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BANK OF AMERICA COLONIAL

May 23, 2004

Steve Flesch

FORT WORTH, TEXAS

TODD BUDNICK: We would like to welcome the 2004 Bank of America Colonial Champion, Steve Flesch. Congratulations.

STEVE FLESCH: Thank you, appreciate it.

TODD BUDNICK: I guess happy birthday, as well, a very nice way to celebrate your 37th birthday, isn't it?

STEVE FLESCH: Especially with these guys. I didn't expect them to come down. They decided to come down and join me, which made it even better.

TODD BUDNICK: Second career win, both have come in the month of May, an unusual stat there. You're the only player in the field this week with four rounds in the 60s. Talk about that, especially with the wind, and how difficult the course played this week.

STEVE FLESCH: I think I did that last year, as well. It was just one of those things. Maybe I'm a good judge of wind. Colonial is just a place that's good for me. Either way, I always love coming back here. I've been preaching all week how much I love the golf course and the tournament and that if there was a good spot for me to win, it would be here.

I take pride in the fact that I am a good ball-striker, and I think it really helped me around here. My putting is suspect at times, but I can make up for it with my ball-striking. I'm just thrilled to death. This is one I've always looked forward to getting a chance to win.

TODD BUDNICK: Final round, 3-under 67, cruising along until 17, you're only mistake of the today. Give us a feeling of your round today. There was still a battle through nine holes.

STEVE FLESCH: I wasn't looking at the board much. I could tell what was going on, and my caddie was keeping me posted. I was hitting it so good. I missed so many putts, I missed two four-footer and a five-footer. I was hitting it so good. My goal when I made the turn, I don't know if I was tied or one back making the turn, but my goal was not to pay attention and just keep hitting fairways and greens. I know it's a cliche, but the way I was putting, I didn't know what the heck I was going to do.

I hit it really well on the back nine and made a couple of good saves out of the bunkers on 12 and 13, which were really big. I did well out of the bunkers all week. On 17, I just kind of got ahead of myself. I was so in between clubs, I couldn't have picked a worse yardage. I hit a poor shot and it rode the wind and I kind of got, not out of my routine, but I kind of maybe lost my focus for a minute.

I knew I was two ahead going into 17. I don't think that affected anything, other than probably just lost my focus for a second. 17 and 18 were my two hardest holes all day. I was hitting it fine, but I've never had a two-shot lead with two holes to go in an event of this magnitude.

I was disappointed with my bogey on 17, but I killed one on 18, but then left myself with a terrible yardage where I couldn't aim at the hole. I was banking on Chad not making birdie on 17 or 18 because I couldn't aim at the stick on 18 with my yardage. It all ended up.

TODD BUDNICK: Everybody talks about that second win. Give us your perspective on solidifying your career out here with that second victory.

STEVE FLESCH: My second win, I guess is a little more -- it's not sweeter, it's as sweet as the first, but the first win, there's a lot of guys who win once and say I need to validate it with a second. Especially a win around Colonial. It's always a good feeling on a great golf course. That means more to me than anything. We all come out here -- we play to win. There's no feeling like it.

Q. With the way you fight yourself, how many things would you like to nitpick about yourself on a day that you did win. Talk about the bottle that --

STEVE FLESCH: I did it on CBS. I was just ripping on my putting. My caddie and I always joked that I always seem to make it as hard as possible on myself out there. If I had putted well, I probably would have won by four or five today. We always joked that we have to make it as hard as possible, because my putting has always been kind of suspect.

The very first hole, I was hoping I would hit the very first green in two, and I hit a 4-iron that ran right over the green, I chipped it to three feet, and that's the worse thing I could do on Sunday, because I'm a little shaky anyway on the first hole. I hit a perfect pull on 1 from three feet and missed it. It's kind of a downer right out of the gate. When you're fighting your putting the worse thing you want to do is miss a short one on the first hole.

The big one for me, the confidence builder was I made a long birdie putt on 3, but I made a great par save on 6. 5 and 6, I made great bunker saves from like 10 feet and 15 feet, so those are big, just to give myself a little bit of confidence.

Yeah, I can go through every hole and nitpick, but I don't want to do that. I made a 3-footer on 17 when I had to. I can look at it both ways. Hey, I'm just thrilled.

Q. It's incredulous you're talking about your bad putting, but I thought your save on 13 above the hole, and the birdie on 16 were huge.

STEVE FLESCH: They were huge. I drew on a tip that my buddy Harrison Frazar gave me when we were playing a practice round on Tuesday. He said, act like your thumb is on the grip and you're lightly holding two coins under them so you keep the pressure of your hands constant throughout your stroke.

After I flinched on 1 and missed the other one on 8, I had to draw on some thoughts or techniques that were going to get me through the day, and that one really seemed to work. The par save on -- it was just a 4-footer on 12, and then an 8-footer on 13. Those are my keys.

The putt on 16, I couldn't have putt it in a better spot, 15 feet below the hole to the left. Anywhere right of that hole is a tough. It's a tough one to make, but it could be a tough 2-putt. I was aggressive with that putt, probably one the few putts I was really aggressive with all day. I felt like if I was going to have a chance to win, that's the one I needed to make. I fought it all day, but it worked out.

Q. You talked earlier this week that the reason you didn't play last week, your back was sore and you were mentally fatigued. Talk about the feeling that gave you to get refreshed by taking last week off and how much better do you feel today?

STEVE FLESCH: I wouldn't change the way any of it worked out now. I played the Pro-Am last week. I played a practice round and I played the Pro-Am at Byron Nelson and was laying there at two in the morning Wednesday night kind of tossing, turning, my back was bothering me. Knock on wood, I've never had any really bad injuries, but my back was bothering me and I knew I kind of wasn't in -- I love the Byron Nelson tournament, but I don't really like the golf course as much. I played okay in the Pro-Am, nothing great, and I was thinking, I'm tired, I've played so many events, I'm going to take this week off, even though I'm here. I put the crew on the plane and flew home for 5 days, because I didn't want to be burned out for this week because I like this week so much. It's one of my favorites.

I flew down here Monday night, pretty much rested after playing tee ball with Griffin all weekend and chasing the kids. I don't know how much rest I really get at home, other than the fact I'm away from the game. Physically, I think I could play every week, but mentally I can't. As hard as I am on myself, I just keep going over and over it.

That's probably the best decision I've made all year, just realizing that I don't have to play every week and just wear myself out.

Q. It seems like you really play well on a lot of same courses. You've had a lot of successes at the same places. Is it really true what they say, certain things fit your eye? And what is it about these places? You've had top 10s, but some places you just excel.

STEVE FLESCH: A lot of it has to do with they fit my eye. I think any player you talk to has certain courses that they step up on the tee on any of the holes and they're comfortable because they've played it so many times, they know exactly what the golf course requires, and this is one of those places. New Orleans has always been like that. Especially here, I like the fact that I have to move my tee shots both ways. I dare say that I think a lot of the game has changed where it doesn't require you to move the ball that much, left to right and right to left off the tee. Now you set it up and hit it as far as you can. A lot of places we play on Tour are exactly that.

I feel when I come to a place like this, I have a little bit of an advantage because most guys coming out on Tour these days are killing it. And first of all, the balls don't curve as much, and kids these days are taught to kill it. I think that's why Nick Price and Phil Mickelson, guys who like to work the ball, have won here.

Q. When you're that hard on yourself, how hard is it to play a course like this with all the challenges that can pop up out there?

STEVE FLESCH: I think it's really good for me because it makes me pay attention to what I'm doing on every shot. If you're playing a course where you're -- like out in Palm Springs where you have to kill it and find it and knock it on the green, there's not a lot of thought going into that. When I play here, I can't afford to let myself -- this week I wasn't as hard on myself as normal, because you have to be in every shot, you have to pay attention to what the wind is doing. Every shot presents a new challenge. I think that's one reason why I play well here, because I don't get in my own way as much.

