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OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE PRO-AM

February 18, 2007

Andy Bean

LUTZ, FLORIDA

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Birdie at 18 puts you for a tie for second. Tough struggle all day for everyone.
ANDY BEAN: Actually, I never struggled the whole day, that was the whole thing, until I made double there on No. 14. But I played -- I played really solid today. I missed a tee shot in the rough on 8. I hit it just off the edge of the green; got it up-and-down.
I played very solid the rest of the way in. I had chances at birdies on pretty much every hole. It was -- you know, sometimes you hit a bad shot and I just hit a couple of them on the same hole, and it certainly cost me. Hit a great shot in there on 18, and finally hit a good putt. So at least it's not as bad.
You know, Tom played good. If you shot -- if you shot under par today, that was a heck of a round. I certainly had the opportunities. I should have gone for the green on No. 12, and I didn't. You know, looking back because I may have had a one-shot lead, but I could have put a little more distance between me and the field. And I certainly had like 227 to the hole, so it really wasn't like it was -- but the wind, it was really gusting at the time and I wasn't sure if it was going to take the ball to the right or to the left, so that was the only reason I didn't go for the green there. Then I ended up kind of thinning my chip shot and knocking it by about 30 feet and ended up making a good 2-putt there for par.
But all in all, I played really well today except for just a couple shots, and I'm playing well. So congratulations to Tom, and we'll see you next week.

Q. Can you just take us through what happened on 14?
ANDY BEAN: I'm forgetting that. I've already forgot that.
Well, I had a problem with my driver. I drove it right down the middle, or right down the right side. (Laughing) I hit a 4-iron and was trying to play it and let it follow the fairway, and I was trying to get an angle so I had a good shot into the hole. It was about an inch into the first cut of the rough, and it was just kind of hanging there, and when I hit my third shot, it just -- I really just -- I was trying to spin the ball, but I really just went underneath it.
I had 91 yards to the hole. I think it was absolutely a perfect lay-up as far as distance goes because I hit my sand wedge about 80 to 85 yards, and you know, going downwind; it was perfect to hit a solid shot. The only bad part of that was it was an inch in the rough and that cost me. There's no doubt it cost me.
And then, good gosh, my ball is about this far up in the air on my fourth shot, and I was trying to really just go right underneath it. I guess I shanked it. I had to hit it -- I had to go over the bunker and I had to hit it really soft. I opened it up so much that it went way out to the right.
The next shot may have been the best shot I hit in the tournament, and it barely got on the green. Because it was not a good lie at all, it was sitting down, and I knew to try to get anywhere close that I had to chip it and land it in the tall stuff, and then hope it went down and ran on down to the hole. And I hit it exactly where I walked up and looked, and the ball hit soft and then it hit on the downslope and it hit soft, and then it never got to the hole.
And then the putt there, I've never hit a better putt than that. I hit it and it rolled right over the edge of the cup and it rolled by about two or three inches. With the wind blowing left-to-right, the grain going left-to-right, you would think the putt would go left-to-right. But it didn't. And it was a 7. I hit it 7 times.
You know, right after that, the very next hole, I hit a good drive. Hit a 6-iron there that I didn't understand the wind not taking the ball, and I ended up right on the collar of the grain. I putted it up a couple feet.
And then again on 16, I hit a 3-wood right down the middle. Hit an 8-iron right at the flag and it bit. It hit on top of the ridge right 20 feet short of the hole and it bit, and I didn't understand that. But that's the way it was. And then I left my putt about two inches dead in the hole short.
17, I hit a putt as good as I've ever hit a putt. I mean, I hit the ball good coming in. I mean, Wayne's ball went from a foot left of the hole in the last ten feet to all the way across and a foot and a half to the right of the hole. And I put mine out a good foot on the left, and it went right past the top edge of the cup and never broke. And I rolled it about maybe a foot past the hole. And you know, when you hit a putt, I hope that I can always hit one that solid.
And then 18, I knew I had to birdie the last hole to -- actually I was trying to hole the shot out of the fairway to have a chance and I thought I may have. I hit it and it went right over the flag. It was probably 14 feet behind the hole, and it was funny, then I actually giggled as soon as I hit the putt, because I knew it was going in. It actually started on line, and I went, "You've got to be kidding, now I make a putt."
But one too many, or one not enough, however you want to look at it. But I am, I'm striking the ball well, and I just look forward to playing next week.

