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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY MORGAN STANLEY

June 2, 2007

Stewart Cink

DUBLIN, OHIO

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you, Stewart, for joining us for a few minutes here in the media center at the Memorial Tournament. 65 today, nice round, and it looks like each day you've had a pretty nice start, played that front nine quite well, and today you managed to play the back nine pretty well.
STEWART CINK: Yeah, I have. I've been getting off to really good starts. Something about the first six or seven holes I've been really comfortable, making a lot of birdies. I think I was 3-under every day, maybe 4-under, and I just couldn't really hold on and threw away some shots the last few holes to turn really good rounds into average rounds the way the scoring has been this week. Today it felt good to keep the accelerator down and just to be comfortable out there playing and having fun, seeing what I could do.

Q. Where were you in the delay?
STEWART CINK: I was in the fairway bunker on 6 during the delay.

Q. Did you do some exciting things during your break?
STEWART CINK: Let's see. First of all, it took us about 30 minutes to get in from out there because we had to wind our way through the neighborhood and then out to where the fans were exiting the course. I don't know how Mr. Nicklaus likes us to call them, the patrons or the fans or whatever.

Q. The mob.
STEWART CINK: The mob, yeah. We were in the traffic, and then we got stuck behind a bunch of cars. By the time we got in, we thought we were going to have to go straight to the range and warm up again. But no, I sat down in the wonderful men's locker room and talked to a bunch of guys and wandered and talked on the phone and this and that. It blends in with all the other rain delays here.

Q. You've done it a million times at tournaments, but how tough is it to go back out and gear back up and to go back into the frame and have that around your head today?
STEWART CINK: It is challenging sometimes. I mean, it's different, especially when you play five holes like I did and you're 3-under. You know, I felt really good out there. I was hitting the ball nice, making some nice putts. And I go to the range to warm up before the second restart or before the restart, and I really didn't feel that good. I couldn't -- not that I felt bad, but I just couldn't -- I didn't have any timing and I felt a little off, a little out of sorts. You only have so much time so you can't sit there and work it out until it feels good. When the call came and it was time to go to the vans, you have to go out there and put all that behind you. Then out of the fairway bunker I hit it about 20 yards over the green on the first shot. So things weren't looking that way.
Made a great par save on 6 from the back rough, and from there I guess I was just sort of off and running.

Q. You've played here for six, eight years in a row. What's the secret to your success here?
STEWART CINK: When I first started playing here in the Memorial, I didn't feel very good about the way I was playing this course. I felt quite intimidated. The bunkers around the green are deep, the pins are cut really tight to the edge, and I think I actually played a little too aggressive.
And I think I've learned over the years that it requires more patience than it does aggressiveness here, that if you're in between clubs, there's nothing wrong with hitting the ball 40, 50 feet from the hole and taking a two-putt and getting out of there because danger lurks everywhere. So I've taught myself that over the years, and it hasn't translated into a win yet. I'll be in contention hopefully tomorrow.
I feel like I have a good plan, a good game plan going when I tee it up here every time, and it's translated into consistently good finishes. Not great finishes maybe, but some moments of contention. I just really enjoy playing up here.

Q. How many times here before you really felt comfortable? The third trip here, fourth trip?
STEWART CINK: Probably at least three Memorials before I sort of stood back and said, wait a minute, I'm approaching this whole thing wrong. I might have played with someone -- I remember playing with Payne Stewart early on here, and he didn't play a super-impressive round, but I think he shot like 68, and I remember thinking, you know, Payne just aimed at the middle of the green a lot. He didn't hit at all the flagsticks like I did and ended up plugging it in bunkers and hitting it in creeks. So I learned a lesson from Payne, that you don't have to go flag-hunting every time you hit the fairway, that you have to respect the course.
I still keep that lesson with me.

Q. I know you don't know what the guys are doing or what's going through their mind, the guys that started at the front of the pack today, but they're the ones that didn't even get a chance to start before the rain delay and they're not making any kind of a move today. It's the guys that started early and got interrupted that are making the move.
Do you have any idea what might be going on with them and maybe whether the delay affected them more than it did you guys because at least you got started?
STEWART CINK: Well, I think it's less the delay than it is the pressure of leading a PGA TOUR event, especially the Memorial. It's a big tournament.
Starting with the lead of a tournament, there's just very few people who can keep on pushing. Tiger Woods is an exceptional human being. He can just keep on going, and it's easy for guys to get a little tight, maybe a little indecisive out there when they're leading, and I think that's more the case than the delays having any effect.
JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Could you go through your birdies, please? You started on 2, first birdie.
STEWART CINK: Yeah, 2, I hit a pitching wedge in there for about an eight-footer.
3, pitching wedge in the rainstorm about four feet.
4, 6-iron, 18 feet.
10, 7-iron to about 18 feet.
11 is a sneaky pin, real scary. I hit it in there about eight feet with just a little wedge, and I was afraid it was going to spin off the front.
14, I got away with one. I hit kind of a bad second shot, but it took the hill and rolled right down to the hole about six feet, made that.
18, I was -- 6-iron to about six feet.

Q. Any saves?
STEWART CINK: Yeah, 16th hole I hit a really bad shot off the tee, just a really -- I had a 6-iron in my hand and I yelled "Fore." That's how bad it was. I could have yelled a bunch of other things, too, but I yelled fore. I was way right, about 20 yards right of the green in the nasty rough and I made a nice flop up on the green about eight feet and drained the putt. So that kept some momentum going.
JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you for your time.

End of FastScripts

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