THE PRESIDENTS CUP

November 19, 2003

Chris DiMarco

Fred Funk

Jay Haas

Jerry Kelly

Kenny Perry

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: We'd like to welcome six members of the United States Presidents Cup team: Chris DiMarco, Jay Haas, Jerry Kelly, Fred Funk, Charles Howell and Kenny Perry. We'll take questions right away. Fire away.

Q. Well, for everyone but Kenny and Jay, this being your first time, is it about what you had heard or what you thought it might be? And don't everyone speak up at once.

JERRY KELLY: I'll go ahead and say, no question. Just stepping off the plane with some of them, being in the first meeting, just being around them, it was a great experience and a great feeling for me just to be a part of these guys. It felt like it right away.

Q. Did you find anything out about any of your teammates that you didn't know before?

JERRY KELLY: Yeah, but I won't tell you, though. (Laughter.)

Q. That's what we're here for.

FRED FUNK: I feel the same way. The team feeling is really neat, totally different than what I've ever felt, being out on TOUR. We're all really good friends and compete against each other every week, but to come together as a group, it is a totally different atmosphere. Just really want to root for each other. We all know we are really good players and we all know the other guys are really good players, but we just want to beat them as a team and represent the country the best we can.

It's a unique feeling. I didn't know what to really expect than the natural excitement that I that I had and the enthusiasm that we all have about being here. It was the same feeling, I think Jerry was saying, just coming together as a group and a team for the same goal. It's huge.

CHRIS DiMARCO: Totally agree. It's nice to have the team atmosphere. We don't have that at all on TOUR. Usually it's you and yourself. Now that you have a whole team, it's pretty cool, actually. It's pretty special. We don't get to do it, really at all, Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, that's it. It's pretty neat, pretty cool.

Q. What has the team done together other than practice rounds?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Eat. Golf and eat.

JERRY KELLY: That's all there is, basically.

CHARLES HOWELL III: You know, I am the youngest guy on the team. You know, for me it was important to qualify, just the amount that I can learn from this week. I get to hang around all of these great players, and then to see them off the course, as well, some of their mannerisms, what they do. A lot of these guys have been out here a whole lot longer than I have and accomplished a lot more and stuff that I hope to accomplish one day.

It's great to see, also, that guys aren't -- we go in to eat breakfast and at most events, we scatter. Here, we don't. And that's good, bad or indifferent, obviously. Here, playing as a team, it's pretty cool.

Q. Your impressions of the security here at the event, personal security?

CHRIS DiMARCO: It's been great. They have been right by us the whole time. It's been fine. I'm not too worried about it. I think Tiger needs a little more security than the rest of us. (Laughter.)

FRED FUNK: The only time I felt, when we had that Irish event at, wherever that was last year.

JAY HAAS: Ireland. (Laughter.)

FRED FUNK: Thanks a lot, Jay. (Laughter.)

CHRIS DiMARCO: Juliet.

FRED FUNK: I knew we were going to have problems with you.

Yeah, Mount Juliet. There was a lot of security there, and you can see here, but I'm sure there's more than we're seeing here. It was probably the same at Mount Juliet. Not used to seeing that kind of security.

CHRIS DiMARCO: We're kind of inside the gates. So, we don't really see much.

FRED FUNK: Can you put smart ass under Jay? Jay: Smart Ass.

Q. For Chris, having come so close to Ryder Cup selection last time out, how extra special is this week for you because of that?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, yeah, obviously coming close, I wanted to make the team in the Top-10 so there would not be a choice again. You know, it really put a fire in me, actually, by not making that.

I really had not thought too much about Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup until you get close enough to miss and then it puts a fire in you to make it. It certainly exceeded my expectations about how awesome it is to be part of, with these 11 guys, their superior play and everything about them. I've had a good time.

Q. Right or wrong, we keep comparing this to Ryder Cup in a certain way, but this way it's different because everybody plays. You don't get named to an All-Star Game and fly 10,000 miles to sit; guys that have played in the Ryder Cup, how do you like this situation, as opposed to a third of the team has to sit out?

JAY HAAS: I totally agree with this way. I think the Ryder Cup needs to look seriously at making a change like that. We were just talking about, I guess it was The Country Club, there were three guys that didn't play until Sunday. I just don't think that's correct, whether the guy is playing well or not playing well.

Sure, each team wants to beat the other team, but it's a wonderful honor, and to be -- you look back 30 years later and you say, well, your record was 1-0 or 0-1, that's not a lot of fun for that person.

I totally agree with this format. I think it's great. We do sit two out morning and afternoon on Friday, but everybody wants to play without question.

Q. What about the match-up part, where the captain says, "okay, so-and-so, here", do you like that?

JAY HAAS: I like both formats. I think not really having a choice, seeing what they are doing in the first match, second match, on down the line, I think that's great. But I think a little strategy goes into it also this way that we do here. Either way. Obviously, the best team that day will win the match, but I don't have a preference one way or the other.

Q. Charles or Kenny, did you guys do anything different in terms of playing, did you do alternate-shot or did you just play a round?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, for our group, we did the front nine holes best ball, or four-ball there, and then the back nine alternate-shot.

Yeah, we never play that, ever.

Q. That was probably the first time for you, period?

CHARLES HOWELL III: With another professional, yes, it was. We played four holes with it yesterday afternoon, that was it and the first time I ever have. But I played with Tiger so that's not really professional. That's a God. I played alternate-shot with a God. (Laughter.)

Q. This is an entertaining group.

JAY HAAS: Livelier than yesterday?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Everything else is boring, so why not.

Q. Kenny, did you do anything different?

KENNY PERRY: We played a little alternate-shot yesterday, but today we pretty much played our own ball. We just tried to figure out who was going to play odd and who was going to play even tomorrow basically. We were just trying to figure out the golf course, who wanted to hit the driver or the iron shot on the par 3 or certain holes.

Q. What did you decide for you?

KENNY PERRY: I think I'm going odd holes tomorrow.

Q. I know you've played in this part of the world at a different time in your career, can you give us a little background there on what it was like then when you were over here?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Yeah, 1992, it was a long time ago. I think Charles was ten. (Laughter.) I'm not far off, am I?

I played the Sunshine Tour. It was great. It was right after I got married, 15 days after I got married, we came over here for nine weeks. It was great.

Really not much has changed. It's a beautiful country. And then last year I got to play Sun City, which was awesome, too. I'm happy to be back. I think this is a great country. It's very pretty. Cape Town is one of the prettiest places I've ever been in my life. Obviously, I'm just glad I'm here this week, for sure.

Q. What was your financial situation like back then?

CHRIS DiMARCO: We didn't stay in too many hotels like we're staying in now. We didn't have air back then, I'll promise you that.

Q. Was it a tough grind, you were just starting out?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Well, we were Charles' age. So, 23, you don't realize, I mean, I didn't have anything before I got here, either. So you don't realize what you're missing so much. You persevere. It was nine weeks. It was a lot of golf. I played all nine weeks. So you traveled, you drove to all of the spots, so it was a little bit more of a grind that way.

But it's fun that way, too. It's fun to do that now and then. It was before children. So spent a lot of quality time with my wife, which was great.

Q. Did that pay off for you later on, just the perseverance part?

CHRIS DiMARCO: Absolutely. Just to be able to go through the trenches and to find out what it's like. It makes you not want to go back there. You know what it's like on the other side. Believe me, this side is a lot better and it makes you work a little harder to stay there.

Q. Did you have an orange and blue van back then?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I couldn't afford one back then. I had orange and blue on, I can promise you that.

Q. Was that right at the change of government, the new democracy when you were here?

CHRIS DiMARCO: I don't remember.

JERRY KELLY: That was the year before. I played in '91 and that was the year that they made it apartheid right then. They had their first international concert, Paul Simon. We were right up against the chain-link fence in the front row and there were machine guns walking back and forth on the other side of the fence. It was unbelievable security. They had a grenade blast in the ticket booth the week before the concert and everything, but it was fantastic. The people were great. Everybody was having a fun time.

Q. Where was the concert?

JERRY KELLY: It was in Johannesburg, right there. I'm not sure.

Q. What year was that?

JERRY KELLY: '91.

Q. How long were you here for?

JERRY KELLY: Three months. Same tour.

Did you go in the package? (To Chris).

CHRIS DiMARCO: Yep.

