FEDEX ST. JUDE CLASSIC

June 22, 2000

Joe Ogilvie

JOE OGILVIE: Started on No. 10, hit the ball very, very well on the back side. My front side, hit it 8-iron about ten feet on 10, made birdie there. 11, 12. 13, hit another 8-iron to about three feet. 14, 5-iron to about three feet. 15, 9-iron to about eight feet, made that. Played solid golf up until the par 5, No. 5, hit driver, driver, to about 10, twelve feet for eagle. Just left it dead in the center short. No. 6, I hit -- I think I hit another 8-iron actually to five feet, made that putt. I switched my putting -- took a week off last week, I totally switched my putting. My eyes are over the ball now. My hands are below my shoulders. I am more fundamentally sound. I look like all the other guys on Tour. Before I looked like a Justin Leonard type, I guess, and Justin putts a lot better than I do, just didn't work for me. Even though I was like that since I was probably two or three years old. But it is nice to shoot 65 and know that you have been working hard on your putting and that it has actually paid dividends.

JOE OGILVIE: Back home, in Austin Texas. Actually a buddy of mine, Hunter Johnson, who is on the mini-tour, he kind of worked with me for two, three days on it. So that was nice. I am very happy with where it is right now. I called my caddie during last week and told him I was making my putting change. Guess he said to his wife: "The guys is finally going to make some money". Because I was -- I was probably the worst putter on Tour. It was ugly there for a while. Looks likes things are going to change.

JOE OGILVIE: Well, I kept working on it, working on it, working on it and Nike Tour two years ago I was a great putter. People thought I was one of the best putters last year. I showed flashes that I was, you know, going to turn things around. But this year has been a total -- I have putted like Ray Charles and that is without a guide. I was clueless out there. It finally looks like I am pretty pleased with it. It is fun to work hard on it because I know that it is going to get better and better and better, as opposed to when I was working before on my putting, it was just kind of staying awful.

JOE OGILVIE: Pretty much outside of four feet there was no chance. It wasn't that bad, but it was pretty close or at least I felt -- certainly I made some putts, but I didn't feel like I was going to make any putts, which is a pretty bad feeling when you are trying to do this for a living.

JOE OGILVIE: Yeah, the greens -- conditions -- as much rain as we have had, the conditions are great. I think the zoysia fairways, they are perfect in this kind of weather. I am pretty impressed with the greens as well. I think we have had two storms since we have been here this week and the greens have just -- greens and the whole course look great. The staff here has done a great job.

JOE OGILVIE: Greens are still relatively soft although I didn't spin the ball back at all. They are hitting and they are rolling forward a little bit. I think by Sunday if we don't get rain they will be very, very firm.

JOE OGILVIE: My first -- when I hit eight feet on the first hole it was center cut. That was the first time in a while that I had the ball on line the entire time; hit the ball exactly where I wanted to and it was a big, you know, that was a big confidence-booster straight off the bat. Then I made a great putt on 17, made about a 15, 16 foot par-putt, and that was what, I think, Tiger talked about a lot last week how the par putts are more important sometimes than the birdie putts. Putt on 17 was a very important putt for me confidence-wise because it's the first -- I haven't saved par, you know, from a putt outside of two, three feet for a long time and that was kind of a nice momentum-builder; takes a lot of pressure off your long game knowing that you can make putts as well. Before I was thinking, okay, I got to knock it three feet to make birdie. Now I feel, okay, just get it on the green, I have got a chance to roll it in.

JOE OGILVIE: Bradley Whittle.

JOE OGILVIE: No. I think there might be a 63, 64 out there. 62.

JOE OGILVIE: Yeah, it definitely will. I noticed on a couple holes we were starting to get a lot more roll and I think as the day goes on, although the wind is -- wind is kind of funny right now. Seems to be switching directions over other holes, kind of going into you; then crosswind; then downwind. I don't know if that is because of the heat, it does funny things to the wind, but it is starting to play a little bit more difficult just because of the wind, but like you said, the fairways are going to start drying out, people are going to have -- going to have shorter irons into the greens and with these guys, it means a lot lower scores.

JOE OGILVIE: Certainly they can probably grow rough. The rough is not that bad right now. I hit it in the rough twice and had pretty easy -- relatively decent lies, nothing you'd have to worry about. But that is about -- I mean, they -- you are in Memphis in June, you got to put water on the golf course. Got to keep the greens alive. So you can't get the greens very, very, very firm. That is what -- if these greens were firm it would be a very, very difficult golf course, but because you have to keep water on them, consequently I don't think you are ever going to have them, you know, very, very firm. Out here, if you have soft greens, doesn't matter how hard the golf course is, you are going to have low scores.

JOE OGILVIE: I think it is a fun golf course for fans to watch. And it is -- you look -- there is a lot of tough golf -- tough holes on this course and you have to -- you still have to golf your ball to shoot a low score even though a lot of people do shoot low scores here, you have got some very difficult golf holes. The par 3s are excellent and if they -- if they do firm up a little bit, the greens, people instead of thinking 65, 64, 63, they are thinking 69, 68, 67 which is a big difference.