MERCEDES CHAMPIONSHIPS

January 6, 2000

Duffy Waldorf

DUFFY WALDORF: Well, it was windier than it was yesterday. I played early. It was a nice course yesterday morning, but today was the way Kapalua can play. I've played here enough times to have seen conditions like this. It helps to have a little course knowledge on a day like today. You've got to aim in places you can't believe you got to aim. But the course is playable, if you can kind of bide your time and get the opportunities when you can. I played really, I felt, conservative, but I was hitting the ball really well, too, so that helped a lot. I was hitting the shots where I wanted to. For the most part, they were working out. I felt I hit the ball really well tee to green. Didn't have a great day putting. 1-putted or 2-putted every hole. That's pretty good. I think these greens are very tough to read, not only the break, but the speed, too. All in all, a very good day for me.

DUFFY WALDORF: Sure. I birdie -- my first birdie was on No. 3. Real good shot. I had about 128 yard shot. I think I hit a 7-iron. Hit it in there about six feet past the hole and made that for birdie. Then two holes later, No. 5, the par 5, I hit a good drive, a 4-iron from about 210, hit it in there about 20 feet, 2-putted for birdie. No. 9, I hit driver, 3-wood just up short of the green, chipped it about a foot for birdie there. I parred all the way to 13. 13 I made a bogey. I missed the green with my second shot and my third shot, but hit a real good fourth shot, about three feet away, made bogey. The next hole I hit a good drive, had about a 60-yard shot, hit it in there about four feet above the hole, made it for birdie. Parred in from there.

DUFFY WALDORF: Well, putting is tough because when you're taking a full swing, your club head speed is a hundred miles an hour or even more. When you hit a putt, the club head speed is so small that the wind, 13 miles an hour wind, that can really affect the putter blade when it's going back because you're hitting it with a nice, soft motion. That to me has always been the hardest part, standing up with the putter and keeping a steady putter. Especially you get downhill, downwind, very hard to get the putter head back, fighting the wind on the way back, it gets pushed through. Into the wind, you can give it a rap usually. Usually a little bit easier. I always find downhill, downwind, then anything from the left-to-right, when it's pushing you from behind, it really makes it hard to keep the putter blade where you want it. You forget how nice it is to putt when there's no wind and the stroke just goes right where you want it to. But when the wind is blowing it, I think that is the toughest part of playing in the wind. This course especially, it's very playable in the wind. Can you hit shots along the ground, you can keep it low. Some of the modern courses we play with a lot of water put a big premium on hitting shots. But here, I mean, you miss a shot a little bit, you're still off the edge of the green a little bit, you can recover. But it is hard to putt.

DUFFY WALDORF: It wasn't a full shot, but if I'd hit a full shot with it, it wouldn't have gone much farther. It was like a half shot. I kept it low; it went the distance. If I went ahead and hit a nice, it would have started out a lot farther, but then come like that and back to me (indicating). I hit a shot on the 13th hole. I had like -- only 175 yards, seemed like it was forever. First I hit a 5-iron. It was going pretty strong, then the wind got it; it was coming back. It hit about 15, 20 yards short of the green, rolled to like 50 yards away. It came back another 30 down the hill. I got the 50 yard shot, hit the sand wedge. I mean, I hit it hard. It didn't matter because it was one of those shots. Like I said, I hit it too high, it went up. It would have gone 70 if there was no wind, but the wind got it and it was coming straight back. It hit the bunker. It was going so hard backwards that it hit the bunker, came out, went another ten yards back. That's how hard the wind was blowing at that point.

DUFFY WALDORF: That was No. 13. When I was playing 13, the wind -- really at 11, 12, 13, I thought the wind was -- that was when it was blowing the hardest. I think really the last 16, 17, 18 weren't too bad. Those middle holes for me on the backside, it was whipping strong (laughter). 13th hole, I thought I was never going to get to the hole. I kept hitting shots, they'd blow back, they'd blow back.

DUFFY WALDORF: I don't know. I think it would be pretty draining. It was draining for me and I was playing really well. There was a lot of -- burning a lot of energy out there. Every shot, you're kind of figuring a shot you want to hit, figuring kind of the miss area. You got to play for some miss out there. You know, there's a lot of calculating going on instead of just standing up there, 150 yards, give me the 8-iron, make your swing. It's kind of draining. I mean, at least the good news is, the pool is available right after the round. The rest of Hawaii is available (laughter). If you're over in some other places we play, it's maybe a lot colder windy, there's nothing to do, I mean, that would be even more draining, I think. At least you have some relaxation time available.

DUFFY WALDORF: Just to Hawaii?

DUFFY WALDORF: Well, quite a few. I mean, we'd have to go back in the record books. I'd guess at least eight times.

DUFFY WALDORF: It is? I don't know. I always came whenever they invited me because I love Hawaii. I'd pretty much come to Hawaii just about whenever I can. We vacationed here when I was younger. I've always loved it. I like playing golf here, too, because it's warm. The wind doesn't bother me. I mean, the wind is a challenge, but I like playing in the wind. I pretty much making Wailea every year and making Kapalua every year that I can. I didn't play this last November because I got in the Shark Shootout, but I knew I had this tournament coming up.

DUFFY WALDORF: Uh-huh.

DUFFY WALDORF: You're never surprised to see his name on the board now. I guess it's more surprising when it's off the board. I think at the end of the year, he's playing better -- obviously much better than anybody on Tour, probably as well as anybody has played in a long time on the Tour. He's playing at a level that not many have reached out here. I think all of us have played at that level, but not for very long. Maybe for a week, we win a tournament, get a little run in there. I think he's raised the level. He's raised the level, when he's playing well, not that many play quite as well as he does when everything is kind of working in his game. He does everything so well. He's really improving in all areas of his game.

DUFFY WALDORF: Well, I would say -- the funny thing about the aim, a hole like No. 8, par 3, 180 yard shot, pin in the front, strong right-to-left wind. I aimed a good 15, 20 yards right of the hole. Standing there, "I don't think this is enough unless I hit a shot that doesn't turn too much." I actually aimed to the right of the hole, and hit a little bit of a cut, then watched the ball go straight, straight, straight, then fall. When it hit the green, it was a little right of the hole. But with the fall of the ball, it ended up left the hole with a nice uphill putt. It's shots like those when -- normally you'll aim away to one side or the other, play some type of spin in. Today a lot of times you'd aim way to the side like that hole, play an opposite spin. Still just to keep it from getting too far going the wrong way.

DUFFY WALDORF: Thank you.