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CHARLES SCHWAB CUP CHAMPIONSHIPOctober 29, 2008Fred FunkSONOMA, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: Well, Fred, thank you for coming in. You're third on the money list. You seem to have a pretty big mountain to climb with those 12 points behind Jay in the Schwab Cup. But maybe just talk about that. Several things on the line this week, you know, money title. FRED FUNK: I'm not worried about the money title. The Schwab Cup is, once I got in position after the U.S. Senior Open and winning, I went first, second and first. I got a lot of points there that put me right back in the hunt. So my focus got real focused, I guess, basically, on trying to win the Schwab Cup. So I've been playing pretty well. I really look forward to this week. Anything can really happen here. Last year I finished second here. I liked the golf course. It could come down to the very last putt on the last hole. I hope it does. I hope it's me that makes it. But it's really set-up to be a really exciting event. I really think our little model of the Charles Schwab Cup is working better than the model on the regular tour at this point. It's exciting. It's you really couldn't ask for anymore, I think, as a spectator watching it, and as a competitor having it so close. It literally is going to be a shot difference. If Bernhard and Jay and I are that close to each other coming down the stretch, it's going to be a one-putt difference that's going to be the difference. So we'll see what happens. Q. Do you think you could have the type of summer you had starting in August, considering the knee problems you had earlier in the year? FRED FUNK: Well, the knee really, it's been an ongoing situation here. I was hoping to play through the year before I had it operated on. I was hoping to make it after this event. I obviously didn't and couldn't, because I tweaked it at TPC at the players. Had it done right after that, and I came back on it too quick. It's just been an issue. Right now it's worse now than before the surgery, unfortunately. It's not feeling really good at all. The muscles around the knee, the quadriceps and everything are just completely shut down right now. They're nonexistent, just down to nothing. Keeps building up fluid. I had it drained last week, Sunday in the locker room before I went out and played. That's the eighth time this year I had it done, that's never any fun. We all have aches and pains out here, but this is getting to where I'm more frustrated with it, and I don't know what the recourse is at this point. I've already done the surgery. And I'll probably have another MRI done soon, and see if there's something else in there, and figure out a game plan for next year. Q. When was the surgery, and what was it? FRED FUNK: I just had a scope. I had a medial meniscus tear. I had a lateral meniscus tear to the point it's bone on bone. It's a pretty severe tear. They said it was already torn off the bone, they just kind of scooped it out instead of trimming it off. Then he had to clean up the bone because the bone was all, you know, rough and stuff. Actually, under the kneecaps it looked like a cobble stone street. So he just described my knee as a shitty knee. So they just cleaned it all up and I had zero problems after the surgery as far as pain and during the rehab it was going great. I asked him when I could go play, and I was supposed to take 7 weeks off, and I was playing my third week in Memphis after the surgery which was really rushing it. I don't know whether it did more damage to it or not. But I just -- it's been an ongoing thing, and I'm really frustrated with it. It is starting to effect my game. Usually just a little bit of weakness I can deal with, but when I get in the bunkers, I have no chance in the sand. As far as stability, I got that little movement in there, and I torque my knee a little too much. That's how I hurt it initially, or got it so fired up I had to have the surgery. The bunker shot at TPC. So, anyway, I was going to go out and some days it's really good, and the other days it's not. The last couple of days it hasn't been any good. Q. When was it? FRED FUNK: Middle of May. The Wednesday after the Players Championship, whatever that date was. Q. You talk about playing on the PGA TOUR more this year. We talked to John earlier, and sort of good naturedly said he really likes you, but he thinks in some ways you're nuts for doing that. You might have sort of Tinkered with both the last couple of years. What is your thought process now and why do you feel like that is still up? FRED FUNK: I don't know. I got this opportunity because of the players. And then I got the exempt status and I've always dreamed of playing on the PGA TOUR. I just don't want to walk away as long as I feel I can still play. But that's where this year was really frustrating. I was going to do the balanced schedule and I realized you really can't do that. You've got to focus in on one or the other. So next year I'm hoping if everything gets started off really good, then I can focus entirely on the regular tour other than a couple of events on the Champions Tour through Harbor Town. Then I'll reevaluate, see where I am, and if it's just getting to the point where it's too tough out there then I'll just come back over here and be with my buddies out here, so. We'll see what happens. Q. Is it at the root, is it about challenging yourself? FRED FUNK: No, I don't know. No, there's plenty of challenge. I don't have anything to prove. I'm not trying to prove anything. I just really enjoy playing with those young guys out there. Lot of them are still my friends and a lot of the really young guys I really enjoy. Got to be friends with some of those guys. It's a little different atmosphere out there, a little more charged up. I just don't want to wake away from it and say gee, I could have given it another year or whatever. I've been told what I can't do my whole life. I don't want to listen to people that are telling me what I should or can't do because I've proven I can do it. But at the same time, I'm not trying to prove them wrong. I'm not trying to