CANON GREATER HARTFORD OPEN

June 30, 2001

Billy Andrade

BILL ANDRADE: An --

BILL ANDRADE: Thank you.

BILL ANDRADE: Obviously Phil Mickelson was playing the course unfamiliar to the rest of us today. Getting to -- just seemed like he was just climbing up the leaderboard, so a bunch of us were at 8 and 7 and 9 and you know, I was just kind of hanging around there. I didn't get off to a very good start, bogeyed the first two holes. Then I got it right back birdieing 3 and 4. That got me settled down and going to the back nine seeing Mickelson post a great score, I felt if I want to have a chance to win this tournament I better start making some birdies coming down the stretch. Like last week at Westchester, I birdied the last three holes. I was thinking about that as I stepped up to the 16th tee after making a nice par at 15. I accomplished that goal of birdieing out, so I am very excited about tomorrow. This is a tournament that I dearly want to win. I have had a couple of opportunities back in 1991. I had a real good chance and let that slip away. Then 1995 year Norman won I felt like I let that one slip away. For me this is -- growing up in Rhode Island, it is pretty close to here so this is kind of our home event now as far as Tour events go. Like I said, I can't wait 'til tomorrow to see if we can accomplish the goal that I set for myself.

BILL ANDRADE: I just got sloppy, really, basically. If you are doing what I am doing, which is making these major changes in my game that you always revert back eventually to your old habits and that's what you know, I was getting to. I started the year off fine and that's pretty much my track record. I start pretty well and then I -- kind of a lull and I kind of lulled in Texas and you know, really didn't have a lot going through really through the Open. Billy Harmon was at the Open and he was doing some corporate stuff and the hard thing was, he showed up on Wednesday night; Thursday first round of the U.S. Open isn't a time like; let's sit here for a couple of hours and work on your game. So, until I shot my eight or nine over and missed the cut on Saturday morning then it was time, okay, let's dissect and let's take sometime here. I had no place to go except New Jersey for a day. So, I figure what the hell just stay in Tulsa for 7 more hours and try to get things worked out which I don't know, my brain is funny. It is like when I get on something and I am working and I am making changes or something feels good, I can go with it, and you know, a lot of things that we worked on it seemed like it kind of fit into, you know, where I can take that to the golf course and I did. Westchester, I won there, I am comfortable on the golf course and got things going and finished third. We are old into the GHO. It is nice to like I said, yesterday, it is great to come to a tournament when you really want to win, where you are bringing at least a little bit of game with you versus in years past especially last year I came here with no game, no idea. That is not a fun feeling to have.

BILL ANDRADE: Well -- bottomline is what your goal, that is trying to win the tournament, you want to at least have yourself in position. 6 back going into Sunday isn't as appealing as like 3 back or two back or you know, whatever back, but at the time I was 7-under and you know, he was 13. So, was already 6 behind, so I felt like you know, if I want to accomplish what I want to accomplish here and that's win this thing, then I better start making some birdies. It was nice to do it.

BILL ANDRADE: Yeah, you know what is so great about the weekend, just to be in a group. (Laughter). You have the weekend and they say you call up and they give you a tee time and you are so excited. So, I don't really care if it's the last group or the second to last group or -- it is nice to be in that last group to -- I would say, you can kind of see how you are standing as far as the leader goes, but I didn't go to New Orleans but that kind of comes to my brain that Mickelson was leading there and you know, David Toms came out of nowhere and won the tournament, so obviously the winner -- it is not like 100% that you are going to be in the last group and winner is going to come out of there. You still have to play great golf. But I am looking forward to it. I can't wait to start this thing tomorrow.

BILL ANDRADE: Well, I have the CVS Charity Classic in a week, a two-day event, that is really the won I want to win, then I would throw the majors in and then -- To answer your question, this is one of the tournaments besides the majors that I would love to win. Absolutely. We don't have an event a PGA TOUR event anymore in Massachusetts, and we don't have one in Rhode Island, so, a lot of folks have come down there -- I have seen familiar faces that I haven't seen in a while, my whole family is here, and it would be great to win here in Hartford.

BILL ANDRADE: I don't think I have missed since 1988, but you are going to have to check the record book, but -- I don't think I have missed. I think I have been here every year since 1988. So I have seen the changes, the different nines to home sites now to river holes, to the 11th hole being the old 14th, we were talking about it in the practice round how we had to walk around the 17 to get up to the second tee that was the 13th hole and how it's evolved into such a beautiful golf course.

BILL ANDRADE: No, I go on. I am playing Chicago because the qualifying for the British Open is Chicago so I really want to play in the British and that's the one of my tickets to try to get in, so if I can play well tomorrow that might have an opportunity to get me in. I don't know. State money list still go on?

BILL ANDRADE: There's a money list for getting in. There's next week's tournament for getting in. So you know, I always go to Chicago. I love the place, and also -- our CVS charity classic is the Monday Tuesday after and we have to recruit guys.

BILL ANDRADE: Oh it does.

BILL ANDRADE: Next week it is just the qualifier.

BILL ANDRADE: Yeah, there's United, there's CVS plane. There's American. That's a few planes coming east. We will use whatever it takes to get them in.

BILL ANDRADE: We have got a few planes coming, yeah. You need a ride?

BILL ANDRADE: (Laughs).