FEDEX ST. JUDE CLASSIC

June 14, 1999

Ted Tryba

TED TRYBA: You know, I don't know how I felt when I woke up. When you wake up at 5:30 in the morning, I don't know how anybody feels waking up that early. But I got my rest. I was fortunate to get that. Woke up with a really good attitude. I know it's the last leg of the marathon, and just had to go out there and keep hitting good shots. I was kind of hoping I'd hit a bunch of them, but when it got really windy out there, I had some concern because it just didn't seem like very scorable conditions. So I kind of tried to stay tough and I just made a bogey early and hit it in the bunker -- hit it the left rough on 2, and I played for a little flyer and didn't get it. Buried it in the front bunker. They warned us that the bunkers were all shoveled up and raked; so I hit a shot out there of about six feet and spun it out about 360. That kind of just -- I think that woke me up a little bit like today was not going to be an easy day. You were going to have to work hard and focus and concentrate. Parred the 3rd hole and 4th hole and went for the par 5 on 5 and hit a really super short in there. It was a good yardage. Hit a 2-iron 247 yards to about 12 feet and made that putt for an eagle. Kind of got me back on track I felt like I was making up for the bogey by making eagle. We went along and I birdied the 8th hole. I can hit 7-iron one day from 167, and I hit 223 yards with a 4-iron. That's how difficult the course played, I think, early in the day. I made a little bogey on 8. Just kind of played for the wind to move the ball to the right. It didn't. Hit the side of the green and didn't kick down there. Didn't get a very good lie. Chipped up and missed about a 10-footer. Parred 9. Went to 10; got a really good number. I was looking forward to playing that left pin, because it looked like if I can get a good club in there, I can get it in there because everything kicks towards the hole. I was lucky to hit it in there about three feet and make birdie. Went to 12. I think it was 117 in the fairway, which is perfect for my wedge. Hit it in there; almost holed it. Hit it in there about a foot and a half. Next hole is a par. Went to the par 3. Just tried to hit a nice -- it was a good 5-iron for me. Just get it on the green, anything on the green. Hit it just off the fringe in there and two-putted for par. 15, I pulled 2-iron left. I really moved on it. I was really concerned about the wind. It was kind of coming into us, chasing down left to right. I think I overhooked it and hit it in the left rough, and hit a good shot out of the rough and made par there. 16, probably hit my best driver of the week. Needed to. Stepped up over it the first time and backed off. What really helped me there was I had my friend Fulton Allem came up to me while I was on the putting green and kind of grabs me and goes: Look at me. He says, Cousin, you must -- you must take your time out there. He told me to just take my time. Any time I felt a little rushed or I felt uncomfortable, to just take a step back and take my time. I think it really helped me there, because I hit probably the best tee shot of the week there. We got a good number because we had 234 to the hole. We normally hit a 4-iron there the other day, 236; so it was the perfect club for us. We hit that in there, and I was lucky enough to make that eagle. And the par on 17 was just basic down-the-middle, get-it-on-the-green, and get-it-in. 18, get it in the fairway and get it on the green. I kind of stuck the club there. I had a good number, but I just didn't want that ball to go left, and I just was kind of trying to force it out to the right a little bit too much. And the club just stuck in the zoysia, and lucky enough to two-putt it.

TED TRYBA: After I putted that ball?

TED TRYBA: I was -- when you looked at the whole situation, I was really trying to get that ball below the hole. I wanted my second putt to be an uphill putt. I didn't want to be too cozy and leave it above the hole where I had to get cute or anything. I wanted to either tap it in or be aggressive up the hill. I told myself: Don't mess around with this thing. Don't take too much time. Don't think too much. Don't overthink it and just get it past the hole it. Just kept going. I mean, I got in there about 10 feet.