prove that I can do anything out there. I just really enjoy it out there. I really enjoy it out here, too. It's the best of both worlds. I've got a chance of competing out here, playing, having a great time. It's getting more and more competitive out here with the young I guys coming out. Younger guys of 50, but the rookies of the Champions Tour are coming out with Corey, and Freddy and numerous others that are coming. It's pretty exciting. Q. John Cook also mentioned you're a different case because you started playing tour golf later than him? FRED FUNK: Yeah, that is true. I totally agree with that. Lot of those guys right out of college came out. So at 22, 23 they were on the tour, and I was 21 when I finally got on tour. So I totally agree with that. There is a different mindset after playing. I played 20 years or 19 years, and they played 30 years out here. It's just a big difference. Q. So what, as far as your schedule after this weekend, do you just plan to take a month off or something? FRED FUNK: I'm in the Windy Three tour in Vegas, me and Jay and Nick Price again, same as last year. I'm actually at this point still planning on going, instead of going back to Vegas, I'm going to Palm Springs next week for a week and play golf with my son every day and Chill out a little bit. That's assuming my knee's okay. I'm not going to struggle with that thing all week. If not the case, and I'm also in the Shark Shootout, I'm playing with Chris DiMarco in that. That's really it. But probably need to get an MRI on my knee and get a whole new set of game plans here to get the okay to go, and try to rehab it. Or get an operation on it again, I don't know. I don't know what I need to do on it. Q. What is the last thing the PGA TOUR is so much harder to contend there than here? FRED FUNK: Well, that's another thing, when I looked at the schedule, between the time I got or between the time of starting their tour and the first round of the playoffs, the FedExCup, I had a hard time coming up with 13 to 15 tournaments where I was really playing courses that I could compete on or liked. And it is getting more and more difficult out there because of that. A lot of the new courses are too long for me, or too wide, you know, wide open or bomber's paradises. You know, for me it's just stupid to go to and might as well go out and hit my head up against the concrete wall for a while. So I've got to stay away from those. And that was disappointing when I actually studied the schedule and went okay, I can play these, and I still want to focus in on the Champions Tour majors and Wailea that I'm in, and the Ginn Championship, and try to fit all that in. And really have a decent schedule before the playoffs. Then you don't know where you are. And I just play until the playoffs. I'm out of the plays, and then I'll completely focus in on the Champions Tour again. The Fall schedule on the Champions Tour I love. Great golf courses, and great places. I really, really like that. Q. So if ideally you end up playing what, 15 times on the PGA TOUR? FRED FUNK: Yeah, 15. Yeah, if everything went perfect, I'd probably play 16 to 17. That means I qualify for the U.S. Open, the PGA, and a couple, you know, who knows how long the playoffs are. So in a perfect scenario, it would be more like 19 to 20. That means I went all the way to the top 30. So, you know, that would be ridiculous if I did that at this point. Because usually I, you know, when I played, I played 30 events. When I got top 30, that's usually been my average. So trying to do that in half the time is a little different. Though the schedule is different, too. Because you have -- you have your WGC events and your majors. And in between the time of the playoffs and the first tournament. It's a condensed schedule. It's hard to get that many tournaments in, then you start the fall schedule. So it's not the same animal it was a few years ago before the FedExCup. They condensed it down, you're not eligible unless you're top 50 in the world. That is the magic number to be in everything, and I'm not anymore. I was there for a while, but you can't really dictate your schedule like you could before. So that's a little frustrating. Q. What about last week, do you look back to it? FRED FUNK: It didn't bother me like it is here. You know, actually, the other day it was feeling pretty good. And then yesterday I went up in the workout room here and I just did two sets of leg extensions, just trying to get that quadriceps to fire a little bit, and it was really weak. I train strained it, I guess. I irritated it. I don't know if I strained it, but I irritated it. It's really mad at me right now. It won't settle down. It felt pretty good this morning, and as I walked it got worse ask worse. That's what it hasn't been doing. If it feels good in the morning, it feels good all day. Q. It must be frustrating that you played so well the last couple two, three months than you have this come up right at the end. FRED FUNK: Yeah, it's at a point now where I know I just can't push off of it like I need to. I'm turning into my knee, you know. It's probably worse, the left knee is probably worse. When I'm turning into my knee and trying to launch off of it and rotate off it whatever you want to call it. And I'm just not able to do that as well as I could before. Especially in an unstable lie like a bunker shot. Even a greenside bunker shot. I get in there and twist my foot to get it buried in the sand. And I can feel my knee just going don't do this. You know? It has a little voice, just sitting there. Q. You mentioned you feel like the Schwab points system is a little better or maybe better than the FedEx? FRED FUNK: Well, it's just turned out that way. It's more exciting here at our final tournament than the way theirs turned out because it was already a done deal. Q. What about the news the last couple of days that possibly Phil is going to join the European Tour next year to go for the Chase at Dubai. Do you think their process compared to the FedEx? What do you think the FedEx has to do to appeal the way they want to? FRED FUNK: Boy, I have no idea. Their point system has been, the original