NEC WORLD SERIES OF GOLF

August 27, 1998

Craig Parry

CRAIG PARRY: Well, I actually hit the first four greens in regulation, but then I had one ball stay on the green out there and I decided to play a little more defensive and hit towards the middle of the green a little bit more and not play so much of an attacking game of golf out there. I birdied 10, 11, 12, which is very surprising. I haven't made 3 birdies in a row all year let alone in this tournament, so I was surprised. So I played pretty well. I putted really well. The ball could have rolled in the hole a few more times, but that was the way it went. All over, I was very happy with my game. Drove the ball, good irons.

CRAIG PARRY: The birdie putts on 10 was from about feet five feet behind the hole. 11, I hit it to about same distance, five feet. And on 12, I holed about an 8-footer across the green. And then on the last hole, I went from about 3 foot.

CRAIG PARRY: Well, when you hit at my length, it's always tough. Obviously, it's a bit easier. I'm hitting driver quite a lot out there. Probably only hitting maybe 3- or 4-woods as far as hitting it in position for the hole. So I was pretty happy with the round, yeah.

CRAIG PARRY: It's definitely shorter than yesterday. It's probably playing -- it's as easy as it could play because if it gets firmer and slopes on the fairway, the ball is going to run more and run into the trees on the rough and it's a lot harder to drive the ball out there because a lot of the balls are straight away. But you've got a lot of slopes so you have to maneuver the ball off the tee. So it's a strange situation. If it gets any firmer, I think the course could play tougher even though the ball will go further.

CRAIG PARRY: Pretty ordinary. It's very ordinary. I really haven't played that well this year and I've had a couple of top tens, but really haven't played that well. I will be happy for this year to be over. I've still got quite a few months left. If I have a good end of the year, people will say I had a good year but, so far, it's been pretty ordinary.

CRAIG PARRY: I really haven't -- I've driven the ball pretty well this year, I think. Bunker play a little bit. Probably a little too aggressive with the irons, as usual. I haven't putted that well. Today, I putted well. I had a lot of tapping putts for pars and last week I changed my putter and it seems to be working pretty good.

CRAIG PARRY: This is my last event for this year over here and then I'm going to go home to Australia and have three weeks at home. Then I'll go up to Japan for two weeks and then home for another two weeks and then L.A. for another week and then home for a week and then up to Japan for another two and then Australia again for, hopefully, the President's Cup. So...

CRAIG PARRY: I've changed to a Bulls Eye. Last week -- the week after the PGA -- I actually didn't play that badly at the PGA, I hit driver off the tee a lot, hit it in a pretty good position; averaged, like, 32 and a half putts. My putting stat is a little bit misleading because I haven't been hitting a lot of greens so that meant that, you know, I've been having a lot less putts than probably the other guys and, you know, when you hit the greens, the birdie putts. So I'm making quite a lot of them. So all up, I haven't really putted that well this year.

CRAIG PARRY: You name it.

CRAIG PARRY: I was using Ping Zing. It was the putter -- it has the E on the end of it.

CRAIG PARRY: Well, put it this way: the golf ball I use is ten years old, designed in Japan and it's a real MaxFli and gives the guys quite a lot of advantage. But, you know, that's up to everyone to use whatever they want and, sure, the guys are hitting it further, but I think they're swinging it better, too, than ten years ago. A lot better plays. Stronger, fitter. You can't class me in that category, but, yeah...

CRAIG PARRY: I'll get in my boat a lot and relax. I'm not really worried about my golf over the summer. I bought a boat at the end of last year and I wanted to write it off as a deduction because I actually played pretty good at the end of the year. I went out and won Japan the following week and made third in the AUSTRALIAN OPEN and went up to Japan again and then, every 2nd week, I was finishing 3rd when I was going out on the boat. So, hopefully, I'm going to have a good summer on my both this year.

CRAIG PARRY: Riviera 32. I'm just about to get another one, I think, at home.

CRAIG PARRY: 32 foot.

CRAIG PARRY: No, it's a motorboat. I think I'm a bit too lazy to put the sail up.

CRAIG PARRY: I live in Sydney. It's right between the opera house and Homebush where the Olympics will be. We're just about to mover into a house on the water. We're moving when I go home next Monday. So I'm looking forward to that.

CRAIG PARRY: I hit a drive and left-hand bunker and about a 3 in the rough, the light rough, the very first cut. And hit 4 out short, chipped it to about 12 foot and missed it. Actually, a pretty good putt.

CRAIG PARRY: If I play like this tomorrow and Saturday, obviously, it's going to be a big chance. You know, I'm playing well at the moment. I felt as though I played all right at Denver last week. I think it's a big disadvantage by going to Denver and not hitting the ball as well as Vijay or Tiger or Steve Larry. I played with Steve the first day last week and he was hitting the 7-iron in the No. 10. I'm hitting 4-iron into the green trying to stop him. It's a big disadvantage there when you go there. I felt like I played pretty well last week and it's starting to come around, yeah.

CRAIG PARRY: Okay.