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CHARLES SCHWAB CUP CHAMPIONSHIPNovember 2, 2008Andy BeanSONOMA, CALIFORNIA DAVE SENKO: Andy Bean, the 2008 Charles Schwab Cup champion. Congratulations on your run-away victory. ANDY BEAN: It sure is easier, nicer that way, let's put it that way, not having to worry so much coming in. DAVE SENKO: Second win this year. You also won at Regents Charity Classic. A check for 442,000 is your largest of your career, as far as I know. And your 20-under 268 matched the tournament scoring record that Jim Thorpe set in 2003. And your 9-stroke margin of victory is the largest this year on TOUR, and it ties the second largest in the 72-hole event in Champions TOUR history with Doug Tulle and Hale Irwin holds the record at 12-stroke win at the '97 senior PGA. Just share your thoughts. Great way to end this season. ANDY BEAN: I think, as I said a couple of days ago, it would be an exclamation point on the year. And I was certainly fortunate enough to do it. I went out this morning -- you know, we didn't know quite what was going to happen -- went out on the golf course. Came back in. Didn't even get to hit a shot. Then when we went out the second time, we knew we had a good chance to finish. But, actually, the weather was better than what we thought it might be on that second 18. But the whole day I was very comfortable and I was just hitting a lot of shots right at the flags. Or either hitting them right at the parts of the greens that I was wanting to hit them to and didn't really have to scramble too much, except really the first hole that I played. I came out of my second shot, hit it in the bunker. Holed it. I had about -- it was about maybe 45 feet, 50 feet at the most. And I mean, it was perfect. It hit about six feet short. Took a bounce and just released and it just barely got to the hole and fell right in. It was like this is the way to start a day. And after that it just seemed to get better. Finishing up the third round this morning, what did I shoot? 68, didn't I? And finishing up that round was, it was a pretty solid round all day. And the front nine on the last round was, it was one of those rounds you just wish for. Everything was going at the flag. And here I'm just trying to keep it below the hole on No. 9, and I did. And then my ball spins off the green a couple of feet and I make that putt. And that was just kind of like -- I kind of had to giggle a little bit. So everything was just -- it was a great day. I was blessed to just feel as good as I did all day. I was very comfortable out there playing and just hitting shots right where I was looking. And when you can put your tee shot in the fairway on a golf course when it's playing wet, then especially with the greens like these greens, because they're difficult greens to read, and I was putting the ball, in my approach shots, in places that I was able to read the putts quite well and a lot of times I hit it pretty close. DAVE SENKO: Let's go through your birdie shots starting at No. 1. ANDY BEAN: Afternoon round? Final round? No. 1, I was very fortunate on 1. Started out the round. I hit it in there 12 feet. Nick hit it in there 13 feet. And he was six inches off my line. He showed me exactly the line. All I had to do was hit it. I did and I really knew the putt was in when it was halfway there. And that was really the way the round started. 4, we had 100 -- they played that hole short today. But they put it in a tough little place. And then again I hit a 7-iron in there about seven feet. I was going to say -- here I am, I'm the one playing and he's correcting me. (Laughter). Anyway, I hit it in there about seven feet, it was one of those putts you had to know. You couldn't read it. I played it a cup out of the hole and it went dead center. And I went, yes, this is the way to start. And the next hole I made par there. But I hit a 6-iron right at the flag, misread it. 6, made birdie on 6, didn't I? I was dead pin high. I don't know. Eight or maybe 10 feet at the most. No. 7, probably the best shot I hit all day. Hit a 4-iron. We had, what, 200 yards? 201. And I hit it 200 and a half. I hit it about 18 inches at the most. It was one of those that never left the flag, and I'm just going: Go in. Went up there and made that putt. And then the par 5, 8, I hit it right down in front of the green and had it 10 feet straight up the hill. Knocked that in. No. 9, drove it. I hit a driver there. I had 59 yards to the pin. And didn't carry it on the green quite far enough. It spun just off. But I had about 18-foot putt dead just straight up the hill, just outside right. And I hit it and I started kind of giggling, because it was going in, too. I made that. Let's see. I parred 10, 11, 12, 13. 