TED TRYBA: You know, you had to get past Jose. I guess he birdied the par 5 16th, and he set the number early. I think Hal got to 16. A couple guys got to 16 quick, and I was thinking: Man, it's still going to be a birdie barrage out there. As we kept playing, some of the clubs -- I hit 4-iron into 7. I hit a 5-iron into 9. I had 191 to the hole. That hole was a little wedge or a 9-iron all week. I knew that it wasn't going to be that easy. So I just stayed tough, and, you know, keep the ball in the fairway, and if things happen for you, you're going to have a chance. You're going to be close. It just worked out right that Timmy did not make too many birdies and catch me.

TED TRYBA: It does. You can take any sport in the world, and they go up that day, and except for a series, you know what I mean? You know, you go into the game and the game is over in three hours or four hours, and that's it; you go home. The race is over. In four hours or a rain delay or something, golfers have got to come out here and a lot can happen between Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night, and now we had to add in Monday night. I mean, you can wake up with a bad back, bad neck, sore anything. There's a lot that can happen in a matter of five days. So you kind of hope for the best that you're going to get through that. It sounds kind of crazy, but I've seen it happen.

TED TRYBA: Slept like a baby. I knew I had to get some sleep, and I went right to bed, no problem.

TED TRYBA: I thought that was great, because Timmy, we were both playing pretty solid all day. Timmy made the birdie and I still picked up a shot on him. I think if I had not done that, I think a one-shot cushion, I don't know, maybe I might have got a little more nervous, or Timmy might have thought he's got a really good chance to win that thing. Timmy has won three times out here. He's a great champion. I would not think he was still trying to play for second if he was within one, one hole to play.

TED TRYBA: I'm just thinking all I've got to do is two-putt it. I putted ball outside left. What are you worried about; just knock it up there. I just tried to make it as simple as I could. I didn't do it mentally that simple, but I tried to do some mental gymnastics to try to make that as easy on my brain as I could.

TED TRYBA: Well, we'll be there tonight, and I'm sure we'll just take it easy. Back to the grind. We've got to play 18 holes on Tuesday, 9 on Wednesday and tee it up -- I've got 6:40 tee time. I've got another five o'clock wake-up call. It's one of those situations where I guess, these golfers have a full-time job; no days off.

TED TRYBA: I feel good. I've never gone into a U.S. Open playing this well. I've always gone, June, I don't know whether it's biorhythms or whatever, I've never gone into there playing well at all. I feel confident that I can go in there and at least have a chance to compete.

TED TRYBA: I separated my ribs from my sternum Monday at TPC, Tournament Players Championship. I knew it when it happened. I was under my dock fixing my irrigation line lines and had some cinder blocks that had been underground for two years. You're trying to hold your breath under eight feet of water and pull these things up. I got myself down in there and pulled myself up. My feet went down; my body went up; and it just was a weird movement the way I was holding my breath. And I guess that's what happened. I learned my lesson. I guess I'd rather have the trees die and get somebody else to do it. But I never would think at 32 years old with the shape I'm in that I would get hurt, but it happens.

TED TRYBA: We were fortunate because it was wide open. We had to get over the tree, which was not a problem with the club selection we had. I had a whole green to work with. I did not have any water to play with. It actually was not as difficult a shot as it looked. I think Tim's was more difficult because he had the water to contend with.

TED TRYBA: It feels great, because you know everybody wins one tournament, not everybody does, but I won the first one when I was 28 years old, and maybe some people can chalk up as a fluke or this or that. But I felt like I was a solid player out here, and you keep playing enough tournaments and you keep performing, you win. And this was a nice one to win, because you didn't just back in it. You went out and shot 66. It felt good.

TED TRYBA: It would not matter to me at all. It would not have made a difference to me whatsoever. If I would have hit it in the rough, I would have chipped it out on the green; wedge, wedge, it would not have made a difference to me. I don't think it would have made a difference to anybody else either.

TED TRYBA: That did, because you don't want to have -- I didn't want to have to come up 16 knowing I needed a birdie to just get close. Getting to 17, that pushed Tim to 16; got us out in front, I think. I think the focus kind of shifted just to me and Tim.

TED TRYBA: I birdied it twice this week. I had two other good opportunities I burned the edge on. But that hole kind of plays into my hands. It's a little dogleg right, and I cut the ball and I'm fortunate with the hole setup.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports...