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MAYAKOBA GOLF CLASSIC AT RIVIERA MAYA - CANCUN

February 25, 2007

Fred Funk

RIVIERA MAYA, MEXICO

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, Fred. You won today in a playoff. You earned 2,250 FedExCup points, which moves you to the top 20 on the FedExCup points list. I know you've probably got FedExCup on your mind now that you're right in the middle of that race.
FRED FUNK: Yeah, you know, the way those points are, you've really got to finish really high up. It just feels good to win the tournament. Just to be able to compete with the young guys on the regular tour and it shows that the old guy has still got something. It's a very satisfying win for me.

Q. Did your back play any role today?
FRED FUNK: Yeah, it did. My back, it kind of did the same thing it did yesterday. It flared up early on the front nine and I just had this shooting pain going down that left cheek and I had to deal with that. But it got better again, really the same slot, 13 on. I got it worked on on 12 tee again and it feels pretty good. Right now it's a little sore but that's okay. It was an issue, I don't know what the deal is with it, but hopefully it will go away.

Q. Did it play any motivation?
FRED FUNK: Yesterday I was really frustrated with it because I could tell I wasn't able to swing the way I wanted to swing. But then I kind of reshifted -- shifted gears on my mental attitude and I actually got tougher out there. I just said, "I'm not going to let this back screw me up." I told Mark on 13 yesterday or 14 yesterday, in the middle of the fairway, "I'm going to win this thing, I don't care about my back." I just stayed with that philosophy. I didn't know that I was going to win, but I was not going to give up, and I really stayed focused and I never gave up. I stayed positive the whole time.
Today was a tough day today, I feel real fortunate to come out ahead, but it was hard on everybody out there today the way the wind played. Somebody in here is a local writer contributing to the Miami Herald, who is that, is that you? This course is not easy. You keep saying it's easy. I've read every day how easy this golf course is. This is not an easy golf course! (Laughter). It's not easy when the wind is blowing. Yesterday and today, it played pretty formidable, especially today.
And you can tell by the scores, it's not unusual for somebody in the field to go low every day, but it's a pretty good golf course. It's a really good golf course. I think they should be really proud of this one. And I think a lot of good reports are going to come back from the players, and next year you'll have even a better field and I think each year this thing is going to grow.

Q. A lot of very good golf players and caddies -- inaudible?
FRED FUNK: Everybody was treated -- the resort is great and the golf course is fantastic. And the bottom line, it's the golf course that's going to draw the players. If you came down here and you had a Mickey Mouse, terrible-conditioned golf course, nobody is going to come back. But that's not going to be the case. It's in immaculate condition. The greens are great. The whole field, the way everybody was treated was fantastic down here. There's really no negative to this venue at all and to this golf tournament. It's the strongest opposite-field event that we have being that it's opposite The Match Play.

Q. You went wire-to-wire; did you feel the wire when you got to the bunker?
FRED FUNK: Yeah, that's not where I wanted to be. I had a perfect wedge, full wedge for the second time playing 18, and I hit it a little fat and a little blocky and it just -- probably ended up probably flying the right distance but it was just a little too far right.
But then when I got it in the bunker, I thought I could make that bunker shot. It was one of a kind, just sits right there in front of you.

Q. Coming out of the bunker --
FRED FUNK: Well, my stats right now, I think I'm No. 1 this bunkers and I actually said that to Mark. I said, "Hey, I'm leading bunker shots, let's prove it and knock it in." I didn't knock it in but I made a great cut at it.
Then the birdie at No. 10, that's a heck of a hole. That felt really good to birdie No. 10 to win the thing.

Q. What went through your mind after the bogey on 8?
FRED FUNK: Oh, I was real happy I made bogey on 8. (Laughing) That was one where, the first swing where I tried to give it a little extra, because I wasn't trying to swing out of my shoes. I was trying to give it a little extra and let it ride the wind. And finally we're downwind, and I don't know what had happened, I just came completely out of it. Just hit a terrible tee shot and made a great putt for bogey, so it felt really good. That felt like a birdie when I walked off of that. Making double, you don't want to give all the momentum away when you make double on a hole. That was huge. I thought I left the putt short and it just crawled over so that was big.
I made a lot of really good par saves today. It was not an easy day for me out there today at all. I owe it to my putter and I think my intestinal fortitude and the mental program that I've been running, Bob knows about it -- now you know about it.

Q. Just your thoughts on Riviera Maya as a tourist destination?
FRED FUNK: Well, I was just saying, it's a fantastic resort. It's a beautiful hotel. The cook is phenomenal. I said that the other day; he's made some great food. All of us ate great, all of the restaurants here, the treatment, everything has been great. I just give it AAA status. It was really good.

