SONY OPEN IN HAWAII

January 15, 2004

David Ishii

JOHN BUSH: We'd like to welcome David Ishii into the interview room.

A 4-under par 66. David, nice playing today.

DAVID ISHII: Thank you.

JOHN BUSH: Can you talk a little bit about your round?

DAVID ISHII: I had five birdies, I guess, and one bogey.

I started on the back nine. Birdied 11, 17 and 18.

JOHN BUSH: Can you take us through those in terms of your approach shots?

DAVID ISHII: 11, I hit a 4-iron to about six feet or so.

17, I hit a 6-iron just over a foot.

18, I was in the front left bunker and busted out to about maybe ten feet, eight or ten feet and made that.

Bogeyed immediately the next hole. I flew the green and didn't make a good pitch back and made bogey there.

Then birdied 6, 4-iron to about 12 feet.

Last hole, I had an approach wedge, 99 yards and made about a 15-footer there.

Q. How was the first round, how was it?

DAVID ISHII: It was great for me. The day was much better than yesterday, so I was pleased. There's no wind the first nine holes.

The back nine, it started to blow, you know, just a gentle, almost trade-like wind, but a little different angle.

I think the afternoon they will have a little more wind than we had in the morning.

Q. What did you think of the crowds, playing one group in front of Michelle, you caught a lot of that heavy gallery that was following her around?

DAVID ISHII: Yeah, she had the big galleries. We kept looking back to see how they were doing. And Michelle, she was always out there, even with those guys in the back. We heard a few roars, so somebody must have been hitting it close and making birdies back there.

Q. Have you ever played with Michelle?

DAVID ISHII: No. I played in a shootout one year maybe about three holes, that's about all. But that's when she was 12.

Q. What's the state of your game right now?

DAVID ISHII: Driver is pretty accurate. Irons, not certain, but today I hit some good irons, so pretty pleased.

I almost made a hole-in-one on the 8th. I hit a couple 4-irons that turned out. I usually don't make birdies with 4-irons, but I had them pretty close. So I was pretty pleased.

Q. How is your senior golf game?

DAVID ISHII: Hopeful. I hope I can play like this.

I've been trying to make that as a goal, to try to improve by the time I get to 50 and this is a good start.

All of last year, I didn't have a round in the 60s, so to have a round in the 60s in a Tour event is pretty nice.

Q. When is the last time you had a round in the 60s here, in this tournament?

DAVID ISHII: I can't remember. I don't know.

Q. Did you think the course played pretty easy under the conditions?

DAVID ISHII: I think so. Today it was pretty soft. Greens were nice. It had moisture on it and they were nice playing conditions. I don't think it's as difficult as it usually gets in the Hawaiian Open because the greens are not hard and they are not running real fast. So if you're hitting good irons, this was the day to take advantage of the greens. The greens aren't as fast as they usually are because of the big rains, I think, yesterday.

But the rough is longer, I think. So driving the ball in the fairway is a premium. If you get in the fairway, you can have nice shots to the green. But in the rough, it all depends on what kind of lie you get. There are some really bad lies out there.

Q. Being a local phenomena of Hawaii, success story, is there anything unique about Hawaii from your perspective that has allowed Michelle to come about?

DAVID ISHII: I don't know. I think Michelle is just a special person. The next Tiger Woods, I think it's a one in a million person. For her to come out of Hawaii is great for us here because we get a lot of free publicity from her, which we don't get at all. It's a big credit to her. She had a pretty good round, 14-year-old in a Tour event, 72, that's amazing.

When I was 14, I just broke 80. (Laughter.) That's the first time I broke 80, when I was 14. So for her to play against most of our idols, and not to be flustered by it, being nervous, is pretty amazing for a teenager to do that.

Q. Have you said anything to her?

DAVID ISHII: No.

Q. You're reknowned for your soft-spoken approach.

DAVID ISHII: No. I know the parents, I know her, but never talked with her about golf or anything.

Her father and her teachers have her well under control. I hope her all the success and I hope she continues to improve, and she'll be maybe the next woman regular on the men's tour, or the first woman to play on the men's tour.

I think she's a great one.

Q. How do you feel coming in and how you like your position?

DAVID ISHII: Oh, it's great. Totally unexpected. I'm just going out there trying. I practiced here and I've been playing almost every day the last week and I've been hitting most of the fairways off the tee, but my irons aren't as good as it was maybe ten, 15 years ago.

The last couple days, it's gotten a lot better. I just hope I can have another good day tomorrow and get past the 36-hole cut and from there, it's all gravy. It's a lot of fun.

Out here, you need to have two good rounds. You can't have one good round and just go to sleep on the next day. It's good to have a good start.

JOHN BUSH: David, we appreciate you coming by. Congratulations on a great start.

End of FastScripts.