THE HONDA CLASSIC

March 9, 2002

Mike Weir

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: We'd like to welcome Mike Weir to the media center.

Mike, thanks for coming in. Long day today, but you played well. You're 3-under par in the third round through 10 holes and 14-under for the tournament.

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, I'm happy with that. So, got a long day tomorrow, for sure. Hopefully I can keep it rolling.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Questions?

Q. Talk about just the whole week so far, the rain delay on Thursday, and then yesterday, which I'm assuming you started --

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, I yesterday I started on -- I played four holes yesterday.

Q. And today?

MIKE WEIR: Today, I finished that round. So 14 and 10, so 24 holes today. So kind of a weird week to, play 18 the first day, four holes and then 24 and I guess 26 tomorrow.

It's fine. I mean, it's something that you have to deal with every once what while. You get rain delays, especially when it's humid like this. So that's part of the deal.

Q. Looks like it's going to be pretty bunched up for tomorrow. A lot of guys in the mix; do you have to come out firing at flags?

MIKE WEIR: Well I think the greens, the golf course is conducive to that right now. You have to make birdies or else you are going to get lapped. So, I think you do have to play aggressively out there, for sure.

Q. Obviously, you are on the top of the leaderboard, possibly at the end of the third round, but you must feel like you're swinging the club well and you're obviously putting well; because you can't score birdies without putting well.

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, well, all aspects of my game are pretty good. I had a few loose shots out there today that I am not too happy about, but for the most part, I'm swinging well.

The first two days in particular, I gave myself just a number of chances. Hit it really close a lot of the time. So hopefully I can do that tomorrow as well. I really finished off -- the 14 holes I finished second round today, I didn't birdie a par 5 and shot 65. So, you know, I was really hitting close a lot.

Q. You've been dubbed "Mr. November." How much would a win early in here help you get rid of that?

MIKE WEIR: That would be nice. I'll take them whenever I can get them. But it would be nice to get one early in the year, obviously. It's just nice to be in contention. Haven't really been -- I've played such a sporadic schedule. I took a lot of time off during the Olympics and took a lot of that in; so it feels like I'm just getting started here again. So it's nice to play well.

Q. How was that, the Gold Medal game?

MIKE WEIR: I was there. But I was there for -- I skipped San Diego, L.A. and I got beat out of the second round of The Match Play; so I was home quick, there. So I did get to watch the Gold Medal game. So it was good for me.

Q. Was that the highlight for you? I saw you met Bonnie Blair?

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, we met her at the first game I went to, the Sweden game.

You know, winning the Gold, with all of the hype surrounding it, and more for the guys, because I'm sure they felt a lot of pressure.

Q. Are you surprised on how long Paul Casey hits the ball? He's a slight guy, as well, not a big tall guy. Just seems like he's just knocking it way down there.

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, he hits it pretty far. Yeah. I'm not surprised by it. A lot of guys out here hit it far. He looks like a strong dude. Looks like he can move it out there.

Q. Do you look at the leaderboard and see that you've got PGA TOUR victories, three of them and nobody else among the leaders does?

MIKE WEIR: Well, you know, I was in their situation not too long ago, to get my first win, and I was hungry to do it. So there's a lot of motivation there for a lot of guys to get their first win. They will be anxious to do it. They will have some anxious moments, but I think they are hungry to do it. But I do have a little bit of experience factor there; that I've won in the last little bit. But it's going to be a battle tomorrow.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Thank you very much.

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