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BUICK CHAMPIONSHIP

August 24, 2005

Fred Funk

CROMWELL, CONNECTICUT

THE MODERATOR: Fred Funk, thanks for joining us. After a near miss here last year, managed to get another win at THE PLAYERS Championship and recently earned a berth on The Presidents Cup team for the second time. Pretty good times for you right now. Start with some opening comments about coming back to Hartford.

FRED FUNK: It's always fun to come back here because I like the golf course so much and I've had a good history here. Come back bittersweet after last year. I had the tournament in my hands and I totally let it go on the Back 9. That still upsets me a little bit.

It was one of those where you're thinking you got to do more than you had to do coming down the Back 9, and I tried some shots a little too aggressively and paid the price, made some bogeys. All of a sudden I lost the lead. I did birdie the last two holes, but it was too late after that point and ended up missing the playoff by one.

But fun golf course. It's the kind of golf course that, you know, if you're not playing well, it's going to get you. But it really rewards good play. Keep it out of the rough, what I heard, I haven't been out there yet, the rough, because of the dry conditions, is real spotty. Normally it's pretty thick.

It's the kind of course, if you keep it in the fairway, it will give you a lot of opportunities for birdies. The finishing holes are fantastic here, 15 through 18. The crowds are great. Second largest on TOUR. That's always fun, too. Great atmosphere.

THE MODERATOR: As far as you were named to The Presidents Cup team, earned your way on. That's coming up in a month. I'm sure that will be fun and exciting for you, too.

FRED FUNK: Yeah, that's something I experienced two years ago in South Africa, was my first representation of the country at that level. It was really neat. That was the highlight of my golf career, was really at that time to represent The Presidents Cup the United States at The Presidents Cup. Really had a good time.

It was really a neat feeling. To top that off with The Ryder Cup, making that team last year, that was a real honor to do that. Actually, the first time I made The Presidents Cup team, I was Nicolas' pick. I finished 11th in the points, and I actually felt better I looked at it that to think Jack thought enough of me to be one of his picks, I was really proud of that.

Then this year I really wanted to make it on my own. That was my lone goal coming into the whole year, was make The Presidents Cup team. Obviously, the win at THE PLAYERS pretty much solidified that because they go off a Money List instead after points list. I was really proud I made that team. Really looking forward going to Manassas, which is just south of the DC area, and I'm from the DC area, so I'll be the homeboy for the week. That will be exciting, too.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Didn't you yell into the phone when Jack called you?

FRED FUNK: "Atta'boy, Jack." I was at Friday's restaurant two years ago at Akron. I got a call from his front guy and he said, "Jack is going to be calling you." I didn't know whether I was going to get picked or in and out.

Jack said, "Fred, you didn't do what I wanted you to do, you didn't make it on points."

I go, "Yeah, I know, I didn't quite play as good as I wanted to."

"But I picked you."

I go, "Atta'boy, Jack." The whole bar could hear me.

I started back pedaling from there, "Sorry, Jack, Mr. Nicklaus."

Q. Obviously, the first Presidents Cup you played in Sough Africa but the atmosphere between The Presidents Cup and The Ryder Cup.

FRED FUNK: Totally different. It's a lot more laid back. It's still intense, but the level of intensity at The Ryder Cup was off the charts. I never experienced anything like that. I blame a lot of that on you guys. The media just feeds off that thing, and they just are always right there to create any stir there, I mean, just to make it.

It's a big deal. Obviously, they've made it a big deal. We've been getting beat recently. They go in as the underdog, even though we don't think they're the underdog, and they play up the underdog role. And if you guys stopped playing it up as those guys being the underdogs, maybe we'd have a chance of winning a little better, ease our minds. It's like why are we losing and how could we lose? I don't understand that.

Guys that write about golf should understand a little bit more about golf. The nature of the matches alone usually allow for a close match, no matter how lopsided the teams may look. The upset last time or last year was not the fact that we lost, I don't think, it was the upset was that we got beat so bad. That shouldn't have happened, but it did. We had 11 matches go down to the 18th hole, we won one point. If we split those, we got a pretty close battle.

