GREATER GREENSBORO CHRYSLER CLASSIC

April 20, 2000

Hal Sutton

HAL SUTTON: When I teed off, I didn't think the scores were going to be that low. But as we progressed around there, I could see that they were. The golf course was much drier than I thought it was going to be after the first couple of days here. And then the greens were putting nicely. So I think that had a lot to do with the lower score. For myself, I played pretty good. Didn't drive it quite as much as I normally did. I hit it in the rough five times today. And you don't like hitting it in the rough here. I didn't have a terrible lie, so I was able to avoid those bogeys.

HAL SUTTON: I'm not real sure why they were. I thought they had some pretty nice pins out there today, too. You know, the greens were holding, but they're not really spinning back a lot, which is an optimum way for you to have it, because where you land it is pretty much where it stays. If the ball is going hard forward, it's hard to judge; if it's spinning back, it's hard to judge.

HAL SUTTON: Well, I holed an iron shot today. On the 5th hole, I holed a pitching wedge. And I hit some other nice iron shots. But I putted the ball really well today. I didn't hit anything super close. And when I did, I made it. And every time I hit a lag putt, if I was four or five feet, I made them. So I felt like I stroked the ball well today.

HAL SUTTON: Who knows. All you can do is tee it up and go try to do it.

HAL SUTTON: All pars. I didn't have any bogeys today.

HAL SUTTON: That pitching wedge was the first -- where I made if for eagle from 130 yards. 9, I hit a pitching wedge about four feet from 120 yards. 10, I hit a 7-iron from 150 yards about six feet. 1, I hit a 9-iron from 148 yards, about 12 feet behind it.

HAL SUTTON: I would have given myself five more opportunities out of the fairway to get the ball close, and that's a big difference. I didn't hit it badly. I'm not trying to tell you I hit it bad. I just kind of slipped them into the edge of the rough. Unlike me, I was fading the ball a little bit, and I never could make myself aim left. I kept slipping it in the right rough, and not very far, three or four feet. But that's -- that's three or four feet too far, when the rough is 8 or 10 inches high.

HAL SUTTON: He played very well. He hit a lot of good, close shots during that stretch. It wasn't like he was making a lot of long putts, either. I think he made maybe a 20-footer. And then on 14, he made probably a 30-footer. But the rest of them were within five feet; and that's the way you shoot low.

HAL SUTTON: All of the above. I've improved my golf swing and my short game. Because of that, my confidence level is much higher. So I believe in myself, so I'm mentally sharper. A husband and a daddy three times, so that's matured me. Just a lot of things.

HAL SUTTON: I think so, if I straighten that driver out a little bit, hit it down the middle of the fairway, I really like it.

HAL SUTTON: I loved the way I putted today. I hope I putt that way the next three rounds.

HAL SUTTON: 15-under par, that was pretty good for a group, wasn't it? It was good. We all hit a couple of shots we didn't want to hit, but that's golf. You all play, don't you? You all understand this game, don't you? We were all probably pleased with the results that we got. I'm sure Brian would have liked to make that putt on the last hole for a par. But he played very well. Jesper didn't hit it his best, and he shot a 69, so I'm sure he's pleased with that. I thought it was a good group.

HAL SUTTON: Oh, yeah. I wondered if I could get back to playing halfway decent. I don't know that if I could have even guessed that I could play the way I'm playing now. So I certainly wanted to, aspired to, but it was a little bit out of the realm of my thinking at that point.

HAL SUTTON: Yeah, I was trying to crawl before I walked, and walked before I ran. This game makes you really test your patience. Even when you're playing good, you still have to stay very patient. It's something you have to remind yourself of every day is to be patient.

HAL SUTTON: In my game?

HAL SUTTON: Probably '94. I could begin to see my game coming back in '94. And I worked on it all the way through, and it just started coming back in, I'd say '94.

HAL SUTTON: Well, I think any tournament that you play in it's important to get off to a real good start. And I don't know if it's any more important here than it is anywhere else we go. Each week you think if you don't get off to that good start, you think: Well, I've got my work cut out for me the next three rounds. This is the PGA TOUR, they're playing good out here. You don't want to give them any more ground than they have to.

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