MERCEDES CHAMPIONSHIPS

January 11, 2001

Billy Andrade

BILLY ANDRADE: Yeah.

BILLY ANDRADE: I always love playing with John Huston. He's very entertaining. I enjoyed the pairing. When I found out I was playing with him, I thought that was great. When you play with a friend, it's nice. I love this place. I've been coming here since '88. Back when it was the Kapalua International. I'm familiar with the golf course. I've played it many times and enjoy immensely this area.

BILLY ANDRADE: Absolutely. I think that guys that have never been here are going to have a harder time usually than guys that have been here a few times. You know, I can't remember the year that we switched over from the Bay Course to the Plantation Course, the first year, but I played every year since it started. I think it definitely helps. The golf course has changed a little bit. It's softened. It's not as severe as it was that first couple of years. You know, you have to go around this track I think a few times to get comfortable with it, with the side hill lies, the different kind of winds, the way the greens are. You know, there are times you have to watch out and there are times when you have to be real aggressive and really rip some putts to get them to the hole.

BILLY ANDRADE: You just practice a little more, I think. You've just got to come out and pay attention to which way the grain is going and hit some long putts, hit some putts where you're almost taking a full swing just to get an idea when you're into the grain how -- especially into the grain, up a little hill and into the wind, it's unbelievable how slow they are. I mean, all you guys that play; you understand that when you're under the gun. You can't believe how hard you have to hit it to get it to the hole. Like my putt on the last hole, that putt was really slow, uphill a little bit. I hit it a little extra hard. I probably would have left it short if I hadn't had the knowledge that I've had around here.

BILLY ANDRADE: About 25 feet maybe.

BILLY ANDRADE: I hit a 4-wood -- a 5-wood. I have a 20 degree 5-wood that I use for special occasions like the last hole at the Plantation Course (laughter). I used it a couple times today actually.

BILLY ANDRADE: Well, my train of thought is that the year never ended. The end of the year hasn't stopped; we just took a little break. This is my, you know, fourth week back after winning in Vegas. I'm going to try to continue this run of being comfortable and confident, because I wasn't for so long. You know, though it's a new year, to me it's not. I'm continuing where I left off. That's the way I'm thinking. You know, winning, I was -- you know where I was, way down. To come back, to keep my status, you know, that was really the first thing you're thinking about. And then winning is just icing on the cake. So being here is just an unbelievable feeling for where, you know, three months ago, my buddy Brad Faxon was worried that I was going to his wedding and I should be playing in the Pennsylvania Classic. To go from that point in my life to where I sit today is pretty special. Believe me, I know what it's like to be where I was, and I know what it's like to be where I've been and where I can get to. It's not a whole lot of fun down where I was, so I'm going to try to never do that again.

BILLY ANDRADE: He wouldn't come to me because he was nervous, so he went to Ziggy and said, "Listen, he really needs to play. There's not much left. If he really needs to play, he should play." Typical Brad, he's so worried about others, he's so giving. He was worried that, you know, I really should be playing instead of taking a week off to go to his wedding, you know. I never thought one second that I was not going to go to his wedding. I knew I had six more tournaments. I figured, "Here it is. I've got six weeks left in the year. If I can't do it in six weeks, then I don't deserve it." It's not that I didn't play 26 other weeks where I didn't do it. You figure, 30-something weeks, if you can't get it done, you don't deserve it. That was my thought.

BILLY ANDRADE: I thoroughly enjoyed the actual working on television where you're doing the interaction. It was so short every day. That part of it was great. The part that I didn't like was that I've seen the other side versus being a player now, being on the TV side, your side. There's no comparison between the two. Being your own boss is the number one thing in the world. Not having somebody telling you what time you have to be somewhere, this is what you have to do. Then commenting on your peers, that you feel, "God, I can play with these guys." It's not like, "Okay, it's over. This is my next life." If that was the case, it would be different. That and the fact that I played 12 PGAs in a row or 11 in a row, and we're I go to the 12th in a row and I'm not playing, I'm doing TV stuff. It was a really weird feeling, something that just made me appreciate more what it is to be a player. I think that every player could, you know, take a week and see what it's like on the other side and say, "Oh, man." I didn't get out of Valhalla until 11:30 every night, after coming there all day, coming up with a story for SportsCenter. It's interesting work, but they were great. Mike McQuaid and everybody there at ESPN were great. They said, "You did a great job. We enjoyed you. We hope to see you in 15 years." I said, "All right, perfect."

BILLY ANDRADE: Yes, you are correct. But it was fun.

BILLY ANDRADE: Thank you.