14. I 3-putted 15. Golly, I left it way short there. I drove it in the rough. I was fortunate to get it to the green as wet as it was. And I had, I would say, probably 65 feet at least. And I really misread that one somewhat. I missed it by probably four, about five feet to the left. I mean, I was playing it to go, but it started kind of bouncing up. I think I pulled it a little bit and didn't hit the next putt quite hard enough and it broke just out of the hole. And, again, on the next hole, on 16, hit a good drive. I've got 251 to the hole. Hit a 5-wood second shot. And I mean it was perfect. I hit it in there about 12 feet. And Price hit it inside me. He hit it in there about no more than eight feet, or maybe six or seven feet. And he just didn't make the putts today and I did. And that was really the difference there. 17 I hit it, knocked it on. 2-putted 18. It was funny. I said, oh, my goodness, I thought I made the putt on 18. Again, Price was two feet, three feet outside of where I was. He gave me a perfect read and I hit my putt and it goes right over the edge about a foot by. And ended up making that one, knocking that one in. What, 30, 36, but might could have made a couple more if I had to on the back. But it was one of those things that the back was a very enjoyable walk, because all I really had to do was just keep driving the ball the way I did and everything else was going to set itself up. I had a good enough -- my lead was enough by then that I was able to enjoy playing the back nine instead of really worrying about someone catching me. DAVE SENKO: Questions. Q. Was yesterday kind of a good omen, talking about watching the football game? ANDY BEAN: We started out -- you know, I did. I wanted to watch the football game yesterday. And all of a sudden the rain came and I was able to watch the whole game. That was amazing. I tell you what, thank you Lord for that. Hey, and we won, too. That was really good. But, really, this week couldn't have gone any better for me. Everything, the way it happened. Timing's everything a lot of times when you're out there. And, like I said, this morning when we started to finish our third round, my second shot I mis-hit it a little bit. I was looking at it and I'm thinking this is a great lie in the bunker. And the funny thing I thought about was I thought you need to hit like Price did back when he hit a bunker shot yesterday on the first hole. Because I saw -- he's a great bunker player. But I saw him really go after it a little bit more because the sand's heavy, it's wet. That's exactly what I did I went and hit it a little bit harder than I normally would have. It carried up there, I don't know, six feet short of the hole. Took one bounce. I mean, it was dead center. Couldn't miss. And you sit there kind of giggling. You go off and you start playing golf after that. So it was, golly, had a lot of good shots this week. Hit a lot of shots right at the flag. And Tony did a very good job this week helping me on the greens. My goodness, he's had Thorpe here a couple times. How many times has he won -- he's won three or four times here, hasn't he? And someone that knows the greens that well, when I was in doubt, he reassured what I was thinking, and that was -- you can't really put a value on that. It's like having a little bit of the inside knowledge there. Q. Did you lean on him more than you normally would? ANDY BEAN: I leaned on him more this week than I normally do. I usually don't -- I'll usually ask him and say, you know, during a tournament I might ask him five or six times: What do you think? But on a lot of these putts I would say: What do you think? And it would be -- and he gives me kind of like exactly the line he thinks. And I either take that or go a little bit. But we both misread the dang putt on 15 where I 3-putted it. Neither one of us thought it would go that far left. But it was kind of funny. He looked up at me and I said: How did that ball do that? But, again, I think I pulled it a little bit, started it going left. But he's had great success. He plays and he's certainly helped me a lot. Q. How gratifying has the year been for you? ANDY BEAN: Oh, goodness. I think to be able to win any time is good. But after I wasn't able to play for a couple of months the first part of this year, the last part of last year, first part of this year, and then getting a win quick, after I did come back, after I did start playing, was certainly great. Had a few weeks in there, obviously, that were frustrating, thinking I should be winning again. A couple of weeks ago in Houston, man, I shoot 60 -- what did I shoot? 