SPRINT INTERNATIONAL

August 20, 1999

Paul Goydos

PAUL GOYDOS: Thank you.

PAUL GOYDOS: Well, I think we caught a break weatherwise. Today was a little overcast and cooler. When the sun is out, kind of bakes the greens. I think this afternoon might have been a little bit of a break. Yesterday I had such a roller coaster round, it was nice to just kind of go the same direction most of the day. Starting on 10, get starting out 10 and 11 have never been holes that I played particularly well on this course. Starting out par, par was a little bit of a boost. Usually when I start on 10, I am minus two or four or something like that going to 12. I doubled 10 yesterday. Then 12, I hit three good shots. Good drive, good wedge, good 5-footer. Kind of get things going. You are standing out; there you look up, and Toms is 29. Everyone else is 25. You are thinking: I am at 10. We better go if we are going to be part of this tournament at all. The scores are ridiculous, even mine, especially. 14, I hit, knocked it just short and right of the green in two. Hit a really good pitch in there three feet; tapped that one in. Then 17 I think I birdied. Just hit the greens on 15, 16. Nothing special. 17, I hit it -- front bunker and blasted it out about a foot and a half. So parred 18. So it was nice. It was nine holes, 3-under par, I didn't have to -- made a 5-footer, was the longest putt we made. 1 was big. I drove it good. And hitting 3-wood at the green, I'd pulled it a little bit. There is that bunker 40 yards short of green. Hit just short of it and bounced over it. Rolled up just short of the green. Got that up-and-down. That front bunker wasn't -- you could make 4, but you could make X out of that bunker. Pretty good little break there. I pitched it, just burned the hole for eagle; about a 2-footer there. Then 2, I hit 2-iron, 9-iron about three feet. Made that one. 3, I 2-putted. Should have made birdie. 4, hit 6-iron about three feet. Keeping the stress level at a minimum, that was my deal. Now I start making putts though. 5, I hit driver, 9-iron about twelve feet. Made that one. That was -- Then 6, I hit driver, pitching wedge about 15 feet. Made that one. I was putting the short ones so well that you kind of get a lot more comfortable maybe over -- the greens still have a little speed. So they can get away from you. Sometimes you can lose your aggressiveness, especially when you are going well. Putting the short ones so well, that is all I had confidence over. Those other ones were good. 7, good 2-putt from 40 feet. 8, miss about a 4-footer for birdie. But did a pretty good putt. More of a bad read on my part. 9, winds picked up a little bit. Driver, 4-iron. Caddie -- I was thinking 4, 5. My caddie talked me into 4, which was a good call on his part. Hit it about 15 feet below the hole; made that. Just a solid round. I think I hit every green, every fairway, every green, and seemed like every putt. Didn't hit any of the par 5s in two, 9-under par, and 9 1-putts. It was probably the best round -- I shot 64 at the Hope last day when Duval shot 59. Other than that, those two are probably the two best rounds I have played. This golf course, 9-under, golf course is probably a little difficult. Pretty similar to difficulty at PGA West but it is as good as I have played.

PAUL GOYDOS: A little bit. Actually, I think that this is the one tournament -- I think there may be one other where playing in the afternoon is an advantage, I think, because it is -- 7:00 o'clock yesterday morning, it wasn't going 10% farther. Golf course was playing at its full length. In the afternoon, the golf course got to be playing two or three or four shorter than it does in the morning, at least for the first nine holes. This is one of the few tournaments the afternoon might be a little easier. Yesterday afternoon they played probably very well, and this afternoon, same thing. I noticed the forecast, they said it was supposed to be cooler, less thunderstorms. Actually, when I was warming up at whatever it was, 12:30, seeing the cloud-cover come in, didn't look like it was going to be nasty. Looks like it was going to be a nice overcast day. From a conditions standpoint, this is probably the best day in the history of the International. Wasn't hot, wasn't cold, wasn't windy. Just perfect. It was a perfect day to play golf. Wasn't even sunny, you know, so there is no glare. There was nothing out there. It was almost like it was an absence of conditions. There wasn't any. The golf course, you know, is in great shape. That is going to lead to good scoring.

