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SONY OPEN IN HAWAII


January 17, 2004


Davis Love III


HONOLULU, HAWAII

JOHN BUSH: Davis, 12-under par, 198 and 7-under par 63 today. Great playing.

DAVIS LOVE III: Thank you.

JOHN BUSH: If we could just get you to comment on your round, please.

DAVIS LOVE III: Well, I made some nice putts and holed a nice bunker shot at 9 that I would have been happy to get up-and-down.

You know, things went pretty good. I missed some fairways and still got the ball on the green. Made a nice save at 13. I drove it in the rough and hit a tree and had no shot and chipped out with a 7-iron about six feet and made it for par.

I had some good things happen. One of those rounds that could have been a lot better. Could have been a lot worse. I hung in there real good today. Like I said, I made some putts. I didn't putt very well the first day, but since then, I've made some putts.

JOHN BUSH: Go through those putts, starting on No. 1.

DAVIS LOVE III: 1, drove it in the left bunker. Hit 8-iron to about 25 feet.

3, a 1-iron and a pitching wedge to about 25, 30 feet.

9, drove it in the right rough, hit a 5-iron in the left bunker and blasted out and it two-hopped in the hole. Probably would have had at least a 10-footer coming back.

Then 11 a 5-iron to about eight feet.

12, drove it in the bunker again. Hit a wedge about 20 feet.

18, 3-wood and a 3-iron just short right of the green and chipped up about two feet.

Q. You've had some good results here. Been in contention before.

DAVIS LOVE III: Yeah I've been around the lead a few times here.

Q. Something that sets up well for you?

DAVIS LOVE III: Well, I think the greens, I was disappointed on Thursday because I usually putt the greens pretty good because I'm used to grain, you know. Vijay was getting frustrated with the grain and I kept thinking, "Well, I know how to putt it," and I kept missing them all day. We got done and we were talking about it. I said, you know, I don't know what, I just couldn't get the speed. I knew what the grain was doing. I just couldn't get the read speed on the putts.

Then sure enough, yesterday I started making them again. Today I putted real well. So I'm used to that kind of grass, flyer lies in the rough. It's kind of what I grew up on.

Q. Not much wind?

DAVIS LOVE III: No. It's surprising, both courses, Kapalua, it blew hard from a strange direction and here it's not blowing.

You would think this course would be extremely low. You know, everybody would be shooting low. But I think maybe the rough is keeping -- there's some good scores every day, but there's not a lot of them. Of course, we thought, obviously Wednesday was a hard day to play golf, but we thought if the wind blew it was going to be a real tough test. So it's holding up for the most part.

Q. You shot 60 here in 1994. How has the course changed since, then tougher or easier -- holes 1 and 4?

DAVIS LOVE III: The course has changed but those two holes are still the same. You feel like you should make a 4 but it's not an easy 4. 1 playing downwind is helping a little bit. More rough, I'm sure. The course is a little narrower than it used to be. But it plays a couple shots harder probably back then.

Q. You had a West Coast win last year and obviously went on to have a big year. Are you of the theory that an early win can help set the tone or not?

DAVIS LOVE III: Oh, yeah. It used to be the whole theory was that the Tour started at Doral, you know. There wasn't as much money on the West Coast. Now there's tons of money. Like I said last week, Ernie Els was $2 million ahead of me before I even had a start.

It shows you, the West Coast is important. You can turn -- you've kind of got to spread them out, you know. You can't win six in a row unless -- well, one guy did one time. (Laughter.)

You can't have your year in two months, you know. You've got to spread it out. You can't play every week. If you play four or five on the West Coast, yeah, you feel like you want to come out of there with a good start. Keep up on the Money List.

.Obviously, Stuart, there was a time when $1 million for the year was pretty good. He's got $1 million already. You've got to get going. That's eight tournaments. So it's a good chunk of the season.

Q. Seven rounds in, how would you assess your game, kind of different playing four rounds at Kapalua and coming over here which is completely different, how would you assess how you've been playing?

DAVIS LOVE III: Sporadic. I'm not hitting consistently good shots into the greens. Last week it was distance control. This week it seems like I'm missing a few left and right, second shots.

Obviously, you can always hit more fairways, but I think for the most part I'm just a little bit erratic with my irons and putting a little too much pressure on my putting. Like I said, today I rolled it good. I made a couple nice par putts.

I just need to get a little more consistent. I don't think it's rusty. I think it's a little bit lack of focus and it seemed like the harder the shot was today, behind the tree, over a tree or back left pin, I hit better shots than if it was like 17, just kind of seven iron right there in front of me. I hit it in the bunker which is ridiculous. I had two of those today, three of them, simple straightforward, I just didn't hit good.

Maybe it's just concentration. I'm pretty close to playing real good.

Q. Do you think it will benefit you tomorrow if the weather changes?

DAVIS LOVE III: I don't think it really matters. I've played in a lot of wind and no wind, like I said, last seven rounds. I don't think it really matters. Scoring, you're going to have to shoot a low score if it says like this.

