FEDEX ST. JUDE CLASSIC

June 10, 1999

David Frost

DAVID FROST: I won a -- I didn't play a practice round. I was not supposed to play this week. I just -- I entered in last Friday -- and I just thought if I don't make it through the quagmire, at least I enter. And then, you know, went home Tuesday morning; took my son out for his first golf tournament yesterday. He just started playing junior golf now that he's old enough. And flew up here late last night. So as I said, it wasn't due to the preparations.

DAVID FROST: He made his first birdie. 106-yard par 3. I was fortunate. I was there for his first par, and I was there for his first birdie. It was good fun. Nice, too. Nice to see the kids play the game. They play and not get too analytical, 11, 12-year-olds.

DAVID FROST: 11.

DAVID FROST: On No. 10, I hit a 9-iron about 10 feet behind the hole from 130 yards. 15, I hit a good drive. I hit a pitching wedge just over the green and took -- I took a sand wedge and bladed it; went in from about 25 feet. Next hole, par 5, I hit it on the front edge, chipped it up about 10 feet, and made that for birdie. I got lucky on 17. I pushed my driver behind this big tree, and I was trying to slice it through the tree, and it ended up going right through the fattest part of the tree onto the green; and I made a 25-footer for birdie. I hit a good drive, 8-iron about 10 feet for birdie. No. 2, I pushed my driver over the rough. I hit a sand wedge from about 105 yards to 20 feet. And the only blooper of the day was I missed a 3-footer on the next par 5 for birdie. And then par 5, No. 5, I didn't make a great chip. I hit it 15 feet, and made it for birdie. No. 6, I hit an 8-iron two feet for birdie. I missed a short one -- I missed a short one on 8, an 8-footer for birdie. And I got up-and-down on the last hole off the back of the green. How many putts did I have? 24 is good, but you can shoot lower than that -- less putts than that, shooting 63. But, you know, putting has always been -- it's always been a part of my game. It's always been there; keeps me together. If my game is off, my putting, short game makes me go from one week to the next, one year to the next. So I'm lucky that my short game is one that keeps me alive. A lot of guys, their long game keeps them alive. But I prefer having a short game keep me alive. Because the older you get, the more that part of the game leaves you behind.

DAVID FROST: The one good thing is I had a good lie. You know, the greens are pretty soft. With those two factors in mind, you've just got to commit yourself to the shot, and then hopefully the results will take care of themselves. The more you try and analyze the situation, all these different things keep in your mind, and then you don't hit a good shot. So the best thing to do -- okay, sure, I hit a good shot, but I've allowed myself to hit a good shot by not getting in my own way. And, you know, that's the best way I can describe to you what to do if you've got a round going like that. And to be able to hit the next shot well is to just get out of your way, take two practice swings, and go ahead and hit it. Obviously, a bit of practice helps, too.

DAVID FROST: Yesterday.

DAVID FROST: Well, I missed Monday in Columbus. Tuesday morning, I went into Dallas. Didn't do anything on Tuesday, just rested, basically, and tried to make up my mind whether I should come here or not. Yesterday, I ended up hitting balls for two hours at my club after his outing, and I left the house at 5:15 yesterday.

DAVID FROST: Well, I've been practicing very hard, and nothing has really gone my way. The other point was -- and, you know, thinking that I've been practicing hard, it's going to come together sooner or later. My game wasn't that far off. The other thing, I would have to take two weeks off if I didn't have to play this week. Just get my head together. Forget about what happened Monday; forget about next week. Just come out this week and play my game. It's always difficult -- you know, you always have high expectations. And that's one thing that's been good about me, even winning golf tournaments, you can't win tournaments thinking back a hole or thinking forward a hole. That's one thing I've been good about. I just decided yesterday I will forget about Monday missing; go ahead and forget about next week, not playing; and just come out and see what can happen this week.

DAVID FROST: No. Just all week last week at Memorial, I kept shooting 73, 75, 72, 73, 75. And I think that was happening -- I made six birdies, but I keep making bogies. I think I finished 1-over par, which is obviously not going to make it. The golf course is playing shortish, and the game just wasn't there. So what can I say? I was saying, I've been practicing very hard, and it has not been far away. But all year long, I've been playing, you know, not really bad. I just have been making my even-par, 1-over-par, couple-under-par rounds.

DAVID FROST: Nine holes.

DAVID FROST: 45.

DAVID FROST: Just changed his -- we all putt with your left index finger over our right hand, and he's been playing like that for a year. And I got him to just interlock with the putter, because they don't have as much feel the way we do. And he made about a 30-five-footer after I changed it, the next hole.

DAVID FROST: No. I don't really mix. I let him play his own game.

DAVID FROST: I hope so. As I say, I've been working really hard. I'm quite fit and I've been working hard. I just sort of committed myself to the fact that, you know, obviously, I'm a good golfer if I've got this far in my career playing golf. You can't just disappear after playing good golf for seven years. You can, but there's no -- physically I'm in better shape than I've ever been; so, there's no real reason for that. Normally, it's just the mental side of it. As I say, I've just been putting in a lot of hours on the practice tee. And it's all a game of confidence. You can go off your game as quickly as you can come back onto it. Shoot one or two good rounds and off you go again. So hopefully, that's the case here. You know, just hard work. That's all it is.

DAVID FROST: Well, it is an advantage to have an early tee time, but then you've got to go out and shoot a good score. Other guys are going to have an early tee time, but it's nice starting out tomorrow having a good round today, as opposed to: You play this afternoon, shoot even par, and now you've got to come out and catch up tomorrow morning when you've got the early time. So yeah, it does help, but you've got to capitalize on it.

DAVID FROST: If that's the case, you start off in the afternoon, you try and shoot 3- or 4-under par, and then tomorrow try and shoot 5-, or 6-under par; not try to shoot 8-under this afternoon. It's possible, but that's not the way to think.