DORAL-RYDER OPEN

March 7, 1997

Jesper Parnevik

JESPER PARNEVIK: Good day, of course. I mean, it is my birthday for those who didn't know that. Well, of course, we were up early. I was first off this morning and it was very nasty and then we were when we were on the range they said it was going to be a 1-hour delay. So, I stood on the range one extra hour. I was a little disappointed because of yesterday. The wind was blowing pretty good. And I was just, you know, very pleased to get off to a good start. I didn't know what to expect. My game felt very good coming into yesterday. Like I said, I hit some more dumb shots than bad ones yesterday. Laid up in the water on 8. I was going to lay up with a wedge yesterday on 8 and knocked it in the water - things like that. My game felt good, like I said, so, I was very pleased today, of course. I mean, on the back 9 all I really tried to do was buy some sleeping time. I have a place up here in North Palm Beach where I am going to stay tonight, so I just -- to everybody it meant pretty much an extra hour sleep, so, that was good.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I don't know. Nobody knows. I have no idea. I talked to Tom Lehman a little about it in Hawaii. It is just amazing how small things that make such a big difference. It is just one up-and-down there and 1-putt there and, I mean, that is enough. One extra up-and-down and hole one 6-footer per round, that is eight shots; all of a sudden, you are going to be winning instead of being missing the cut. And, that is just how small the difference is between being No. 1 and back there. But at the same time, I think to get those shots, you have to be very good. Like, Norman, he is always there, every week, so I think he is so much on top of everybody else to be able to do that because with golf, having luck involved and all that, you have to be really, really good to be there every week, I think. So I don't really know. I took some time off last fall and I was really looking forward to playing this year, maybe that is part of it, my focus, I really enjoyed playing.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah, it is like some players, you know, they play really well and they do a video; write a book how they do; then they can't play after that. So I would rather leave it at that.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Oh, I would like to feel so, yeah. I mean, it is -- if I had a few chances. I felt I had a real good chance in San Diego. But, I mean, small things at the end of the round that makes the difference. I mean, I definitely feel like I should win sooner or later.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah, I hit a lot of, you know, fairway bunker shots, actually. Every time yesterday, I was in the fairway bunkers, I hit it fat coming out or I didn't know what was wrong. I always came up 15, 20 yards short and I made like three bogeys that way. And I just hit maybe 50 balls out of the bunker out of a really bad lie. I think I was in the bunker once today and I got it out all right. So, I guess, it paid off.

JESPER PARNEVIK: 18, I think a little bit too severe. I mean, today it is downwind, no problem today because if you hit it far, you can just blow it over everything. But, into wind, you are talking you have 5 yards maybe to aim for, which is, I don't think it is enough, but who knows. I think Raymond shot 69 yesterday, so I am not going to say anything.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Usually the summertime I go to Sweden and I stay there. Last year, I didn't do that much but usually I take about two months, I go to Sweden in the summer, play European Tour; go back to Sweden; take sometime off so on, around the British Open. Definitely more time over here now. You know, my goal was -- shall I say, my plan this year was to play a lot over here on this Tour this year, but then you have all the Ryder Cup and this and that and I don't know -- I would like to just play here for one year and see how I am doing. Of course, I would play some in Europe because I really enjoying playing there, but it is just -- if you try to play full-time on both, I think it is tough. Because it is a lot of travelling and you get tired.

JESPER PARNEVIK: It is more if I am forced to do something. I am going to try to stick to my game plan.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Play the whole Florida swing. Augusta, MCI, then I probably going to go back to Europe and play the Volvo, the Andersen Consulting; then come back here for Memorial and those, U.S. Open. Then play A few here. Then go back for British, play a couple in Europe. Come back for PGA, go back to Europe. So I am still a little bit back and forth. I just don't want to do it -- I think last year I flew seven times across the Atlantic just in June, July, which was a little bit too much.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I talked to him a little bit before the Lancome last year in Paris, and then he kind of asked me to come back to Europe and play full-time there instead and I kind of told him that I was not going to do that, so -- but, I mean, Ryder Cup is very important to him. It is one -- the high light of the year pretty much when Ryder Cup comes around.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Oh, you never know. I thought I had a good chance last time and -- it all depends who is -- who gets in and so on. I mean, with 2 picks you never know.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I would like to see 12. (Laughter) Just -- I mean, in any other team sport you just pick the 12 best players that week and that is it. You don't, you know, look what someone did two years ago like over here and so on. It is -- you would never do that in a basketball game or hockey game or you just pick the best team for that week and that is it.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I hit driver, sand wedge.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah, which is -- the hole is okay then (laughter)

JESPER PARNEVIK: I only had 110 to the pin.

