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TRANSITIONS CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 18, 2009Fred FunkPALM HARBOR, FLORIDA PHIL STAMBAUGH: We welcome Fred Funk into the interview room this afternoon here at the Transitions Championship. Fred, this is your first appearance on the PGA TOUR since last year's Viking Classic. You played several events, three events on the Champions Tour. Maybe a couple of opening thoughts about coming back to the Transitions Championship here at Innisbrook. FRED FUNK: The main reason I came back is because of the love for the golf course. I just think it's one of the best golf courses that we have on TOUR. And being in Florida, which I'm not a big fan of a lot of Florida golf courses, but this is one that I really like a lot. I used to play the JcPenney a lot, I played this tournament a lot, and different times of year, obviously. But right now it's in the best shape I've ever seen it. I'm happy that I came to play this week, and to see the golf course in the condition that it's in. I didn't play last year; I heard the rough was even higher. But it's really high, or thick, right now. And I'm just looking forward to playing with the young guys and playing on a really good golf course. It's almost too good. PHIL STAMBAUGH: They may not know the story behind your knee, so take us back to the end of December and where you are today. FRED FUNK: End of December I got a staph infection on my knee, and it was from a surgery -- not from a surgery, but from having fluid on my knee from a surgery I had in May. From having my knee drained for the 16th time at the Shark Shootout, I was playing Russian roulette with those needles and finally one of them got me. I got the infection there, and then that set me way back. I was on the IV pick line for six weeks and pretty sick and a couple surgeries. Initial surgery was 12 days apart from the second one where the infection got worse and they had to go in the second time and they knocked me out a third time to break up a scar tissue which was no fun, and I woke up from that, it really hurt. Once the infection got out and I got the IVs out of me, I seemed to start getting the strength back into my knee a lot quicker. Right now it's probably about 70 percent in strength. And I have tested -- I'm probably -- doc says I'm a good two months ahead of where he thought I would be. He didn't think I would play until May at the earliest, and I played the middle of February in a couple Champions' events. The reason I started out there, is because I have the option with a cart. The irony of that is that I got paired with Gary Player the first round my first week whack back, and here is a 72-year-old guy sprinting down the fairway, so I said, damned if I'm getting in a cart. So I walked, at least nine holes and then I hopped in a cart. Last week I walked all by nine holes. It seems to be holding up. The key to it is getting the strength back, but not getting the swelling is the biggest thing. If it swells back up again, if I get fluid back on it, then I'm done. I've got to go back home and just shut it down completely and more than likely that's where I'll have to wait a few months to be clear of the infection for at least six months and then go get a knee replacement. But that is the last thing we want to do and I'm just playing until -- I'm trying to play my way back into shape right now. I picked a big golf course to debut on the regular TOUR, but it's one that I really like, and even though I don't have a great history here, I like make the golf course, so it's just a really good course. Q. Did you hear the rumor that you were going to have a leg amputated, too? FRED FUNK: Yeah, I actually got flowers from Tim Petrovic's family, Tim and his family. I think that's a rumor he heard when they were out in Hawaii at the Sony. I think he sent them -- I'm not positive because I had not seen them, but I think he was assuming I already had my leg amputated. Q. You're getting around really well. FRED FUNK: Yeah, doing pretty good considering I had a leg amputation. Yeah, that was the rumor, and obviously that was -- they even painted that picture to me that the worst-case scenario could happen with a staph infection if they lost control of it. Q. They did paint that picture? That has to be pretty sobering. FRED FUNK: It's possible, because if it ran somewhere besides staying in my kneecaps on my knee joint area and started taking off and running off somewhere else, that's dangerous. Obviously you get to a vital organ or someplace, and then you have even bigger issues. And the problem with staph is that it fights the antibiotics it gives you. Fortunately I had the MRSA, I had the second worse they said. Once I got the right medicine and it started hitting that infection, it was out of there. But yeah, the worst-case, it can kill if you they let it go. It's bad stuff. I had no idea how bad it was until I got it. I had heard of staph until I got it. Didn't really know what was. Still don't really know what it is, but I know you just don't want to have it. Q. This week, you have so much familiarity with this golf course, every year, it's always talked about, it's a ball-striker's golf course. Most people think everybody out here is a ball-striker, nobody hits it bad. When we say ball-striker, what is good? What is a ball-striker do that makes it good? FRED FUNK: A good way of defining it is a guy that's really controlling his golf ball, and is not necessarily a guy that does it every week. Now there are weeks I play really well, say, THE PLAYERS Championship, I was controlling my golf ball that week and control is what Tiger talks about all the time is controlling his trajectory and moving the ball a certain way and bringing it into the pins and controlling the wind shots and everything else. And a guy that is hitting the ball really solid and this golf course is a golf course that you can't fake it around. You're not going to get away with hitting bad tee shots because the rough is so thick. And you're not going to get away with hitting it on the wrong side of the pin because the greens are quick and they have enough undulation that you really cannot get away with too much here. The guy that's winning -- that is going to win this golf tournament is going to be the guy that's really played well probably the best golf all week. And definitely the guys you'll see on the leaderboard at the end of the week are the guys that are really playing their best golf. That's what you want in a golf course, to identify the guy that's playing the best that particular week, and this golf course will do that; where there are golf courses we play that don't do that. You'll have big, wide fairways and you'll have guys that can get away with bad tee shots. That's not going to happen on this golf course. Q. Is it possible for you to give five best-ball strikers on TOUR, or you can't narrow it down? FRED FUNK: That are consistent ball-strikers? They are not here, but Tiger is one of the best obviously, definitely one of the