WGC NEC INVITATIONAL

August 24, 1999

David Duval

DAVID DUVAL: No, I don't think so. I think because the way it was -- I think it's hard to get any better than a champions-type event. I don't think the quality of the player that played in this event before can improve, because you're talking about winners from all around the world who come here. All we did was change the name. I think the actual prestige of the event might improve because of the new association with the World Golf Championships, but actual quality of the players themselves I don't think can improve beyond what it was.

DAVID DUVAL: Why did they not play in the past?

DAVID DUVAL: Is that what it was?

DAVID DUVAL: Not quite as much as you might normally.

DAVID DUVAL: Do I read anything into them?

DAVID DUVAL: I don't think so. I actually just saw the draw, and it seemed to me that maybe there was four American players paired with European -- is it six? If it was more than that, I think you might be able to. But no, not based on that.

DAVID DUVAL: Yes, it is very much in the front of my mind. However, I think it would be a very big distraction if it was next week or the following week. Just seeing as it is a few weeks away, I can kind of consciously try to forget about it and worry about this week and really put all my energies into that.

DAVID DUVAL: Very much.

DAVID DUVAL: From what I hear, it will be drastically different. I hear it is unlike anything else.

DAVID DUVAL: Well, I enjoyed it very much. He was a really good guy. And you could tell that he had a lot off respect for the game itself. You know, if he didn't have such a great day, you wouldn't have known that by the way he handled himself and carried himself throughout it. I'm certain he was hoping to really contend to win, and that just didn't materialize. By the way he acted and by the way we talked on the course, you would have thought he was having a lot better day than he was. And I think that's very commendable.

DAVID DUVAL: Strictly based on golf, yes. You know he's younger, you know he's a teenager, just by how much -- he's just having so much fun. I don't know. He's just -- I guess if you compare a player like myself, it might not look like I love doing what I do. But I do love doing it. He's much more capable and able, outwardly showing that to the people who are watching. I think that's a neat thing.

DAVID DUVAL: I don't know if I was good enough to play when I was 19; so, I don't think I need to worry about it.

DAVID DUVAL: I think the last part of what you said, I don't think you can ask somebody to be something they are not. I think it's unfair to expect other people -- I think it's appropriate to try to appreciate people for what they are and what they do.

DAVID DUVAL: I don't know. It's possible, but I don't know.

DAVID DUVAL: I did. I enjoyed playing with him a great, great deal. It was nice to see some of the things he did, and try, and then to see his reactions to it. I got a kick out of him.

DAVID DUVAL: I thought I was pushed aside. (Laughter.) I thought that's what everybody was saying at PGA. I guess it can't be. I guess it can only be two.

DAVID DUVAL: I probably feel very similar, actually. If you'd asked me this back in March or April, I would have told you at that point I feel a lot better about where I was and how I was playing at that point, you know, four or five months ago than now. However, having finished in the PGA and not doing quite as well as I would have liked, but still having a respectable finish, and then kind of putting it more together last week, has really given me a boost that I have needed, and probably lacked, since our U.S. Open.

DAVID DUVAL: I don't know. I haven't played. I heard -- I think my caddie told me there's one change he's seen at No. 9. Moved the tee back. But other than that -- or they moved the bunker forward. Other than that, I don't think it's changed. I had never played this course. And last year, I got in from the Peter Jacobson tournament, the Fred Meyer. Played Tuesday night and then Wednesday. But it's kind of like Medinah, I think, in that it's just long, hard and right in front of you. There's no tricks to it. You just go out there, and it presents you with a good challenge. And as you look at the past winning scores, it holds up pretty well.

DAVID DUVAL: No, I wasn't. No, that doesn't bother me in the least.

DAVID DUVAL: Probably just the event itself and the course, the tournament. I mean, the World Series was one of the biggest events of the year, and last year was the first time I was eligible to play in it. Although it's under a different name, it's still -- different eligibility requirements -- it's one of the best events, still. And I think that's the biggest attraction.