65 the first round? Yeah, I don't need you on that one. (Laughter) I was 7-under. 65. Then I shoot 72. 72. That was the most frustrating 72, 72 you've ever seen because I hit a lot of really good shots. Didn't make putts but I also hit a few careless shots that I normally wouldn't hit, too. But I'm striking the ball well, driving the ball well. Started with a new driver in Houston. The last couple of weeks -- actually, take that back. Excuse me. I didn't mean Houston. I meant San Antonio. San Antonio was last week. I started using a different driver last week. And I drove the ball well there. And that was really on the last round. I just, after two rounds there, I said I gotta do something different. And I took a different driver out the third round. And I didn't score as well but I played better. I drove the ball better. And this week was just I felt really good. I drove it in. My percentage was up on fairways hit, which is a good thing. Q. You were third this week, 45 and 56. ANDY BEAN: That's pretty good. Q. Does it surprise you that not only do you win by nine strokes but the top five guys in the points list don't make the top 10? How much does that surprise you? ANDY BEAN: Well, I think one thing, you know, again, congratulations to Jay. It just goes to show you he's played great all year. That's what that brings out. And I think part of it is those guys, you know, they're used to winning. They're up at the top. They got off to a bad start. I know Funk didn't play real well. I didn't see what Langer did today. And Jay obviously played well enough to distance himself. I didn't even see the final tally there. Q. Jay won by 12 points. Nobody got any points. ANDY BEAN: I was looking, no one got points there. Because I was looking over here on the right. So nobody got points. And it was kind of like, hey, when it's that close and it's like all somebody's got to do is just break out. But I think there's one thing about it. It showed who was consistent this year and that's what it's supposed to show. The guys playing, if you would have said at the beginning of the week you didn't think Funk would play good this week, my goodness, that's his thing, driving the ball. It goes to show you if you're off a little bit, doesn't matter what week it is. It just happens to be this week that all five of these guys were off. I know when I looked up on the board I really didn't see any scoreboard, I think, until No. 11 today on the last round. And when I saw Cook, because he was like 4-under for the tournament, I think, I was very surprised because I thought he was still going to be like 10 or 12 or somewhere right in there. I was really trying to take care of Andy and wasn't worried about, wasn't concerned about anyone else. And I knew I had distanced myself with those four birdies in a row. And I was just trying to maintain that and gain a little bit more. But it does, it goes to show you that anything can happen in this crazy game. And some days you're on and some days you're off. Q. What were your overall thoughts on the conditions of coming back from yesterday's play? Did you feel that when the rain kind of let up near the end of the third round that it was more favorable to you than what you had beforehand, even when you had the lead coming into the third round? ANDY BEAN: Well, there's one thing about it. When the conditions are tougher like they were, it's going to take a lot of real good playing to overtake someone when they've developed a little bit more of a lead than what I had starting out. I just think that the conditions were such that when we started back out, I went in and changed shoes, changed socks and shoes, that's all I did. When I went back out and really looked at it, I'm looking at the sky. I'm thinking this is going to be good. Because I think everybody would rather play, obviously, in good weather. And the way I was driving the ball, I knew I had -- I thought I had an advantage because I'm putting the ball in the fairway. I'm hitting good iron shots and I'm hitting a lot of close iron shots. And as long as something doesn't mess that scenario up, then my world's pretty good. So as far as the weather, I like playing obviously, and I think we all like playing in better weather because ultimately then the guys that are playing the best are going to end up on top. But when the weather has been like it's been this week, the guys that put the ball on the fairway and are able to get it close out of the fairway, that's the ones you're going to see doing the best. Q. When you're up by 9, how hard is it to concentrate as opposed to thinking what you're going to have for dinner tonight? ANDY