MICHELOB CHAMPIONSHIP AT KINGSMILL

October 5, 2002

Billy Mayfair

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you, Billy, for joining us. Another great round. I know you had that one little hiccup on No. 9, but you battled and stuck in there. Great position for tomorrow.

BILLY MAYFAIR: Yeah, I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I got off to a real good start today. I didn't birdie the third hole but I made a nice birdie on 4 and then birdied 6 and then eagled 7, got myself off to a great start. 9 I just had a little 6-iron in and short-sighted myself on the left-hand side there. It's a sucker pin, they put the tees up because it was a sucker pin and I guess I was a sucker for it. I hit it left and had a bad lie over there and didn't get it on the green and chipped it by and missed it coming back. It's hard to make a double out there when you've hit the fairway off the tee and was in such good shape off the tee. I kept my composure I thought very well and went out and shot one under on the backside, which was important.

Q. After eight holes you probably had to feel like you were in Hog Heaven?

BILLY MAYFAIR: Yeah, I was, and then I missed the green on No. 8 and had a horrendous lie on the front edge of the green and chipped it up three feet from the hole and saved par there. As we talked about yesterday, sometimes a good par can keep your round going, and things were going my way and unfortunately I hit that one bad shot on 9.

Q. Is it hard to just shake that off?

BILLY MAYFAIR: I think it's easier in that case for me because I knew I was playing well, I knew I was hitting it well, and I just knew if I kept on doing what I had been doing I'd get it back hopefully. David today just struggled horribly. I don't think he ever felt comfortable out there. He hit a lot of good shots on the backside and couldn't get a putt to fall in. I knew some putts were going in for me, and when that happens -- you know you're playing good and you know you can get it back so you don't get too hard on yourself.

Q. It seemed like yesterday you had radar on the stick and the first two holes you have these gargantuan putts. What did you hit on the 7th hole?

BILLY MAYFAIR: I hit a 3-wood, it was about 243 to the hole, a little bit of wind in the face, I didn't think I could get it to the hole, I was just trying to get it to the front part of the green or a good chip, and I flushed a 3-wood and it was absolutely perfect for me, about six feet.

Q. It was like a deal with the Devil; every time your ball hit the green it kind of curled into the hole.

BILLY MAYFAIR: There's been times when it curls the other way, too, but it was great to get off to a good start today.

Q. Can you go through your card?

BILLY MAYFAIR: Yes. Birdie on 4, on 4 I hit a 3-wood off the tee and I hit a 6-iron in there about 12 feet just below the hole and made that for birdie.

On 6 I hit a 5-wood off the tee, I hit a 9-iron from about 140 yards, about two feet from the hole and made that.

Then on 7, like I said, I hit a real good drive on the left-hand side of the fairway and I had 243 to the hole and I caught all of a 3-wood there and hit it about six feet and made the eagle.

Q. You did 9. 16?

BILLY MAYFAIR: I hit driver off the tee, 8-iron from about 160 yards and hit it in there probably half a foot from the hole there and tapped that in for birdie, so I think the greens were real hard to putt on the backside.

I think David was a great example of that. He hit it close on the backside and didn't make a putt, and the one birdie I made was a tap-in. Overall I'm happy with the play I'm playing, the way I hit it today, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

Q. When you're in the last group on Saturday and the guy playing with you is the one of the world's best players and he's playing like a train wreck, do you try not to watch?

BILLY MAYFAIR: I try not to watch my competitors anyway. I try not to watch what they do all that much anyway.

Q. You kind of knew he was having a hard time?

BILLY MAYFAIR: Yeah, David was having a hard time out there. He loves this tournament and he's really playing well and he's trying to get his game back to where he wants it to be. It seemed like maybe he was trying too hard out there at times. We've all been there, it's happened to us, and don't be surprised if David shoots a good number tomorrow.

Q. Everybody that's come in has talked about the roughness of the greens, that they're really thin and bumpy. What does that mean for tomorrow because you're in the last group and it's going to be probably --

BILLY MAYFAIR: Probably the same thing. If we do get a little bit cooler weather that will help it. It's probably like a U.S. Open out there in a way. Maybe the golf course isn't as long as the U.S. Open is, but you have high rough, penalizing rough and hard, fast, crusty greens. That's the U.S. Open. Putts are hard to make out there, that's for sure.

Q. You finished 5th in the U.S. Open.

BILLY MAYFAIR: I like U.S. Opens. I always like it when you don't have to make a whole bunch of birdies. Pars are good scores. I always seem to do well in those tournaments. I'm driving the ball well and hitting good iron shots and making some putts and that's why I'm playing well.

Q. Did you look up at the leader board at any point and say what a logjam we have here, this is crazy?

BILLY MAYFAIR: No, I never did. I saw the sign from the group ahead of us; I knew Brandt was playing good. But I really didn't know how I stood until after I made my putt on 18, and I'll probably do the same thing tomorrow.

Q. Is it hard to do that?

BILLY MAYFAIR: I'll tell you what happened to me. At Firestone I had a three-shot lead going into 15 and I looked at the scoreboard and lost the tournament, and I swore I'd never do it again.

Q. It's got to be really conscious and really good self-discipline.

BILLY MAYFAIR: Well, I know where they are. I teach myself where the boards are and where not to look. Some guys like it -- I know my friend Phil Mickelson loves looking at the boards. I'm the type of player where I try to do the best I can on every hole and at the end of the day we'll see how we are.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: All set? Thank you, Billy.

BILLY MAYFAIR: Thank you.

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