MCI CLASSIC

April 13, 2000

Dan Forsman

DAN FORSMAN: Yeah, I thought we were going to get a break. It sounded like we were going to have wind and blustery conditions in the afternoon. But like I said, I thought we were going to have a break with the weather being not so bad in the morning, and then we got to the first green and it just started getting more and more blustery, and then the lights went out. By that I mean, the sun disappeared and it started to get chilly. I said to my caddie: Where is the umbrella? He said: Back in the hotel room. I said: Great. Well, maybe we can borrow one from the pro shop. Thank goodness it only sprinkled a couple times, but no problems out there. My first tee shot, you know, just kind of gets your attention right away. Stepped up on that tee, and I haven't played since -- well, I did play week before Augusta. It was Atlanta, but we didn't get to play on Sunday; we got rained out. I took a week off and practiced pretty hard last week and watched the tournament. Anyway, not to bore you all with the details, but here we are back at Harbour Town, feels good. I practiced yesterday. I came out and worked on my game. I had a great four-ball match on Tuesday with Jay Delsing and Steve Lawrie, took on Bradley Hughes and I, and they challenged us. We were a twosome and they were a twosome, and they said: Do you guys want to play for something? We said: Okay, great. We played for $10 -- is that gambling? Is that against PGA TOUR guidelines? Is that too little? There was a controversy on 18 because we were 2-up, and we were expecting $10 a hole, and they just thought it was a 10 dollar bet. That was fun. And I haven't done that in a while. And I think what it did for me was it made me realize I wanted to play the golf course and try to win this money. It's funny when it comes out of your pocket, as you guys know, and you gals, too, you're a little aware and a little more focused and concentrating on your practice shots. Anyway, we came out on top, Bradley and I. We had a great match. It was a lot of fun and playing with -- my point in mentioning that is only to say that I just can't wait -- first of all, it was a gorgeous day. I was telling the gal on the way in, Robert Louis Stevenson, I don't think they came -- or Lewis and Clark, I don't think they discovered this part of the country when they said the greatest meeting of land and sea was the Monterey peninsula, because if they came here, they would say this is also extraordinary. But a gorgeous day. Sunshine is out. I haven't been here in two years. For some reason, I'm just at the end of my rope. Missed the cuts the last few years, but as much as I want to go to Harbour Town, I'm not ready to go. I want to be with my family and get up for the Texas swing, if you will. Rested, and feel like my game is coming back. My wife kept saying: Gee, why are you going? You sound like you're kind of indecisive about going. And I said: I really feel like I need to go. We have a Tour policy that says, you know what, play these tournaments if you miss. And I loved it here. And I've forgotten how much I did. So I -- when I came back and saw how lovely it is, I came back here and had just a good feeling about it. It's funny, because you can practice at home, and I'm hitting these rocks. I go back to my home club, and they have got Pinnacles and Top-Flites out of the sand like a lot of us are used to outside of the PGA TOUR. And I was hitting these balls really good, going: This is grass-roots golf. This is where I learned the game in this rock pile, so to speak. So I come back here, and it's not going to feel as solid and as pure as the rocks I hit at the club I belong to in Provo, Utah. And it was there, and I felt good again. It's the confidence, the C word, and I'm talking confidence. That's really the essence of what happened out there for me today. I came here; I was confident. I hit the ball Tuesday; I was confident. I was relaxed because I was confident, I was relaxed. And if you're not confident and you're not striking, you can't be relaxed. You play a course like this out there, I tell you right now, it is -- it will wear you out. And I've been out on the other side, when you're not confident and playing the golf course. You're out there playing today on a day when the wind is blowing, it will eat you up. Even though I 3-putted the 3rd hole just about 30 feet away, after hitting a good 3 with a 6-iron I thought was pure, just run it by the back fringe three, four feet and miss it and start over -- you know, it was -- what it was for me was like, you know, am I really confident? It was like an awakening of sorts, of the sort -- of a personal thing. Step up on the 2nd hole, and I duck hook it in the left bunker over there, and I'm saying: No, but I'm confident. I really am (Laughter.) I'm really confident. But actually, I was able to make a par on the 2nd hole, and I got up on the 3rd. And now I've hit a duck hook left. I've just 3-putted the first green, I keep saying to myself: I'm confident. And I just rifle right down the pike about 300 on 3, and just lipout a birdie putt. I'm like: Oh, yeah; trust it. Turnaround on 4, 6-iron, 12 feet. Make that for birdie. Good, back to even. Hit it about eight feet past on the par 5 -- was it 5? You know, make that putt. So I'm 1-under. Again the confidence thing is starting to -- I'm reasserting that in my own psyche, striking the ball solidly. Next hole, that tough par 4. The wind is right-to-left big time. They have taken the rough out of the left side and it is all seashells. I said to the