BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSIC

January 22, 1999

Fred Funk

FRED FUNK: You could see I got off to an auspicious start there. I really mis-clubbed on one and left myself a real long putt. I ended up 3-putting, and I hit a 9-iron in, and I should have hit an 8. It was a little upsetting. That was my fourth 3-putt of the week. I had three par 5s. I have hit two this week, and I 3-putted all of them, or those three, and then I started a round off again like this. In fact, my first hole of the tournament, I 3-putted for par at Tamarisk on No. 1. Little unsettled there, then I eagled No. 2 and birdied 3. Almost holed a tee shot there, and then I had to get to 5, and I was left of the green. I hit a chip about six feet past and 3-putted putted from there. I missed -- I don't even know how I miss the other one - I actually lined it up. It was only that long. I didn't quite hit it, and I missed it. I was just in shock. So it was a different start because I had the 3-putt on one and then the eagle obviously settled me down, and then I followed it with a birdie. So I was just cruising along, then all of a sudden, I made the double, and I had to start all over again and regroup. And there was probably -- waited 10, 15 minutes on that next tee because I had two groups ahead of us on 6, and I was just sitting there fuming, trying to settle down, and I didn't know what I was going to do, and I knew with the weather, you obviously got to make a lot of birdies. So I hit a terrible tee shot there, and then what really settled me down, I birdied 8, and 9. Then made a long putt on 9, and then a good up-and-down. Really, the first three holes on the back, hit a good drive on 10, and got up-and-down from the sand, hit 8-iron in the sand, and then hit it in the sand in front of the green. On 11 in two, got up-and-down on there. Hit it again in the bunker on 12, the par 3, got up-and-down there. So, there was a stretch there that really was a key to get me back into the round. It was 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Then I was pretty settled down from there. Really wasn't swinging all that great coming in, but managed to get it done, so...

FRED FUNK: Well, actually, five holes if you count the -- 8 was the one putt. 9 was a one putt, two birdies there, and then 3 up-and-downs out of the sand, 10, 11, 12 in a row. That was really big. Then 11 was a birdie up-and-down, but still was an up-and-down. Anyway that was the key part of the round after screwing up on 5.

FRED FUNK: Yeah. Yeah at least -- yeah, it was. And then I don't know what I did on the next hole. I don't even know what the next hole is. 13, 2-putted that one. Actually, I putted from the fringe on -- like six inches off the green on 7.

FRED FUNK: I have had 5 this week which is --

FRED FUNK: What?

FRED FUNK: Which part is good and which part --

FRED FUNK: I am not too -- when I get a real long putt, I am -- last week when speed was phenomenal on long putts, and this week with the greens as good as they are, right now, as fast as last week, there are some really fast putts here. I am not doing a good job of lagging right now. So that has been the problem. I had about a 40-, 50-footer on the first hole at Tamarisk and left it 20 feet short going up the hill. I just, like, went brain dead on it, I guess, I don't know what happened. Just two, 3-putts on par 5s, yesterday really hurt me. I had a really good round yesterday. The 68 was solid, but I actually played better than that yesterday. It was a little upsetting that I did that on those two holes. But anyway, actually it is rare for me to hit par 5s in two and when I finally hit them in two, I have hit three of them in two and made pars on them. That is a little disgruntling.

FRED FUNK: I just work hard. My expectations are just to try to improve each year and so far I have been able to do it. There is no question I am a late bloomer. I was 32 before I got out here and I wasn't that good when I was in my 20s, and then -- late 20s I started getting pretty good. As far as in college, as a junior player, I just wasn't that good. As I got out here I work on my strengths and try -- and then work on my weaknesses to -- but try to play within my strengths and my strengths are just keeping the ball in play. The weakness of my game is that I don't hit it that far. But I got to just go out there and play and give myself a lot of opportunities and hope my putter is working and I have been able to do that. I have had a stretch last summer I was playing really good. I think I was playing the best golf of anybody for a little stretch there where I was averaging, I think, for four-, five-week stretches where I was averaging 67. I could have won a couple of them in there. I won one of them. But I was in position to win three other times last year and didn't. So, I feel like I am good enough to win now. That was a big hurdle for me is to realize that when my game is good that it is good enough. And that -- that means a lot. That means I know I can tee it up and feel like I have a chance when I am comfortable with my game.

FRED FUNK: Well, you know, I don't know. That is an intangible. You just -- so many intangibles to making you a good player, a player that makes it; that doesn't make it. When you are playing good, when you are not; it is timing of the round. There always seems to be a key point in a round or a key point in a tournament that kind of lets you go that way or go the other way (indicating up or down) And, for me, today, I -- that key stretch was right in the middle of that, probably for the tournament, was right in the middle of -- the 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, was the key stretch of my tournament because right there I turned the whole tournament back into a positive when I was going the wrong way there. There is times -- there is weeks when you get past that hurdle, you go up and you go forward, and you end up having a good week and having an opportunity to win. You may not win, but have an opportunity to win. That is what we are all out here for and try to break through. But then there is other times when you fall back, you just don't get the key up-and-down you need, or you -- I could have gone that stretch; missed the two putts on 8 and 9 and not get up-and-down on out of any of those bunkers, and I am 5 shots worse and I wouldn't be in here now. So it is a big difference from that stretch right there.