JESPER PARNEVIK: But, to win, you are talking driver, 1-iron maybe. It is so tight right there when you hit your driver. Then I thought it was a tough hole the way it was, but I mean --

JESPER PARNEVIK: 1: Driver, driver, pin-high about 30 feet and 2-putted. 4: I missed the green. In the bunker; knocked it up to about 6 feet and missed the putt. 8: I hit driver, 3-iron in the left-hand bunker, knocked that to two feet. 10: Driver, 3-wood, just short of the green, chipped it to 4 feet. Made the putt. 11: I hit 4-iron, 8-iron to about 25 feet; holed it. 13: 4-iron, to eight feet. 15: I hit 9-iron to six feet. 17: I hit sand wedge to three feet.

JESPER PARNEVIK: 13 was playing 216.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah.

JESPER PARNEVIK: It spun back. In the end, I was happy. It didn't spin back in the water. It stayed on the green. It looked like if it took that -- another foot or so it could go all the way down. I guess about 20 feet straight uphill putt. But I knock that at least four feet by so I was very happy with par at the end.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Because I had time off. All the other years I been travelling so much playing both Tours you play after-season tournaments. You play the World Cup, Dunhill, all those. I pretty much played up until mid-December almost and then you had two weeks before; then you start it again. Felt like I never had a break. It was a never ending year. It was always just a never ending story. And, it was more like, I just started playing because the season started again. And, this year, I took you know, three and a half months off and I was just -- after two months I was eager to play again and -- so, it was just a different approach when I got there. I didn't mind that much that I maybe not was -- what should I say, that I had practiced as much as the years before, but it was just more fun, which I really looked forward to it.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Oh, 100 things to do. I had friends over from Sweden. I had my family over. Fishing, played golf, you know, I am one of those golfers I like playing golf even though it is not a tournament. Sometimes I enjoy playing recreational golf more than actual tournament golf because I really love the game and sometimes it is like too much like work when you are at the tournament. And, so, I mean, I enjoy playing with anyone. I mean, I play I have a lot of amateur friends I play with. Just people I know.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I was a few weeks in Sweden; then I came to Florida and then my friends came over, we were fishing, all things. Playing cards, bridge, I like bridge. I like to play bridge.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Well, where I am based now is Admirals Cove, so I play around there a lot. I used to play a lot at Ibis up there. Medallist, I had played some there. I really like that place, Greg Norman's golf course. It is so many good players up there. Seminole is not too far from where I am, and a lot of beautiful courses. (HIS CHILD COMING ONTO DIAS AND SITTING ON HIS LAP).

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah.

JESPER PARNEVIK: And my caddie's, yeah.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I don't know. I don't think we were going to be too crazy, drive up -- quite a bit of a long drive, so, like I said, I was very happy to make some birdies coming in. You are used to this. (TALKING TO HIS CHILD). We had about 5 different TV teams from Sweden over last week, so she is kind of used to this now.

JESPER PARNEVIK: At least two. She was at day care two weeks ago and she came home and said "no" and "my," so I guess she is picking some of the bad ones up. (Laughter).

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah, last week it was a little bit very -- almost too much. It was -- I guess I am terrible to say no. I usually say "no;" then they tell me, oh, we only need this; then I say, yes after two minutes. So it was a little bit too much. I probably spent, oh, at least 40 hours last week just doing interviews, so it was a lot.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Oh, yeah. They don't have any clue. They just do it because that magazine did it. "Oh, we have got to go there." They don't even know what is going on.

JESPER PARNEVIK: No, I had about 3, but it was like 6 different papers, and magazines. That is all did I last week.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah, it was tougher than I thought, actually. Especially when -- I mean, if you do one other interview or something like that, it is not that bad. When they want to do 6 hours, 7 hours, then it is getting tough. When they want to do the whole at-your-house kind of deal, where they want to film you swimming in the pool and sleeping and all of that. (Laughter)

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah. I would say so.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Well, Sports Illustrated had me eat sand last week. (Laughter). But that is a long story behind that. (Laughter)

JESPER PARNEVIK: No, I went on a fruit diet a few last year and I ate a lot of volcanic sand with it too, cleanse out my body and they thought I was -- I ate some sand in front of them.

JESPER PARNEVIK: It is somewhere in Europe. I bring it back from Sweden.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I just take it straight. (Laughter)

JESPER PARNEVIK: Really expensive. I don't know why. It taste just like regular dirt. (Laughter). I don't know.

JESPER PARNEVIK: You know, when you are that age (POINTING TO HIS CHILD), you eat dirt. I just remember the taste.

JESPER PARNEVIK: When you travel so much you play tournaments, you eat a lot of bad food and you just feel bad after a while. You feel like you got to do something, you just want to cleanse out your system, you know, recover from all the cheese and junk food you eat.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah, sometimes, yep. This fall I was on it again. Last fall.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Thank you.