THE HONDA CLASSIC

March 10, 2001

Lee Janzen

LEE JANZEN: Okay. I don't know how much it rained last night, but the overnight rain or whatever watering they did on the course definitely softened the greens and, I think that definitely helped the scoring today. The wind yesterday, when it picked up, we only had six holes to go, but it made a difference on how hard and how fast the greens got. And the lack of wind today I think, and a little bit softer greens really led to better scoring. I saw lots of good scores up there. I just drove the ball much better today. I love the driver I've had. I hit the ball great on the range, but I've just been struggling with it on the course, and today I finally got in a groove with it, which is good news because the next couple of weeks, that will come in handy.

LEE JANZEN: I felt like I could go out and shoot a score, and I felt like I had to, just to get -- have any chance of having a chance tomorrow. I didn't have a number in mind, and even after pars on the first four holes, I knew if I got any sort of momentum going I could make four or five birdies in a row or something. I did that yesterday; made five in a row. Over the last couple of weeks ,I've had stretches of making seven or eight birdies in 12 or 13 holes. So I didn't feel rushed or impatient at all. I felt like I still had opportunity to make birdies, and I guess I did; eight out of the last 14.

LEE JANZEN: Exciting. I would say the last few years I've been in contention more than enough to do better than I have, but it's more -- I would say, more anxious before or whatever reason. Maybe I just didn't have the confidence in my game. I certainly wasn't putting like I expected to putt and make that just crept into my whole game and a lack of confidence and made me feel like I was prey out there for the lions and tigers. I'm excited about tomorrow. Regardless of what I do, whether I go out and don't do any good or how great I play, my game is getting into shape. THE PLAYERS Championship is coming up in two weeks. Bay Hill is coming up, a tournament I've always struggled in, but it's my hometown and I always want to do well there; and the Masters after that, after THE PLAYERS Championship. So the next few weeks could make or break -- well, I'm not going to say make or break my whole year, but it could potentially be rewarding if I play well.

LEE JANZEN: I'm just working on my putting. I went back to the style of putter that I used to use. I got away from the Anser putter and started putting better. Just simple as that. My wife kept bugging me after going back the putter I won my first U.S. Open with, the Ping Zing II. I decided to give it a try. I'm happy with the putter I'm using right now. I think the driving, the Taylor Made driver that they made in the last year, the 320 model, I've never seen a driver go as far and straight as this one; and when I'm hitting it good, it just sets up the course so much easier.

LEE JANZEN: No, I didn't.

LEE JANZEN: Right. This is not the exact model. It's a different model. I got a heavier one and it might be a half inch shorter than the original one. I got a much heavier one.

LEE JANZEN: She always thought I putted better with that putter than I have with my Odyssey that I used or anything else that I've tried.

LEE JANZEN: I didn't even think about it being a record. I figured, even if it is a record today, the next time there's a calm day, as good as these greens are to putt on and as good as all of the players are getting, or already are, I think somebody will shoot 61 or 62, or even shoot 60. I certainly know that it wasn't that far off, and I could have shaved a few strokes off my round today. Just a half inch here or there and I could have easily made three or four more putts.

LEE JANZEN: I think sometimes when you are not playing up to standards, you expect it to turn around in one week; and even if you do have a great week in there, that really doesn't change things. I think you just have to look at the long term, the future, your long-term goals and realize if you keep working on your game and improve every week, you'll have good weeks and here and there, but you just want to keep improving. That's taken some of the pressure off, like, "Okay, next week I have to play well, or else."

LEE JANZEN: I missed the first three cuts and shot 17-under at the Bob Hope, which doesn't beat about half the field, if even that much. Probably not even that much. Last week at Doral, I was in sixth place after two rounds. Had I shot 64 on Saturday last week, that would have been the highlight of the year, because I would have been playing in the lead group on Sunday. But this is good to be in position, and regardless of what I do tomorrow, it's just another step forward. THE PLAYERS Championship in two weeks is really what I'm aiming for and hope to have my game exactly the way I want it.

LEE JANZEN: I don't know him. But I know of him.

LEE JANZEN: Well, one of his teammates qualified for the Buick Southern Open last year, Christo Greyling -- is that his name? I ran into one of the other kids on the team. John Cook's son is on that team also and David Leadbetter's son plays on that team; so they have a superstar high school team.

LEE JANZEN: That's awesome. I played the U.S. Open when I was 20, and that's four years -- 20 and 16, I think that's light years. There's a lot different from 30 to 34, and I just know how in awe I was of all the players and how scared to death I was out there on the course. So I'm very impressed with his performance. 9-under yesterday -- first I was amazed and second I was a little upset that this 16 year old was kicking my butt. But when he dropped back to 4-under, I felt bad for him. I would have liked to have seen him still beating me, just to be impressed more. I think it is a great performance.

LEE JANZEN: 5 (-under). I was hoping he stayed at 9-under. It would actually inspire me to go out and play better.

LEE JANZEN: First birdie was on 5. I hit a 5-iron, I believe the yardage was about 194 to the hole. 5-iron, I hit it about eight or nine feet, just right of the hole. Made my first about birdie. No. 6, I hit a driver and a 3-iron from about 218 and made about a 10-footer there from behind the hole. My next birdie was on 9. I hit a driver, 3-wood 15 feet from the hole and 2-putted. 10, I hit a driver, 8-iron ten feet right of the hole. No. 11, I hit a 7-iron three feet from the hole. 16, I hit driver, 5-iron in the left bunker and then hit my sand shot three inches from the hole. No. 17, I hit driver 6-iron three inches from the hole. 18, I hit 3-wood, 7-iron and made a 5-footer for birdie.

LEE JANZEN: Hardly at all. Most of the day it would blow out of the southwest and then turn around and go to the northeast and then go back to the southwest. It was so light; it didn't really matter and you could feel it. It wasn't, you know, when it was 10 to 15 and gusting and changing, that makes it much more challenging. On 16, it picked up for a second shot and then for a drive on the next hole and seemed to die back down.

LEE JANZEN: When there's no wind and they are soft, you can do that. 16, like I said, the wind picked up and I had 5-iron. I should have hit 6-iron. I had 192 to carry the bunker, and then you had no wind all day and suddenly you've got wind; it's hard to figure out exactly how far you're going to hit it. But it would have been very hard to stop that ball on the greens, even though they were softer today with that amount of wind. So even the slightest breeze -- the greens are still firm enough to let the ball run, but without the wind, you can really throw the ball up in the air and make it stop.

LEE JANZEN: No. In fact, that's probably the first year I didn't have one week -- or where at least I couldn't complain about a bad back or wrist or something. There was absolutely nothing wrong health-wise at all. I can't blame it on anything physical, other than between my ears.

LEE JANZEN: I think so. I don't think they make me play any better, but they certainly make me feel better, which makes it more enjoyable.

LEE JANZEN: Allergies. I quit playing Doral, and I had not played here in a couple years, too. Usually when I came down this time of year, I would get a sinus infection, almost every year. I just didn't think it was worth having to go on the antibiotics every year playing a couple tournaments. I didn't want to get to where Steve Elkington is; had multiple surgeries on sinuses.

LEE JANZEN: I guess about a year and a half. Been healthy.