That was never written about. It was we lost, we got killed, it was annihilation, whatever. I blame a lot of the intensity level on the media because they play it up so hard. The only way any kind of negative writing is not going to happen is if we win and Tiger wins all his matches, and Phil wins all his matches, all our studs.

It's a little frustrating.

Q. A week like this, you're up high on the Money List, do 120 people in the field feel like they can win on a week like this?

FRED FUNK: Nobody cares who is favorite when they go into a week. Every week we read about whoever's the supposed marquee guy in that field. We're all out there trying to win. If you're on your game, you got a good shot at winning. It doesn't really matter.

Kenny obviously is a fantastic player. I would think would always be favored the way he drives the golf ball. He hits it so far, so straight. I think he's the best driver right now on the planet for the combination of length and accuracy. That sets up his iron game so well, he can overpower every golf course. I would put Kenny in that category no matter what.

Me, I just I've had a good year as far as winning THE PLAYERS and some other tournaments. But I can't overpower a golf course like he can. I got to go out there and pick and choose my spots and try to stay out of trouble, just manage my game a little better than a lot of the guys out here because of where I hit it and what shots I have into the greens versus some of the other guys.

I got to be on my game, that's for sure. But the guys that aren't even mentioned in the paper are guys that are going to show up on the leaderboard all the time. You just never know. Our young guys are so good right now, it's so deep from top to bottom, there's no surprise. You always see a headline when a newcomer comes up, and says, "No name is leading." He's a good player. Everybody's a really good player. Look at Jason Gore. Use him as a great example of a guy that has come to the forefront right now based on his great play from the Nationwide, becoming the fan favorite there at Pinehurst. Pretty neat. That's fun when those stories happen. I think that's great. He's a great guy.

Q. How are you going to handle your scheduling for the next five years?

FRED FUNK: I don't know. Next year I'm going to try and play and focus on The Ryder Cup. If I have a shot at Ryder Cup when I turn in June. I'm going to stay focused out here. I'll probably play one or two, three of the majors that I'm eligible for on the Champions Tour if they don't conflict. Really, everything depends on how I'm running on The Ryder Cup, where I stand on that. Ryder Cup is tough because you got to make top tens. That's the only way you get points. 11th doesn't do you any good anywhere. Pretty harsh system, but it's the system that's in there.

Right now I think I'm seventh or eighth on the list. I haven't seen it recently. Although this year it doesn't really make any difference because the points are double or triple. They changed the whole system. They're triple next year or something. They want the guys playing the best that current year, the year of The Ryder Cup, to be on the team. That's the way it should be. It's tough. I really got to weigh my options.

In '07, right now I'm thinking I'm going to devote most of my time to The Champions Tour in '07. If I'm still playing really well, come off another really good year here, I may wait again and go the year after.

Q. Why have you had so much success later in your career?

FRED FUNK: I don't know. I still feel like I'm getting better. My number one goal is to see how good I can get personally. That's always been my goal since I got out on TOUR, was just to see how good I could get and how I would respond to different situations out here on TOUR, how competitive I would be.

I'd have to look back, but I know the last four, five years have been my best years. This year THE PLAYERS Championship is my defining win. I throw all the other ones in the hat. They've meant a lot to me, but nothing to the level of THE PLAYERS Championship.

I work at it really hard. I try to take care of myself. I'm focused. I want to play. I think that's the biggest difference. When you see guys that are playing well, Jay Haas two or throw years ago was kind of burned out, didn't really want to play, then decided he wanted to make a run at The Ryder Cup team and The Presidents Cup team a couple years ago, and he refocused.

Age doesn't really matter that much as long as you're mentally focused to play and you're physically okay. It's more of a focus thing I think for guys at what they consider the old age of 49 or 8 or 7 out on TOUR. You look at Hale Irwin, playing great, I think can still win when he's healthy out there at age 60. He just wants to play, loves the competition. Craig Stadler can still play well. Peter Jacobsen is still playing great. Peter is swinging better now than he's ever swung a golf club. Tom Kite, but he can't putt like he used to. That's what's holding him back. They're focused to play and they want to play. It's just a focus, a mindset.

