THE HONDA CLASSIC

March 8, 2002

Bob Heintz

Q. You haven't played well for a while. Talk about today, the extended round, what are you doing that's so good.

BOB HEINTZ: I think I've hit on it for about three weeks now. Started in Tucson. I worked so hard on my swing last year, and didn't see any results, as you know, from the BUY.COM TOUR.

So the last issue to address was kind of a flippiness at the top with my hands, and I went out to Edwin Watts three weeks ago and found a little swing contraption that I used for a while and kind of got my wrists a little more steady at the top. It's really helped me click in on what I worked on for a year.

I've worked really hard on using my body more; you know, how all of the guys are trying to do with the modern swing with the torso and everything, and I had that all going. But then I had this flip at the top and it just can't -- I couldn't match it up. I couldn't match up the tempo.

It's come a lot closer now, where I'm hitting -- my misses are a lot smaller, the usual stuff. Honestly, I'm a really good fairway bunker player, and I hit it in several of them. I hit it close several times out of fairway bunkers.

Q. How far did you get through yesterday's round?

BOB HEINTZ: I had three holes to finish today. I hit a fat sand wedge on 7 from the wet fairway and made bogey, to go back to 5 and then I stuffed it on 8 and 9 coming back. And birdie, birdie finish.

Q. How hard is it to prepare? You were playing well yesterday, obviously. How hard is it; talk a little about the interruption and coming back.

BOB HEINTZ: It was tough for me mentally because last week I played awesome Thursday and then I got on the range Friday morning, really early again at Doral, and I felt terrible.

So this morning, I kind of woke up -- I woke up a little earlier to give myself more time to really wake up. I got on the range and the sand wedge felt pretty good in my hands and the 9-irons; so I wasn't worried about it after that. It was like one of those things where it didn't feel like a steak knife in the hand; it felt like a club. So I knew I would be all right today.

Q. Skip Kendall talked about, there's only a couple of holes to go, so you kind of warm-up the same way, but mentally you are just thinking about a couple of holes. Does that make it easier?

BOB HEINTZ: I don't think so. Because I wanted to badly -- I knew I only had three holes to play all day and I wanted to do a good job. I think I almost -- I almost tried too hard on a couple of my tee shots, but it just worked out. When I did hit a good shot and there was three holes, it went four feet. So my birdies were easy.

Q. You are tied for the lead. That's obviously a good feeling.

BOB HEINTZ: Yes, it is. I led Tucson for about two holes on Friday, so I don't mind that feeling. I'm happy to be able to say that. You know, that's kind of a hurdle for a guy that has not been out here that much to say, you know, "I actually led an event," whether you win it or not. But TO lead one at some point or tie with Faxon, who was my big brother two years ago, that's kind of neat. I'm pleased about it.

But it's also kind of a -- I can remove myself from it because I'm still making progress on the whole swing thing. I only hit like five fairways. But I didn't miss them by very far, so I got away with it. So if I can clean that up, it might be easier to shoot 66 or 65 next time.

Q. How hard is it for this kind of a tournament; now you may not play for the rest of today. How do you get yourself mentally ready?

BOB HEINTZ: I think I was planning that. I'll come out this afternoon and practice as though I'm going to play at 6:00, although I kind of expect not to. And that will just be kind of my workout for the day, and then I'll just wake up early tomorrow and try to do the same thing as today.

Q. 36 potentially on Saturday.

BOB HEINTZ: Yeah, I've got my kids with me, too, this week; so they need to get to sleep tonight. I've been a little short on sleep the last two nights. We need to get them under wraps. I might take a nap today.

Q. Is that a different kind of a day, to play 36?

BOB HEINTZ: It's one of those day where is if you get hot, you could do something crazy. And if you don't, that's a heck of a long day because you're out there a long time and you might get tired. If it blows and stuff, it could really wear on you. I don't know. But I'll be happy to go take my crack at it tomorrow, anyways.

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