March 5, 2000
DORAL, FLORIDA
LEE PATTERSON: We appreciate you spending some time with us. I know it's disappointing,
though we sometimes learn something and you did today; correct?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: I did.
LEE PATTERSON: Maybe just a couple of comments about that; then we will open it up for
questions.
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Got to shoot lower (laughs). What do you say, the day started out
good. I have already been asked about the six-shot lead I had and, heck, it was great at
the time. But I was never going to be comfortable unless I was standing on 18 with a
six-shot lead or something. I kept -- every time my mind would try to jump forward, I'd
always just go back to my swing keys and how I want to execute each shot and there is only
a couple of guys that could have caught me with a round like that and Jim went out and
did. He shot 65. He would have had to shoot 66 to beat me, and he did. What a great round.
My hat is off to him. He shot 30 on the back nine. I gave him a little bit of light, he
took advantage of it. My hat is off to him.
Q. When you were standing there with the six-shot lead, didn't it run through your mind
that it would be almost impossible?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: No. Like I said, I just -- I have played a lot with Jim. Heck, I
expect him to make every put he stands over. I knew if given the opportunity, he could.
There is still a lot of birdie holes out there. Your mind flashes forward, wow, this is
great and I just -- every time it would do that, I just prepared myself to just block it
out just go, okay, you are ahead, don't worry about it. Just think about what has gotten
you here. Don't let up. I didn't. I'd hit a couple of shots that I'd like to have back.
That is golf. You are not going to hit every shot perfect. Came to 18, hit two of the best
shots of the day and I was very happy with the way I finished. I don't feel like I folded
or anything like that. I played great this week. I am not going to argue about 21-under
par.
Q. Did you put that towel over your face on 17 when his putt was going in so you
wouldn't see it or were you --
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: No, I was sweating. The wind stopped today and I was hot out there. I
was using that towel all day.
Q. How did you feel after 17?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: I get like I need to birdie 18 to have a chance. I gave it a good
roll and didn't quite make it. After he hit it close the people were going nuts on 18. I
said, hey, let's hole it. Someone has done it - it's been done before. I hit -- the shot
went right over the pitch. I couldn't have hit it any better, just a little bit long.
Q. What did you have distance there?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: 148.
Q. How far do you think the putt was?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: My mind is a blur. Ten feet. It was straight down the hill and it was
hanging left-to-right and I might have hit it a little bit through the break, but I wasn't
going to be short. I ran it four feet by. Heck, you got this far, don't cozy it down
there. I needed to make it. I tried to play a little less break; made sure I got it there;
didn't go in.
Q. What did you hit in?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Little easy 8-iron. 155 -- that is my 155 club, just tried to smooth
an 8-iron in there.
Q. Was the line on 16 down enough, was it hard to --
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: 17.
Q. 17?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Yeah, that was one of the ones that shocked me coming in. Hit a
pretty good tee shot there. The ball -- just my ball is going so far today, it felt like
maybe it was adrenaline. I don't know. You learn from it. But, yeah, it just got out of
the first cut, just right into that second cut, ball was kind of sitting against the next
cut of the rough and it was just -- it was one of those things, you know, you just shake
your head, you don't want -- by no means -- I didn't give up. By golly, what a bad break
at a wrong time. I had to take it wide. I couldn't take a chance at catching the palm
tree. As long as I got it up there somewhere near the green, I still was in the ballgame.
It just came out dead straight with no spin on it, just a knuckle ball. I guess you saw it
ran through the bunker, it was so hot.
Q. What happened on the short putt, I think, on 14 after you made the good --
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: I misread it just a little bit. I thought the grain was not as strong
as it was. I think I missed it on the low side. I had read it as an inside left putt. It
broke just a little bit more than that.
Q. When the day started you know, birdie, birdie, birdie, I mean, did you just say,
boy, it really does feel like my day?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Yeah, I felt good. I felt in control of myself. It's a hard thing. I
mean, I had to go through last night and for the first time leading the tournament after
three rounds and didn't really feel like eating. Got up this morning; ate a little bit,
but that is all part of it and learning to deal with it. Heck, guys more likely than not,
you know you have to get here a few times before you win one. This has been -- this was
probably my third really good chance to win a golf tournament out here on Tour. Actually,
two, probably Tiger is playing so good in Disney I don't know if I have had a chance but I
played well there.
Q. Where was the other one?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Deposit Guaranty when Fred Funk won two years ago?
LEE PATTERSON: 1998.
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Thanks, Lee.
Q. Most people are just going to look at this and think it has to be devastating to
you; how are you going to handle it; what do you do now?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Well, somebody asked me that downstairs, if I am standing here ten
years from now and done the same thing and hadn't won one yet, then it would be
devastating. It is not devastating to me yet. I am only in my fourth year on Tour. My time
will come. It just wasn't meant to be today. I would have like for it to have been, but
sometimes you can't control that. That is golf. That is what makes this sport so good.
Q. You don't feel like the skier on Wide World of Sports then?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: No, I didn't do anything crazy or dumb. I just had a couple of errant
shots, bad breaks. I don't want to -- I don't even like to say bad breaks -- it was only
one on 17 that kind of baffled me a little bit how far the drive went. That is golf. You
got to deal with it. You got to roll with the punches. If you don't have a tough chin you
won't be out here long. There are a lot of good guys that played awesome this week by the
scores; unfortunately there is only one winner - that is the great thing about it and the
tough thing about it all in one.
Q. After last night do you look at the board say, all right, well, these guys are
within me and these are the ones who have a chance?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: No, not really. You can't look behind you. All I can do is what I can
do and I just said I went out there trying to birdie every hole without me doing stupid
things. I went out there, especially the way I started I was playing so good birdied the
first three holes, made a great up-and-down on 4 and felt just really in control of
myself. And like I said, I can't control what the other guys do, you know, they are back
there. I looked at the scoreboard on 17 just before Jim had made his putt, just to see,
and after he went 1-up then that kind of negated me looking because I was -- I had to go
for it then. I had to try to make birdie on 18.
Q. You didn't watch it much before that on the back?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: No.
Q. You really didn't know where?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: I knew where I was with Jim, but I knew he was playing good and I
didn't think anybody would be playing better than he was. It kind of got to be Match Play,
I guess you could say, the last five holes or so.
Q. As you got closer to the finish line, could you feel things changing with your
swing?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: No, like I said, I hit two of the best shots of the day on 18. Killed
the drive and hit a great 8-iron. I mean, I don't know, like I said, couple of the shots,
13, I hit it a little too far, maybe the shots that seemed to bother me were the ones that
went too far a couple of times. Maybe that was adrenaline more than nerves when you are
hitting the ball so good. I had one on the front nine -- what hole was it, No. 6, hit a
9-iron that went probably 155. That is only my 8-iron club. So you got to learn to manage
that too and that is one thing I learned when you get going and you are hitting the ball
good, you probably hit the ball a little further; that adrenaline gets you pumping, so,
no, I didn't really feel -- even when he hit it close on 15, I hit a good shot in there. I
had the putt dead in the tracks. Greens probably grew a little bit late in the day. It was
going down grain, going with the grain. Came up six inches, a foot short, but I hit a good
putt there. What do you do? I don't know.
Q. One shot back would be the 14th tee; is that the hook behind the tree?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Yeah, but it really wasn't -- I'd rather have the putt back, you
know, that was the one that I have been making those all week. Yeah, that was kind of a
squirly shot. I ended up being okay over there; was trying to bring the ball in from
right-to-left; kind of hung it in a little bit. It caught the right side of the green,
kicked right. Good chip up there and really felt good about the putt. It is -- just one
reason or another didn't go in, but yeah, those -- that swing was probably the one that I
was kind of like: What happened there, but other than that, I felt like I hit the ball
pretty good on the back. Hit some great shots coming in.
Q. Jim seemed to empathize with you after he made his birdie putt on 18. Can you share
what he said?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: He just said: Your time will come and Jim is a good guy. We have been
friends for -- played buy.com Tour together, played a lot of golf together, and he knows
it's hard -- everybody knows it is hard to win out here. It is a shame we all play some
really good golf this week, but like I said, there is only one winner. He is very much a
gentleman.
Q. What was going through your mind after you chipped in for birdie at 11 got that
6-stroke lead was it hard?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: I felt pretty confident. I felt like, hey, that was a shot that went
too far; couldn't believe how far that ball went. That was only ten feet right of the pin.
It went through the green. But actually I had a pretty decent chip at it. I made it. All
of a sudden that gives you confidence every time I had gotten -- the other time was on 7 I
made the putt for par. When I hit the iron shot a little long and left and that gives you
confidence. You feel like, hey, I am going to keep swinging and if I miss it, I figure I
can get it up-and-down; my odds are pretty good. I felt good with all the clubs. I hit
actually a pretty good shot, really tough lie on 17 there with the first chip shot and it
was one of those, once it lands on the green, it is going to take off.
Q. With a 6-stroke lead with 7 to play, is it hard to keep your mind from looking
ahead, to stay within yourself?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Until you told me that, I didn't even know it was 6 with 7 to play. I
am being totally honest. I just kept saying -- because as soon as you do that, then you
set yourself up for failure, I think. Like I said, I wasn't going to be comfortable until
I got to 18 and had a big lead or something, which I, unfortunately, didn't have, but I
knew I was leading. I knew I pretty much was gauging myself against Jim and my caddie I
knew would let me know if something else was going on. But he was the one playing good and
the one that can catch me.
Q. In hindsight, now that it is over, how much do you think his experience helped him
in this situation?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: I think it helps a lot. You heard a lot of guys say the first win is
the toughest. This is his 6th. He was in a position where he hit some great golf shots
coming in. I know he had nerves going to, but he was going right at it. He had all to
gain; nothing to lose. Jim is a great player and heck, last three years he is one of the
best players in the world out here. It shows by his record. He has played great every
year, and played great on the Ryder Cup and stuff like that, so he has been through a lot
of that and he probably had situations like this that I had today. He has been in my shoes
before and probably draws from instances like that. It makes you a better player.
Hopefully next time maybe the shoe will be on the other foot for me against whoever it is.
Q. What did you learn from today? You said this is maybe your third time you had an
opportunity to win. Each time you learn something different. What did you learn today?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: I don't know yet. I will sit down and think about it. I am not trying
to avoid the question. I just -- I just got done. Sure, I am disappointed, but I am not
disheartened. It let me know that I can win. If you can lead a tournament for three days
and play good golf like I did today you can win a golf tournament out here. Unfortunately,
I would have liked for it to have been today, but it wasn't meant to be. I will sit down
and think about it and draw positives from it and go from there.
Q. You might have put your two best shots together on 18 when you were one behind. Any
reason for that? You felt like you had to do it there because you talked about how you
thought about making birdies every hole, that was in your mind, your two best shots on the
back side might have been the two at 18?
FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Yeah. I don't know maybe so, I just -- I knew what I had to do but I
knew what I had to do on 16, 17 and 18. I hit a great 3-wood and pretty good sand wedge,
went a little far on 16. 17, like I said, I hit a pretty good drive that just ran through
the fairway; wasn't like it was -- that drive was very similar to the drive I hit on 18
that went a long way, but there is nothing out there on 18 to block you. I don't know.
Heck, I will sure draw a positive from that. My back was against the wall and I had two of
the best shots of the day when I needed to. Unfortunately the putt didn't go in. I would
have like for him to have had to have made his, but didn't happen like that.
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