PAUL GOYDOS: Well, it used to be that when they used to have a playoff always remember 3, 4, 5 playing off to make 70, now it is nine. This year it -- last year it was 8; year before it was 6. Seems like maybe, I don't know, seems like the scoring out here is just getting -- maybe we are getting used to the course. We are playing the altitude now for ten years and guys are getting better at it. I remember in 1996 I finished here with 23 points after four days and finished 8th or 9th. Now I got -- how many points do I have-26. You lose track of what you are doing. But 26 points you know, 26 points after Sunday might not be in the top 15. I mean, that is just -- scoring is just kinds of nuts.

PAUL GOYDOS: What is the record?

PAUL GOYDOS: Probably Mickelson. Wouldn't surprise me. The weather is going to dictate that - if we don't get too much rain; might help some longer hitters, but if the golf course plays like it did today, won't surprise me.

PAUL GOYDOS: Yesterday I doubled 9 and 10, both of them. I think the golf course is very pretty. I am much better on the downhill holes. Those uphill holes seem to hurt me. 10 may be one of the ten hardest holes on Tour. Today we got a break, little downwind. I think some of the longer hitters were hitting wedges and stuff. Pin was in a kind place today. I just like being up here, to be honest. But this is my 7th year here. Only the third time I made it to Saturday. Only made it to Sunday once. So I don't really actually come here with high expectations. I come here because they treat you so well and the golf course is very pretty, though, maybe not the best for my game. This year basically haven't had any rain, any substantial, for almost a week now. The golf course is rolling and playing so you can reach the par 5s. When it is wet like it has been the last few years, I can only reach 17. That is borderline even up the hill -- the conditions being hard and fast at least help my competitiveness out here. I think I could have reached 1 today if I would have hit a really solid shot. There is not a problem. 14 I have been right around too. If I can do that, then I can compete. If it is just, you know, soft and the ball is plugging, well, then, I usually go home on Friday.

PAUL GOYDOS: No. Not yet. Tomorrow is my daughter's birthday, her ninth birthday, that is nice. We are going to be done early sounds like so we get to go out to dinner. It is always nice -- I am very happy with the way I played. Yesterday I had 8 points after eight holes and I had zero points after 13 holes and then I had 8 points after 18 holes. Yesterday, talk to me on the 14th tee, I would have said this place stinks and I can't wait to go home. But then since then that is what the last five, 23 holes, I have made 13 birdies, which is ridiculous. So now I think it is the greatest place ever. I will have a shake and -- can't wait to play tomorrow.

PAUL GOYDOS: You have to play the par 5s. When you are playing against guys who hit it -- you look up, you got Ernie Els, Tiger Woods, and whoever else, those guys are going to be hitting 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8-irons into the par 5s and so they are almost really -- it is really for a guy that hits it a long ways out here which isn't me, it is really a par 68 course in a sense and so I know that if I don't at least play those holes well, those are the holes that -- plus, you know, I have seven years, six and a half years, I am still eagleless less in this tournament, so, that is -- eagle, if nothing else, it's an extra point over the two birdies, but I think -- I would assume, again since I never made one, I am just assuming that that is a big momentum boost too. Those are the holes, the big swing holes. You get a hole like 14, with a bad drive you can make 7. With a good drive you can make 3. And that is an eight-point switch on the leaderboard down Sunday. I am sure that has happened before, something similar to that. I think the golf course -- you couldn't ask for probably a better golf course to play this format because you have holes where guys have a chance to make eagles, what have you, holes like 9 and 10 and I think 16 is a difficult hole and even 18 when the wind is blowing like it is right now are difficult holes where you can make five or six -- so there is a lot of swings in that sense. I think that makes -- if this was a golf course like a US Open where everybody is just making pars and bogeys, the tournament would be boring. Since it is an exciting course where you can make birdies, eagles, and doubles, it is a great course for the format that they have come up with. I don't know if that answered your question.

PAUL GOYDOS: Not necessarily. I mean, I look at more the course overall. Again, success hasn't been great for me here but I look at the holes individually. I think there is a lot of really neat holes. I think 2 is a little neat par 4. 3 is a cool little hole, you have a chance to drive it across the ditch and get the chance to get the better angle. The par 3s are also -- downhill par 3s are very pretty and cool -- again, I think the golf course is wonderful, just normally doesn't treat me very well.