BEAN: The funny thing about it is you can't let your mind wander like that. I think Billy Ray, when we were on 13, par 5, when we were on 13, he said something to that effect, you know, what do you do, you've got a 9-shot lead. And I looked straight at him: I'm trying to birdie this hole and I'll play the next hole. Because that's really the only way you can play it. You can only take it one shot, one hole at a time. If you let yourself get out of that frame, out of that mindset, then other things sneak in there up on. And today it was really drive, approach shot, putt. Everything was like that. And I think when any of the good players, when you approach it and you can keep your mind on that, focus on your drive, then focus the second shot, and do things in order instead of trying to get ahead of yourself, those are usually the guys that are playing the best. Q. You've had a lot of success over the years in Florida, when you were on the regular TOUR. How many events have you won out on the West Coast here? ANDY BEAN: How many events have I won out on the West Coast? I think you can probably count them. How many events should I have won out on the West Coast, a number. But usually the polana grass is tough for me. For a guy from Florida, it's a different thing. And I'm saying thing. It doesn't seem to be grass to us. Sometimes it doesn't make sense. It really doesn't. It's what side of the country are you on? When you're going further out west and go out to Hawaii, man I'm good again. But just like at AT&T, the Crosby, man, I remember one year, when we won the team event, I made like 19 birdies and an eagle and I did not win individual. I mean in some ridiculous like 7 or 8-under won the tournament. I mean I lost in a playoff. I should have won that thing outright going away, but it just goes to show you it was either feast or famine. But I think that was the one thing, too, that, with Tony, knowing these greens as well as he does, that was certainly the bonus. That was certainly a bonus right there. Because, like I say, very few times do I ask him. But when I do ask him, he's usually got -- he plays well enough and if he doesn't know he's going to say I don't know. But he's got these greens mapped out pretty good, let's put it that way. And that proved to be immeasurable this week. It was good. Q. When you were laid up and not playing, how much concern were you having about what kind of game am I going to have when I get back? ANDY BEAN: You know, it's funny. I thought it was going to take, obviously, a lot longer than three or four weeks to get back to where I was hitting the ball well enough to play and score and compete. And things just happened like that. It's kind of like the pieces fell into place. And I go around and have a couple of good putting rounds, my first couple of rounds there at the Regents, and the last day I play a solid round of golf and end up winning. Should have won by a couple, should have won by three or four, 3-putted a couple coming in. But, again, I hit a lot of good shots. But if you would have asked me that in the middle of January, I couldn't have told you anything. I mean it was like frustration. It was about as high as you could get it, because I would go out. I'd try to go hit a shot and I couldn't swing. I couldn't even putt. I just had a pinched vertebra. Pinched nerve. Q. How long did -- did you have it last year also? ANDY BEAN: I didn't play from -- I did not play from, I guess, Thanksgiving on to my first round of golf was the Pro-Am at Allianz from Thanksgiving. Q. February? ANDY BEAN: February. Q. This was lower back? ANDY BEAN: Yes. But everything's good. Went and had a procedure done. Everything was great. And it's still working great now. And I had a freak injury. Q. Obviously a lot of players have the most success 50, 51, 52, and you, I think, this is obviously your best year now. 55. You didn't play very much in your 40s as I recall? ANDY BEAN: I didn't play that much. Q. Why do you think? ANDY BEAN: I probably got a little bit rusty. But I wasn't putting that well. When I first came out, I was hitting the ball as well as pretty much anyone out there. But, my goodness, the first year and a half was total frustration. I just did not get the ball in the hole. In Savannah I started -- let's see, I was thinking what am I going to do? I tried cross-handed. I tried a little bit of everything. Because my short putts, I was banging them through the breaks, breaking down somewhat. And I think the first tournament I went to a claw was -- it was a PGA at Oak Hill in Edmond. And it was one of those things. I was trying it on the putting green, and I went this is better