best putters. But he just knows how to work his way around the golf course and do it well. Sergio, truly one of the best ball-strikers ever. Kenny Perry right now, Kenny is playing phenomenal golf right now. He's a guy that's a one-dimensional player; and what I mean by one-dimensional, is one shot, he hits the high draw, or call it a hook even. But he hits the ball so solid all the time that I would consider him a really good ball-striker. A guy like Joe Durant is always considered one of the best-ball strikers. He's just not known as being a great putter. I'm going back to the guys in my era that I know about that really hit the ball well all the time. Woody Austin hits the ball really well, a lot. Of the modern guys, or the younger guys, whatever, there's a ton of them out there. You have Anthony Kim and a lot of these young guys, I understand this Japanese kid, how old is he, 17? I saw him hitting balls on the range today. No wonder he's so good. He's got a beautiful golf swing. I'm sure he's a great ball-striker. He wouldn't be as good as he is at that youthful age if he wasn't a great ball-striker. Basically you're trying to define -- that term is going to be used a lot more on a golf course where it's really important to keep it out of the rough and work your angles and be below the pin and things like that. Really it happens the week at Augusta. Even though they say it's open off the tee, it's really not, especially now. But you have to be controlling your irons at Augusta, because of where all the plateaus and undulations and where the pins are. The only way you cannot be defensive is be controlling your irons coming in and being in the right plateau where that area where the pin is that particular day. You've got to have control of your shots to do that. So you don't really -- it's hard to fake it on some of those golf courses. Of course, like Winged Foot, there's just no way you can make it around that place. Maybe that's a bad term, too; faking it. Just a guy that can be hitting all over the map, but all of a sudden, he's, wow, I'm in the lead and doing really good, because he's making everything, as well. Q. What do you think when you go out to the practice range in tournaments like this and you see kids like Ishikawa just bombing it out there? What makes you think that you can still play with these young guys? FRED FUNK: It's harder and harder. But again, you're on a golf course that rewards shot-making here, and he's controlling his ball. You can't substitute a guy that's hitting long way and hitting it straight. He's going to hit a lot less clubs into the greens and your percentages are a lot more accurate. Obviously it's a huge advantage to do that. But at the same time, 68, 69 is a real good number no matter where you go, no matter where you play. And if I'm playing well, I can do that, and do that on the hardest golf courses. I've done that in the past. My game is not where I want it to be for that kind of scoring, but it could happen. I enjoy watching those guys that can do that. I know if I can hit it that long, I wouldn't even sleep. I would be playing golf in the dark. It would be just so much fun to rip it and overpower golf courses. Q. As this season progresses and you feel healthy and all is good, are you a TOUR player that's going to occasionally play the Champions Tour, or are you a Champions Tour player that's going to occasionally play the PGA TOUR? FRED FUNK: I'd define more of a Champions Tour playing on the regular tour. Initially I was going to do more half and half. That was my attempt last year. When I had the knee surgery that changed things a little bit and I was going to do almost a split schedule again this year and when I got the staph infection that changed everything. Now I'm going to play about 18, 19 on the Champions Tour and I'll play seven or eight on the regular TOUR. So I'll play 25 or 26 events if all goes well. Q. Is mind-set the same or do you just approach -- FRED FUNK: It's nice to have options. Obviously it's difficult if you have high goals because there's no way I can really do great in the FedExCup; I'm not going to be playing enough. It dilutes me from, unless I do really well like I did last year in the majors that jumped me up in the Champions Tour to get in the hunt for the Schwab Cup be, although there's less tournaments. Last year they had 29 and this year they have 25 or 25. I'll only play 18 or 19 of those. If I play well, I still have a shot at the Schwab. Out there, I can chase that one. For me it's just to play the ones that are my favorite. I've got two more years on THE PLAYERS Championship and I'll play Hilton Head and I'll play probably Colonial and Milwaukee and Hartford here. So kind of cherry-picking my way around, just playing the ones I really like, and try to stay away from the bomber's golf courses so much. I just can't compete on those. Q. One of the younger players, Sean O'Hair who won the tournament last year, have you had a chance to play with him, and what do you think of his game? FRED FUNK: He's a great player, typical of the young guys. He's not one of the longest players but he's long, he's plenty long. He averages 290-something, I'm sure. Just a good kid and real solid game. That's kind of the prototype golfer that comes out now. They are just machines that come out here and know how to really strike the golf ball and play and know how when they get it going, they can really get it going and keep it going. Q. Would you talk about the way the course is set up, how it's playing and how excited you are for the weekend? FRED FUNK: I did say earlier it's the best condition I've seen this place in. I've played it in many different conditions. When it's in the fall, in December, I used to play it the overseeded, and obviously in the fall when it's bermuda and now in the spring when they overseed it again. They did a great job. Obviously they had an overseed budget that was overspent probably. It's well defined. It's just in great condition. I think every player to a man, if they complain about the condition of the golf course, they are crazy. Q. And as you said earlier, it's more about shot-making, as opposed to just bombing it 350 out there? FRED FUNK: Yeah, it's a position golf course and you have to stay out of trouble. You've got enough rough out there that's going to really penalize you. And you've got some really tricky holes out there where you have to make sure you stay in position. You know, holes like 6 and 16, obviously, and some shorter holes like 12, 2 and 3 you have to be in the right position. There's a lot of shots where you're not just standing on the tee, even if you're one of the longer hitters, you can't just launch the thing out there. You have to think a little bit. A lot of times when you give a pro player or a TOUR player an opportunity to think, he's going to screw up. The more we think, the worse we are. The more options we have, the worse we are. PHIL STAMBAUGH: Thank you Fred, good luck this week. End of FastScripts |
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