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VERIZON HERITAGE

April 16, 2010

Charles Howell III

HILTON HEAD, SOUTH CAROLINA

CHRIS REIMER: Welcome Charles Howell III to the interview room. Currently tied for the second-round lead at the Verizon Heritage. Charles, maybe just start with talking about the conditions this afternoon on the golf course.
CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, the start of the day wasn't too bad for an afternoon tee time. The wind really didn't get up until the back nine. So I think we got the better of the draw.
But then 17 and 18, you can't believe how hard the wind can blow on those two holes if you've never felt three or four holes prior. And it's just amazing. You go from playing holes 10 through 15 really not feeling that much wind. And 17 and 18 just seemed like two holes from a different golf course, quite a finish.
CHRIS REIMER: Take us through the birdie on 18 to get you to 7-under.
CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, 18 a bit in between clubs off the tee. It was funny, in the wind I hit driver. I hit driver, 7-iron today. I hit 4-iron off the tee and 8-iron in. So quite a drastic change, there. Putt from off the green, putt it from the fringe, ball was like Plinko going down there, but somehow goes in. That happens some days in golf, but unfortunately not every day.

Q. How much are you hitting driver here?
CHARLES HOWELL III: I think I hit it three times today. But it's amazing, 7-under is leading the tournament, it's one of the shortest courses we play. It's funny that architects and people that build golf courses don't realize that. What a gem this place is. What is it, 6,900 yards? I think I hit three drivers today and every hole is hard.

Q. Can you recall how many drivers yesterday?
CHARLES HOWELL III: It actually was a bit more. I hit six yesterday. But every single hole you just have to think. And the wind swirling a little bit and the trees makes it that much more difficult. But we play golf courses, 7,500-7,600 yards that are easier than this.

Q. Were you surprised, do you check the leaders at all? And if so, were you surprised that no one seemed to kind of separate from the score we had yesterday leading?
CHARLES HOWELL III: Yeah, very. Yeah. I felt somebody would get to 10-under, especially seeing it get to 7-under in the morning at the start of the day. I thought the lead would get to around 10-under. The greens were absolutely perfect. But with that said, you know, this golf course, it just does it. It's not long but it just seems to be really difficult to go low around it. If the conditions keep up like this over the weekend, I don't think the leader will get that far out.

Q. Do you have a tendency to be aggressive? Do you have fight against that and be patient?
CHARLES HOWELL III: Oh, absolutely. Great example the 15th hole, the par-5, I hit driver off the tee. I had 220 to the front. I couldn't quite go for it because of the trees. It's still in the fairway, though, and hit 9-iron, lob wedge. I can't think of the last par-5 I hit driver, 9-iron and lob wedge. For me I'm trying to hit a high hook 5-iron over the trees or whatnot. But, yeah, the golf course, it forces you to be patient on some holes, but other holes I've got to force myself to be patient.

Q. Did you win a Junior Heritage here?
CHARLES HOWELL III: I won a Junior Heritage, but not at Harbour Town. It was played at a different golf course. We didn't get to play this one.

Q. You have come back the past couple of years. Is that because it backed up to The Masters?
CHARLES HOWELL III: Yeah, those few years I played in The Masters, and being from Augusta and all that, I probably overdid it the week of the Masters and wore myself out a bit. So I didn't play here. But it was only the reason for that. I love the golf course. You wouldn't say it's my type of golf course or a golf course that sets up perfect for me. But I enjoy it. I love playing it and hopefully we've got a few more to play.

Q. Davis also kills it with the driver like you. But maybe even before you turned pro you probably watched Davis on TV here. Did you pick up anything about the way he plays it that you put in your game here?
CHARLES HOWELL III: Yeah, you're exactly right. You'd think this golf course shouldn't fit Davis Love as well as it does, and he's won here a bunch. He's extremely patient. He hits a lot of irons and fairway woods off the tees. So? A way you can argue and use it to your advantage by saying, well, I just have to hit 3-wood off the tee or 5-wood, etc. There are a couple of par-5s where length can help. But, man, for the most part we're playing from the same spot. So it's just a hell of a test. I wish there were more courses on Tour that were set up this way. Not only with this length but with the trees and the character of it.