Q. They are building a lot of golf courses in the area, does the Riviera Maya have a feature for both tourism and professionals?
FRED FUNK: I think this will help showcase the golf course that Greg Norman built here. It's a fun place to come and I think all of the people will have a great time.
You know, people really enjoy playing golf courses that the PGA TOUR plays, so they are going to want to come down here and play the golf course that Greg Norman designed that we played on, and that's always a plus for a resort.

Q. There are about a dozen courses on line already designed by guys like Norman and Tom Lehman and another five set to come in the middle of this year and next year. Do you think that the area as a whole will make a good golfers destination?
FRED FUNK: Oh, absolutely. This weather is phenomenal. Year-round weather, absolutely. Can't see anything wrong with that. They are going to continue. I've heard that four more hotels are being built on this property. They have got a lot of room for expansion, a lot more people, and they are going to need a lot of golf courses if they keep building down here.

Q. When you hit in the bunker on 18, the first playoff hole, did your last success and victory help you overcome the fear of that shot?
FRED FUNK: I didn't have any fear of that shot. I didn't want to be in there. I wanted to try to hole it, and it was the kind of shot that looked like you could hole and I felt like I needed to. You've got to assume that Jose is going to make his birdie there and when he missed, I left myself a 6-, 7-, 8-footer and I had to grind on that. But I wasn't scared of the bunker shot. I was upset I was in it at first, but you've got to let that go and deal with the situation.

Q. With the Match Play Championship going on this week, probably felt like it, would you just talk about that?
FRED FUNK: Yeah, it was match play all the way. And I thought that -- I knew Peter Lonard was going to get in the mix or probably was, and he made the putt on 17, he definitely made a couple good runs.
You know, really, the last seven, eight holes, really the whole back nine was match play coming down the stretch. But I was really trying to concentrate on -- it was funny. Mark gave me a number: "Tiger is already in the house at 16; you've got to go catch him, so forget about everybody else." We had this imaginary animal out there we were after, and figured we would call it Tiger (laughter). So we were trying to focus on all that. I knew if I got to 15 or 16, it was going to be tough for anybody to do anything. And then it really came down to just pure match play on the last few holes.

Q. The fact that this is an opposite-field event, does take anything away from the win?
FRED FUNK: No, it doesn't. A win feels great. They can say all they want, these guys can play all the way down to the bottom of the list. The guys that come off the Nationwide are really strong players and hit the ball miles. They are just really ready to play golf right now; the new breed, the new age of golf is at a super-high level right now. And it's going to continue to get better and better, I think a lot due to the better athletes that are playing and the kids are really motivated and the equipment is really good and the golf course is really good.
So you've got to play well and to come out on top. No matter who is in the field or who is not in the field, it feels really good.

Q. You've won the Mexican Open, now that you have come here in and won again, do you think México is good luck for you?
FRED FUNK: Yeah, I had a good time, I think I've played in three Mexican Opens and won one of them, and played in Guadalajara a few years ago at the old Honda tournament, I think it was called the Honda, and I have always had a great time down here. The golf courses were always in great shape. The weather was always perfect when had he came down. I guess that was in November/December time. But the people were always great. I've always enjoyed coming down to México. Obviously I'm having, again, good luck down here and it feels good to win the inaugural event here in México.
I just like the response that everybody has with this tournament. I think it's a wonderful venue that we came to and opens a lot of doors I think for México as far as showcasing their country and how big golf can be down here.

Q. So will you come next year to defend?
FRED FUNK: Oh, I've got to defend.

Q. What did you hit on 10 in sudden death?
FRED FUNK: I hit a 4-iron.
Earlier today the first time I hit it about a foot going down in the hazard, and I did get up-and-down. I hit a bad chip and made a great putt. It felt really good to make a two on that hole, that's for sure.

Q. Your overall feelings on the week, you beat the best players in the world out there on the PGA TOUR.
FRED FUNK: It just feels really good to come here and it just feels good to win. Doesn't really matter where and who is in the field. It's always satisfying to be the last guy standing. You can't take anything away from that. The whole experience was good. And it feels even more satisfying the way I had to -- I've never had a lower back problem, and to overcome that thing and was able to still stay competitive and end up winning.

Q. On a ranking from 1 to 10, where would you rank Mayakoba on PGA TOUR courses that you've played?
FRED FUNK: Condition-wise, it's a 9 or a 10. It's really, really good. Golf design-wise, considering how much wind can blow down here, it's an 8 or a 9. It's really good. It's the kind of golf course that reward good play. If you play well, you can score well on it and if you're not and you have control of your golf ball, the course is tough enough that it's going to jump up and get you, and I think you can tell that by the scores that are out there. Anything under par today is a really good round, I thought, and that's the sign of a really tough golf course, a really good golf course; it rewards good shots and penalizes bad shots, and that's all you can ask. Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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