Q. Left-handers were nonexistent in golf for many years, do you have any thoughts of eight wins by left-handers since the start of last year?

STEVE FLESCH: Other than the fact that I think maybe Phil, Mike, and I are just getting better each year. No, I wish I had a better explanation than that. I don't know how many years Phil has been out here, but Mike and I have been out here the same length of time. Our odds of winning aren't that great with all the right-handers, but we've just been playing well. That's a bad answer, but I don't have anything else for you.

Q. What will it take for you to be not so hard on yourself?

STEVE FLESCH: Valium, probably. (Laughter.) I don't know. A lot of it just depends how well rested I am. Having a second win now, having a little more faith in yourself and your ability. I've always known I have the ability to play out here and to win. Just having the confidence, knowing I have done it twice and proven to myself I can do it. With this game, it's easy to doubt yourself. You never know when your next win or if you're going to win again is going to be. It's a game that can wear you down. Unfortunately, I've let it sometimes.

Q. You talked a little bit about on the back nine it was nip and tuck. I guess both you guys got the birdies at 11, you had the same score coming down. Take us through some of the key emotional swings, and how much did you watch the board, if at all? Did you monitor what Chad was doing? How did that all play into it on the back nine for you?

STEVE FLESCH: I inadvertently saw the board on 10 and knew that we were tied at 10-under, maybe. I really was purposely trying not to look, which is kind of like when you say don't think of the color red, it's hard to think of anything else. So I inadvertently looked at Zach Johnson when he was putting and the board flashed up the leaders. I was trying not to see it, but I did, not for any other reason but the fact I just wanted to keep playing the course. Because the wind -- there again, I was just trying to take each shot one at a time. Cliche, I know, but because I couldn't worry about what anyone else was doing. There are enough hard holes coming up. 13 on in is pretty much as good a stretch in terms of having to maneuver the ball and take care of the wind of any course we play.

When I was walking up on 16 I saw the score board there and saw that Chad and I were tied at 11, so I knew the putt would have been big. Then I got to 12 and I saw he bogeyed to go back to 10. I knew what I had to do. I was aware of what was going on the last four or five holes. I think I was better off not paying too much attention to it. I made bogey from 142 yards out on 17 with a 9-iron. Just kind of lost my focus.

Q. Was the putter the reason over the years you weren't able to close as well as you would like? And going back to 17, you said you missed two 4-footers and a five-footer earlier. At what point did you feel better about the putter so you felt good over that putt?

STEVE FLESCH: The putter, definitely the first 6 years out here was the reason I didn't win. I'm probably the first to admit I've flinched on my share of 3- and 4-footers, what I did on the first hole today.

When I won in New Orleans I was using the belly and I putted great that week. Didn't make as many long ones, but with the belly putter I'm really solid from 10 feet and in. But I think once you get beyond that, with break and speed of greens, it's hard to adjust. That's why I went back. I used the belly putter this year up until Atlanta and I went over and played a practice round at Augusta with my belly putter and knocked it off three greens and realized I wouldn't even be able to contend if I used this thing. That's why I went back to a conventional putter.

When I get going -- I thought a little bit yesterday, I'll run them in from everywhere, but a lot of it is just the circumstances and whatnot, I get a little shaky. With the putter, I always have. I have since college, when I three-putted from about six feet once. I used to be one of those guys I just banged them in the back.

My college coach was standing there, and I'm not going to bad mouth him, God rest his soul, he died a couple of years ago, but he got all over me for knocking a 6-footer five feet by and missing the comeback. Ever since then, as much as he watched me, I felt I became a tentative guy. That was my freshman year of college. By no means was it his fault, but I think my philosophy on putting changed a little bit, because I used to fly them in the hole from four feet.