Q. Didn't keep the goatee?

DAVIS LOVE III: Went fishing with Mark Rolfing a couple times and I was too hot. It's funny, I've had a lot of young people say "Why did you shave it?" And some of the members here in and my mom and other people said, "Thank you for shaving that off." Now I'm kind of caught in the middle.

Q. When did you shave it?

DAVIS LOVE III: Tuesday.

Q. Do you have a number you're looking at tomorrow in terms of 20-under, 19?

DAVIS LOVE III: These guys have still got a long way to go today. I don't know. I didn't have a number in mind today. Just go out and try to birdie them all. I'm sure it will take a low score, though.

Q. What's the rest of your West Coast look like, schedule?

DAVIS LOVE III: I'm definitely playing Pebble and the Match Play and maybe one other one, I'm not real sure. Don't want to play too much. I think the end of last year, I played a lot. So trying to get back on schedule and play two, take a couple weeks off and be ready when I get to springtime.

Q. What's a better fit for you, Torrey or Riviera?

DAVIS LOVE III: I don't know. I love Riviera and I've won at Torrey Pines. They have lengthened it. I heard they lengthened it and widened it, which is a good combination for me. (Laughter.) I haven't seen that yet. I haven't seen that design change on any course.

You know, I would think both of them suit my game. Obviously tend to shoot lower scores at Torrey. It seems easier but now it's probably not. They are both great. I just don't want to play too much and burn myself out before Florida.

Q. We can't let you out of here without a Michelle Wie question. Jesper said he thought -- this was Thursday night -- if she made the cut, it would be one of the great performances in sports all-time; she came within one shot. Do you agree with that assessment or is that overstating it?

DAVIS LOVE III: Well, that's a hard question to answer. I mean, she's 14 years old. Never had a male player probably ever play that good in a PGA TOUR event, modern days, for sure.

Making the cut or missing the cut, that's the whole argument when Annika played. Well, can she make the cut or miss the cut? I don't think that's a good judge, because making the cut or missing the cut -- it means something out here. But that's like at the bottom end of the tournament, you know. Missing the cut is not good. Just barely making the cut is not good either, you know. Winning is what you're out here for.

But judging by her scores against other top players, looking at the guys that had the same basic weather conditions, and you can't say, well she got the good end of the draw or they did. There's a bunch of us out there that were shooting the same scores as her.

I think that's very, very impressive. The pressure of making and missing the cut for Annika or Michelle is probably not the right way to look at it. Because that means she succeeds if she makes the cut. Guys that play well out here they don't even think there is a cut. They are playing to win.

I think she played -- she shot 68 in a PGA Tour event. That's the way you've got to look at it. It's an incredible accomplishment. And she's proven in the ladies events, the men's events, the special events she's played in that she can play at top level.

Q. Did she add to the event?

DAVIS LOVE III: Oh, it seemed boring out there today. (Laughter.) Not a whole lot of excitement.

I was watching -- the only exciting thing today I watched was Vijay hit it across 10 again. (Laughter.) I played with him yesterday, so I knew when I walked up there he was going to do it and we were on 12.

It was very exciting. I made a point of speaking to her and I was watching her play just like everybody else. It's exciting.

There was an argument whether she should be playing or not. But once she's here, I mean, we all were -- it's the talk in the locker room when I walked in there, the guys that got outhit and the guys that got beat. It's an incredible story. Just a year ago, we were wondering if an LPGA or a lady player could play out here, and here is a 14-year-old that, you know, give her ten tries and see what she does and maybe she could contend like she did at, what was it, Nabisco last year?

She's got a lot of talent. As Mark Rolfing said, sometimes the dream is better than the reality. I hope she doesn't get ahead of herself too much because, you know, Ty Tryon, we've seen it with a lot of guys, you get a little ahead of yourself. Shooting the scores is one thing, but being ready to play professional golf is another.

Q. Should she get ten tries at it?

DAVIS LOVE III: I don't know. That's the question is what do other tournaments that don't have a Tiger Woods or an Ernie Els or somebody in their field; what do they do.

This is different. It's a local thing. But when she starts popping up other places, guys that are looking for exemptions or late in the year. But I think it was great, if she plays two or three professional events a year, until she gets her driver's license.

You can't play on our tour if you're a male until you're 18. So, that's another good question. Should she be able to get exemptions when we wouldn't let Ty Tryon play when he was a member.

I'm supposedly going back on the ballot to be a board member again, so maybe that will come in front of me next year.

Q. Do you think she could win on the LPGA TOUR this year?

DAVIS LOVE III: Oh, I don't know. That's why I said, just barely making the cut and one Top-10 or two Top-10s is a long way from winning. She's got the potential to win most any golf tournament she enters, but she's still is 14 and she's still inexperienced.

But do you know of any golfer with more potential under the age of 25? Probably not. I think she's the next Tiger Woods, but just have to see what happens the next few years.

