BUICK CLASSIC

June 9, 2002

David Gossett

TODD BUDNICK: We have David Gossett, also runner-up today with a final round 71.

David, why don't you just talk about your day today, please.

DAVID GOSSETT: Well, pleased to be right in the thick of things starting the day. It's been a wonderful week, first time up here at Westchester and had Joni on the bag. Kind of made for a special week.

Golf-wise, got off to a lackluster start. Hit it in the rough on 1 and made a great save. Bogeyed 2 and bogeyed 3 by short-siding myself. Actually, 2, I hit it in the rough and hit it short, chipped up and 2-putted 15 feet.

3, I hit a 3-wood, 8-iron over the green long and left. Chipped up and 2-putted from ten feet.

So not the start I was anticipating or wanting, but just kind of hung in there and made a good par on 4. Had to wait on 5. Made a good birdie there, a good 2-putt. I hit driver, 3-wood on the front of the green and 2-putted about 90 feet or so. That was a good 2-putt.

No. 8, I made bogey. I hit a -- actually, 7, I birdied. I hit a 3-iron off the tee. Hit a wedge to about 15 feet and made a great putt. Great speed. Big, breaking putt right-to-left.

8, I hit a driver down the fairway. Hit a 4-iron in the right bunker. Hit it out to about eight feet and lipped it out.

9, I hit a driver and a 2-iron on the green and 2-putted from about 40 feet.

Then on No. 11, I hit a 3-wood and an 8-iron to about four feet and made that for birdie.

Then on 12, I hit a drive in the fairway. Hit a 4-iron right of right. Hit a wedge up there, 2-putted from about 40 feet. Made about a 7-footer for bogey.

13, I hit a driver. I made a great save for par.

14, I birdied. Hit a cut shot and then made the putt right up the hill.

15, driver, cut shot, 5-iron left. Went underneath it. Hit it in the bunker and hit it out to about four feet and made it for bogey.

No. 16, I hit a 4-iron on the green, a save, patient iron shot to about 30 feet. The 30-footer went by about eight or nine feet and I missed that and 3-putted for bogey.

On 18, I birdied. I hit driver, a great drive, a great 3-wood and a really nice chip that almost went in. I thought it was. Then it stopped.

All that roller coaster and even par 71. So, what I learned, is that when you go out on Sunday and make six birdies, that's pretty nice stuff. But six bogeys is not the way to get it done on Sunday, either. (Laughs).

So I guess the way I'm looking at this, I'm definitely playing better. I haven't been in the hunt this year and this is the first time I had an opportunity to really win a golf tournament and I shot 1-under par on the weekend. Made plenty of birdies, but just too many unforced errors by short-siding myself with poor irons, or just overall sloppy, I would say.

But I really do feel good. I feel like I've been making progress, steady progress. Now I have a week and a half to kind of gather myself of the last several tournaments that I've been improving upon, and really just kind of get to work and just keep working on the things that I've been working on. I was a little disappointed with how many bogeys I made, but just pleased that I didn't throw in the towel and birdie the last hole. I felt it was pretty good.

Q. Do you get any rhythm going when you're having that kind of day, when it's all birdies and bogeys and very few pars?

DAVID GOSSETT: Well, it's tough. You have plenty of rhythm. It's hard to get rhythm going in the right direction consistently. Rhythm is changing but the music is beating; it's all over the map.

I putted well on the back nine, too. I made some good par saves that really kept me in there. I made a 7-foot curler for bogey on 12. Then I made a 10-footer for par. I made a 15-footer on 14. 15, I made a 4-footer, a little breaking putt.

So I was pleased with the way I'm rolling the ball this week. I'm definitely putting better. That's definitely been an area that I've been working on and an area that has held me back a little bit. But it's encouraging to improve upon that.

Q. Was your lie on 15 pretty bad, and at that point, did you realize that you had missed your chance when the ball went in the bunker?

DAVID GOSSETT: I didn't think I had lost my chance, but I felt that I hit a pretty horrible flop shot. I just decelerated on it. It was not a horrible lie. It was down in the gunch, but I just decelerated on it and wasn't real confident swing. But it was a great bunker shot, out to about four feet. Almost went in and then I made par. I made a good, confident putt.

Q. You mention that you had not been in the hunt for some time. Did you have to get a hold of your nerves down the stretch because you have not been in this position?

DAVID GOSSETT: Well, you know, today I felt -- certainly, I was anxious. I wanted to do well. I wanted things to turn out. I wanted to be holding the trophy right now.

But I felt like I did a pretty decent job of trying to focus on what was in front of me. My sister, Joni, helped me out there quite a bit, on just trying not to take myself so seriously. She did a great job.

This is a wonderful learning experience out here. There's a lot of golf tournaments this year and I'm just trying to see the Cup half-full here. Rather than what didn't go right for me, just see that I had a great week. I really played a lot of good golf this week. Certainly, I would like to erase some of those bogeys today, just erase -- well, I guess erase three bogeys. If I could just eliminate half, that would have been good enough today.

But at least I'm making the birdies. So I'm producing the goods. It's just a matter of managing my game a little bit better.

Q. What are you going to tip your sister?

DAVID GOSSETT: I'm going to take care of my sister pretty well. She did a great job. I was pleased that we were able to spend a week together. We stayed with some friends over at Winged Foot and we practiced in the morning, played some golf, hung out. I'm going to take care of Joni. She'll get some spending money, I guess, for college the next couple of months.

Q. When you're playing with a partner who is struggling and who is outwardly expressing his anger, do you console him in any way? Obviously you're trying to win, but do you block it out and let him do his thing?

DAVID GOSSETT: You've got to try to ignore what they are doing, yeah. I mean, Pat expresses himself -- he's very much of a quick individual. So he putts it quickly. I'm sitting there lining up 3-footers and he's getting up there and banging at them. I'm like, wow, okay. I guess he plays quicker. (Laughter.)

You just try and ignore that. It's humorous at times, though. Sometimes it's fun to watch. (Laughter.)

Q. What's your schedule for the rest of the summer?

DAVID GOSSETT: I'm going to play Memphis. That's my next event that I'll be gearing up for in my hometown. I'm going to play Chicago, see how that event goes, and figure out my plans for the British Open, as I am not in the British Open as of now. And then the John Deere Classic is a couple weeks down the road as well, defending the first tournament I won.

Q. When you were walking off, you had a big smile and you came out of the trailer, you were talking to Mayor Giuliani and you looked like you had more of a sense of accomplishment than disappointment.

DAVID GOSSETT: Definitely, this is a step in the right direction for me, in my confidence. Certainly six bogeys on Sunday is not exactly what you want to draw up.

But definitely, I was just trying to say, you know what, I had a great week. I'd like to be holding the trophy. I certainly feel that I should or could.

But, you know, let's look at the bright side. I played very well for this week on a great golf course.

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you very much.

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