WGC AMERICAN EXPRESS CHAMPIONSHIP

October 4, 2003

Tim Herron

TODD BUDNICK: All right, Tim, 3-under, 67, another good round for you today. Got off to a great start with three birdies in the first eight holes and had a little trouble on 9.

TIM HERRON: Yeah, I kind of stayed patient and I had a couple birdie putts, not real close ones, but I had a few birdie putts. They just didn't really go in. I stayed patient. 9 I pulled my drive, got a bad kick to the left down in the Port-O-Johns and got a drop, but I still didn't have much of a play. I had to kind of chip outside ways.

I had a chance at a bogey. I figured if I made bogey there, it's almost like a par on 9. But I made 6 and fought along and birdied No. 10. I knew I was playing well, just one bad swing, got over it and kind of went on.

TODD BUDNICK: The scores looked a little bit better today. Tell us about the conditions out there compared to the first two days.

TIM HERRON: Well, you could call them greens today. Yesterday they were browns. They were pretty crusty yesterday. I mean the greens are perfect. They were just really stressed yesterday. So today you could kind of make some birdies, where yesterday it was pretty much defensive all day, but you had to drive the ball in play, and I drove the ball a lot better than I did yesterday.

Q. At the time you made the double on 9, Tiger went to 10-under, so it was a five-shot lead, and then you ran off a few birdies after that and Vijay kind of got back into things, so there was a lot happening out there good and bad. Even if the conditions are a little bit softer, is there still the potential for --

TIM HERRON: Yeah, there's a potential to make, like I said -- it was pretty much all pars yesterday. Even if you had a par putt, you had five feet, you couldn't really go for it. I'm not saying that they're a heck of a lot slower today, just you kind of -- the ball would kind of -- it wouldn't release as bad, I guess.

Then the wind kicked up a little bit in the afternoon, this afternoon, so we probably didn't have wind until we got to 10.

Q. So Tiger doubled 16, so nothing is -- there's a lot of guys with chances tomorrow?

TIM HERRON: Yeah, I think so. I mean, it depends on -- now we can see that you can shoot 6-under out here, and I would have had a pretty good chance if I didn't double 9, take the drive back, but I can't.

Q. You said that it was pretty much defensive yesterday. At what point when you were out here today, was it like the first green or did you know right away that they had watered things a little more?

TIM HERRON: It was weird because when I played my practice rounds, I played in the morning and the greens were green. It's weird, as the day goes on, just the moisture comes out of the green and you can see it starts turning brown. That's when you know -- you can see more heel prints and things like that, and you can see the ball kind of moving that way.

I knew just teeing off in the morning, this would be kind of the scoring day because of TV and the college football and everything, we had to tee off early.

Q. What's the mindset knowing Tiger is building to close with a 54-hole lead? Do you immediately have to get out and say this guy is not likely to make any mistakes, I've got to make something happen?

TIM HERRON: Exactly, you make something happen, but you have to be very patient. If you're going at a lot of these pins, you could shoot a high number tomorrow.

Like I said, it's pretty much a driving and a putting course, so if I drive the ball well, I'll have some opportunities tomorrow, and I'm playing well.

Q. This is kind of a nice spot in a way, though, in that there's going to be a lot of focus inside and out on that final pairing of Tiger and Vijay and here you are sitting three strokes back with no one really paying attention to you.

TIM HERRON: Yeah, I guess so. Was there a question there? I thought you were kind of just telling me how I felt.

Q. I thought you might be able to share your opinion about that.

TIM HERRON: Yeah, it's always fun to play with Tiger actually, but there's probably less pressure there, also, to be honest. So I'll just go out and play golf. I can't really control what he's doing. I mean, I didn't look at the leaderboard too much today anyways. I was just trying to make as many putts and hit as many fairways as I could.

Q. Was that your ball by the Port-O-Potty on 9?

TIM HERRON: Yeah, that was mine. I made double there. It was my worst swing of the week probably. It actually wasn't the worst shot I've ever hit.

Q. What did you do from there? Where did you take your drop and how did you play that hole?

TIM HERRON: I still had to punch out and I had to go across the fairway there. Because of the pine trees, to keep it in the fairway I had to one-hop it in the rough and I figured just blow it in the rough on the far side, and that's kind of what I did. Then I tried to chip it up the hill and I kind it chipped it and it went down into the right bunker and I hit it out there six feet and missed it. It was probably one of the only putts I missed all day.

Q. Do you put any pressure on yourself since you've won three events that now I need to be winning one of these kinds of tournaments?