system was really bad because there wasn't enough movement. Last year they made it so you can move too much. For one, I don't think they should start with 144 guys. You can't call it a playoff when more guys are in the first tournament than who keep a card. I remember a guy was telling me at Westchester two years ago or last year, whenever it was. The first one. He said congrats for being here. And I said what do you mean? He said it's great. You're in the first round of the playoffs. I said, I would have lost my card if I wasn't here. Guys that are here are losing their cards. It's not an honor to be at this first one. It's ludicrous that that's part of the playoff. They should start at 100, 120, whatever, some number or even 125. But I think they should start at 100 and figure out the point system from there and start cutting it down from there. But there are so many different models. The only thing I don't understand is that you can play out. It seemed that you can play out that scenario and the computer concepts and models that they have, that could happen this year. You say you don't want that to happen, and it happened. They say how could they not see that that could have happened? They just plug it in there and go, okay. If Tiger or Vijay's here, he wins the first two, game, set, match. We don't want that to happen. So we have to figure out something else to do. I don't understand how they didn't have the foresight to see that. But they'll get it, hopefully, they'll get it right. FedEx is paying a lot of money. It's a -- it's in the papers every week no matter who the sponsor of the tour is, it's still the FedExCup. They get a lot of publicity out of that. They're doing a great job. You don't want to do anything to ever hurt a sponsor that is that supportive of the tour. I think it's fantastic that they are putting that kind of money into the PGA TOUR, and especially in this day and age. We've got to keep everybody happy. So I think the media, as well as you guys don't really say it's a bad idea. But it would be a great idea. When they get it all right and get it all figured out. But we've just got to see. We've got to get it so it's really exciting on that last day, that last tournament. But they haven't quite figured that one out yet. Q. Well, it's just luck? FRED FUNK: Well, some of it is luck. But you do want to reward a guy and allow a guy to move up. But you've also got to reward a guy for playing great all year long. So it's a hard deal. Q. Do you ever find yourself saying I'm here on the Champions Tour, and the number, and how many yards into the green? Is it more feasible? FRED FUNK: Well, par 5's aren't that much different. Well, every course is different. We're not playing it that much shorter. We're not getting out there with that 75, 76, 77, 800 yard courses. But we're getting it 7,000 yards and 7100, 7200. Depending on how the fairways are running and stuff, you've got sometimes you get the shorter shots in. There are just subtle differences. It makes a difference. The pins aren't quite as tucked in the edges. You don't give them any three pins. We don't get that many three pins from the side like we used to on the tour. Now there are a lot of four pins. So ours is five, a little bit different. Big difference when you short side yourself especially in the deep rough. You look at the rough around the greens and off the fairway this week, it's not quite the U.S. Open. But it's thick stuff. You don't want to be in it. But, it all adds up. Our scores are a little bit, obviously, a little bit lower than the average on the tour, I think. I would think they are. I don't know. I don't know what our stroke average of the field is versus them. It's nice not being out there every hole being 450, and 480 and the par 4 is a 500-yard par 4. You know, we're getting 520, and the first 500-yard par 4 was at Torrey Pines for years and years, and always into the wind. You're hitting into the hill, it's wet and damp and you've got the paragliders out there. You know the wind is blowing in your face because they're using that hill, that cliff. But there are subtle differences out here. The biggest difference is that, obviously, the Champions Tour is not as deep. You know, it's just there are some really, really good players out here. But every player on the PGA TOUR from top to bottom can flat out play. The guys out here can flat out play, but we've got a lot of other issues. We've got a lot of other body issues. Every one of us throws a body check in the morning and figures out what's not working and what's working and compensate. So it's a big difference. The other big difference is the three-rounds versus four-round. I love the three-round tournaments. They're like sprints. I'm still not used to those. You really just got to put your pedal to the metal out of the git-go, and just go for everything. At least it feels that way sometimes. You can't afford to have a mediocre or bad round. Last week I shot even the first day or whatever I shot the first day it was even. And the week before I shot even. And I just blew myself out of the water. Although in Houston, I came back. I had a chance, and played good on Saturday and Sunday and finished third. But last week I didn't, and I was behind the 8 ball right out of the gate. Here you can have a mediocre round and with four rounds and you can kind of come back. You've got time. But three rounds, you can't do that. Q. If you were to go on and win this week, say win the money title and the Schwab Cup, would that change your evaluation towards next year and going back to the regular tour, or would you still stick with that? FRED FUNK: I'd still stick with it right now. More than anything right now it's going to be physically what I can do. I'm not going to go out there and beat my head against the wall if my body can't take it either, so, we'll see what happens. The nice thing if I do have to take off some time and the way the schedule is on the Champions Tour, it doesn't start -- you get the one event in Wailea and then you get more time off and it starts kind of slow. End of FastScripts |
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