WGC NEC INVITATIONAL

August 22, 2003

Fred Funk

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Fred Funk, thanks for joining us, tremendous round today, 62, 8-under par. 72 yesterday. Talk about the difference. Obviously you had a great score, but talk about the differences.

FRED FUNK: I didn't make as many mistakes as I did yesterday. It got off to a great start. I've been talking to my caddie for about two months about not holing -- I can't remember the last time I holed a shot from the fairway, and I holed it on the first hole and looked up to him and I said, I finally made one. That was a nice start. Then I made a nice chip and birdie putt on 2. That relaxed me, but I was standing on the 3 green and yesterday I made five bogeys and I said it would be nice if I could go through today without any bogeys. That was in the forefront of my mind.

Then I birdied 8, 9, and then hit it close on 10 and 11 and made those. I started thinking I've got something pretty good going here. I could possibly -- I was thinking under 60 at that point if I could possibly birdie a couple holes pretty quick, and I hit a good shot on 12 and a real good putt that didn't go in.

13, I hit a pretty good drive and a 4-iron in good position. I didn't hit it that good. I kind of whiffed it there. I had a really good putt. That was 13, I think. I might have said 14.

When I missed those then my thoughts of 59 went away and I said, Let's finish good and try to have a really good solid round going.

And then on 15, I had the first real big break of the day other than holing in on 1. I got a bad break on the tee shot. It hit the lip of the bunker and bounced across the bunker on the other side, so I had no -- the other side of the bunker, and I didn't have any green to work with. My only chance I told my caddie was to hit the pin, but that was just to stop it. I wasn't thinking of making it. I just shook my head and I said, I only have one shot here and that's to hit the pin, and it hit the pin and went in. That was lucky.

Then on 17, I hit my worst drive of the day in the bunker and I had a perfect lie and I swung easy at a pitching wedge. I had 120 yards to the hole and it took off like a bullet, landed past the hole and got up on that hill. I didn't hit a good chip. I was trying to get it close. I got a little cute with the chip and left it short and then holed that.

So 15 and 17 were the big breaks of the round. And then 18, I didn't catch the drive that good. Yesterday I had pitching wedge to the back pin, and today I had 7-iron, and I knew I had to hit it good, we were thinking 6 or 7. I hit it where I wanted to because I didn't want to hit the 6 over that hump in the back because I've been there before.

So it ended up where I had a shot at shooting 61. I was really pleased obviously at the round. There were a lot of things that went through my mind to thinking of not making bogeys to shooting 59 or 60 to then having a good solid round and keeping it going. That felt good the whole way around.

Q. How far was the birdie putt on 18?

FRED FUNK: It was probably about 20 to 25 feet, something like that, probably 25 feet. It didn't have a chance of going in the minute I hit it, but it was good speed. The nice thing today, I didn't have to work too hard on my saves. I didn't have too many saves. They were pretty close, so I didn't have any long putts. It was a low anxiety type of round where yesterday I had a lot of par save putts and I missed a bunch of those, and I had some birdie putts that I didn't make yesterday that were in there, but you never know.

Q. Holing a shot like your second on the 1st and then what you did at 15, that kind of shot usually only attaches to sort of youngsters who believe that anything is possible. Have you got a sort of new surge of that kind of --

FRED FUNK: I have a really young mind. I don't want to grow up. Obviously when you do that it's totally unexpected. You hit an awful lot of good shots that don't go in that you say why didn't that go in from the fairway, and finally one did go in. 15 was -- that's why they put the pin there. I hit it where it was my only chance, but the fact it went in was really lucky. The way it went in was fine, too. It went up on the pin a little bit and dropped down into the hole.

Q. Did you say a lot of stuff to your caddie that didn't come true today or was this an unusual day, it would be nice to not make any bogeys, bing, you make no bogeys, nice to hit the pin, boom, you hit the pin?

FRED FUNK: Yeah, all those things I was conscious in, I either consciously did or didn't do, consciously didn't make bogeys and consciously holed a shot out of the bunker -- I'd say 1 was not a conscious thing. There you're just trying to get a good shot. It was a pure shot. The minute I hit it, I was like, that's perfect, and it was. How often do you say that in the air and it goes in the hole.

Q. You had 135 yards in. What club did you hit there on 1?

FRED FUNK: I had 120 yards in, pitching wedge. It was uphill. I didn't hit it that far uphill.

Q. Where do you rank this in your career rounds?

FRED FUNK: This is my fourth really low round out on Tour where I had a 62 at Houston at the Woodlands and I won that year. That was on Saturday, and I had a 62 at the old Atlanta course. That was two ten-under rounds. I had a 61, which was 11 under, at the BC Open, and then this 62. I think those are the four that I remember that were ultra-low. I might have done something really low at one of the courses at Bob hope I remember, but everybody goes low there.

