may totally be true.

Davis has been a great champion for many, many years. He has the power game which combine that with finesse, and the putting stroke that is silky smooth and has a presence for the big moment.

I remember the Ryder Cup putt he made in England that year; it was a huge putt. I was sweating for him and he poured it right in. He has been there, he's won the big events on the toughest courses, won a PGA at Winged Foot and so forth.

Having said that I would say that the real sanity, or the real peaceful times for us professional golfers and maybe even athletes is when you are called to the tee for the next four and a half hours when you play the game. I suppose then you tune all of the other stuff out and you go out and you play golf and once you sign your card then the rest of the world comes back to you. I suppose it's a credit to him that he is able to focus the way as he has as well.

Q. Do you look at yourself as one of the older men on the TOUR or I still got five years to go before I think about The Champions Tour?

DAN FORSMAN: Well, some days I feel like I'm real young and some days I don't feel very young. I see Peter Jacobsen and of course, Jay Haas, and Loren Roberts, Tom Lehman, and fellows like that are the kind of guys that I look to for inspiration as I watch them play the TOUR and play well and so forth.

I still feel like I'm young. That's why having kids will do that to you. You got to think that way, being around them and thinking like they do and trying to empathize with their thoughts on the issues and their feelings on things. But I don't feel like I'm really old by any means; I feel like I'm pretty young. I certainly feel young today with a 67 at Copperhead.

Q. Not to belabor the point, there were kids playing out there who could literally be your kids age-wise?

DAN FORSMAN: Ty Tryon, for example, I see Ty a lot. I see him as my son's age. What was I doing when I was 19? What was I thinking when I was 19? I was trying to make the SU golf team trying to finish even par in a college tournament some day.

These guys are out here playing TOUR golf with all of the things that come with it. So the maturity aspect and specialty aspect of young kids today, who are being channeled into tennis and golf, and whatever they want to do. Some are business or computer guys, and are going to build the next software that is going to take us to the next place, et cetera. A lot of specializing going on at this point.

Q. You were talking about that you better come here with your passion, and at the end of the long season, you played great last week, and you are here again this week, have you kept that passion not only at this age but this late into the year?

DAN FORSMAN: Just realizing that, like I said, I think I said last week, two weeks, Disney and here, to try to win a tournament. In the past you say well, I guess winning last year kind of made me realize that winning is important, it's significant. It opens a lot of doors for you rather than just sort of stumble home here.

I mentioned that last week at Disney. I got two chances. I was walking out of the car last night from the Pro-Am, why not me? Why can't I win this tournament? To use a Craig Perks line at THE PLAYER'S Championship, I like this place, I have good memories here. I played well here. I'm one of 132 guys. I played well with the exception of Saturday when the wind blew a bit. I have been playing reasonably well. Putting, I worked hard on my game Monday and Tuesday. Today I was able to play one at a time and that's what I have been able to do and just realizing that each shot is important and not get head of myself or behind myself. I think that was the key today.

Q. I know this course is different than it ever has been for you, when you come back here, do you think in terms of the tournaments that maybe you beat this place or tournaments that have bit you right in the behind?

DAN FORSMAN: I don't think you ever beat this place, it's got enough holes out there. You are always at the edge of your seat if you will. It's going to demand everything you got. Then you got to get a break or two.

I was thinking as I walked out the back nine today, that score that KJ shot last year is really -- he didn't get the credit he deserved as far as performance in my view. It was hot and it was awful heat, blah, blah, blah. I think it he was at 17-under. And there was only 10 guys under par. The more I think about that in playing this course and seeing it this year I think man that is an amazing performance that he had last year. So it's going to be a test the rest of the way.

Q. Your best memories here are the J.C. Penney?

DAN FORSMAN: Yes. Yes, I think so. I enjoyed playing with the girls. I enjoyed their company. The camaraderie of it all, LPGA and PGA. It was neat. I had a good time with that. I realize that they felt for the game, was to go with the guys' events here, and it's season ending, and I think this year is what they had in mind.

We have a great field, a lot at stake, a great golf course. My hope, and Gerald Goodman and everybody here at the Innisbrook resort, it has all the makings to grow and grow and become one of the biggest and best tournaments on the tour.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Anything else, guys? Dan Forsman, thank you.

End of FastScripts.