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BUICK INVITATIONALJanuary 26, 2007Charles Howell IIILA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA JOE CHEMCYZ: 8-under par 64 on the North Course today. Talk if you would just about your round and we'll open it up for questions. CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, yeah, I'd start by saying that I think we got the better end of the draw. If you're going to play one of these two golf courses on a windy day, I would definitely pick the North over the South. No, but in a weird way the North has a bit of pressure on it's own in that going out there there's definitely a sense that you've got to play well; that regardless, there's going to be three days on the South Course, and the differences between the two golf courses are huge. Probably the gap between the scoring average is probably the largest of any we play on TOUR as far as one course to the other. But yeah, it was -- so obviously like I said, I think we got the best end of the draw. But at the same time, I was able to hole a few putts on some bumpy greens to shoot low. Q. Obviously you've played well here before and kind of got robbed a couple of years ago, do you feel that this tournament and the South Course maybe owes you one? CHARLES HOWELL III: Someone told me once a long time ago that golf owes you nothing and I think that statement probably holds true. No, obviously in 2005, I gave it a heck of a run. I'd have loved to see that ball stay in the hole just to see what Tiger would have done. We all know Tiger's record around here. I'm sure he would have found some way to better that score by one, and just as a golf fan, I wish I could have seen the ball stay in the hole to see what he would have done. Q. Did you feel a little better going over to the North today after taking care of business on the other side? CHARLES HOWELL III: Yeah, I shot 2-under yesterday on the South and I think I was tied for 60th. All right, wow. And you know, it was tough playing that South Course and look up and I see a guy is 9-under through nine; ten through ten, whatever Brandt was doing. It was nice to shoot under par yesterday and as odd as that sounds and it was 60th place, I think 1-under was around 80th, but any score on the South Course, even par or better, is a heck of a score. And then once again, having the South yesterday on a fairly calm day, was nice as well. Q. Is it hard to mentally shift gears from one course to the other, one day to the other? CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, yeah. If you play some other tournaments that have multiple courses on them, let's say the Bob Hope or AT&T, all of the golf courses are fairly similar now if you get a day like we had last Sunday. Here, the golf courses couldn't be more opposite in that the South Course, par is a heck of a score, and I don't think too many guys will be upset with 18 pars. Then again on the North Course, some guy makes 18 pars, he's going to want to kill himself. There were how many, two scores under par on the North yesterday, something like that? We lost two guys. (Laughter) but I'm sure they would tell you that, versus on the South Course. Yeah, they are so totally different in that the North Course you are trying to build up as many birdies as you can just because you've got two more days on the South. Q. Do you take anything away from last week's performance at the Bob Hope and bring to this one? CHARLES HOWELL III: You know, obviously I played well at Sony and historically I haven't played that good at the Bob Hope. I played well there my first year and finished sixth and haven't played well there since. Then Sunday at the Bob Hope was -- that was a heck of a day there. So honestly know. I knew it was really windy obviously. I felt that my swing was a bit off. I got into a couple funky habits and was lucky enough to have Shaun Hogan, one of David Leadbetter's assistants fly out early in the week here just to have a look at some things. That's one thing that's important to me is not only working with David, but having his assistants involved with me, because I like to have a lot of eyes on me just to try to avoid from getting into that bad habit that carries over from week-to-week. It's so easy out here playing in all of the conditions that we do and different things, fatigue, etc. So this year I'm trying to have more eyes on me from that academy throughout the year, not trying to get ultra mechanical or anything, but just to keep it where hopefully I can avoid getting into some bad things. Q. When you start the day in 60th place or wherever and you start to climb up the leaderboard, does your mind-set change at all or does your approach, do you take more chances knowing that you're on the North Course? CHARLES HOWELL III: I think on the North Course, I think it forces you to stay aggressive, just because you know, like I said earlier, just trying to build up every bit of birdies that you can. You know, I know that the North Course has quite a lot of birdie holes if you will, all of the par 5s are reachable in two. Knowing that tomorrow we're going to go play the South Course which is a completely different animal. The North Courses you to stay aggressive just knowing at any moment a guy can run-off one or two eagles and he can jump over a lot of guys. Q. First time ever I've ever used a public address system to talk to a guy about three feet away. We chatted about this a few days ago, what's the period of time, the minimum period of time and when it becomes irrelevant and you have to learn it all over again; like you're a born-again virgin far as the victory circle? CHARLES HOWELL III: This guy came in late, too. Well, I can tell you this. I have to add up in my head how long ago it's been since I won, and winning at Michelob was obviously great and all of that. It truly feels like it was just part of another career, if you will and that it's so I can tell you that period of time is less than the four and a half years or however long it's been. So you know, as a lot of people have said, you hear the guys have win a lot, be it Tiger or Vijay or Phil or whatever, they say, yeah, I've been in that position, I know because I've done it before, I've done it before, and I think that doesn't necessarily apply to myself, and that obviously it's been such a long time ago. Now, I have finished second a lot. I've finished second nine times. So I've been in the