DORAL-RYDER OPEN

March 6, 1999

Greg Kraft

GREG KRAFT: Okay. First part of the round was a bit of a struggle after the first couple of holes. I hit pretty good the first three holes; then I hit some marginal shots there for about four, five holes and got up-and-down to save pars. I was kind of in a little funk. I couldn't get out of it. Then I finally settled into a thought that really seemed to work, No. 8, and then I played pretty good the rest of the way in. Not quite as solid as yesterday or the day before, but good enough to manage my ball around and keep it in play and keep it on the green.

GREG KRAFT: I'm anxious, of course. I have led going into the last round probably three or four times before so it is not the first time I have had to deal with it. I love being here and I like, you know, it's very -- I'm very comfortable in Florida, so I don't feel a sense of urgency, but I want to play well tomorrow. I didn't play as well as I wanted to today, obviously, but I hung in there. I'm looking for maybe a little magic I had the first two days going into tomorrow.

GREG KRAFT: I just look at the numbers, you know, I'm at 11; then I saw 9 and a couple of 7's. That's really all I'm concerned about. I expect a guy like Ernie is going to make a charge tomorrow. He has been playing well all year. I'm good friends with Andy. I hope he has a great day. I know he's been working very, very hard lately on his game and it's showing and so I look at the names and, you know, I really don't pull against or for anybody. I'm happy for them. I'm happy for Ernie. He works with the seem teacher I do and I'm happy for Andy because I'm a friend of his and I know he's been struggling. But, basically, all I look for is the numbers and try to keep mine bigger than theirs.

GREG KRAFT: That was nice to hang in there. It was -- I mean, that two-shot cushion I had, it was a little bit of a relief because if you do stumble you are still in the tournament. It is not like you are chasing and you stumble. Because even though I was on the edgy, still had a two-shot lead; even if I did make a bogey, I would still be leading the tournament. So it wasn't that significant. I guess if I was three or four back trying to make a move and stumbled, then it would be a little more significant.

GREG KRAFT: Fairway 3-wood on No. 1, the fairway bunker was a pretty good shot. I ended up on the green-side bunker, but I didn't have that great of a lie. It was either I was going to hit it perfect or top it and I made birdie on the first hole I felt like I needed to get off to that start. Everybody was getting in and it was playing pretty easy.

GREG KRAFT: I think I had 257 to the hole.

GREG KRAFT: New Orleans of '93, Hattiesburg of '93, Western of '94, Deposit '96, I think that's it.

GREG KRAFT: The ones in '93 were so new to me, I was just basically just trying to play and not make any mistakes. The Western of '94, I played pretty aggressive through the start of the round and built a three-shot lead with five to go and Nick made a couple -- a birdie and I made a bogey at the last from bunker-to-bunker to end up losing by a shot. I think I played a little too aggressive at the finish. I didn't want to just coast in, I played too aggressive, I hit driver in some I shouldn't have and I made a bogey for it. Once I built that lead, I should have been a little more careful; make sure I hit the fairway. I have no regrets. I usually like to go for everything, but I should have probably been a little more -- pulled the reins back then. Deposit of '96, I felt great the whole time. I didn't really hit the ball that well. I was lucky to be in the lead, I thought, and I didn't get the job done the last day. I was tied to the lead with six holes to go and shot -- built a two-shot lead; birdied the hole, made it three, kind of deflated me. I didn't really care if I could -- about finishing second or fifth. I think I finished fourth or something, but to me, I was trying to win and when he built that three-shot lead basically deflated me and I ended up finishing fourth.

GREG KRAFT: I gotta go. I think -- everyday the wind has been getting calmer as the day goes on. At the end, it started picking up a little bit for the middle part of the round it was pretty benign outside. There's a lot -- even though I have a two-shot lead, there are a lot of more guys out there, so I know somebody is going to have a good round tomorrow so I'm going to have to have one myself.

GREG KRAFT: No.

GREG KRAFT: No.

GREG KRAFT: Yes.

GREG KRAFT: About four feet.

GREG KRAFT: Sort of. I didn't play the last four tournaments last year and I went into a real serious training regimen. I have some buddies with the Yankees in Tampa and my shoulder has been bothering me since '96 and it's loose and I have been just kind of wholeheartedly fixing it. As soon as it starts feeling better I stop training. I want to do a full body thing with three-and-a-half months left in the season and I'm still doing it now. When the season started out in the year I made some changes in my swing while I was working out, but I never really played anything. Guys like Ernie, Duval, Tiger, they're playing competitive golf through the year, they go over here for something, over here for something where I had a good four months away and when I came out, I was really struggling. When I got to Hawaii I was so excited to be there because I like Hawaii, it is like playing in Florida, but I wasn't ready mentally. My routines were all off. I was getting over shots and I was finding out, oh, you are supposed to go and I was standing over it too long and sometimes I would go too quick. I was trying to find my rhythm and it took me a while to do it. I would stumble into a good day where I had it and then I would fall out. I realized that after my poor west coast, and I came home for two weeks, that's all I really worked on, was I had one lesson with my teacher and I worked on my routines to try to get them more deliberate. I was hitting it really good at home, so I said, I'm going to go play Tucson and try to get ready for here and that's it. You can go home and lay with your buddies, but it isn't the same.

GREG KRAFT: The routine?

GREG KRAFT: I worked three days a week in the mornings from six to nine and it was pretty significant. I did all kind of exercises to strengthen my shoulder and to kind of pull it back and keep it tight because it was loose. All the muscles and ligaments were really loose. Once it gets loose, it gets irritated, then a tear occurs, so I got it before any tear, which was good.

GREG KRAFT: I don't know if it is an advantage. It makes it a little easier on me. I made some pretty good saves there on the Front 9 early in the round on 3, five and 6 and 7 and a lot was to do because I'm familiar with the courses and the greens and that was -- I mean, I hit a shot on 5. I got -- but I have hit it so many times in my life in Florida, I didn't panic and I hit a good shot and got it up-and-down.

GREG KRAFT: The last thing I want to do is stumble on 18 and then have to come right back there tomorrow with the same situation. You like to finish out your rounds well. All of them, no matter if you are playing here, you know, even Monday or -- even Thursday or Friday, it's important, I think, to finish out your round because the last thing you want to do is leave a sour taste in your mouth all night on the range, you know, that stigma sticks with you. Yesterday I finished with a birdie and it was like such a high to close out a round, especially 18 was playing tough at the time, it was into the wind, I felt nice to birdie it. And today with the way I struggled early in the round it was nice to get it together and hit two quality shots in the last hole and get out of there. It's a hole that I couldn't have won the tournament today, but it is one that I could have lost if I maybe stumbled.

GREG KRAFT: I hit driver 2-iron on the back of the green, 2-putted for my birdie on 10.

GREG KRAFT: 70 feet, 60 feet.

GREG KRAFT: 8-iron to about 10 feet, made birdie.

GREG KRAFT: I hit it in the fairway bunker, it just rolled in, I was right on the downslope and I hit a pretty good slope, rolled over the green, I guess, I don't know those grass too well. I chipped it by about 15 feet and 2-putted and made bogey.

GREG KRAFT: Thank you.