FRED FUNK: I was a still upset because last year I played really good -- I have history whenever I was in position to win, I won on Sunday, or if I had the lead on Sunday, I won. Then last year I had the lead at the Kemper and that one hurt a lot. I made a triple on 4 earlier and I shot 77, but it was probably the best 77 I shot in my life because it was really the hardest conditions. But losing that tournament; end up finishing third and that one hurt because I didn't know why I got off to such a bad start. I hit one bad shot at the wrong time, but the big picture, it just didn't feel too good. Then at Hartford I did the same thing, I wasn't in the position to win. I teed off but I birdied five holes early on the front 9 and got within one shot of the lead and then tripled 8 and I haven't made triples in -- I don't know how many triples I have made in my career out here. But to make two on Sunday when it counted, that really was something I am not used to doing. Then I made four birdies coming back to miss the playoff by one at that tournament and then I played really good at Southern and got beat by Elkington and he played great on the back. But, again, that was a tournament I was leading going into Sunday and I didn't finish it off. So to answer your question with Mercedes, I didn't play that bad at Mercedes, the score was 74, par is 73 which makes for an excuse a little bit. But I just didn't putt that good that day. I played pretty good and I was comfortable. I actually learned and felt that even though I shot 74 that day, that even though I don't have the game David Duval has, I can beat anybody on a given day, even that day, even though I shot 74 and, you know, whatever he shot 66 or 5, or 7, whatever he shot that day, I cut him back three. He had a five-shot lead, I cut it to three after 5 and yeah, I played really good. Difference was he -- once he got relaxed and knew the tournament was his, he just started knocking the flag down and knocking in putts. I was still trying to get second. I just didn't make the putts I needed to. But I did learn. I took a positive out of that 74 and felt that I can play with anybody on a given day out here. I just got to play different than some of these guys that can hitter three miles.

FRED FUNK: No. No, that is one thing I really try to -- I might get upset and I get a little fired up and I expect a lot out of myself, but I won't not try. I am going to try ever shot. If I shot 80 it is because I made -- I want to make sure I didn't shoot 81. So I am going to give it my best. I got to try to put, you know, it is an effort a lot of times to put bad holes behind you and try to move on from there, so, I am still learning to do that. Fortunately, today, it went the right direction. You know how fickle the game is, everybody asks the obvious questions, you want my responses, but it is just such a fine line and that -- today I broke through on that little stretch of holes. That was definitely the key to my -- probably key to my tournament right now.

FRED FUNK: No, actually gave Lefty lessons and he was a rightie.

FRED FUNK: From stroke-average-wise it is Bermuda Dunes, so -- I think probably Bermuda Dunes because the greens, from what I understand, are really hard over there and it is hard to get the ball close and their fast. If you go by yesterday's scores it was almost -- it was over 75, so....

FRED FUNK: You have a lot more potential for big numbers on this golf course because you have a lot of water where you can hit the wrong direction on a lot of holes. You can make some big numbers if you are not swinging real good. If you are playing well, I think there is more opportunities for birdies here. You have 5 par fives and five par 3s. And you got wide fairways, so, it is really -- this is more of a big hitter's golf course here and they can eat up the par 5s. Now today I think I played -- I think I played 5-under today with par and the eagle and three birdies, so, I felt good about that. I didn't let any go today.

FRED FUNK: I have always been very disciplined as far as working hard on things and I learned a lot when I was a club pro. I started playing good when I was a club pro getting some confidence. Then when I was coaching, I saw a few guys come through that I learned a lot from, watching the other guys that went from college onto the Tour and I was always taking note and I was always working at my game and just always trying to improve. I was always -- I improved the wrong direction early in my career, I was trying to -- because I was small or I am small, always worked on getting really strong. I lifted a lot of weights and my swing was real short and it actually got shorter because I got I was -- had really thick arms and real thick in my chest, but it didn't help me hit a golf ball any further. So I have been working every since then -- since I have been on Tour been a project of getting flexible and getting more and -- I have more and more turn. I am still tight. As I have been able to get more flexible, I have been able to get the club in better positions. That is why I think I gradually improved. I am able to hit a more consistent shot and I am hitting it further than I ever have. I am always -- every year I have gotten a little bit longer and that is a goal of mine too to get a little bit longer and better even though I am in my 40s and try take it as long as I can take.

FRED FUNK: No, because I didn't feel that much pressure to get out here. It was a goal to get out here, but it was not going to be the end of my life if I didn't get out here and -- I was very disappointed my rookie year when I came out, that was 1989, and I lost my card. That was a big to-do with me because I felt like I didn't achieve anything. I felt like I just proved that I could get through Q-School and it meant a lot to me to keep my card. Next year I kept my card and that was a big turning point. I remember I was told a story before where I was playing with Andrew Magee at Buick in Flint. I shot 65 on Sunday. I walked off the 18th hole and Hal Andrews (ph) knew about it. I don't know, or why he even knew he knew that I won enough in that tournament to put me offer the hump. He put his arm around me and told me: Welcome to the Tour. I thought that was pretty neat. I will never forget that day as long as I live that a guy like that, he has been out here for years and how much it meant to me to have that day. So that was a big day. That is the kind of guys that are out here too. I think a lot of guys are -- it is such a hard game, there is so many ups and downs, when you see a guy that has been down a while to come back up or a guy that has never gotten there and to rise and get his card and keep his card you know what it means. So that was pretty neat.

FRED FUNK: There is no question. I constantly remember where I have come from and how hard -- as hard as I worked to get out here, I have worked harder to stay here and to try to improve and to actually think I have a chance of making the Ryder Cup team which something -- if somebody told me that -- while I was working in the club pro shop as an assistant pro and said: You are going to be on the Tour and made almost $5 million at this point, and I would have said -- I would say: You are crazy. But thinking of that, I have worked hard to get there. Now I got a goal -- I can realistically make the Ryder Cup team if I play consistent beginning of this year. That would be something that I never even fathomed would happen.

FRED FUNK: I think so. I have a lot of -- everybody has their followers out here, their following, and, yeah, it would be a pretty happy moment. I know my family would like it.