Q. As far as the quality of your golf, though, today?

FRED FUNK: It was good solid play today. I really remember the round at the BC Open, the 11 under. It was probably the easiest 11 under anyone could ever have. 11 under is low, but I left four or five shots out there today. It was the best combination of ball striking and putting I've ever had, so that was the most magical round.

I didn't have really any luck happen there at the BC Open. It was just 11 birdies, no hole-outs, no chip-ins, just 11 putts that went in. I do distinctly remember that round. The Houston where I had the 62 was a lot of bombs that went in. It was a putting miracle that day.

Q. Talk about the last couple of years. You were 15th on the money list last year. Can you talk about how well you've played the last couple of years?

FRED FUNK: Last year I felt like going into -- it was really the BC Open week really. I didn't make the British. I went over and played Europe for three weeks because I've never done it. I've played the Irish and the European and Scottish, trying to get in the British and didn't make it, and all year I was hitting the ball pretty good, really high on greens -- I think I finished 4th on greens in reg last year and I was high up there on greens in reg. But the putting and the scores wasn't matching up, but all of a sudden when I came back I started putting really well at BC and finished second and went on to the PGA and putted there and then Sahalee last year finished second, and it just continued where my scoring was there for six to eight years, and it turned the whole year around.

It catapulted me right up the money list and had me in the best position I've ever been in on the money list. That was real rewarding at the end of the year and it somewhat carried over to the beginning of this year. The putting wasn't that hot other than at Riviera, but I just was hitting the ball pretty solid early, then I really got into a couple spots where I wasn't hitting it as well, then I started hitting it really well at Kemper and Westchester and Memphis, then I went to Royal St. George's and got in some terrible habits. I shouldn't say I hated the golf course, but I hated the golf course, and I brought it back with me trying to make the Presidents Cup there. The heat was on. I needed to try to get to the top ten.

So I played bad at Royal St. George's and I never play international and I went there and I was minus seven points after five holes, and I remembered quickly that it's been seven years and why I hadn't been there. Where did we go from there?

SHARON FUNK: Texas for a lesson.

FRED FUNK: In between there I played pretty solid at Buick, but that's because the putting was good. Then I had a lesson with Bill Moretti on the way back to the PGA last week in Austin, and he straightened me out, at least he got my head cleared. He cleared out cobwebs and gave me things to work on. It's gotten better and better since then, so I'm starting to hit the ball solid again.

I was hitting the ball so short and crooked, it was a terrible combination. I was really disgusted. I thought I had totally lost my game and the frustration levels were really high, but now it's back up again, especially after making the Presidents Cup and being picked. That was just like a big weight dropped off my shoulders. I think actually I was too loose yesterday. I started off good, 2 under after 5 and having a good time and really just trying to go out there -- I didn't feel like I had the focus that I needed. I was 2 under and I just wasn't grinding as hard as I needed to, and then I started hitting some bad shots, and my putting just went the wrong direction.

Today I focused in a little better, I got a great start and I tried to stay really focused all day.

Q. How did you react to the news that you had been Captain's pick?

FRED FUNK: Jack called me Sunday night. We were in Friday's here, at the restaurant, we had just flew in. He said, Fred, you didn't do -- it was pretty funny. He said, "Fred, you didn't do what you needed to do." I said, "Yeah, I know, Jack, I didn't get to the top ten." He said, "Yeah, but I picked you." I said, "Atta boy, Jack." I didn't mean to say that, but I was so excited.

Q. Talk about how you kind of became America's golfer last year at Hazeltine at the PGA and that whole phenomenon, how it's continued, and this year at the PGA and how life on the Tour has changed for you?

FRED FUNK: The reaction of Hazeltine and the crowd last year, that was the most fun week I've ever had in my life, the most magical tournament as far as not winning a golf tournament and coming out of there feeling like so many good things happened. I didn't want the week to end. It put me on the map as far as being a crowd favorite -- or one of the crowd favorites, not the crowd favorite. I think what they saw was that I was intent on enjoying my golf and I was enjoying the good shots I hit and fortunately I was playing well and I acknowledged the crowd and they acknowledged me. And I acknowledged them back and it grew and fed on itself as the week went because I kept myself in position, and then getting paired with Tiger the last day, with what he brings to a pairing anyway and the atmosphere of the golf course, it made it kind of a frenzy out there with the way the fans were. It's carried over to some degree, but not near the level of Hazeltine. Those people in Minnesota were phenomenal crowds. I think they were good for everybody, but they really supported me to a level that I've never seen before.

Q. I was going to ask about the Nicklaus thing. Do you think you made him look real smart with today's round?

FRED FUNK: Hopefully, yeah, I think so, but hopefully the pick was done over a long period of time, and I feel like I've earned -- I feel like I've earned my way onto the team, at least to be a good consideration. I'm just really excited about it. You can't base it on one tournament or one round.

There are a lot of guys among that group that didn't get picked that sure could have been on the team. Yeah, it's nice to validate. It would be nice to keep validating, too. I really want to validate when I get over there actually in the matches is what I want to do. I can't imagine what that's going to be like.

