PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

August 16, 2002

Fred Funk

FRED FUNK: It was windy again. I thought it played very similar to how it played yesterday, to tell you the truth, and it actually got, I thought, a little more blustery the more we played. And then, I could see those clouds coming in on our last couple of holes and I was hoping we were going to be able to finish, because once we got done with 5, I was in the middle of the fairway on 5 and we turned back around to go back downwind and it would have been nice to play 6, 7 and 8 -- I'm not sure 8 was downwind, but 6 and 7 would have been downwind and would have been a little easier and probably 9, too. I'm not sure what's behind the front, but I've heard it's not very good, a lot of wind behind it. Hopefully, we are not going to get too messed up on this weather thing.

FRED FUNK: Birdied 10 out of the gate. I hit a 4-wood off the tee and punched a 7-iron down there 15, 18 feet and made that. That was for a nice start. 13, I didn't really hit that great of an iron shot, but when I looked up, it was on the line that I wanted. It was a 3-iron and the way that green is and where that pin is, everything feeds back there and it ended up being a really good shot. I had a really fast putt that I wasn't sure which way it was going to go and I probably made it from about 12 feet again. And then 15, I was playing really short. It was downwind and I was going to hit a 3-iron and run it up through the gap and decided to hit a 4-wood because I thought it was better to be long than short on that particular hole. I hit it in the rough there, but I hit a pretty good chip about six feet past and made it coming back.

FRED FUNK: The putt was about six feet on that one. And then No. 3, it was playing straight into the wind. I was real surprised I hit a drive as far as I did. It was a measured hole and I hit it 280 into the wind, and that surprised me. I hit a drop-kick 3-wood, and who knows how far it rolled, 350 yards probably. I had an L-wedge into the green and awkward stance, hit it in there probably 15 feet and had a really fast putt coming down right-to-left, probably about a foot break and I made that. Then the one boo-boo, I didn't hit a very good iron on No. 5, and left it in the bunker, had a perfect lie and hit it out about three feet. I think I yanked the putt, I'm really not sure, but I missed it on the left side. It was one of the few putts I hit where I really didn't get the ball rolling right off the bat with the direction I wanted. I was pretty disappointed with that because I had been rolling it pretty good and I had a lot of momentum going, I was feeling really relaxed and really wanted to keep going. It just really shocked me that I missed that putt. We'll see what happens from here.

FRED FUNK: I really wasn't conscious that I was that animated, but I'm just trying to have a really good time and enjoy the moment, however long this moment lasts. If it lasts all the way to the end of Sunday, that's great. In the meantime, I just want to really enjoy it, and the fans -- my caddie was saying, he feels like it's a Sunday afternoon, late afternoon, instead of Friday. Everybody is really boisterous, all of the people in the grandstands were really excited and enjoying the moment, and I'm enjoying the moment. I'm supporting them, they are supporting me. It's a lot of fun right now. I just hope I can keep giving them things to cheer about, for me anyway.

FRED FUNK: I don't know. I can't imagine that kind of wind and playing this golf course and trying to get the ball to stay in the fairway, unless we get a huge amount of rain, which it looks like we could get with this storm coming in, I don't know how big this storm is going to be. Any time you get weather conditions like that, that kind of wind is an excessive amount of wind and the greens are firm and pretty fast. It's going to affect the putts as well. That's probably one of the hardest things to do when it's really windy is to get steady over the putter when the greens are fast because you have to really get control of hitting the putts solid to get them on line.

FRED FUNK: No. My wife thought I rushed it a little bit more so. I've got this little routine I'm working on right now and it's been working and I might have rushed it a little bit. For some reason, I had a little bit of a negative thought there when I got over it, and instead of backing off when I get those, I continued to hit it because I said I've been putting it good and I'm going to put a good stroke on this, and as soon as I hit it, it was left. Probably 20/20 hindsight, if I'm not ready to putt; don't, back out. When you see me back out, that's what I'm doing. I'm usually not quite set on what I'm seeing and get the putter in there, I want to make sure I'm at least committed to what I'm looking at and committed to the speed of the putt.

FRED FUNK: To 8-under or to 7-under? Oh, on 15. I felt really good about that. It was exciting. I was just kind of -- I was playing a lot better tee-to-green than I was yesterday and I felt like I could really get things going and I was, and I was really enjoying the moment. I wanted to relish the fact that I was conscious of the fact that I was in the lead of the PGA in the second round, and I wanted to keep it going. I had the momentum going. I wasn't scared of the atmosphere I was in. In fact, I hit a drive on 18, granted, it was downwind and everything, but it went about 340 yards after it stopped rolling and had a pitching wedge in there, where, yesterday, I had a 3-iron in. So, I had a little adrenaline going, and I was having fun. I was enjoying being in the lead of the PGA.

FRED FUNK: That's an emotional story. My brother was really down and out about two and a half weeks ago. I mean, really down and out. He showed some strength, he turned around. It was unbelievable, the fact that out of 15 weeks, I was gone 13, and this particular night, we happened to be home. And he lives in Ponte Vedra now, and he showed the strength -- he has a drinking problem and knew he needed help and accepted the fact that night that he knew he needed help. He's drawn a huge amount of strength from something and allowed himself to pull himself out of this thing. He's got a great attitude and loving life. I'm so proud of him and I feel like I've got a brother back that I haven't had in a long, long time. It's been very emotional, and I've been kind of using him as a strength, because he showed a lot of strength to do what he's doing, and I'm trying to show a lot of strength in what I'm doing. I'm not going to back down. If I end up not playing well, it's not because I got scared. I'm going to go out there and give it my all, and that's how my attitude has been all week. You know, if anything negative happens the rest of this week, it's not because of being scared. I'm going to show the strength that my brother has shown and I'm drawing from him. So, yeah, it's very emotional.

FRED FUNK: Oh, yeah, I talked to him this week. He told me the other night, he says he didn't want to bother me the rest of the week; he would talk to Sharon, my wife Sharon. But I said, you can call me any time. I love having you back. So, it's a great, great thing. A lot of families go through it, and sometimes, they go and they don't turnaround, but this one is turning around. It's really good.

FRED FUNK: He's 57.

FRED FUNK: Bernie -- or I call him Mason, but everybody else calls him Bernie.

FRED FUNK: I think people like seeing train wrecks. They like seeing -- watching guys going around in a circle 200 miles an hour, it seems like if you don't see a wreck, you're a little disappointed. So you're going to see some train wrecks when you have this. In golf, I'd rather watch guys making runs with birdies and get rewarded with good play and not have to struggle with the conditions that much. If they are really severe conditions on a really severe golf course, that's not necessarily fun. I don't think -- it's not fun to play in and it's not fun to watch. Everybody is going to be struggling in it. It's just going to be a battle of patience and I'm really sure that talent is the biggest thing that comes out of when you have such severe conditions or wind. There's going to be a lot of luck. There's guys that somehow you have to keep the putter hot because guys are going to be missing greens all day long and struggling with speed on putts, as fast as these greens are. They are calling for 40-mile-an-hour winds, we'll see what happens. I think par will be about 78.

FRED FUNK: That's the test. I think you're going to have to try to really stay in the same mindset that you have before, as far as trying to set up the holes. I'm not sure. I've got a feeling the direction is probably going to be 180-degree switch. Will probably be coming out of the north instead of the south or southwest, and that changes the whole character of the golf course. We have been playing pretty much the same wind all week, and guys know what to expect now, after five or six days of being here. When you get 180-degree switch and it's coming at you, it's been blowing 10, 15, 20 now and turns around the other way, that's the opposite direction. It's going to be tough. You're going to have to really re-adjust how you play each hole.

FRED FUNK: 275.

FRED FUNK: (275) .4. (Laughter.) Yeah, I don't know. If I play the way I'm playing today, I'm really just pleased with the way I hit the ball today overall. I didn't hit that last 5-iron too good. Yeah, I could. Obviously, I've got to keep the putter going. The cream usually does come to the top, the guys that are playing good that particular week. Obviously, I'm playing good right now, putting well, scoring. If I continue to do that, yeah, I can sneak in one on this kind of golf course, if all the stars lineup and everything. Again, I'm just trying to do the best I can and really enjoy the moment, as far as the way I've been playing this week. I'm not going to go out there and say, yeah, I'm going to win this thing. But I'm going to try my best. I'm not going to back down to it. I'm going to give it my all because I really am enjoying this. This is great. We all practice and work really hard to get to this kind of position, and sometimes your nerves don't handle it too well, and sometimes they do. I'm hoping mine and my mindset stays the same and I can continue to play like this.

FRED FUNK: I think the most important thing to do in the wind is hit it solid. So, whether you are a high-ball hitter or a low-ball hitter, the key is you've got to hit it solid. That way, the ball is going to be the least affected by the wind. The guys that hit it really solid are guys like Tiger and Davis Love, David Duval. Those guys hit the ball tremendously solid. You might see a couple of the European guys that know how to play in the wind, play in it more often show up, although I don't know who is really up there. I haven't studied the board yet. (Thunder reverberates) -- a little scary at the moment (looking up). If it's truly, truly windy and you have a shot into the wind, you have to keep it down some and knock it down and work it into the green that way. You can't float it up in the air, especially if it's blowing 30 or 40 miles an hour.

FRED FUNK: Well, I switched to the Callaway. I'm using the Red X, so if you're doing a commercial here, I guess. It's a really stable ball in the wind and that's one reason I switched to it. It's been a good ball for me this year, and I hit it a little bit longer than 270. (Laughs).

FRED FUNK: No. I did it for stability, more than anything. It just seemed to be a more consistent ball in the wind.

FRED FUNK: Yeah, I saw that he was playing very solid golf today. I saw that he got to 4-under at one point, I'm not sure if he's still at 4 or 3. Yeah, I'm conscious of where he was and Tiger is a really good friend of mine. I enjoy questions about Tiger, actually. People feel that -- I think he's a great kid, a great talent, and obviously, you've got to be aware. He's pretty much like, you know, when you heard generations -- or a couple generations ago -- not generations ago, one generation ago, I guess the Gary Player, Nicklaus, the Palmer era of golf, when Nicklaus showed up on the board, everybody knew he was there and they were watching him. Tiger is that way, when he shows up on the board, he intimidates everybody.

FRED FUNK: I should be able to sleep tonight. I'm disappointed. It's just bad timing that I could not finish the round, especially with the conditions we were going to have coming in. That was the biggest disappointment. That happens, you've got to just deal with it and luck of the draw, where I was on the tee time and when the weather came in. Obviously, everybody would have loved to have finished tonight and have our 36 holes done, including you guys, and make our stories and get prepared for round three and round four. But now we've got to see what happens, finish off 36 holes. It's frustrating. It's frustrating for everybody. It's definitely frustrating for that maintenance crew that's out there working their tails off to get this course ready.

FRED FUNK: I think you've got to be prepared for it in some way. It depends on which part of the bad weather you're dealing with. If it's really cold and wet, that's the worst for, I think, everybody, because you lose feeling in your hands and then your body. I'm not that good -- hardly anybody is very good in those. But if it's warm and windy, again, you've got to have a guy -- I'm better than I used to be -- but I can't say that I'm the greatest bad-weather player in the world, that's for sure. But I'll grind it. That's what you've basically got to do. You can't give up and you've got to grind in the bad weather. Just see what happens.

FRED FUNK: I can't remember being in this position, this big a golf tournament, to have to do what I've got to do tomorrow. Honestly, I can't think of one. So, this is new to me. I've got to sleep on what I've got tonight and figure out how to finish out that round tomorrow. But you can't figure it out because you don't know what the weather is going to be in the morning. From what it sounds like, we are going to wake up to hurricane, gale-force winds tomorrow, and that's not going to be much fun.

FRED FUNK: Yeah, it's a lot easier, obviously, when you're playing well, to do what I'm doing. I was getting a tremendous amount of support out there from everybody and I think they were having as much fun with it as I was. You know, when you're making some birdies and you're sitting there pretty close to the lead or in the lead in any tournament, much less a major, it gets to be pretty fun. So I was trying to take the focus off of how intense the situation was, to just have fun with it. Yeah, you can feed off of it, for sure. The key, though, is that you have to play well enough that you can feed off of it. So, if you're struggling a little bit, then everybody is kind of, "Uh-oh, he's in trouble," and they don't have much to cheer about.

FRED FUNK: It's ironic, it was when Tom Kite won at Pebble Beach that one year, I had to play two holes in that wind when it came up on 17 and 18 and I posted 73. I went into Monterey to a grill/bar place to have lunch and watch the tournament, and every commercial I kept moving up ten spots because the wind -- so I ended up finishing -- I think I started, like, 68th and I finished 30th or something because the weather was so bad. As far as playing in really, really bad weather, I can't think of a specific one at the moment, for some reason. I'm drawing a blank. If I come up with it, I'll come back to it.

FRED FUNK: These guys are louder than Funks' Punks. They are louder than Ponte Vedra.