ENERGIZER SENIOR TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 5, 1998

Raymond Floyd

RAYMOND FLOYD: Bet it is. I think the obvious today is -- if you're going to do that, let me put my hat on. I've been out there with a stocking hat on all day. I think the obvious is you can't win the golf tournament today. So what you try to do is not shoot a high score, really. If you can go out, and I hit the ball solid, and I haven't been doing that much of late. I really mis-hit about three golf shots today, and boy, that's not a lot of mistakes on a day like that. I played within myself. And most of the times I took the right club. But I'm certainly pleased to get in with that score.

RAYMOND FLOYD: Well, the golf course is excellent. It's in very good condition. The -- it's a little bit soft. So it's playing long, even without the wind. To keep the rye grass out there, they have had to keep it pretty wet without a lot of rain -- I understand they haven't had much rain at all. But he's had to keep it pretty wet to keep it green. But it's in pretty good shape. It's certainly in good tournament-calibre condition, and it's playing long. It's in good condition.

RAYMOND FLOYD: Second hole I hit a green and a 6-iron about probably eight or ten feet and made that. Then the 4th hole, I bogeyed the par 5. I hit a good drive and I laid up perfect. And I had -- I had 76 yards to the hole, downwind, very hard. And I was going to hit a middle wedge down into the flat, because the pin was up on a -- on a back shelf; and hit it down low and let it skip up. And I just hit it too hard. I carried it up top and went through the green. I had a pretty awkward lie. And I chipped it back about five feet passed. And I actually hit a good putt, and I kind of spun it out. I missed it and made 6. Then I came back and birdied 7 and 8. At 7, I hit a driver and a 9-iron. I put it in about eight feet and made it. And then at 7, I hit a driver and a 5-wood over the green and chipped back about 3 1/2 feet and made that. Then I birdied the par 5 on the back. I hit a bad drive. I thought I might be in the right lake. I bailed out. But I hit it solid, and it was across the water. I laid up with a 3-iron. And then I hit an 8-iron -- probably hit it eight or ten feet and made that for a birdie.

RAYMOND FLOYD: 1st hole. I pulled my drive on the 1st hole in the left rough and I hit a good shot out of there. I hit a good, solid 3-iron. And the wind kind of quit and I went over the green. I was just absolutely dead. You had a sandy, grassy pine/straw kind of a lawn. I could not chip the ball or pitch the ball up to the green. I had a big mound. And I took a sand wedge and exploded it off of there and got about probably eight or ten feet and made it for a par. Other than that, even when I missed the green, I missed it short. And my chips were good -- short, I mean close. And I missed actually a couple pretty good birdie opportunities. I missed about a four-footer at 16 for a birdie. And I missed some pretty good, you know, 10, 12, 15-foot range that I missed. But I don't expect to make them all and it would be nice for me to go out and keep hitting the ball solid like this.

RAYMOND FLOYD: Well, first off, you've got to start with a frame of mind. Mental attitude is No. 1. If you -- and it's hard. This Tour, nobody on this Tour likes -- likes bad conditions. You'd like to think about golf heat, being loose and warm, and it's just the reverse. So you've got to know that you're going to be uncomfortable. You're going to have probably some pretty good shots that don't end up very good. You're going to hit some bad shots. So those are the things you're going to have to accept. So I think you're going to use the mental side of it. You can use words like patience or perserverence, and you can use a lot of words like that. But I really -- it's more of a mental attitude. And you just keep plugging and you do the best you can.

RAYMOND FLOYD: Don't know I think about it like that. But certainly the middle of the month here, we all know that we can have weather much worse than this or it can be perfect. It's very risky this time of year. But I think the attitude is: It's the 31 players coming; it's an important event, and it's the last event of the year. So you kind of try to get yourself up. So I think that's the attitude. And I think most every player will say it's probably the best golf course that we play throughout the year, so you look forward because of that.

RAYMOND FLOYD: Well, my game plan will be the same if there's bad weather. I hope to hit the ball solid and just get around there good. I hope my attitude is good knowing it's going to be difficult for every player out there. It's going to be tough for them. So I try to keep the same attitude. My mental side was very good today. And I think that carries -- reflects into the physical. So I hope that I can continue that all week.

RAYMOND FLOYD: I think you can look back on a lot of rounds, and it's usually something that will swing the round one way or the other. I could have missed that and then not made the birdie putt at 3, even though I hit all the shots solid through there. I could have been 1-over through 3 as well as 1-under if I don't make the putt at 1 and 3. So right there you've -- you've had 45 minutes on the golf course and things have happened positively instead of negatively. And I think there are always things like that that make rounds. You miss a couple putts early and you tend not to putt well. You make some putts early, you tend to make putts. And I've found that usually when I start playing well early or hitting the ball well, that usually carries with me. So those things tend to be positive.

RAYMOND FLOYD: The way Hale and Gil have been playing, I think you look at the statistics for the last couple years, they are leading every category. If he plays his best and the other players play their best, he's going to win. If he faulters and another player plays his best, he can be beat or caught. But you look at the couple-year run that those two players have had, it's quite phenomanal. If you look up on the board every rounds you play, they are right there in the field, always. And that becomes habit. They get used to it. They expect it. And when you're playing well, you expect to play well every day you go out there. You have a 15-foot put, you expect to make it. And you make a lot more when you expect to make -- you've got a shot to execute, you expect to execute and you do. They take holes that other players are thrilled to walk away with a par and they are making birdies on them. So that's that scenario. With those guys that hot, the other players are going to have to get on fire to beat them.

RAYMOND FLOYD: Well, I think Osaki in Japan dominated his Tour longer than any single player and I think this Tour has been totally dominated by those two players, and it's really quite incredible when you realize the calibre of talent out here. There's a lot of talented guys out here. There were a lot of guys that were not very about players when they played the other tours and came here with a second life, if you would and they work hard and they train and they do the things and they are very good players over here. So there's a lot of talent. So for two guys to dominate like they have is pretty incredible to me.

RAYMOND FLOYD: Not Gil or Hale. I think your people that are -- or your better players and are playing well, it will widen the gap. But everybody -- your better player takes advantage of bad conditions, always.

RAYMOND FLOYD: My pleasure. Thank you.