Q. When you hear my accent you'll understand why I want to know the answer to this question. What was wrong with Royal St. George's?

FRED FUNK: It didn't reward good golf shots, I thought. When you had fairways like 1, 9, 17 and 18, it really was nearly impossible to keep a ball in the fairway. I just don't understand that concept of design. I don't understand how they could think that that's golf to me. If you set up on a golf hole and you know what the hole is asking you to do and you hit that shot and you don't get rewarded, there's something wrong with the design of that hole or that shot.

I thought there were numerous places on that golf course that were like that. I think Carnoustie is a fabulous golf course, but was set up in a way that didn't reward good golf shots. I think it put a premium on the guys that -- there's nothing wrong with it, but the guys that had the tremendous short games working that week were the ones that rose to the top of the leaderboard.

I also believe more so at Royal St. George's, because the wind blew pretty hard, that it didn't reward the guys that were hitting the ball super solid. You had to hit it solid in the wind, same with Carnoustie. The leaderboard was strong. You can't argue with who was up there. Ben Curtis won, that's great. Obviously he's a very good player and it's great, but I just didn't think it was -- the design features weren't rewarding of good play. What do you think?

Q. Well, it's a different type. It's an older style course.

FRED FUNK: But most links, from what I understand -- I read a little history, which I don't usually do -- what was the name of that book? The history of the game --

SHARON FUNK: Some book that was talking about links. I don't keep up with what you read.

FRED FUNK: It was about all the old timers, Harry Varden and Francis Ouimet.

Q. The greatest game ever?

FRED FUNK: I read that on the plane going over and early in the week and it was great because we were playing right there. I was learning a little bit of the history of the game. It wasn't what I expected. They say that most links courses follow the dunes and this one went over the dunes. That made it pretty neat, but it gave it a lot of blind holes and it gave a lot of shots that you really didn't have much control over, and with the firmness of the golf course, it made it that much more difficult.

Q. Have you been having arguments with Americans because there are certain Americans that think it's a great golf course?

RED FUNK: I haven't had any arguments. It's just my opinion. They can love it, I don't care, that's just my opinion. What makes my argument null and void is I played like crap there. If I won the tournament and thought it was a crappy golf course, I'd have more validation or whatever. We can use that word again. It might mean something. But because I played poorly -- I can tell you when I played six holes in Sunday's practice round I wanted to get back on the plane again, but I was already committed.

HARON FUNK: I think because you are such a straight driver, that it didn't reward being a straight driver and I think that frustrated you, too. That's the strength of your game.

THE WITNESS: I agree with that. It didn't reward me -- I didn't know where to aim it. I was standing on the tee and didn't know where to aim it. It just was an uncomfortable golf course.

Q. Did you have a local caddie?

FRED FUNK: No, I had my regular guy over there. I probably shouldn't have said that because now it really opened a can of worms. I knew when I got into that, I was like, oh, boy, here we go.

Q. You've typically been a guy that's played a lot of tournaments in a year and I'm not sure how much of that was in the fall, but I'm interested in how much you're going to play this fall now when you've got this big event at the end of November.

FRED FUNK: It's changed my idea a little bit because I did play more the last few weeks than I anticipated because I was trying to just somewhere have a good week and move up that list for the Presidents Cup. I wouldn't have played International, probably wouldn't have played Hartford. This is six in a row right here and I'm burned out. I do play a lot, but I've played probably three or four more weeks than I probably would have normally played at this point. I'm planning on playing I think -- if I make the Tour Championship, five more after this. Hopefully I'm in that event. Then I think I might play the Shark stark shootout and over to the Presidents Cup and then I'm in Sun City, so I'm going to end the year -- while I'm over there I might as well take advantage of it.

Q. Have they already given out the invitations to Sun City?

FRED FUNK: They're filling the field now, from what I understand. My wife has been more on that -- up on that than I have. They did just tell me yesterday that I'm in. What they're doing is they're asking the guys that aren't going and filling the field in from there. All I know is that I'm in for sure, so that was good. At least you can make plans.

Q. Is that the week after?

FRED FUNK: That's the week after, yes. I like to do the safari thing. That will be kind of cool.

They say there's a 600-foot slide there. I don't know if there is or not. Sorry I said anything about Royal St. George's.

Q. Part of that book is made up. You know the book you were talking about? Varden and Ouimet were -- there's no historical information for any of that.

FRED FUNK: Right, but it was a good read. It was a good read, it really was. I never followed golf history and I learned a lot from that on how they had to deal with traveling to the United States, what they did over there. I never realized he got that sick and came back from that.

Q. What you're saying is you don't think 62 is going to be in the headlines in England?

FRED FUNK: I really don't think I'm going to be a favorite when I go over to Europe. I'd better stay away from there. Thanks y'all. I hope I see you more.

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