THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 24, 2001

Jerry Kelly

JERRY KELLY: All right. My day started out great, a couple birdies. Then -- I had a little sand wedge on 1 to about 4 feet; knocked it in. 2, knocked it on the back edge in two. 2-putt, birdie. 6, I knocked it about 8 to 10 feet just left of the hole above and knocked that one in. 8, I hit a good chip up the hill. It just checked a little more than it has been doing on these nice, baked-out greens. 12, I knocked it to about a foot and a half. Coming in, I had some good chances. I took a good chance on 16 to get it up there close. Hit a good chip, and that was probably my only bad putt of the week. That was about six feet. Then I hit -- I had three really good putts on 17. (Laughter.) Every one of them, right where I wanted them. Only one of them went in. But, boy, I had a great shot there. It landed right at the left of the hill on an old ball mark. It looked like, you know -- if it didn't hit that mark, it might have come back to the green all around, but that might have been a little fun. I never had that putt before, by the way. I didn't know it tailed off that far away. It got me.

JERRY KELLY: You know, I knew I was going to be nervous coming into the day. There's no question about it. I'm in the lead at one of the biggest tournaments in the world and, you know, everybody with major pedigree behind me. I was nervous. I hit two great shots to start and a great putt. I knew my game was there, so I could just kind of say, "Let's just play." I didn't have to press all day, because it just kind of showed me right away that I was there and I could do it.

JERRY KELLY: I'm trying to turn off a little bit and settle down, you know, be tired. You don't need to be up all the way through to tomorrow's tee time. My little two-and-a-half-year-old is sick as a dog with a couple ear infections. I'm going to go home, take a care of him, give my wife a break, and kick my feet up.

JERRY KELLY: I'm usually a pretty good scoreboard watcher, but this week I'm going to play more of my own game. Usually I'm more aggressive, and that's part of my aggressiveness is knowing what I have to do. Right now in the lead, I can kind of just play my own game. Now, I will look at the turn tomorrow and see what I need to do, and you know, from there on. But I saw Tiger's name right underneath me once out there, and then I heard a roar after that, so I really thought that he made a hole-in-one on 17. So, yeah, it is in the back of your head, and that's fine. Whether it's him or anybody, it is in the back of your head. But during the shot, you have to be on your own game. I like flipping it on and off. We talked to my caddy about -- just about anything. It doesn't bother me that I think some of those thoughts while I'm playing, just not while I'm hitting the shots.

JERRY KELLY: Probably 15.

JERRY KELLY: Not really. I mean, you just knew it was happening. Something was happening.

JERRY KELLY: Yeah.

JERRY KELLY: I think just once. Milwaukee. That's it.

JERRY KELLY: I learned a lot that Sunday, and I've really been looking forward to getting back in this position and applying some of the things I learned. I definitely applied them today. I had a bogey on 8, but I came right back and had good chances from 9, 10, and 11. So, I know especially with this golf course, you can make mistakes. You just don't have to press afterwards. Just keep playing your own game and making birdies.

JERRY KELLY: Patience.

JERRY KELLY: You know, I've never played with him. So I don't really care. You know, intimidating; he's another golfer. If I watch his game and try and club off of him, that's just plain dumb. I'm going to play my own game. Normally if I'm close in distance to a guy, you might want to hit the next one by him. I'm not going to come near him tomorrow in distance. So I've got to really play my own game. I don't even see him. He'll be way up there somewhere. (Laughter.) As long as I put it right on the green in front of him, who knows, maybe I'll be making him press.

JERRY KELLY: Carlos Franco.

JERRY KELLY: Absolutely. You know, he was trying real hard. And the rough was up -- you know, it looked like a golf course that you could really take advantage of, and I'm sure he tried to that first week. And his swing was not as good as it is now, also. But there was a big buzz. You never really have many rookies just out of college or coming -- leaving college and holding press conferences at one of our tournaments, being the biggest thing at the tournament. It just doesn't really happen.

JERRY KELLY: It will be the same nerve that I -- and I will try and corral it the exact same way. Just try and hit a good drive off the first tee, hopefully hit a good second shot. Really all I'm thinking about tomorrow is that first drive. That's really it. That's my game plan right now. After the first drive, I'm going to play the first hole, and I'm going to go to the next tee and hit the next drive. All I want to do is get the ball in the fairway. That dictates the game plan. If you don't hit the fairway on this TPC course, you are in deep trouble. All I'm trying to do is hit the fairways and let my irons take care of themselves.

JERRY KELLY: I got off to a pretty good start. I had not made a bogey in 16 holes coming into like the 8th hole, the whole tournament. So, you know, on Saturday night, I'm fielding all of the questions -- nobody since Lee Trevino in '73, nobody has gone through a tournament without a bogey and won. So there were nerves there, too. After I bogeyed, Carlos birdied, and that brought us like within one shot or something. And he knocked a great 4-iron with a cut right into a back right pin on the par 3, and I play a draw. But what did I try and do? I try to aim and hit a cut, and hit it right on top of him. So I got too aggressive. I got out of my game. I got into his game. I left it to the right of the bunker, and I was lucky to make bogey. Right there, I got out of my game plan. It shook me, and I bogeyed three out of the next four. I settled down, got back in my game and got back with a couple birdies. What I won't do is bogey the -- if I bogey the first hole tomorrow, I don't press the next hole, trying to make birdie. I'm going to get my ball in the fairway, and then I'm going to go through the hole. So it is the patience in sticking with your game plan, which I did not do in Milwaukee, that I'm going to do tomorrow.

JERRY KELLY: Considering I was going for my first win, had not made a bogey, playing in the final group, there was probably more pressure. Because I learned from that experience, and that lessens the pressure here. So there's no question that I was probably feeling a little more.