than what I'm doing so I'm just going to do it. And I decided I'm going to stick with it. And if it's inside 15 feet, 20 feet or if it's fast, that's when I claw. If it's a longer putt, then I use more traditional grip. I hadn't even not thought about doing it. And the funny thing about it it's all about speed. I don't even realize sometimes which way I'm gripping it. A lot has got to do with how hard I have to hit the putt, because I don't have a 15-foot or 20-foot. Everything is really -- if it's inside 15 feet it's pretty much a given. But everything after that is really related to speed and just trying to hit putts consistently and that's what I've been able to do. Q. When was the last time you took a bite out of a golf ball? ANDY BEAN: These new balls are a little tough. (Laughter) when they quit winding the golf balls, I figured it was time to stop. (Laughter). Q. Jay told us a little story. ANDY BEAN: You know Jay. I'll tell you, my buddy Jay. He tells stories. I told him, I said I didn't do that. He said yes you did because I've got the ball. He went into a briar patch and got the ball. I said you're nuts. Q. He's still telling the story 30 years later. ANDY BEAN: He just told it. But I think it's great out here when guys that you played college golf with, you're still competing with them, what, 30, 30 years later. That's pretty amazing. You can't do that in many other sports. Q. When you take bites out, was that just kind of relieving a little frustration? ANDY BEAN: A couple times it was just relieving a little bit of frustration. Sometimes it was because somebody bet me I couldn't do it. (Laughter) when I'd get the bet up enough I'd go ahead and do it. But it was -- the first couple times was definitely frustration. The last few times was just on a bet. Q. How much would it cost now to go ahead and get you to bite a golf ball? ANDY BEAN: You don't want to go there. (Laughter). I've already told you these balls today, they're a little bit too tough. I don't know if I said anything in here, the staff here, they're great. The staff on the golf course crew, they're absolutely great, because they were out there squeegeeing those greens at, what, 5:00 this morning, just trying to get the golf course playable this morning. When that water came in again, here they're back out there for the next three hours while we're sitting in the clubhouse with our feet propped up, they're out squeegeeing the greens, doing everything they can to do to get us back on the golf course. They did just an absolutely superb job. DAVE SENKO: Andy's 30 on the front nine is low tournament record for this event. There's been a 30 in the back nine but 30 on the front, that's the first time that's happened, not only at Sonoma, but in the tournament. Q. What was the last time you played a front nine, had nine holes like you had today? ANDY BEAN: I've done it a couple times. Played there in Houston. Really, Houston, I hit the ball -- that first day I could have shot 60. I shoot 60, 65. I bogeyed the last hole and I missed four or five putts that were eight feet, six feet, four feet. I mean I missed a couple of putts. But today or this week, the only -- about the only bogeys I made were a couple of 3-putts, and I missed the No. 7 green. I missed about a foot and a half foot on -- yeah, 7, missed about a foot and a half, two-foot putt on 7 because it broke out of the hole. I told Tony today: I know, it breaks a lot more than it looks to the right. Even from this far, because you're putting up against the hill. But today was -- I shot some good rounds this year, and I've had it going, but this week was just a very steady, very solid four rounds of golf. Q. This is your biggest check ever. What was the biggest check on the regular TOUR when you were playing? ANDY BEAN: Shoot. I think the most I ever won in any tournament, 150 grand. I think it was 150. Either 150 or 180. But I'm thinking it was 150. Q. Runner up for a major or winning -- ANDY BEAN: This is for winning tournaments. Those kids out there today, they don't know how lucky they are, do they? Thank you Tiger. Q. What tournament was it when you won 150? ANDY BEAN: I won 150 at Kapalua and 150 in Japan the week after. Won two weeks in a row. I think other than at Kapalua, the tournament in Japan, maybe 90 was the biggest. I won Doral three times. I won 40, 50 and 90 for winning Doral three times. Q. So all those together are like half of what you won today. ANDY BEAN: And today, if you win Doral three times, it would be about, what, $4 million? Times change, don't they? DAVE SENKO: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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