THE HONDA CLASSIC

March 10, 2001

Jesper Parnevik

JESPER PARNEVIK: I love being in the lead. I'd rather be a few shots ahead than a few shots behind. It seems like all the tournaments I've won or played with the lead, I've ended up winning. So it's a position I'm comfortable in. It seems like I play better when I am in a situation that seems like when the adrenaline starts flowing, my game gets better. So I would rather be in that situation rather than trying to play catch-up with the guys in front.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah, that was a tough chip. It was sitting up in the grass. I was scared of cutting underneath it and leaving it right there. I was just trying to get it within a few feet where I could make a par and then it just came off perfect.

JESPER PARNEVIK: It was an L-wedge. I didn't have much room to play with, so I had to get it up fairly softly for it to stop, but it was definitely a bonus.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah, even though three shots is not as big as it sounds. Any time you have a birdie/bogey situation, you're down to one again. But definitely, the bigger the lead, the better. That's the way I see it.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I had 195 to the pin and I hit a 5-iron out of the trap. I thought the wind was going to push it, but I think the grandstand there kind of sheltered the winds there over to the left. But I got tired at the end, I have to admit. After, you know, we had this holdup on 14, where we were two or three groups there, and then it was a long wait on the next par-5 as well. I felt like the energy kind of ran away a little bit and I didn't hit the putts as good as I wanted to. I mean, the eagle putt on 16, I missed it terribly. I left it two and a half feet short. Same thing on 17. So, I don't know what to do tomorrow. Hopefully it's going to run better. Bring some more bananas, maybe.

JESPER PARNEVIK: He was nice, actually. Even though he made a funny face behind my back, but it's a strange-looking putter. But Mark should not say anything with the grip he has. (Laughter.)

JESPER PARNEVIK: I must have blocked that out of my memory somehow. (Laughter.) No, I know it's going to be -- it's not like I can go out tomorrow and just try to make pars and protect my lead. The way the course is playing, as good of a shape as it is in with perfect greens and perfect fairways, if you don't get a lot of wind tomorrow, I know the guys behind me are going to make a lot of birdies. So I'm definitely going to keep being aggressive, try to shoot 5-, 6-, 7-under and see what happens. Yeah, it's not going to be that I can shoot a couple under and expect to win because Calc is playing way too well this year for that to happen.

JESPER PARNEVIK: My parent are here. Sister's husband's parents were here, and some friends from up in Palm Beach.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Jessica, the oldest one. And the youngest sister is actually engaged with Johansson now, so we have a real golfing family going now.

JESPER PARNEVIK: G-e-r-t-i-e.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I think so. Just the fact that I have putted well the first round, to get me in the lead. And, like I said, usually when any player I think gets into that situation, that's won before, I don't know how to explain it. It kind of feeds itself, your game. You want to stay there, you want to make more birdies, and it's a good circle. On the other hand, you have guys that start missing cuts and that could be a bad circle. Anytime I'm in the lead, I feel good about it.

JESPER PARNEVIK: You have to be lucky these days to win on the PGA TOUR. I don't think anyone could go out and play half decent and not get any breaks; you are just not going to win. You are probably going to get closer to missing the cut in that case. Without a doubt, I would say that any player that wins a tournament, looking back at it, found key moments that were good things happen where you've got to get a break, a good bounce in a fairway, holed a chip shot or holed a looping putt at the right time and that's just what you need to win the tournament. It's tough enough a game just to try to struggle without any breaks. You definitely need some breaks just to keep the momentum going.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Not much interesting, actually.

JESPER PARNEVIK: No, I quit the volcanic sand habit a few years ago. That was more of a testing. Most of the things that you've heard about are things that I've tried out in an attempt to improve my physique, my mental side and all that. You know, the things, the results if they are not what I thought they would, I don't keep on doing them. But I try pretty much all the time look for ways to stay ahead of the other guys, if you can put it that way. You know, as you see now, this week with 16-year-old guys now trying to compete with us. So it's not like you just can have a stroke under par and expect to win tournaments.

JESPER PARNEVIK: That's true, as well. I'm a magnet to people like that, as well. It seems like, you know, if they have a funny idea or a strange idea or new method or something, they come to me first and ask me if I want to try it out, and usually I do try it out.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I mean, I always say when I'm having fun on the golf course. When I feel like the crowd is having a lot of fun and so on, that's when I play my best golf. You know, when I'm frustrated or think about other things and so on, it's tough to produce good golf scores, I think.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I can't remember his name. He just came up to me Wednesday night. Asked me if I wanted to have a try with it and I hit one putt and I said all right.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I tried it a little bit on the putting green, but I've never tried it on the golf course before.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Well, I drained a 15-footer on the 1st hole. I said, "Yeah, this is good."