superintendent: Too much fertilizer. If it goes left, it will run right or the trees. I came off in the right-hand trees and was able to punch it down, punch it in front of the green about -- the pin was front left on about six paces. And I had it about -- six paces short of the green, kind of, no more than oh, 25 feet to the hole. And my caddie says, that's makeable. I'm like, "man, he's right," but he's not chipping off this stuff. Anyway, I made the shot. It went in, so good; birdie. Now I'm 2-under and go to the next tee, the par 3 to 7-iron about -- about 10 feet short and drained that for birdie. Now I've got it going. Par next hole. Hit it in there, good drive, tough driving hole. Hit a 5-iron right of the flag about 25 feet up the hill. And I hit the spot, and it's going dead center, and it just swings and catches the left side of the cup and misses. So I could have had five in a row, but didn't. But par is always a good score on that hole anyway. 9, layup nicely with a wedge. Just flagged a 9-iron there, and it's six, eight feet left of the hole and hit a good putt and missed there for birdie. Confidence thing -- I'm feeling good about myself and my game. And now we play the back nine and ten, eleven -- every hole is just a test of golf. The good news was on 10,11, 12, 13 also, is it's downwind today. So you take those holes. And if you have them into the wind, driving to 10 is much more difficult than driving to 11 and so on. But again, I drove the ball beautifully. I hit the fairways and greens beautifully. At 10 missed an 8-footer for birdie, at 10. Lipped the hole at 11 from about 15, 18 feet for birdie. Just missed it there. I birdied 12, from about 18 feet behind the hole, about 15 feet, I guess, from just off the fringe. Made a nice couple -- ran it by too much on 13. Made a 4-, 5-footer coming back for par. Like a guinea pig -- nice on the hole on the par 3s. Every time I got to the par 3, I hit a 6-iron. And I got up to the tee, and it was just like a wind tunnel coming right down there. And I just waited and waited and kind of kept throwing grass up and waiting and waiting. I thought about this image of Ben Hogan, I heard, on the 12th hole, he'd throw a cigarette and wait for the smoke to go a certain way. And he'd step up and go. And I tell you, it was really weird. I'm not a smoker, so -- but I just kind of thought that's what he was doing and I need to do that also. There's no rush. Be in control. Anyway, hit it in there close about 12 feet that was a key shot. Funny thing was I kind of knocked it downwind so coming right-to-left and it just hovered on the right edge; so I had one of those. I hit that apex, I'm going, okay, it's going to come back, it's going to come back, it's going to come back; and it didn't come back. And just kept hovering, and last minute it dropped, left caught the fringe and rolled by 10 feet. That's the nature of this golf course. That ball landed on the fringe by about three feet; if it lands six inches right, it comes back and kicks into the water. Anyway, I played routine coming, in parred 15 from behind the hole with two putts about 25, 30 feet. 16, hit a good drive, picked a drive, blistered it in the corner with a sand wedge made that for birdie. 17, 8-iron left of the hole about 15 feet and had downwind, downhill putt to that cup and thought I could just speed it down there. I left it in the jar about three inches short, and that's -- you don't get many opportunities out here when you have that short for a birdie putt and leave it short. That's the killer thing frustrating-wise. And then on 18, I hit a good drive it a 3-iron for 194, and it was a lot of club and I said to my caddie, this is too much club, but the flags up above are just whipping straight out, and I'm looking over at that beautiful yacht on the bay that thing was even rooking. So I'd better -- I went with a 3-iron and I hit it, landed hole-high; and the green is getting so firm out there even with the overcast conditions, it bounced, flew the green and -- I elected to putt from the fringe. It was one of those things, I'll take 2-putts to get out of here in no time. It was looking so good like it was going to go in. My caddie is going, "go in." I knew the moment I hit it, just don't be too much. It was kind of a crown up and then over, and it went by about four feet away, and I had had left-to-righter coming up the hill. And at that point, I must say, I don't know any of you who stood there, I had a 4-foot putt to finish 5-under and cap off what was a great day for me. And I can tell you right then, right here and now, I was on that putting green yesterday hitting 6-footers all day long -- about an hour and a half and saying these are the putts that you need to really sort of reaffirm that sense of control, if you will, if for only today. Who knows? But, you know, I stepped up and knocked this thing right in the heart, and I tell you what, it was a great feeling to shoot 5-under at Harbour Town Golf Links. I didn't even look at the boards. Someone said "You're leading the golf tournament." It's exciting to be on the top with a great field like this. My sense is there will be some good scores this afternoon. I think the key is momentum. If you have the momentum and you get it on your side, you can shoot a good score. The greens are quick, but they are not an aggressive or PLAYERS Championship quick. You can be a little aggressive, you can take a roll at the hole and not feel like additional power -- it's going to go further than the one you had before. I think that's the difference.