JERRY KELLY: So they had everything mapped out for us. All we had to do was drive from one place to the next. They had hotels set up for us, entries. It was a fun tour. It was great. Ernie showed us how to drink. (Laughter.)

Q. For Fred, you said you would row the boat over here to be named to this team, so much that you wanted to be here. Now that you're here, is it what you were expecting or hoping for?

FRED FUNK: Yeah, but I'm a little sore from rowing the boat. It was a long way.

Yeah, it exceeded every expectations so far. I know when the gun sounds tomorrow and it's time for us to go, the nerves are going to be there, because it's not just for you anymore. I'm going to have a teammate, partner tomorrow, and then a whole group of a team and then trying to win for the cause, the country, for us and try to get the Cup. And for Jack, absolutely. It's a big thing all the way around.

I know it's going to hit everybody tomorrow and we've just got to take our deep breath and go out there and perform the way we know how. I know once we get going, it's going to be intense, but it's going to be fun. It's what we do. We play golf for a living and go out there and know we hit those shots. Just have to do it out there under that kind of pressure.

The different formats are the thing to get used to. Like Charles was saying, the alternate-shot, when do you ever play alternate-shot? You just don't want to put your partner in a bad spot and be apologizing all day: "Sorry to hit you over there in that crap over there." (Laughter.)

Just go out there and compete tomorrow. But it has exceeded everything to this point. Mainly just because of that feeling you get, of the camaraderie and the team aspect of the whole thing.

Q. I know you guys know everybody on the other team, but do you look at them any differently this week?

FRED FUNK: A lot different. I mean, I do. They are the other team.

We have pride. We don't want to lose. We compete to win. We want to win for not only ourselves, and for Jack, and the country, but mainly for the guys that we are playing with. That's a lot of self-imposed pressure that each of us are putting on ourselves, but I think when the gun sounds tomorrow, after the nerves and the butterflies go way after this first tee shot, we'll be ready to go.

Q. Just a question for Jay, could you have envisioned 12 months ago that you would be here this week playing the President's Cup?

JAY HAAS: No, I really couldn't. It was one of my goals. But this year has been my most fun year I've ever had in my career. You know, the guys were talking about the first-time guys, about how excited they had been; and to me that never changes. This is my second Presidents Cup. It has never changed.

Q. Charles, maybe you can reflect on the course itself, how did you find it?

CHARLES HOWELL III: You know, it's very interesting. If you take Royal St. George's and make it a little bit greener and give it a few steroids, that's this.

It's not like anything that we play on a week-to-week basis. But it's a good golf course. And this week right now, it's going to be our favorite golf course we've ever played. You know, that's what it is. You know, there's 18 tee markers and 18 cups and we're here to win. I mean, we didn't fly all the way down here after playing a very full season to lose.

So when the gun goes off tomorrow, this is going to be our favorite golf course we've ever played and hopefully Sunday night we still feel the same.

Q. Has Australia come up in any of the meetings?

CHRIS DiMARCO: If you're talking about losing there, yeah. Basically, yeah, about losing the Cup there, yeah. We've never won on foreign soil, so we have some incentives, for sure.

Q. Do you get a sense that's a motivating factor from some of the other boys from their last time?

FRED FUNK: Plus it's almost like a home match for the International Team, four South Africans on the team, at least four. It's kind of look a home event for them. It would be nice to take it away from their home event. That's a big motivator.

You know, one thing that's a little different about the venue, I think everybody is comparing it to Royal St. George, but it's different in one way in that the humps that are perpendicular facing you. If you hit into one and lay into the face of one, it stops. And if you hit on the other side, it will go 50, who knows how far.

And on Royal St. George, everything seemed to hump from the middle and feed off into the rough. It's a similar look but different the way it plays.

Q. Tougher than Royal St. George?

FRED FUNK: I thought Royal St. George did not reward good golf shots as well as this one does. This one, it would just be a huge difference on a tee shot if you hit on the proper side, on the other side of the hump. And you can hit a good one and land right in the face of one (making splat/squirting sound) and it stops right there.

CHRIS DiMARCO: We haven't seen much wind either. That can change the course. It's been pretty mild. The course is very playable in this type of condition and I can see if it gets 20, 30 miles an hour, it would be very difficult.

FRED FUNK: Played better today than yesterday I think. A little softer.

