ENERGIZER SENIOR TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 7, 1998

Raymond Floyd

RAYMOND FLOYD: First off, thank you all for waiting. I appreciate your patience. But I just needed what I did. I was on that practice tee from the minute I walked off, and I'm going to start tomorrow with some optimism. My dad is here, and between he and Steve, my caddy, I sure did hit it nice out there tonight; so I hope I can carry that over. But I really struggled today. I didn't play very well. But I did what I had to do not to put myself out of the golf tournament. I'm going to start tomorrow with an opportunity to win. And my philosophy about this game forever is: If I can give myself a chance to win, I'm happy. You're not always going to convert. But you can't win unless you have the opportunity or you give yourself the chance. So I've done that. I'm here going to the last round within a stroke of the lead, and I'm looking forward to the challenge. I will be quite honest, if I play like I did today, there's -- we might have to send an ambulance out there. I struggled around. But I'm optimistic and I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

RAYMOND FLOYD: Well, I've been blocking the ball badly for a couple years. And I think that I do something and I clear it out. And I'll work before a tournament and I'll feel like: Oh, boy I'm positive. And then I'll go out in the middle of a round and I'll hit a block. And it just seems that after I hit one, I just continue to do it. And it's just so befuddling or puzzling, it's difficult. But I think my dad finally put it into perspective as to why, because there's a reason. I know what I do: The knee sinks; my head goes out over the ball and the center of gravity is in front of the ball and the head of the club is in front and you're late, so it creates a shot to the right. But my dad says that I was tilting. My hip and my shoulder were dropping on the takeaway instead of rotating. And I sure hit some good shots out there tonight. I usually don't like to talk about technicals, but I know you folks like to write about them, so that's about as good as I can do for you there.

RAYMOND FLOYD: Well, maybe.

RAYMOND FLOYD: Very rarely. But he taught me to play. He taught both of my sons to play, he taught my daughter to play. He's taught us all for a great number of years. I've never had a lesson from anyone but him. After I moved to Florida when I got married, I went to Jack Grout, who passed away. And I didn't have a lesson for a great number of years. I've seen Phil Rodgers a little bit. Phil has helped me. He was one year ahead of me starting the tour, and Phil used to help me a little bit. We used to play a lot of practice rounds. So Phil would help me out on the road somewhat. But, basically, I was more of a feel-type player. I was taught fundamentals, and I think everybody is basically fundamentals. Just what I was doing there. I was not turning or rotating. I was dropping, which made the circle come out of whack. So that's basically a fundamental of the swing. Sure you've got four what you call large, major fundamentals. But then everything works off of those. But the last couple years, I've been with Phil. And my dad was here. And I just asked him tonight: Could he come out with me and see if he saw anything. But nobody would know my game better than him.

RAYMOND FLOYD: Yes. He's been here for two days.

RAYMOND FLOYD: Take you through the round? You'd better put a seat belt on, buddy. I bogeyed the 1st hole. I hit it in the right fairway bunker. Hit a bad shot out of the bunker with a 4-iron. I could have reached the green with any kind of good shot. Hit an indifferent pitch about 18 feet and 2-putted for bogey. I bogeyed the 3rd hole. I hit a really good drive down there and hit a 7-iron left to the green and hit a bad chip about 12 feet and missed that. I birdied four. And I hit a good drive and hit a 3-iron about 20 feet left of the hole and 2-putted for birdie. And then I hit a horrible shot to the right of the 5th hole and hit a bad chip about ten feet and missed that for bogey. And then at the 8th hole, I drove in the right rough and hit a 5-wood down right and short and then mitt a marvelous chip shot about 3 1/2 neat and made that. A made a miraculous up-and-down at 9 for par from the left of the green. I hit a marvelous pitch about five feet to make par, save par. At 10, I hit drive and 8-iron about 10 or 12 feet and made that for birdie. And at 11, I pulled it into the left fairway trap and I had a very awkward lie and I had to chip down in front of the hazard. I didn't feel that I could hit a shot in there, maybe make it in the water and hit a high score. Then I hit a good wedge shot and the wind gusted up and it drew back. I was about 8 or 9 yards short of the green. I made up-and-down and I made a good six or seven-foot putt there for bogey. Then I birdied the next par 5. I put it on the par 3 and 2-putted. The par 5 I hit three good shots about eight or ten feet and made that for birdie. Then I 3-putted. I hit really the best drive of the day at 14, and it just went in the far left bunker and I hit a bad bunker shot that got just on the putting surface and I was probably 80 feet from the hole and putted up about four and a half, five feet. I hit a good putt and missed that. And then the par 5, I put in the green-side bunker after a pretty decent drive and I guess I got robbed for making eagle. I think it caught the hole and tapped it in for a birdie there. And then I parred in from there.

RAYMOND FLOYD: Actually, I didn't, because I didn't warm up good. The first couple rounds, I felt good after my practice session because I was hitting it good. This morning I didn't warm up -- I didn't hit it very well warming up. I was blocking a little. I blocked my tee shot right after the first tee and that's kind of the way I ended my warm-up session. So I didn't feel a lot of enthusiasm when I walked up to the tee. I was enthusiastic getting up and coming, you know. But still again, I think I've held it together pretty good. To shoot a par round here on a course like this, even though it wasn't windy was probably why I was able to shoot par and kept it together because the conditions weren't quite as bad. But par around here is not a bad score, on any given round. So I'm pleased that I was able to keep it together.

RAYMOND FLOYD: Surprised? I'm not surprised when you see anybody out here practicing. He didn't play as well as he would like. He missed some shots that he normally -- and even -- it's not that you miss greens or fairway sometimes. It's that you don't hit the ball close. And sometimes it's just a little thing. I know I heard him say to his caddy a couple times that he seemed very frustrated. It seemed like when he would do one thing, he would hit it right, and when he would try to do the other, he would pull it. Well, I don't have pull one. I always kill it right. So I don't have to worry about the left.

RAYMOND FLOYD: Well, my dad comes to the father/son and he was at the Vantage Championship and he's here. That's three. My dad has a little bit of a leg problem. I don't know how he walks around out there but he goes the whole 18. Did I say the Masters? I don't know if I did. He comes to the Masters. But my mom's had a couple surgeries in the last three years so she can't -- she used come down here but she can't walk around.