DAN FORSMAN: I lost to David Duval at Disney World two years ago; that started his run of three in a row. And I've often said, if I had beaten him, I would have won and I'd be No. 2 in the world. I have to cling to that right now. That's probably the best I played, and I really felt like I had a chance -- I felt like I should have won that golf tournament, but I'm sure he felt that way and that's why he won it. But you know, my career has -- it's been like a roller coaster. I think you can look through the books and see it. I've been a consistent cut-maker and so on, but I need to step up to the -- to the plate, if you will, to use a baseball metaphor and play four rounds. My wife is -- we've talked about this. I've got two boys, 15 and 10, and I have a family that I dearly love and I have a teenager -- don't see him any more now than I did than when he was younger, and it's really hard to be away. I would like to -- my youngest son said: "Dad, are you ever going to win again? Are you ever going to win again?" He said, "Dad, grow your mustache back because you used to win when you had a mustache." You've seen the pictures of the last four events back in 1992. I looked at him and said, "Maybe I should do that." Just a thought that maybe that would trigger some good play. But you know and I know, the only way to win golf tournaments is to be in control of your game and have confidence. If you don't have confidence, if you guys don't feel confidence in your writing ability or you're just off, it's not clicking. I mean, you can talk yourself -- but you know it. When you've got confidence, boy, I tell you what, you know that this is going to be the greatest article you've ever written. People are going to love it.

DAN FORSMAN: I think it was.

DAN FORSMAN: It was a big day. No question about it. It was -- you know I think I forget, one of the writers told me: "You're famous now." I said, "What do you mean, I'm famous?" He said: I'll never forget you. You made 7 at Augusta." But my feeling all along is there's going to be equal and opposite, and I guess that's why deep down I keep coming back and feeling like, you know, I want to try to break through that and have an opportunity again. As I watched the Masters last week I was struck by how grand the venue is, and the tournament, and how dearly I would love to be back there. You know I think about Hal Sutton winning THE PLAYERS Championship at 41, 42; Vijay who is up there in age, and how about the great Golden Bear? I mean, who was not rooting for Jack over the weekend at 60 with an artificial hip? I'm saying: I'm 41, Dan, there's no reason why you can't get back to the Masters and play good golf on the TOUR. That sort of got me going, and I realized I need to get with it. I've been practicing pretty hard and I'm encouraged.