TIM HERRON: No, not really pressure. I think if you play well and if you're pretty sound mentally that you have a chance to win one of these now, just kind of keep plugging along and hope everything kind of falls into place. I'm not saying have people back up into you, but this is a hard golf course and you've got to stay patient. You hear it over and over and over again, but that's kind of what you have to do on this golf course.

Like on 18 I had a perfect number to go right at the pin, and I still missed my shot to the left a little bit, right in the middle of the green.

Q. In your previous wins, where were you after 54 holes?

TIM HERRON: All of them I was in the lead by -- no, Bay Hill I was tied with Davis. All of them I was in the lead by four, I think.

Q. So you had at least a share of the lead?

TIM HERRON: Yes.

Q. You had a couple good chances this year. Any of those tournaments you'd like to have back more than any other?

TIM HERRON: Yeah, I'd love to have Bob Hope back. I felt like I kind of hit one shot and I was locked. I didn't have any play from there. The best I could do was quad.

Q. 16?

TIM HERRON: Yes. That's probably it. Reno I played well. Kirk Triplett shot 63 the last day, and I played maybe a little too conservative instead of going out and really trying to win it, but I played solid, shot 15-under, and I think third place was probably 12-under or something like that.

Q. What's been your best chance when you were right there on Sunday when you started out the day playing?

TIM HERRON: What was that now?

Q. What's the best chance you had of winning on a Sunday when you started from behind three or four shots?

TIM HERRON: I don't remember. I've played so much golf I can't remember. Sorry.

Q. Does the fact that you -- you just talked about Reno and maybe you played a little too conservative in the final round, will you think about that tomorrow? Will you use any of that, the knowledge that you gained from that tomorrow?

TIM HERRON: Well, I know the guy that's going to win is going to make some birdies tomorrow. You'd have to make some putts and some birdies if you're going to win. They always say, this is a hard golf course, this is almost like a U.S. Open setup, and they always how say pars are good in the U.S. Opens but if you're making pars and bogeys every hole and never a birdie, you're not going to do that well. You still have to make birdies. The guy that putts well tomorrow is probably going to win.

Q. Just one other thing. Since you said in the early morning or earlier on the greens and stuff were more receptive and as it goes on it gets harder, will your focus be to try to score early?

TIM HERRON: I think I'll be teeing off at around 2:00, so it'll be too dry to try to score early.

TODD BUDNICK: Let's go through your birdies.

TIM HERRON: I birdied No. 5, I hit a 3-wood on that green to about 15 feet, just right of the hole, left it half an inch short going right in the middle.

7, I had about a ten-footer straight up the hill, made that.

8, I made a 30-footer, a little left-to-right.

10, I had about a 15-footer left-to-right.

12, I hit driver, 5-iron to about 40 feet and two-putted that, putted it down there to a few inches.

Made about a 13-footer on 13 just right of the hole.

Bogeyed 15. I just wanted to make sure I had -- that hole is so hard that I wanted to make sure I had a chance at a par and kind of pulled my shot, just made sure I didn't hit it right of the pin, and didn't get it up-and-down, left in the bunker actually. I hit a 4-iron, I actually killed it and it was a little too much club.

Q. Are you putting well enough to win?

TIM HERRON: Yes.

Q. If you putt this well tomorrow and the way you've been this week, is it good enough to win?

TIM HERRON: Yes, I feel like I can win.

Q. You were saying the guy that putts well tomorrow is going to win.

TIM HERRON: Well, driving and putting. I said the two keys out here is driving the ball and putting.

Q. How would you weigh one over the other?

TIM HERRON: Well, putting can solve a lot of problems when you're out playing golf, but this is a driving course, and there's not a lot of trees or anything out there, but these fairways are narrow, cut in. It's a driving course. How firm the fairways are, you've got to drive it to keep the ball in play.

Q. The personal training thing, I think we have you've tried it. What was your philosophy? It worked for you, did not work for you?

TIM HERRON: It did not work for me. My philosophy? I just had too much going on. I like my downtime, and a lot of people have different personalities where they always have to be doing something, and I'd rather -- after I play, just kind of hang out and chill and watch a little TV or whatever. In the off-season I'll train because I won't be playing as much golf. A lot of stretching and yoga and training and stuff like that.

Q. You and Vijay are pretty tight, aren't you

TIM HERRON: Yes.

Q. He's always in the gym working out. Does he tease you, get your butt in there?

TIM HERRON: He used to, but I don't think he does anymore. He used to tease everyone that they don't hit enough balls, but I don't think anyone is going to hit more balls than he does.

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