Q. What was the degree of difficulty today of the elements, the wind and cold particularly?
ANDY BEAN: You know, it's cold out there. It's 50 degrees, or maybe cooler it seemed like at times. But with the wind blowing 20, 25 miles an hour, it just -- some shots are just hard.

Q. Well, what does the wind --
ANDY BEAN: But for me, I wasn't fighting it. I was enjoying my round. I enjoyed every bit of my round till 14. And then I hit a tee shot almost exactly where I wanted to hit it. My second shot just wasn't quite what I wanted. If it comes a foot left, then I've got a perfect shot at the pin, got a perfect lay-up shot, or perfect club to hit my sand wedge to the hole. But it was an inch in the rough. And I'm thinking the ball is going to kick left and it actually just kind of kicked straight and bounced into the rough. Because it wasn't in the rough -- or if it would have been a foot shorter I would have been okay. You know, sometimes that's just the way it is.
I mean, I love playing in conditions like this, because it's tough, and the best ball-strikers are going to come out on top. I know Tom must have played a good round today. He made a couple of putts. He's striking the ball well. Jay Haas, another good ball-striker. You know, you wouldn't want to play with this cold all the time, but we get conditions where they are a little tougher, I think you're just going to see the better ball-strikers instead of the best putters.

Q. And also, could you just sort of give your assessment of this week as a spectacle, sort of the vibe of this tournament?
ANDY BEAN: I think Chris and Outback, Amy, they do such a good job here. It's always fun playing close to home. Sometimes it's a little harder playing close to home, but it's always fun. And the staff here at TPC, I mean, they have got the golf course, it's in great shape. It's a little bit soft. I wish it were a little bit firmer. But you know, with the rains that we had, it's going to be soft.
But I just look to next year. I'm sure the golf course will again be in good shape, and hopefully I can come back here and be about two shots better than I was this year. Really, you can't -- I think you can't say enough for Outback and what they have put into this tournament; NBC coming in; Bill Murray, you get guys to come in here, he was just -- he had a crowd with him all day long. And I think, what was he doing, giving -- signing autographs for 50 bucks and he's donating the money to one of the local charities. The tournament's fun. Definitely serious.
I definitely got a little upset out there at myself just for doing what I did out there on 14. But the rest of those holes coming in, I sure played well. I just didn't make any birdies.

Q. Would you equate any difference between the front nine and the back nine over the three days; difficulty, one side being more difficult than the other?
ANDY BEAN: Well, the first day, I thought the front nine played harder because I finished last on the front. I played the back side first, and we finished. I was in the afternoon. We finished up on the front. I thought it played harder. That was maybe because of the direction of the wind. When the wind comes out of the north/northwest, especially more northwest, the golf course is just hard, because usually the wind is cooler.
You've got a few holes that when you get -- you kind of play into the wind going out on the front, then you've got them helping you a little bit and cross on 8 and 9.
Then on the back side, you've got them cross and then you play into them a few holes, then they help you, then it's across again, and then 18 is just a hard hole. You've got to hit two good shots on 18 to have a chance of making a birdie. A lot of times making a par there is a really good score.
I think with the wind blowing, the conditions what they were, I can't say I was pleased -- I was pleased with the way I struck the ball; wasn't pleased with the outcome, because I played better than where I ended up.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Andy, thank you very much.
ANDY BEAN: Thank you, appreciate it. We'll see y'all next week.

End of FastScripts

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