DAN FORSMAN: You know I don't look to the Seniors Tour. I don't know what the seniors tour -- if it will be as good as it is now. Lord knows. I know this, I wanted to play as long as I can on the regular tour and I want to play well when I way play. I'm not worried about the Seniors Tour, I'm not worried about BUY.COM. Although, I think it's great that they have it for the young guys who have missed out and need to have a chance to get out here through performance.

DAN FORSMAN: You know, I think that's a good question. I think what I've realized is I've always sort of been rules by this sense of, gee, I've got it, I should keep working on it because I don't want to lose it. That's wrong. I think that's ill-fated and I think that's something for me that I have to say: I'm getting it, I've got it, and I'm going to get it better and better each time. I think the way to do that for me is to say, I go out and just hit every ball, but just to really, really focus in and make that practice time and that effort; you know, simulate the type of condition, the type of real-life shot-making competition that I'm going to have when I play golf on the TOUR. Where before I think it's easy to drive to the course with your buddies, where are you guys going to dinner tonight, hitting shots aimlessly. I think if I'm going to learn anything out here -- this is the office for me. And I think I've forgotten that at times, and I think that's been the way I need to approach it to get back to where I can be competitive on this high, high level.

DAN FORSMAN: The only way the wind will affect me and the rest of these guys is if they are not striking it solidly, and I think that's the key. I think if you're hitting the ball solid you can go through a wind tunnel and go through to Nassau, and they can have the thin screening and a window box; see if you can hit it in the window box. If you're hitting pure, you can go right through the window, but on the toe, the heel, high, it will be all over the place, crashing the bulbs and everything else. I think that's the key, if you're confident -- I think that's why Tiger is so great. He hits it so solid that his ball is -- just he can control it. Jack was that way. One of the greatest, Watson, Tom Watson, Lanny, you can go down the list Hale Irwin. These guys control the ball because they are hitting it solid every single time. Not every time, but the preponderance of every time it's solid. I mean, that's -- I can't tell you what that does inside. I just know on a hole when you're looking out there and it's just hazards and winds and you have a piece inside, you say Hogan must have had that, I don't know. They said people used to watch him practice. I mean, that's the key and I think that being tall can be a disadvantage, only if you're way up here and you get blown, maybe that's a factor. But I don't think so. Maybe when the winds get to 30, 40, 50 miles an hour, then it might be a problem. But like I said, if you're striking it solid and you have control of the golf ball, the wind isn't much of a factor.

DAN FORSMAN: I did.

DAN FORSMAN: Maybe one or two strokes, I would say. Probably could have been, could have, should have, would have. But if that putts on 18 goes in it's 5-under so never count your chickens until they are well inside the hen there. That's my philosophy and my downfall, too. I get ahead of myself sometimes thinking, you know, but it's now one shot at a time. In fact, Mike and I were talking about this last night -- Nicklaus, what made him so great is he did ordinary things consistently well. There's nothing magical about these guys. They just do ordinary things consistently well, and as a result, they are successful.

DAN FORSMAN: At times it is. I must say, it's too much that way, and I think it's like what Mike was saying about Jack. If you can be more ordinary, just take it as it comes, just say no big deal.

DAN FORSMAN: Yeah, it could be can be. Sure can be. I think that -- I don't know, I guess it comes with being mid-life or something.

DAN FORSMAN: My son? He's 10.

DAN FORSMAN: You know, I was on the 4th tee today and looked over to the left of the lagoon by the green. And I thought, you know what, I would love to go take a lounge and watch these guys. It's a peaceful setting right over the bank on the side of the road, sit over there with a nice Sports Illustrated, Golf World, Golf Week, sit there and watch the guys come through, and I don't know, such a beautiful place. But how am I going to do it? I'm going to go practice. I'm taking a chapter out of Vijay Singh's book. And I read on the Internet last night a fascinating story about a guy who wrote over in France, he was there at the crack of dawn and left at night and Vijay is still there. I couldn't do that; I would be in traction.