Q. Where is Drew in that category?

DAVIS LOVE III: Well, he said he would be on TOUR when he's 15. I said, "Well, Mr. Finchem won't let you play." Finish on and get through high school. (Laughter.)

Andy North and I were talking about it out on the range, I guess it was Friday when I walked out there. My daughter watched TV, watched golf on TV in prime time, which she doesn't watch golf, period, no matter how I'm playing. And my son, now thinks that since he's ten, "Well, in five years I can be on the Tour." That's the influence she has and that's why it's good for the game that she plays because she gets kids thinking that way.

Just like Tiger Woods. Do you think Michelle Wie would be thinking she could play on the PGA TOUR if it weren't for Tiger Woods? I don't think so. That's his influence and her influence will be just as great, especially for little girls.

Q. But isn't it also true that only one-in-a-million will be able to do that; so it's unrealistic expectations for most kids.

DAVIS LOVE III: Well, like I said, the dream is better than the reality. There was a million kids playing, maybe not a million, maybe half a million, playing golf when I was a kid. And ten of us, 20 of us made it to play on the PGA TOUR.

So you've got to -- I mean, that's why I'm saying, making the Tour is not actually as good as dreaming to make the Tour, you know. I think kids growing up have to have a dream. I mean, I wanted to be a PGA TOUR player like my dad, but so did every other kid down the range at Atlanta Country Club. But we all had just as much fun growing up playing golf and going to college and playing golf.

But it inspires them to do something other than get into trouble, you know. I think that's the great thing. I see 50 kids, literally 50 kids at our club practicing and playing golf all the time, because of Tiger Woods, because of great players influencing them. Will two of those kids make it on the PGA TOUR? If we're lucky, maybe one.

We've got five, six kids off our driving range playing major college golf. How many of those five or six will make it on the Tour, maybe one. But they are all good kids and they are working hard and they are staying out of trouble, and they are on the driving range, rather than hanging out at the mall or racing around in their cars. So I think it's good. It's very good, whether it's one-in-a-million or not.

Q. If you get back on the policy board, would you entertain a notion of creating a special exemption for situations like Annika and Michelle so that the discussion of taking somebody's spot away could be eliminated?

DAVIS LOVE III: There was that discussion, adding to the field. But, you know, then every sponsor will want -- well we get one more, it doesn't count that they will add to the field. We are trying to cut fields down. We are taking spots away from PGA of America pros. There used to be all kinds of PGA of America players in our events. Now they are down to maybe one a week. You start cutting all of these guys out and Q-School guys out and you go back and start adding players that are not members of our tour, that are not trying to win the Money List or keep their card; they are just out for a week here or a week there. It's a hard argument if you're 125th on the Money List, you know.

Q. How do you think the sponsorship will feel when they are ponying up the money, and it's only going to get bigger as time goes on, and they are saying, "We need that"?

DAVIS LOVE III: Well, you don't really need it. You had seven of the Top-10 money winners last year out here playing golf. I think if Michelle Wie wasn't here, there would have been still the same great golf.

So I don't think they need it. I think, like I said, it's a local thing. She played ten minutes from her house. It's great.

But if you did it every week, the players would not like if every 14-year-old that lived ten minutes from a Tour event started getting a spot. It's like the great line that somebody had at Doral, that they had a dream that Jack Nicklaus had 125 kids and they couldn't get in Doral. (Laughter). All Nicklaus' playing at Doral.

That's a guy's spot that's trying to make a living. Put a quarterback in here or there. If John Smoltz decides he wants to play in Atlanta because he's a heck of a golfer -- I mean, he can shoot good scores, he can shoot low 60s, he's one of the best amateur athlete players I've ever seen. So why don't we let him play. That takes a spot away from a PGA TOUR member.

It's a hard question. I'm glad she played. I thought it was exciting. But we don't need to be doing that every week just to -- I mean, TV ratings didn't go up on Thursday that much. I don't know whether they did on Friday. But it was exciting for the event, but I still think there was a lot of good golf out there that got missed because they were showing Michelle. There was a lot of good golf played. The networks pay a lot of money to cover it at the beginning of the year. They know who they are going to get. I don't think we need to add a specialty player here or there just to boost ratings.

Q. Did you notice a difference in the gallery yesterday when she was playing compared to today? Was there more youngsters yesterday?

DAVIS LOVE III: We crossed paths maybe once or twice, just that buzz, that buzz like when Tiger is in the field. There's more people in that one area of the golf course and everyone is running to get ahead and it's exciting. But I couldn't tell, though.

I saw a lot of kids following my group yesterday and today more than normal. I don't know if Michelle had a factor of kids skipping school yesterday or not, but there were a bunch of them today. I had a great group of young girls following me the last couple of days. One of them got my eagle ball on 9 and followed me all the way around to 18 to get it signed.

They have fans have always been good here. It's just hard to get down here. It seems like parking, if we had Tiger and Michelle in this event, I don't know what we would do. There wouldn't be any place to park.

End of FastScripts.

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