FORD SENIOR PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

July 12, 2001

Ed Dougherty

ED DOUGHERTY: I played yesterday in the Pro-Am and I thought the golf course was really hard. And basically, I had not been playing very well the past couple months, the past six weeks. So I just went back to basics in my thought process: I wanted to hit the fairways, I wanted to hit the greens. Maybe just make par and birdies would just happen. As a result, the second hole I hit an 8-iron up there about three foot; and I made that putt, and all last week, believe it or not, I missed every birdie putt I had, three foot to five foot. It was unbelievable. I made it and it gave me a bit of confidence. Next hole, I hit it in there about ten foot and I eagled the hole, 3-iron. Then. Hit a 4-iron to the par 3 and I sunk about a 30-footer, and all of the sudden, I was 4-under par. And I parred 5. I missed the birdie putt on 6. On 7, I killed the drive. I hit 6-iron in there about six-foot and I lipped out another eagle. So I birdied that hole. Then I parred 8. And I 3-putted 9, which was disappointing; good front nine for me. Went over on 10 and I missed it from about ten foot for birdie on 10. And had about 15 foot on 11. And then on 12, I hit 8-iron to the middle of the green and I made another 30-footer. Then 13, I hit a 5-wood up there. Almost got up on top of the hill and rolled down into the valley and I 2-putted that one. After that, I just gave myself birdie opportunities all the way in. 14 was a hard hole. I hit a 5-iron in there. Hit right beside the pin and bounced up and I 2-putted. 15, I hit 5-iron right behind the hole. And I watched Tom Jenkins put down the hole and it was really fast and sort of scared me a little bit, so I left it short, but I didn't want to goose it by and have a hard par putt coming back. I wanted to give myself a chance to make birdie there and I made par. 16, I hit a wedge up there and I just overread the putt, but hit a good putt. 17, I hit a 3-wood off the tee. I wanted to make it a three-shot hole. It was really windy and I had a wedge, and I would say I had about a 50-footer and nice 2-putt. 18, I hit a 3-wood middle of the fairway and pulled my iron just a little bit more than what I wanted it to be and went on the hill and went down in the trap and I made bogey. A little disappointing but still a good round of golf. The last hole, about 12-foot putt. I just overread it. I wanted it to be straight. I'm blaming that one on my caddy. He said it was breaking right-to-left. I know I didn't miss it. (Laughter.)

ED DOUGHERTY: I didn't make anything last week. I shot under par every day last week. I just wasn't making the shorter ones. You know, all of the sudden you make one and you get your confidence and you are off and running. That's basically what happened. My wife said that I played today with a lot of confidence, which is nice, because I've been -- I was fortunate enough to win in Kansas City a couple of weeks ago. You know, I don't want to tell you a letdown happened, because if it did, I didn't want it to happen, but I haven't played worth a darn since then. Matter of fact this is probably the first round I've shot in the 60s since then, so it is nice to be back in the hunt.

ED DOUGHERTY: No, it's all right. Just made way for some elbows, that's all. I'm thrilled to be where I'm at. There's some great names up there, and that's what this tournament is. It's a good tournament. It's a great tournament. You've got the best players in the world who have ever played. So, believe me, I'm thankful to be where I'm at.

ED DOUGHERTY: I couldn't even tell you.

ED DOUGHERTY: I think I've finished in the Top-20 maybe. I don't know, you'd have to look it up. I've played decent here. It's not a course that I don't like, you know what I mean? I think when you feel comfortable on a course -- it's a good driving golf course. I just said on ESPN that I broke my driver. At the U.S. Open I had went through like five drivers that week and I missed the cut. But the Ping people sent back my old driver shaft with the head on it this week and they brought me eight drivers, and I hit my old driver shaft and it felt like it -- you know, it just felt good. All of the sudden, the waves just become real calm. I drove the ball really well today and it felt like an old friend back there. I think that's what I've really been struggling to do. If you're not comfortable with one part of your game, it puts added pressure on everything else. But I was very happy seeing that old shaft come back. I broke it last October. The head cracked, at the TOUR Championship, believe it or not. It was the day before the TOUR Championship. Ping tried to fix it and I've been trying other drivers. I must have tried 50 of them. Give them credit, they are always right there with me saying this and that. Finally, they got the shaft and sent this one back and tried to make the club as much like the old one. So I'm very thankful for that. I hope I don't carry another drive in my life because I like this one and I'm sick of trying them.

ED DOUGHERTY: The Kansas City deal was unbelievable in the sense that for me and my career -- like, I ran away from the golf tournament. The only thing that I can honestly tell you was that in the press room, they are saying, you're doing this, so good this and that, and to the guys, I said, "I know I'm not this good." And when I play bad like I have the last couple weeks, I know I'm not that bad. I just wanted to get back on an even keel. The win was a thrill of the last year. When I won in Minnesota, it sort of springboarded me because I finished in the Top-10 the next couple weeks and I sort of expected that. But after I won in Kansas City, we flew all night to New York. I got lost over in New Jersey in those damn circles trying to find my hotel room. I got in around three o'clock in the morning. I played 8:30 that day, Monday morning, and then we had some trouble -- my uncle had a stroke in Philadelphia and we drove back and forth a couple times that week and I got tired. So that maybe was a letdown. These are all excuses and I don't want to say that. I've been trying as hard as I could. I'm glad the driver that I had today was the driver that I had in the Open a couple years ago, the shaft. I feel I'm a good driver. Like the stats -- these friend are just great of mine. They call me and say: "Hey, last three years you finished second, second and fourth in the driving stats. This year, you're 50. What do you think you're doing different?" "Maybe not playing as good, huh?" I don't know. But I knew I was having trouble driving. So I just feel comfortable with my driver. I got it Tuesday. I did press deal in Minnesota, came here Tuesday, when we were on the range, and I played yesterday in the Pro-Am with it. So I could have had any driver that I wanted there, and I went whack to my old one. I'm thrilled about it. First shot, all of the sudden it's like -- for somebody who was lost, yeah, it felt really good.

ED DOUGHERTY: Well, my friends -- you know, you might be tentative about giving me some music -- my friend come right out and give me the music. No holds are barred there.

ED DOUGHERTY: Last year it was great because coming down the stretch, I had Hale Irwin and Gil Morgan in front of me and I was watching. You know, it was a thrill to win. And then Kansas City, I just sort of blew everybody away. You know, what makes you a different player or whatever -- an article about me at the Open that year and I told you then one of these days I would be proud of finishing second in the Open, and I was. The wins are great, but really, the highlight of my tour career was really Des Moines and the way people perceived me and playing in the lead for the U.S. Open for 3 1/2 rounds. I think I sort of realized I was a decent player. I think I just said, hey, I can play. Since then, I've had a lot of seconds and I've had two wins and I've won more money out here than I ever imagined. This is a dream come true. I'm just happy to be out here and play, and I'm a hot-shot out here sometimes. So, it's a thrill. The best job in America in my book. You know, I'm lucky. You've never heard me bitch about everybody, but I am lucky to be doing what I'm doing. If you write anything, please include that in the article, because this is a thrill. This is better than a dream.

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