My first six years out here, I think my scoring average on Sunday hasn't been as good, and a lot of it -- Canadian Open, I think, two years ago, when John Rollins won, I three-putted twice on the back nine, missed two four-footers that I can remember to keep me out of a playoff. It was just one of those things.

Everybody has their weaknesses. I don't necessarily consider it a weakness. I tend to make more than my share of 10- to 20-footers, so the fact that by using the short putter, the fact that I might miss a couple of short ones during the week, it doesn't bother me, for some reason I'm able to fight through it. You don't want to ever miss them, but it's going to happen. Did I answer your question or did I ramble on?

Q. By 17, did you feel pretty good again?

STEVE FLESCH: No, not at all. Where I hit it over there was total hardpan, so I was more worried about the first chip, the wedge bouncing in and going 40 feet by, then I would be putting back over the ridge. I was trying to kind of dump it to the fringe and let it trickle on. I missed a 3-footer on 1, a five-footer at 8 and I missed a 4-footer on 10. All pretty easy putts, really. I misread the one on 8.

When I got to 17, I think I adjusted the line on my ball two or three times, because every time I looked at it it looked different. So I picked left center and got over it, I really, more than anything, I said -- my thought was hold your finish, more than anything. That's all I thought. Hold your finish, make an accelerated stroke and hold your finish. I don't know what I looked like on camera, but I thought I held my finish. I'll be the first to admit, I don't feel that steady when they mean that much.

Q. Your family wasn't here all week and then they showed up today. How did that come all about?

STEVE FLESCH: Last night I called home after playing, because I knew, being my birthday, I thought my wife might be cooking up something. So I called home and my wife was across the street, but Griffin was there with a baby-sitter and he got on the phone and he said, "Dad, we're going to come down and surprise you tomorrow." I said okay. I said, "Anything else going on?" He said, "Are you going to win tomorrow?" I said, "I'm going to do my best." He said, "You really haven't won that much, have you, dad?" I said, "Get your mom on the phone." I mean, I don't want to hear this. Because then, on cue, he says, "You've only won once right?" And I'm like, yeah, why are you grilling me.

Q. Even your kids are hard on you.

STEVE FLESCH: He's got my personality, a little stubborn. Then my wife got on the phone and said they were thinking about coming down. They brought a couple of our best friends from home with them and they got here this morning.

Q. Did that put any sense of pressure on you knowing they made this special trip and here you're tied for the lead?

STEVE FLESCH: I think if I had been trying to get my first win, yes, but I was looking so forward, especially my little guy Griffin there. He gets so jacked up. Like when I won New Orleans, the trophy from New Orleans is in his play room at home, not in my office or anything. I was looking forward to, hey, if I did win, to have them here to share it with me. It just means more.

Q. Can you capture what it felt like?

STEVE FLESCH: Well, I didn't even know -- well, I saw my wife and our best friends out here today walking, but the kids were at the Tour daycare, and I didn't even know when they got them, but the first time I saw them was on 18, walking over with Lisa and our friends Greg and Carrie. Somehow he and Lilly got over here. That was pretty neat. I knew I was leading by a shot going down the last hole. I just wish I was in the last group where they could have run out. I don't care. I'll take it any way I can get it.

Q. You talked about the tradition of this golf course and traditional things, has it hit you that your name is going to be on the Wall of Champions with some of the greatest names of golf?

STEVE FLESCH: I've gotten that question a lot, and more than anything, having my name on the wall with that group of great champions, you know, it's unbelievable. I remember playing my rookie year, playing a practice round, looking at those names and thinking, man, every good player that has ever played golf has run through this place. That means something to me, not that I've done anything in the history of the game, but just to be a part of that wall of great champions, it's a pretty neat thing.

Q. You talked about flinches.

STEVE FLESCH: Let's not spend much time on that.

Q. Since you won, did you have the yips? And how much will you experiment with changing putters and have you tried everything?