Q. What were your expectations coming into this week and the state of your game? Did you have in your mind that this could be a good week for you?
CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, I was home last week. I didn't get to Augusta, so practicing a bunch. I knew I had a good week of practice. But this is the first of four weeks in a row for me. And generally speaking I play better as my weeks in a row go. But, yeah, I've got my golf teacher here this week, because he's here from Sea Island, so he's out here every day. Things like that have a certain comfort level to it. I knew my game was okay. It's hard to ever come off a week off and say, well, I feel great this week. It's one of those where I feel I have to play my way into it a bit. And here we are at 7-under, which I'm very pleased with. I'm still surprised that's leading.

Q. How do you feel about your game and your results this year so far?
CHARLES HOWELL III: I've had a good year. I've had a nice start. Obviously I want to win a golf tournament more than anything. It's been since Riviera in '07 that I've won. And that's what people remember you for and that's what it's about, is winning. I've had a couple of good chances this year and haven't done it. And hopefully this week I can have a chance come Sunday. It's supposed to be breezy tomorrow, which is good. I think it's good for me. It looks, based on that leaderboard, to be a shootout come Sunday.

Q. Can you go over some of your highlights today. Maybe there was a shot that stood out, maybe not even a birdie. Some of the golfers are talking about some of the par saves were more exciting than some of the birdies.
CHARLES HOWELL III: I think, well, a couple of things: A big hole for me was I made birdie on No. 9 which, once again, is 330 yards. But it's a tight front flag, downwind. I made a nice putt for 3 there.
And then around the turn, 10, 11, 12, I hung in there. And then 14, the par-3 I thought I hit a really good shot to the left side of the green. The ball went down into one of the Pete Dye holes.
And the 4 I made there was actually really good. I didn't walk off that green as hot as I normally would be walking off of a bogey. I felt I hit four good shots and made a bogey. I think making 4 there, as opposed to doing something crazy and making a 5, by trying to make a miracle shot. Maybe in my younger days I would have tried the hot flop and made 3 or 5. I think making that 4 there calmed me down a bit and the birdies. The big one was getting ready for 14.

Q. You talked about the Pete Dye course. Do you like this course more because it is so different? Is it the more you play it, the more you like it?
CHARLES HOWELL III: I think the more I play it, the more I learn it. I've liked the golf course since I first played it. But the first few times around it, it may be hard to grasp the angles, the tree limbs that hang across greens, you know, what holes to lay way back on, what holes to be more aggressive. Just because the ball is in the fairway doesn't mean you have a shot to the green. It took me a bit of time to learn that out, to rein myself in a bit. Play a 440 yard par-4 with a 5-wood off the tee, for instance.
But as far as players go, I don't know a player that doesn't like this place. I'd say the few guys that don't play it, probably only has to do with The Masters the week before.

Q. You've mentioned a couple of times that the course being 6,600 yards. Nick Price used to say years ago, if you want to Tiger-proof a course, you don't make it longer, you make it shorter. Is this proof of what Nick was talking about years ago?
CHARLES HOWELL III: Oh, a hundred percent. If the golf course is built at 7,500 yards and bunkers are 300 to carry, I mean what a great course for a JB Holmes, Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson. You get the guy that drives it that long, it's out of play. Here it doesn't matter how far you hit it, you're all shaping the ball in the fairway certain lengths. Yeah, I think Nick's comments were spot on. Tiger-proof or whatever, you do it this way. You don't do it longer and longer, for sure. But I haven't seen a new golf course built like this ever. I'm sure there's some somewhere, I just am not old enough.
CHRIS REIMER: Thanks for coming in. Good luck this weekend.

End of FastScripts

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