Q. Have you thought about where you would fit in distance wise on The Champions Tour?

FRED FUNK: I'd be on the bottom, third I'd think. I've never been a long hitter. The key with me is when I'm playing well and I'm hitting the ball solid, I'm long enough. That in my mind I can deal with. I know I'm long enough to score on any kind of golf course as long as I'm hitting the ball solid. The problem with me is if I'm not swinging well, not hitting the ball solid, there's a big difference from my solid shot well, with everybody but a solid shot with me versus my miss hit a little bit is 20 yards, and I can't give up 20 yards. I'm already giving up 20, 30 to the long guys.

Literally my solid shots at Buick Flint, I was playing with Tiger, he was airmailing me 50 to 60 yards on every shot. Balls were plugging the first couple days in the fairway. I catch a good one, I can fly it 260, 265 on a level shot with no wind, it stops. He was flying it 310 to 320 on every shot. Ryan Palmer, another long hitter, didn't know he was that long, he was flying it 295 to 300 every shot. He was 20 behind Tiger. I was 60 behind Tiger. It was unbelievable how far they can hit it.

But you're seeing more and more of that. The guys are hitting the ball a long way right now. If I'm hitting it solid, I'm fine. But I can deal with that because I can still play. I know how to hit the long irons. I'm used to hitting long shots in. I try to manage my game around pick and choose and then hopefully making some putts when I have my opportunities.

Q. What was it like at THE PLAYERS coming back?

FRED FUNK: I usually don't like playing in a lot of wind. We had 35 mile an hour gusts I heard that day. I had to play 32 holes in it. It was a long, tough day on a really hard golf course. I think it actually played to my favor. It was blowing so hard that the guys that do hit the ball a long way and hit it extremely high off the tee didn't have control of the golf ball as much. It was blowing into the rough a little more. I was hitting my normal shot and keeping it down. I was hitting the ball extremely solid that day.

The wind didn't affect it as much. I was able to hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. In fact, I led the field that week in greens in regulation and fairways and won the tournament, which was the first tournament and probably the only tournament all year that those two stats, the guy that led those two stats actually won the golf tournament.

Nick Price congratulated me at The Masters. He saw me in the locker room. He said, "Finally a tournament that somebody won and it meant a lot to hit the fairways and greens instead of how far they're hitting it." That felt pretty good. I didn't even realize it till he told me that. That stuck in my mind when he said that.

Q. What about here? What do you have to do?

FRED FUNK: It's funny. I consider this a long hitter's golf course. A lot of short and medium hitters, really across the board games have played well here. I think Corey was playing well here. Tom Byrum and I were in the last group. Neither of us are long hitters by any means. Woody and Tim Herron can hit it a long way, they got it in a playoff.

I like that kind of golf course. I love when you see at the end of the a tournament, you can look in the top 25 that's finished in the tournament, and they're mixed with different types of games. I think that means they have a good golf course and a good setup. If you have top 25, and 22 of them are bombers, I don't think it's a really good golf course. I stay away from those. Like next week at Boston, 84 Lumber I've heard is that way, more one dimensional type golf courses. TPC at home, Sawgrass, the winners have been across the board, Calvin Peete, Mark McCumber, me, to Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Greg Norman. Across the board type winners. Then you have Lee Janzen kind of in the middle of the road for distance. Not short by any means, but he's not a bomber, especially back when he won that.

I think that's really a good test of how a golf course is set up. You look at the end result and see what kind of games are up there on the top. You're always going to have some short hitters play well. They always use an example, Scott Hoch sometimes was always one when he played well on a bomber's golf course, Boston one year, finished third, but he had a great putting week. You're going to have some weeks where you're really open your game and was scoring really well.

Long winded answer for that question.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks.

End of FastScripts.

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