CHARLES SCHWAB CUP CHAMPIONSHIP

October 25, 2003

Tom Jenkins

THE MODERATOR: Everybody in the group shot 70 and held their position. Your thoughts on the round overall.

TOM JENKINS: The golf course is drying out, the greens -- the last nine holes -- the greens were really baking out and it's very difficult to keep the ball on line. The couple of these putts we had were downhill. You can't even feel the putter hit the ball when you try to stroke it. It's easy if you can. It's very difficult to be aggressive. I would say the last nine was kind of -- I was trying to make birdies but, you know, in that defensive mode on the greens, it was very difficult to get any kind of run going.

I had a chance to get something going on 12. I had about 12-, 15-footer up the hill and left it right on the front edge, but 70 wasn't too bad.

Playing in the last group, playing with Watson is always a thrill. He swings at it so good, it's very easy to kind of get into his tempo. It probably helps everybody's game when they play with him.

Basically made routine pars at 1, 2, hit driver, pitching wedge about 15 feet at 3 and made it.

Hit a great 5-iron at the 4. Hit a pretty good putt, about a 15-footer, and it did not go in.

Routine par at 5.

I caught a little bit of a bad break on 6. I hit a good drive at 6 and the ball should have come off to the right a little bit and it ends up staying about six inches up in the left rough. I tried to hit an easy, easy pitching wedge and flew it about 15 feet short of the hole and one bounce over the green. I had a very difficult lie. The grass was growing behind the green and I kind of fluffed it out about 15 feet and made bogey.

Routine par at 7.

Hit driver, 3-wood on the middle of the green at 8. Two-putted from 50 feet.

3-iron, 9-iron at 9 about 15 feet behind the hole, two putts.

10, I got a couple of bad breaks. I had a great drive at 10 and it just barely caught the right branch of that big tree on the left side and it dropped down about a foot in the rough. Now I've got a flyer lie coming into that back left pin placement and hit a very good 9-iron and it landed front and middle of the green and of course it goes over about a foot in the hay behind the green there. Probably it was one of my best little pitches out that rough. I flew it about six inches in front of me and it kind of trickled down about two feet and made a great par there.

Driver and sand wedge at 11 about a foot, then I missed a 15-footer at 12. I think if I make that putt at 12 it might have made a big difference in that back nine. That's where the run started the last two days at 11.

I hit a good putt. I was surprised it came up short.

13, I pulled a drive and it kind of stayed in the left rough. I had good lie. I hit 3-wood in the back edge and two-putted from 60 feet for birdie.

Hit a good 4-iron at 14 about 20 feet short. Hit a good putt there. It looked like it was going toward the valley. I thought I made it. Left it another inch right in the middle there.

15, I hit a good drive . A 9-iron about 15 feet, pin high. That green was probably the worst green we faced today. It was really burned back. You could see all the spider-spike marks. Very difficult to the putt through all that stuff, pitching it to the right.

16, I had hit a good drive at 16. I had a great opportunity at 16. I probably should have hit a 3-iron and tried to run the ball up the front but I instead hit a little 5-wood and I pulled it -- trying to be a little easy I guess -- and I pulled it left to the left bunker and I must have found a good sprinkler head over there because a six-foot area was about this deep of lush green stuff and I tried to blast it out of that. And I thought I hit a good shot and it just kind of came out dead and buried in the bunker. I kind of blasted that out about 15 feet, 2-putted for six, so that kind of cost me two shots on 16.

17, pulled a 9-iron about maybe 30 feet left of the hole, two-putted.

18, again I hit 5-wood off the tee and hit a 7-iron about 15 feet short. Probably misread the putt at 18. It looked like it was going to stay straight but broke off to the right and two-putted that.

But all in all, I felt pretty good about my game. I'm driving the ball well. That's the key here. You've got to the get the ball in the fairway to have a chance and so far I've been able to do that. Tomorrow will be a matter of trusting the putting stroke and you can't have any second thoughts about putts. If you're going to have a chance to win the event then you've got to kind of suck it up and do a better job making the putts tomorrow.

Q. You guys all shot 70 in the final group. You also all had four birdies, two bogeys; were you watching each other today as much watching the golf course today?

TOM JENKINS: Not really. I don't really look at the leader boards. Except playing in the last group, you are aware of if the players are making a lot of birdies or making bogeys, you're certainly aware of that. I don't like to get caught up with what they're shooting. I have enough to worry about with my game. But I think we all played a lot of good holes. We had a couple of bad holes. You know, we all had some great up-and-downs. We saved a couple of pars. I think that's the way the golf course is going to be tomorrow. It's going to difficult to hit every fairway. It's going to be give to hit every green and you're trying to leave yourself in the best position to get the ball up and down.

The par fives you, you have to take advantage of the par fives. The second hole is reachable but I've elected to lay up on 2 every day just because of the front bunkers in there. But you've got to take advantage of 8. You've got to tack advantage of 13. You've got to take advantage of 16. Probably if Tom and I, if either of us win tomorrow, we are probably going to have to make a 3 here and there on a couple of those holes. Because it's going to tough to make birdies. They are probably going to have pins in good positions and the way the greens are drying out it's going to be difficult to make putts.

Q. When you were on 17 today did you make yourself think I should be able to hole this shot up?

TOM JENKINS: Certainly. On every par 3 I do that. It's kind of a similar shot. It's a longer shot. However, Watson hit 8-iron first and knocked it over the green. Must have been like 153 to the hole and he hit a little 8-iron that went bouncing over the green and I think Thorpe hit 8-iron and he didn't hit it very hard at all and almost got to the back edge. Might as well hit the 9. It looks like 9 ought to be able to carry that right bunker. When I said 9, certainly that brings back thoughts of yesterday. The difference today is I had to try to hit it hard and I yesterday I tried to kind of lay off it a little bit. I got it over the top of it trying to hit it hard and I pulled it. Those thoughts kind of come and go when you're over the ball.

Q. You mentioned playing with Watson is good for your tempo. Does playing with Thorpe have an added benefit because he seems to be very charismatic and very loose. At times I saw you guys laughing at jokes he made and stuff like that.

TOM JENKINS: He does have unique swing. The good thing about him is he drives the ball so good and it's nice to sit there and watch his launch. It looks like every drive is right down the middle. That's certainly a good visual to have when you step up if you're playing behind him.

Q. I think he made a joke on 15 that had you and your caddy laughing.

TOM JENKINS: Watson asked him to move his mark, and he said, "Which way?" Watson said, "One away from you would be fine," and anyway instead of doing it away from him he went around to the other side and he was going to do it away from him but it was from the wrong side (laughter).

The guys are great guys and it's fun to play with people who enjoy being out there playing and competing. A think we all have a good time out there.

Q. Tom, Thorpey kind of overpowered the course the first couple of days. Did you see him a little more tentative coming down the stretch today and it makes you feel like there's a little room there to sneak in.

TOM JENKINS: Could be. It's coming to the closer the end. He's trying to maintain that lead. He got a pretty lucky break at 18 going through the tree. It could have dropped down in that creek right there and could have made six or seven there. I'm sure when it gets closer and closer to the end funny things happen. The whole key is tyr not to let too many thought creep in. I'm sure he'll stay aggressive tomorrow. He's got the game to do that. He is driving the ball very well. And he's certainly scrambling well and putting well. If that holds up tomorrow, he'll be hard to catch. But like anything it's a pretty big event. I figure if you're within three or four shots of the last nine holes you've got a pretty good shot at it if you make something happen on the par 5s coming in.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much.

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