DAVID DUVAL: It's probably maybe just a little bit of confidence and making two 18-, 20-foot putts a week. That's how small it is. I think that's the differences.

DAVID DUVAL: I don't remember what it was.

DAVID DUVAL: I don't know. I don't know if that's the intent of the tournament. You'd have to talk to Tim Finchem and the other heads of the TOURS and see if that was the intention of the event. This was a preexisting event still. It was already here. And with the new TV revenues and such, that the purse here would have gone up, regardless. Would it have gotten to where it is? Probably not. I think it's pretty safe to say it wouldn't have. But I think if it's reward, you'd have to ask them if that was the intent.

DAVID DUVAL: I don't answer that way because I don't know if that was the intent.

DAVID DUVAL: No, I haven't.

DAVID DUVAL: Probably more so Monday is when it will start.

DAVID DUVAL: What, the Ryder Cup? That exhibition? (Laughter.) It's hard to say. I'm obviously -- I think we will. I do. But I'm probably a little bit biased. I'm just anxious to get there to kind of take in the atmosphere and to feel it and experience what everybody has said about it and kind of get my own feel for it. Because it's -- I'm looking forward to that. I'm very curious about it.

DAVID DUVAL: I don't recall anybody approaching me and asking me if I knew. I happened to walk into the locker room when they were showing highlights from the European event, and then they put up the two picks. It was just by chance that I walked by and saw. That's how I found out.

DAVID DUVAL: Good stuff or bad stuff?

DAVID DUVAL: I don't know. You know, I've tomahawked clubs into the ground like anybody else. I did a little dance in Palm Springs this year. Those are probably the two extremes. I don't recall grabbing a club off a hanger in disgust and absolutely destroying a patch of turf. I've certainly taken a swipe at the ground. But beyond that, I don't recall carrying on much more.

DAVID DUVAL: At this moment, my answer would be no. If at the end of the week in Boston doesn't end up as I, as an American player, would like, then I would certainly give you a yes.

DAVID DUVAL: Some players and some writers.

DAVID DUVAL: No, not that old. (Laughter.) Just a few other players, you know, that have played a few of them, and a few writers.

DAVID DUVAL: Just casual.

DAVID DUVAL: I would think the biggest thing you have to be conscious of is staying upbeat. Not letting your poor play or poor shots or such kind of infect your teammates. Just keep upbeat about what is going on and such, whether it's going your way or not. I think that will be one of the most important things.

DAVID DUVAL: I did not mean any bad. It's just a lot -- by saying that, I meant that it's just -- as a participant and even as a spectator and as a reporter covering it, it's just very much different than any other event. It has a tangible atmosphere, kind of like Augusta has. There's something in the air. You can kind of feel it. That's kind of what I meant. That's what I meant.

DAVID DUVAL: We're better on paper; right?

DAVID DUVAL: There again, it's hard for me to answer that. Personally, I would say no. But there again, I haven't been there and experienced it; so, I don't know. I can't really give you a good answer on that. You know, people who have been there and covered it, you would have to talk to other players who have been there. I don't think you can ask somebody who hasn't been there and played one whether that's a disadvantage. I can't answer that.

DAVID DUVAL: I think a lot more so than everybody seems to believe. You know, I think everybody is very, very excited about it, or very much looking forward to getting after it there.

DAVID DUVAL: I don't have preferences, simply because I can't control the weather, and I have to play what's in front of me. If I wanted it to be hard and fast and it became soft, then I might have a hard time playing in it. If I wanted it to be soft and it played like the British Open, then I would have no chance that way, either. So I just look to play. I think that's part of the responsibility and part of our job as professionals that you have to adjust to different conditions.

DAVID DUVAL: Yeah, that might be safe to say. Simply because they've lost a few -- and I say "they," meaning we. We've lost a few and lost the Presidents Cup. We need to have one cup at home.

DAVID DUVAL: I would guess stronger. But we'll find out very soon.

DAVID DUVAL: I believe I did watch it. I don't remember where I was or what I was doing.

DAVID DUVAL: I think we've covered that. We've been there.

End of FastScripts...