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JELD-WEN TRADITION

August 19, 2007

Mark McNulty

SUNRIVER, OREGON

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Congratulations. You earn 780 Charles Schwab Cup points, and this is your first win in just two years, congratulations.
MARK McNULTY: Thank you, Phil.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: You got off to a fast start today, and I think that was the key with four birdies in the last seven holes.
MARK McNULTY: Yeah, no doubt about it. I holed some really good putts. The weather was really iffy starting out. I thought it was cold. My body was cold. I was having to put a jacket on and off. I was just blessed with a couple of -- the second hole was a 12-footer but then I had two really sort of bonus points of about 30 feet, both of them, at No. 3 and five. And the putt at 18, I had the line straightaway; it was 12 or 15 feet.
Those putts certainly set the ton and enabled me to keep my concentration. I think if I was honest with myself, the one thing is I never got ahead of myself this week. I said to you guys on Friday evening, I said: "36 more questions to be answered." And each time I got to a new tee today, I said, well, that's one more question answered. And I kept telling myself the back nine, you've got nine more questions to ask. In actual fact, I said 10 because that 12th hole today I knew was going to play really tough. I sort of added two strokes to that one today.
It sort of stood me in good stead because as I said, I didn't get ahead of myself, and it enabled me to play the game that I know. I wasn't fretting about what David and D.A. or Tom or whoever it might be was doing on the golf course. I was just concentrating on what I had to do and try and get the job done.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: I know you don't like doing it, but can you tell us about three and five, those putts, those between us putts.
MARK McNULTY: Well, as I said, maybe 3 was a little bit longer than 5. But they were just bonus putts. Both of them, I obviously hit the ball on the good line. It was really all about pace, because I was coming downhill on both of them. Sometimes when you're putting well, your lag putts, they come out of the blue and go in; and if you try and make them, they go four or five feet past and that was the key today. My putting all week was fantastic except for the last hole, but my concentration has gone out the window by then.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: How far were they, 3 and 5?
MARK McNULTY: I would say 3 was probably a good ten paces from the pin, 30 feet, and 5 because most probably 24, 25 feet. You know, they are certainly bonus putts because they were not uphill, you could not jam them in. And sort of the ball was with wandering a bit on both of them so they were bonus putts.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Take us through the back nine. Got a little windy out there.
MARK McNULTY: Yeah, it certainly did. I finally managed to play the 11th hole well. I hit a nice drive and a 7-iron to whatever it was, ten feet. And I had a good line on the putt after D.A. putted from behind me. And you know, I just hit it straight to try to sneak out the right-hand side but it found the hole.
You know, if I had to really put my finger on a shot that really sort of settled me, that was mostly the defining moment when I sensed that, you know, this tournament then was for me to lose and not for somebody else to win. And that's -- I'm not sort of saying anything lightly or discounting anybody else's great play, but it would have taken -- with the wind being as it was, the birdies were not going to be forthcoming. It was just a case of playing out the round.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Okay. We'll go to questions.

Q. When was it obvious -- you had a seven-stoke lead, so what's going through your mind on 18? That's a fairly long walk.
MARK McNULTY: Yeah, it is. I had been blessed with having a couple of big tournament wins in the past, and I've always finished the job really well. And today, I think the tee shot, you know, with the wind, it's whistling across, obviously I had been driving the ball well. I was just concentrating on trying to make sure I hit it across the marsh, because, you know, you just never know. One goes in, two goes in, then all calamity can start, and I wanted to get across and unfortunately I pushed it a little bit and the grass was going against me on the second shot and I wasn't even going to be fancy at all. I just chipped it out. I had a good third as far as I was concerned, and by then, it's just a case of getting the ball in the hole.
So, you know, as I said, lack of concentration. But you know, if I have two one shots, that's all you have to win a tournament by. Gary Player always said to me, "Mark, always you always win by won, you've won."
If I won by seven, that would have been great but I'm delighted to have won the Tradition. It's a fantastic tournament and the mere fact that it's sponsored by Jeld-Wen, it's like extraordinary for me.

Q. Pulling away from the field, does this course kind of suit your eye or what is it about Cross Water that fits your game?
MARK McNULTY: Good question. I won't say that it necessarily fits my eye. I just drove the ball very well this week and I putted very well. That is what won me the tournament.

Q. If you were on any course this week, would it have been the same?
MARK McNULTY: This week, I would have played well. Next week, my irons might be out the back door but I don't care about that. (Chuckling)

Q. Yesterday at one point you said your confidence was kind of waning. Did it come back?
MARK McNULTY: Today I was at ease. I quite unbelievable how fortunate and lucky I was. I didn't feel any jitterbugs as all. The only time I wanted to make sure I got my tee shot across 18, it sounds pathetic, but that's a fact. You know you've got a seven-shot lead because you just discussed it. I'm not one for looking at leaderboards, but I like to know my position and I like to know for sure, and I think it was 15 when I saw exactly where I was.
You know, I think yesterday I discussed about my swing changes and what I've been trying to do to get the club more on plane and coming down to strike the ball in the middle of the club, my irons and striking the ball. So I was quite honest yesterday. I said, you know, I still didn't feel I was quite there and I was honest today I would say I'm still not quite there. That sounds crazy but that's the way it is, and I've still got work to do.

Q. And you also said you thought tournament would be won on the back nine but it was really the front nine.
MARK McNULTY: And yeah, and that goes against what I said. (Laughter).
You put yourself in a position to play the back nine to try and win it, or to win. And as I said, it would have been my tournament to lose but I still had to earn it.

Q. Coming out so far the first couple of years, how do you feel about winning again after a fairly long drought?
MARK McNULTY: It's always -- the best win is the last one; and people ask me, what's your best win. I say, my last one, because you never know when the nest one is going to come.
For me it this week is exceptional. I didn't know when the next one was going to come, if it was going come.
You know, I'm still not totally confident about my back and even though it's a hell of a lot better than it was, and it's a fragile piece of equipment, and it didn't like golf, my brain likes golf, my back doesn't.

Q. Your reputation is you're a great putter. Is that an innate skill that you have or did you have to develop it?
MARK McNULTY: No, I think you certainly -- guys who putt well through the ages are born with it. And whether it's Crenshaw, whether it's Tiger, whether it's Loren Roberts, you know, D.A. Weibring is a great putter, you are born with it and you putt well. You have times when you go through poor putting rounds, tournaments, times, but it always comes back because you have it, because it's inbred, it's inside. That's the nicest way I can put it. I hope you understand that.

Q. The rain didn't seem to bother you with your putting. Did you to have to make any adjustment?
MARK McNULTY: No, fortunately not. The greens were great all week, and top dog to the superintendent. Coming here on Tuesday when we played that Pro-Am, long day in the heat, I thought, man, that's greens are going to be tough. But as we played, the temperatures came down. I think that's when these greens become the best is when the temperatures are like they are now.

Q. 16 was a problem with your tee shot yesterday and today you really took it easy.
MARK McNULTY: Yeah, I wasn't going to be stupid there again. I just felt, we discussed it, Wayne (ph) and myself, that if I was in a position to win the tournament, comfortable position, I would take an iron off the tee and when I got to the tee there, there's a whole bunch of other iron marks there.
I was like, oh, this is it, this is it for me. And the wind was blowing straight down. I didn't hit a particularly good shot, but if I hit a good drive, it would have gone way into the drink, same shot, there's no question about it. That's why I hit a 3-iron. I was going to play it three shots on to the green. I think most people were playing that hole in three, so there was no -- I was no stranger.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Mark, congratulations. See you next year at Cross River.

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