BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSIC

January 21, 1999

Fred Funk

FRED FUNK: I hit a really good drive on 10, but I missed it left and got it up and down. Made about a 10-footer, 12-footer for bogey there. And then birdied 18, probably made about 16-footer, sand wedge in, hit it over the bunker. Birdied 2. I hit a 60-degree wedge in there about twelve feet, and I hit about another 60-degree wedge into 3.

FRED FUNK: Yeah. On 3?

FRED FUNK: Parred that one. 3-putted. Actually 3-putted the par 5. First one I hit 8-iron and 3-putted, and next one I hit was a 3-wood. 3-putted on No. 5, and then birdied No. 7. Hit a wedge in about three feet. And then 8, par 5, I was just in the front of the green -- good 8-footer for par.

FRED FUNK: Driver, driver, just short of the green and chipped up.

FRED FUNK: 49 now.

FRED FUNK: Yeah, whether you agree with the World Golf Championship or not, that is an issue. Whether you agree with the World Golf Rankings, that is an issue. But regardless, you want to be in those tournaments. It has been very frustrating for me because I don't feel like I am ranked as high as I should. But I am pretty much a shoe-in in that tournament now. That was a big goal.

FRED FUNK: Oh, it was really blowing. I teed off on the back side and it was really blowing on that side. It was pretty tough. There were certain holes that were really, really difficult because the wind was blowing the wrong way. No. 11 was probably one of the hardest driving holes I have ever had to hit. Out-of-bounds right, overhang on the left side, and the wind was really gusting. It really was easy to lose one in the right there or hit it in the left trees trying not to hit it right. That was a very difficult hole. There were just certain positions. The par 3, we had a four-group backup on No. 13. Nobody knew what to hit. Stuff all over the greens from the wind, so, it was very difficult position there. Then it started to calm down a little bit more.

FRED FUNK: Just basically gives me a new freedom as far as not having to deal with contacts and not having to worry about, especially on a day like today when you had a lot of dust in the air, getting that in your lenses. That is always an issue when there is dust. But I didn't have to worry about. This is a great thing for me. I have been very fortunate that first surgery worked well as it did. I have got 20/25 in the right, and I am very -- I would say, if anything, it just gives me a freedom to know that I can wake up in the morning and see. (laughs).

FRED FUNK: Lasik. Newest one, lasik.

FRED FUNK: Actually at the end of last year I was very, very into last year, I was not playing well. I played very poorly at THE TOUR Championship and really wasn't playing that well when I went to Japan and started hitting the ball pretty good at JC Penny but still struggling a lot. I actually didn't work on my own. I had three weeks off and I didn't work on my game that much. I just really got a phone lesson with Phil Moretti (sic). He is my instructor. I kind of rely on him the most. He told me what to try and so far it is working and very mechanical, conscious thought on every swing, keeping me from what I was doing which was basically getting the club inside - I was just having a lot of trouble with the ball, topping the ball and getting way underneath the ball, and that wasn't the way to do it. He helped me with trying to get a little more extension on my backswing. I have been putting real well overall. I wish I had a couple of them back. But it has just been trying to play real solid. I don't play well early in the year. If you look at my history, usually for ten years, I never got started before May. I also have a big goal trying to make the Robert (phone line breaks up) -- I am right where I need to be too. As long as I keep playing well, I can make it. So that is a big goal of mine.

FRED FUNK: No, I was still driving it. I just was missing by a little bit and up and down a little. I finished last year which, I think, first time I have finished out of five. But it was a little habit in there and I never lay-up. Always try to hit driver and keep them in the fairway somehow. Kind of go-for-it-player when I have to.