JERRY KELLY: I just had a talk with my caddy, and I said, "Listen, I feel like I'm playing well enough to win out here. What do I need to do? What do you think is wrong in my game? What do I need to do to win"? He says, "You need to get the ball in the fairway more. You have a great short game. Your irons are good enough to win. You've got to get the ball in the fairway to use them." So I kind of thought through and said, "Well, how can I change my game plan to incorporate more fairways?" Just try to hit more fairways. I used to go through every single shot on a golf course the night before. I'm just going through every single drive. That's it.

JERRY KELLY: Absolutely. You name it. He's an Illinois basketball fan; I'm Wisconsin. And we're in Big 10 basketball right now in the Final Four. Football season is about football. He's from Florida, so he's hockey illiterate. But he's a good guy. We've really started to become good friends.

JERRY KELLY: Tom Janis.

JERRY KELLY: You know, I don't want to make those people feel bad, but to me, this is a bigger tournament. I just need to go play my round of golf tomorrow. When I get there, that will be a big tournament, but right now, this is it.

JERRY KELLY: Pleasant. He's a good guy. I've talked with him in the past. We've been on the same tees a lot. It's amazing. I've been out here for six years; he's been out here for six years. I've played pretty well. I've been in the final groups, but we've never played together. I've played in front and behind so many times, but it is amazing how I have never played with him. Strange.

JERRY KELLY: It's much worse being right in front of him. Behind him, they are all gone. But when you get right in front of him and you are putting on the green, and I just finished out, they are just trying to find every empty spot possible, and that's usually right in your putting line. So all of those spots will be taken up. There will be a lot of talking. There will be a lot of camera clicking. I'm sure there's going to be a phone or two. You get that many people, there's going to be a lot of buzz going on. I'm going to be prepared for it, no question.

JERRY KELLY: Yeah. It's kind of like playing golf in the middle of a freeway. (Laughter.)

JERRY KELLY: I just came up with that one. (Laughs.)

JERRY KELLY: Yeah. Brought it up to my caddy on the range this morning. I go: "Do I have a big U on my chest?" Don't you guys remember Underdog? That's me.

JERRY KELLY: I felt like he talked me into 16. I was going ahead and make a birdie with my wedge there, hitting it left, and he was kind of like (looking down): "Sure you can't get it out of there?" I looked at him and said, "Yeah, I can probably get a 5-iron on it and make sure I don't go right." He knows what I can do. He knows when I am aggressive. We really think along the same lines. He's a really calm guy, but I know he's competitive. And he knows me, and I don't think he wants me to get out of my own kind of game. I take some chances, and I'm just trying to stay within myself while I take those chances.

JERRY KELLY: I think it is good for me. I want to play with Tiger. I've wanted to play with Tiger since he came out in Milwaukee. You know, I didn't think he was going to do what he did. I don't know who did, besides his father. (Laughter.) You know, he's the best player in the world. I want, more than anything, to play with the best player in the world, and I want my game to match up, and I can't wait for tomorrow.

JERRY KELLY: I think so, especially on TPC, because you are trying to make birdies out here, you can get yourself in trouble. If you just let the birdies happen, hit the ball in the fairway, knock it on the green, you know, you can have some good 10-, 8-foot putts actually when you are shooting away from the pins. We are not talking about shooting away and having 30-footers and having it be tough, although that can happen sometimes out here, too. But, really, it's a golf course where you have to be patient.

JERRY KELLY: There's always more pressure on him. He's expected to win. You know, he is "The Man." He handles the pressure that everybody loads on him fantastically. He has got such a strong mental attitude. Nobody really touches him in that respect. You know, this week, I'm hoping that my mental attitude is going to be extremely strong. I know it is going to be tough playing with him tomorrow just because of all of the commotion, and I have to stay within myself and play within my game. Nobody is really expecting me to do it. I mean, you are all saying "underdog" and this kind of thing. You know, I'm in a great position. I still think I just go out and play my game, and I'm playing well enough where I can do it.

JERRY KELLY: Oh, no. I'll take those two. I'll be happy with them.

JERRY KELLY: We've had a different wind all three days. So, you never know. I mean, there was a hole out there, No. 12. I've hit driver the last two days. That was pretty much downwind. I think could have gone through the fairway so I hit a 4-wood. Still only had lob-wedge in to make birdie. It's really if I can hit driver and not go too far, I'm going to hit driver. I'm hitting that club probably straighter than any other club in my bag, so it's distance-wise that's going to stop me from hitting the driver.

JERRY KELLY: Absolutely. He played very steady. You know, he made some big par putts. I remember 8 vividly. He made a fantastic par on the back edge of that bunker. You know, I make a few birdies, and I make a great save here and there. You know, I'm going to be tough to beat. He's going to have to do something special to beat me. So I just want to go out there and play my game, stay in between my ears and that's it.

JERRY KELLY: Absolutely. No question. You know, I don't know, there are times in the past where I said, "Okay, you made a bogey. Let's just get it through to the fairway." So, I'm sticking to my game plan. I was probably a little more nervous because I had just 3-putted, but I wasn't to the fact where, "Okay, I'm going to rip this draw down there and have a wedge in." I just hit the exact same shot to the exact same tree that I've hit every single day, and just hit a very good shot. The nod was the fact that: "Okay, I'm still in my game. I'm here." That's it.

JERRY KELLY: I have got a fantastic wife. I mean, last night -- he got them yesterday afternoon. She stayed with him the entire night and, you know, I missed her, but it was awfully nice of her to do. I have a feeling we'll be in the same predicament tonight, unless that medicine worked miracles. So we'll see what happens.

JERRY KELLY: My pleasure.