STEVE FLESCH: I said earlier in the week, all my putters are on a waivers. They know when they get in my bag that they might not be there long. I mean, I've battled that ever since before I got on Tour, in college. Like I said, there is a reason I tried the belly putter and other things, but I realize I have a better chance of making more putts conventionally. Usually when guys are a little shaky with the putter, I think it's early on in the round because you're trying to kind of set the tone for the day. At least with me, it's always early on in the round. The more I played today, I was fine.

Even on the back nine, every putt I hit on the back nine I was fine. It was no big deal. I was just keying in on certain things. That's usually how it is with me. A lot of my problems in the past are because the type of putter that I was using had a lot of movement in it, so I was trying to time out the release of it. After Friday, I switched to more of a face balance putter, so the face could never get too far off line. It was always wanting to stay on the intended line. I figured I would give it a shot. I've never really putted with a face balance putter much. That was kind of my thinking. I thought, hey, if this doesn't want to get too far off line, it's better than trying to time out the release of another putter. If my ball position gets off or if I get too far from the ball, that's kind of my reasoning there.

Q. Are you going to be able to wait a year to see your name on the wall or might you stop off here at some point to check it out before next year?

STEVE FLESCH: The management company I'm with here is in Dallas, so I'll probably get back sometime before next year. I'm sure there will be a media day or something I'll come to.

Q. When you look back, do you think you won this tournament on Saturday because of the way you're putting? You hit seven green on Saturday and made a 67 out of a round that could easily have been --

STEVE FLESCH: Absolutely. I think we talked about that yesterday. Yesterday was the key. I mean yesterday gave me the opportunity to even have a chance today. Hitting only seven greens, you know, it was obviously a day where my short game saved me. Today I struck it well. I had a lot of opportunities. I made some putts when I had to, but in the end, like you say, Saturday was the round that kept me in the golf tournament.

Q. Can you guess how many putters you've used between victories, how many times you changed between New Orleans and now?

STEVE FLESCH: In competition? I got on this stretch where I was using this one, the one I finally bagged on Friday that I've been trying to get out of my bag for four months. My whole goal in the off season was to find a new one. I showed up in Maui with that same damn putter again. I was like, what am I doing, my whole purpose in the off season was to find something I like and here I am with the same one. I've probably used four different ones in competition. But like in Hawaii, at the Mercedes, I putted with the same old faithful putter, I call it Old Faithful, and after the first round I made nothing so I went over to Nevada Bob's and bought a putter, used it in the second round, putted better but missed the cut. Michelle Wie beat me. Then I went back to Old Faithful at Palm Springs for two rounds, then I put the belly in for the last three and shot 19-under the last three rounds with the belly putter. I kept that in through Augusta, went back to a short putter in Augusta. I've used probably four putters that have gotten into play, but different methods.

Q. Did you say yesterday you changed Tuesday here?

STEVE FLESCH: No, I changed after Friday's round. I talked to Butch Harmon earlier in the week, too, on Monday before I left, and he knows how much I'm trying to get that putter out of my bag. He said don't bring it. Then I've got to find one. I haven't found one in eight months, so what am I going to do. I don't know, whatever. It worked out. I can tell you what, by the end of the year, the one I have in my bag now probably won't be there either. You never know.

TODD BUDNICK: Let's walk through the birdies if we can No. 3.

STEVE FLESCH: 3, I hit an 8-iron about 30 feet left of the hole and made a big curler there, broke about four feet.

7, chased a nice little 2-iron down there and hit a pitching wedge from 145 to eight feet, got that one in the left side.

11, hit a driver and 3-wood in the front bunker, knocked it out to about eight feet, made that.

Good save on 12.

16, I hit a 7-iron to about 18 feet below the hole made that.

And then the bogey on 17, I pulled a 9-iron, and flubbed a chip, and then chipped it to about three feet and made bogey.

TODD BUDNICK: Congratulations.

End of FastScripts.

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