JESPER PARNEVIK: No.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah.

JESPER PARNEVIK: No. But he's probably pretty happy right now. You know -- I don't even know if they sell the putter to the public, but he's got a lot of publicity out of it. They even showed it on TV today. He's very happy.

JESPER PARNEVIK: No. I think it was one of the reps that follow the Tour. It was a new company that he was dealing with.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I don't know what it was. First time I put it down, it felt like, wow, I can see where I'm aiming. You know, I don't know what it is, sometimes you put a putter down and it feels perfect. It feels like you can aim it and stroke it wherever you are aiming. Some putters are hooded or open and it's tough to get the putter to feel square, but this one felt perfect straightaway, even though it looked fun.

JESPER PARNEVIK: No. It's just more of a feeling when you set it down and try to aim that it's very easy to aim with it. You know, I don't know what it is. I picked up a Betti Nardi putter at Greensboro a couple years ago and tried it the first time and I had like 99 putts that week and putted great with it. I don't know how to explain it. Sometimes it just feels good.

JESPER PARNEVIK: No. Actually the one I was using felt pretty good. It was just that this one felt pretty good or -- I don't know how -- it must be something to do with the eyes or the vision down looking at it. Because sometimes you can grab someone else's putter and you cannot understand how they can put with it because it looks like it's aiming way left or something like this. This one is just perfect. I also know that that could change next week.

JESPER PARNEVIK: The Betti Nardi.

JESPER PARNEVIK: It's pretty much -- I have a fair idea when I start the tournament what I'm going to wear each day. Otherwise, it would take way too long to figure out in the morning.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Last year we had pink on Sunday when I had a chance to win. You know, I didn't want to make it too much about it because then I have to wear pink every Sunday for the rest of my life; so I didn't do it this year.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Tomorrow it's just going to be similar like today. Like the checkered pants is a new fashion thing going, Burberry-checkered pants.

JESPER PARNEVIK: No pink tomorrow.

JESPER PARNEVIK: It's Footjoy but actually Lindenberg, the guy who makes my clothing, the guy wants to get into making shoes for Footjoy. So he -- we make him up the way I like them, but Footjoy makes really quality -- they make shoes, but I have some input on what I want on the shoe.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I did for awhile and I slipped once and that was it. That was the back of my mind on every shot after that so I couldn't do it. Actually, on some greens I have to say, Pebble Beach this year, I think it is much better with spikes than with soft spikes. Because when the greens are soft, you know, the soft spikes leave a big crater instead of just a little hole on the green is.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Adam Scott is wearing his clothing starting now and Tommy Tolles. I think that's it on the U.S. A few ladies, a lot of ladies on the ladies tour.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Probably chatty in the beginning and then if it's tight at the end, I don't think we're going to be too chatty, even though we are good friends. That's just the way it happens. Both guys are going to be very focused on what's going on and pretty much just trying to win.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I think it's just my curiosity, always being curious, open-minded to different things, when people approach me about new things. Same thing when he approached me about the clothing, I thought it sounded like a great idea. Lindenberg, which is the name of the clothing felt that the clothing, the golf clothing has got too ordinary, too boring, too loose or whatever you want to call it. You know, it was more tennis shirts -- not jeans, but almost going towards jeans on the golf course and he just like the way Palmer, Hogan and all those guys dressed. He liked when it was -- everybody back then made almost a fashion statement with their clothing. They let their personality talk through their clothing. You know, those players back then wore some great outfits and he just wanted to bring back fashion into golf again. I thought it sounded like a great idea and pretty much wore it for free the first few years.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I had the idea for a while, but I gave that up fairly quickly because it's tough to do anything -- I think if your father is very successful in any area, it's really tough to go and walk in his footprints because you are always going to be compared. Doesn't matter what you do, really; you're going to be compared to your father, and thought I would try something on my own instead.

JESPER PARNEVIK: A whole golf show he does.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Oh, yeah. He's a golf nut, put it that way.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Zen Oracle, Z-E-N, Training System.

JESPER PARNEVIK: A couple weeks now. It's amazing. You know they don't sell it, I don't think, but all of the pros that have tried it think it is an amazing feel. It loosens up your stroke; how it makes you put on a perfect path straightaway. It has really helped me a lot.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah. Someone mailed it to me.

JESPER PARNEVIK: You can do that, yeah. You put one ball inside and you stroke that and try to almost release it into the hole or you can put a ball in front of the doughnut hole and putt that one and release the other one so they both run into the hole. No, I like it.