Q. Can you drive 6?

KENNY PERRY: Not today, no. It was into the wind today. I got it close. I was probably 25 yards from the green.

Q. Is that a driver hole for you?

KENNY PERRY: Well, the first day you could actually drive it on the green. Davis may hit 3-iron off the tee and hit pitching wedge or sand wedge into that hole. I guess we'll just play it by ear when we get there tomorrow. That's his hole. He hits it a little further than I do. He actually could probably drive it right on that green.

Q. What did you hit in, Charles?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, I hit driver the other day. Actually I laid up today to play it short. But the other day I played with Kenny and them, and we hit driver and got it to within, I don't know, 15 yards of the front maybe. But, yeah, as long as it's not hurting, you can get pretty close.

Q. Did you get it on the green from 15 yards?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Did I hit the green from 15 yards? I'm working on that.

Q. Since you guys touched down, what's the most interesting thing that's happened to you, anybody who thinks anything is interesting?

FRED FUNK: Peacocks on the porch.

CHRIS DiMARCO: Flying over our head last night.

FRED FUNK: On the porch. If the door was open, they would have come into the room.

KENNY PERRY: We had the bomb squad in one of the rooms yesterday.

CHRIS DiMARCO: My wife came back and the dogs were in our room.

KENNY PERRY: Jerry's not feeling too well.

JERRY KELLY: Different kind of bombs.

KENNY PERRY: And our captain is not well.

JERRY KELLY: My stomach does not want to stay with me. There's quite a few things.

FRED FUNK: Yeah, our captain is sick.

Q. Have you sorted out exactly what you're going to do next year as far as where you're going to play?

JAY HAAS: I'm going to try to focus mostly on the PGA TOUR right now and just kind of see how everything goes the first half of the year.

FRED FUNK: We'd really like to see you leave.

JAY HAAS: I'll probably play as long as I can until I feel like it's time to go. There's nothing like playing in the Major Leagues, seeing the present and the future of the game.

Q. This will be a pairing that has a combined 95 years on earth, which I don't think has ever happen except in the u B.C. cup. Any thoughts on that? Did you guys expect to be playing with each other?

JAY HAAS: Are we playing with each other?

FRED FUNK: I don't know. I haven't heard that yet. Is that inside info you've got there?

Q. No. Just observation. He (Jay) was saying a good minute ago partner, pointing at him.

JAY HAAS: Pointing over there.

FRED FUNK: He's not a good partner. (Pointing to Chris).

Q. If you were to be paired together, were you all expecting that and do you think that's a good fit?

FRED FUNK: It's a real good fit. We've got canes; we can get down.

JAY HAAS: I think we've got games that are very similar. I drive it like a sling gun compared to him, but it's a nice feeling to go up there knowing that in alternate-shot, I'll be hitting my next shot out of the fairway. But, yeah, I think we complement each other well, and I love Fred's enthusiasm.

We had a little game with Chris and Jerry today the last three holes and I thought Fred was going to jump out of his shirt there on the last hole he was getting so fired up about it. So I need to hose him down a little bit tomorrow, I think, if that happens.

FRED FUNK: I'm going to beat them worse.

JAY HAAS: How did that match come out?

FRED FUNK: I think we won three holes out of three.

CHRIS DiMARCO: You did? No. You won two holes. One was a carryover.

Q. You're known partly for your wardrobe, what do you think of the wardrobe this week, is it up to your standards?

CHARLES HOWELL III: It's extremely loose.

FRED FUNK: But comfortable.

CHARLES HOWELL III: From what I'm wearing right now, I could probably get about four outfits out of this. (Laughter.) As I see it, we're wasting material.

You know, I told him the other day, it's shockingly comfortable. I didn't know pants could still be this comfortable. On a nice, hot, sweaty day these would be nice.

No, I like it. Shoot, it's fine. Maybe we'll alternate years; maybe we can tighten it up.

JAY HAAS: No, maybe not.

CHRIS DiMARCO: Maybe not.

FRED FUNK: Your voice is actually deeper than I thought it was. (Laughter.)

Q. Do you have a follow-up?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Play well this week.

FRED FUNK: Oh, we're just getting started.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Thank you very much, guys. Good luck this week.

End of FastScripts.