position quite a bit, but haven't closed the door. Q. Conditions today as opposed to yesterday, how good is a 64 on the North Course? CHARLES HOWELL III: It was a good score but then again, the North Course isn't affected as much by the wind as the South. The par 5s were still reachable today. A 64 on the North today was not as big a gap on the 64 on the North and a 70 on the South as to a 70 today. The North Course is not punished by the wind as South is. Now had the wind come up from whatever direction and the par 5s were not reachable, then you would see a difference. But today, no, not really. Q. You made reference to the nine seconds, and other than the ball that bounces out and 2005, which was the closest call and which one do you brood about, if any? CHARLES HOWELL III: Here very recently the Sony Open a couple weeks ago, I had a two-shot lead with nine holes to play; that one there. It's a little bit further back. Yeah, the ball bouncing out of the hole here didn't really bother me as bad. From a golf fan point of view, it was a hell of a thing to see. You just can't believe it's happened. It kind of sucked being the guy it happened to, but just from a fan's point of view, you think, my gosh. (Laughter) Might have made SportsCenter that night. But beyond that, the 2003 L.A. Open at Riviera, that one there, that one there stung pretty good, you know, being that I had a pretty big lead going into Sunday and had a lead with nine holes to play, didn't play the closing holes well, lost in a playoff to Mike Weir. So I'd say that one and the Sony Open were the two that hurt the most. Q. Tiger has such a history at this course, when he's in sight like he is at 6-under, how much is he in a position to threaten? CHARLES HOWELL III: Listen, you don't ever count him out. But at the same time, the South Course is difficult enough where it's got my attention a hell of a lot more than he does. Yeah, I like him and he's a friend of mine, but you know, the South Course, maybe I'm just not good enough where I can't worry about the golf course and what other people are doing. And if I'm going to play well this weekend, I've got to worry only about that golf course. And Tiger on the other hand, you never count the guy out. If the guy makes the cut, you never count the guy out. And we all know his history here. So, yeah, I would not be surprised at all to see him go shoot a low one tomorrow. Q. The information that you guys retain course-to-course, week-to-week is amazing, the wind conditions here, on the different courses. How much research goes into that or is it just knowledge to gain each week, each year going to the tournament? CHARLES HOWELL III: You know, I think it's more knowledge to gain every year that you play. I mean, I think that maybe falls a little bit under that experience thing people talk about and that you haven't seen a golf course play a certain way or a certain condition. I remember a couple of years back, the wind came up on the South Course. There's notes obviously in old yardage books that I go through and look at. It's more or less just an experience thing. Q. Talking about no matter what happens this weekend, how much do you take out of the fact that in two of the first three tournaments you've played this year, you've put yourself there going into the weekend? CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, you know, it's everything I've worked for this off-season, and I think the most important thing to me start of the year was getting back into The Masters. Yeah, I believe I started the year 86th in the World Ranking and improved it a bit at the Sony Open. But you know, to try to climb my way back into the Masters is the biggest goal. That's a tournament that obviously means a lot to me. Obviously played horrible there last year, would love another crack at it. Yeah, the work I did this off-season is there. There are still things I need to work on. Just after the Sony Open, when I didn't close the deal on the back nine, the things that hurt me there are the things I'm working on, driving the ball in the fairway more often and the short game getting better. No, I'm seeing some positive signs which is great. Q. Have you ever been in a position where you felt desperate to play well at the start of the year? CHARLES HOWELL III: Not as much as this year, no. I mean, everybody likes to get off to a good start, and it's almost an easy goal to pick, hey, let's play into the Masters. It's almost like an easy thing to say beyond win a tournament or beyond whatever. It sort of is an easy top priority, if you will. Q. Some guys would liken that to Davis, for example, trying so hard to make the Ryder Cup Team that he got too wrapped up in that. Do you not run the risk, or did you not run the risk of doing that, being so key toward an early goal that you got more thought process on -- I'm making up words here -- on results, instead of just playing? CHARLES HOWELL III: Sure. Goals are only as good as people respond to them. They are only as good as do they motivate you or not. You know, they are only as good as when you're out on the golf course and things maybe are not going your way and you need a bit of motivation or a kick in the butt. That's only good for as well as you respond to them. You know, the Masters is important to me and obviously growing up in Augusta, but even beyond that, it is the Masters. That's a heck of a motivator. Q. Given your Callaway bag and hat, has anybody confused you for Tadd Fujikawa? CHARLES HOWELL III: That can only come from a Sooner. That can only come from one guy, and one university. (Laughter). Q. Answer? CHARLES HOWELL III: Not yet. (Laughter) But if I shoot the scores he did, you can call me whatever you want. Q. Were you trying to get a certain amount of money for sponsor's exemptions? CHARLES HOWELL III: In 2001, yeah, but I had not played in the Masters to see how good that was. Yeah, it's a similar way to play your way on TOUR through a sponsor's exemption, yeah. There's a set number of events. There's a certain criteria to meet. It's very similar to that, absolutely. Obviously that was all that mattered to me at that point in time, and you know, the Masters is a pretty darned important thing now. There's a lot of similarities to it, yeah. Q. 86 in the ranking? CHARLES HOWELL III: I believe I started the year 86. JOE CHEMCYZ: Charles, thank you. End of FastScripts |
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