THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY SOUTHERN COMPANY

November 2, 2000

Steve Flesch

STEVE FLESCH: Coming in obviously had a lot of confidence after playing well last week. Just continue to drive the ball well. Hit a lot of good iron shots and putted it well again today. Just a lot of it is just a continuation where I did well last week.

STEVE FLESCH: Yeah, I missed a couple of good birdie opportunities early, just kind of hung in there and then I think I birdied 4, 5 and 6 right in a row. Really nothing special, just kept driving the ball in the fairway and hit some good iron shots and made some putts. I mean, I know it is not the most exciting thing, but on 7 I hit it in there about three feet, missed that one for the birdie. But other than that, I just kind of took advantage of my good shots today, didn't let any shots slip and more than anything just drove it well, which you are going to have to do. If you miss a few, the fairways out here in this Bermuda rough, you are going to make some bogeys, no two ways about it.

STEVE FLESCH: Well, yeah the conditions are pretty benign. There isn't much wind. I'd like to say the greens were softer this morning, but I think they firmed up about last Friday and they have been firm ever since. So I think we are only an hour ahead of the last couple of guys going off, but I think I was kind of in the middle of the field today. I don't really think I was much different between the first guys off and the last guys off. But still an awful firm golf course out there.

STEVE FLESCH: I started righthanded, then I switched over because I played -- I batted baseball from the left side of the plate, that is when I switched, from when I was probably ten years old.

STEVE FLESCH: Yeah, I just felt more natural. My dad didn't really push me to start righthanded.

STEVE FLESCH: Yes, and I just played righthanded because he was righthanded. I just figured -- I still shoot a basketball righthanded, but I throw a baseball lefthanded. I just kind of go with what is natural.

STEVE FLESCH: Yes.

STEVE FLESCH: 10 miles south of Downtown Cincinnati, just a suburb of Cincinnati, so it is not in the sticks like Union sounds. (laughs).

STEVE FLESCH: I eat righthanded. I think I do more things right than lefthanded, few of the motor skills that take coordination I do lefthanded.

STEVE FLESCH: I putt pretty well in the left side, I am going to stick with it.

STEVE FLESCH: Yeah, I had a problem going down the stairs in my home last March and fractured the ulnar bone in my right elbow. It forced me to miss a couple of weeks, but that healed up pretty quickly fortunately and I got to play, geez, from about mid-April on last year.

STEVE FLESCH: No.

STEVE FLESCH: Yeah, I had a 3-footer for birdie and I had about seven feet for par. I think I was a little bit used to last week being able to kind of jam a few of those three-footers on those grainy greens. This week that isn't going to work. I was fortunate enough to make the come-backers, so, it wasn't too damaging.

STEVE FLESCH: 4th hole, drove it down the middle, hit a 9-iron about five feet, made that. 5, hit a real good drive down the middle and hit a 6-iron about 20 feet, made that. On 6, I hit an 8-iron about 18 feet left of the hole and ran that one in. And then on 10, I hit a really good drive and a good 6-iron about, oh, probably 18 feet, and had made that putt. That putt broke about four feet. So that was probably my best one of the day. Then the rest were just a bunch of pars; not as uneventful as they sound.

STEVE FLESCH: I don't know. I think we have two stop lights if that gives you any -- (laughs). No, there is probably about 10,000 people there. It is decent. It just doesn't sound very big.

STEVE FLESCH: I just think it is confidence -- sometimes if you know you are hitting it well, you can aim your ball in certain spots because you know you can pull the shot off. Especially with your irons, if you know you are striking your irons well, instead of aiming it 20 feet toward the middle of the green away from the hole, you might be able to aim it ten feet. I think confidence is just kind of knowing your tendencies out there; knowing kind of where your misses -- where your miss-shots might end up. It is kind of a whole lot of things, but more than anything, it is just kind of -- it is not an attitude, but it is just a way of playing. You might just be a little bit more aggressive in certain spots where you otherwise, if you are not playing very well, you would not.

STEVE FLESCH: I have played -- you are right, I have played really well. I have had a great year, obviously I have to think I am close as close as I came last week, but you know, it might be another year until I have as good a chance as I did at Disney last week. You never know. I am just going to try and keep doing -- keep playing it, keep playing well, keep giving myself chances on Sunday and one of these days it is going to happen.

STEVE FLESCH: No, wasn't at all. I just loved Kentucky basketball. I went to school there not because of the golf program. I went because I knew I was going to get to go all the basketball games. I played my four years there. I think I only missed two ball games the whole time I was there, so I am not obsessive or anything like DiMarco was with the Florida Gators football, but I have fun following them.

STEVE FLESCH: No. I am vertically challenged. I am just a little vertically challenged there. I played a little bit in high school all through grade school just realized that I wasn't going to have height to do it. I was quick and I could shoot from long range, but I wasn't going to be big enough.

STEVE FLESCH: I think I have just been a little bit more patient out there. During the middle part of the year and late summer I was just -- I was practicing a lot, playing a lot of tournaments in a row just kind of wearing myself down and really wasn't having much fun playing. I'd go to tournaments and you know, I was thankful that I was there because I know playing in Asia I never was playing tournaments as big as on the PGA TOUR, but I just was wearing myself down to the point where I wasn't having fun playing. Vegas, Disney, and this week, you know, I knew I needed one or two decent weeks to even get here this week so I was just trying to relax, quit pressing so hard, when I played well in Vegas, I pretty much knew I was going to be a lock for THE TOUR Championship, and I think that just -- relaxation helped me play really good last week. And it has been fun. The last two weeks is the most fun I have had playing all year and especially Saturday and Sunday with Tiger last week, you might look at what as being a big pressure situation, but I thought it was great. I'd never played with him before and I wasn't worried that I played -- that I would play poor with him. I was out there just kind of enjoying it, see what it was all about.

STEVE FLESCH: Absolutely. It is one of those things that, you know, you want to play well week-in and week-out and I love -- I take pride in the fact that I am a consistent player because I think it is kind of a low stress way of playing. If you are-- you feel like your continually playing well, you know you are always going to have good -- you know, decent finishes and you are going to make good money, but I'd give it all up for one win, not that -- it is not to gain the respect of anybody, but just deep down to know that I can win on this level. It is something you can't describe. I think it is a little bit of a pride thing to know that you have won out here on the PGA TOUR.

STEVE FLESCH: Thanks.