THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY COCA-COLA

November 2, 2002

Charles Howell III

TODD BUDNICK: We welcome Charles Howell. He sits three back of Vijay Singh. You're still in contention. Talk about your round.

CHARLES HOWELL III: Yeah, I played well today. I played bad on 10 and 11. No. 10, I hit a bad second shot in the right bunker. No. 11, I thought I hit a really good 7-iron at the flag.

The ball fell right at the end. I really don't know why. I actually thought I hit a good shot on 10. You just can't short-side yourself in the bunkers out here. The greens slope away from you pretty harsh. Yeah, that wasn't very good to do.

Q. Do you remember the last time you played in the final group on Sunday? I don't remember Michelob. What the situation was there?

CHARLES HOWELL III: No, it wasn't at Michelob. I've never played in the final group on Sunday. Actually I've never played in the final group on Saturday, I don't believe. I've only led after one round, one time and that was in Reno this year. And I've only led, obviously after four rounds, one time in Kingsmill.

Q. Well, you're still not leading.

CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, after yesterday -- well, yeah.

So, no, this is the first time I've led after two rounds was yesterday. So first time for a final pairing on Sunday.

Q. Of all the veterans out here, would you say Vijay was the one that encouraged you the most when you were playing as an amateur, and how does your friendship with him rank with other veterans out here?

CHARLES HOWELL III: I'd say the one that's encouraged me the most is Nick Price, by far. Him and I have been friends or a long time. He's probably the nicest -- he's probably the nicest player out here.

We've actually become good friends. He's encouraged me quite a lot for a lot of things.

My friendship with Vijay is good. We've played quite a few times this year. We played together at the U.S. Open, and I like Vijay a lot. Obviously, he's a heck of a player, and his work ethic is something I have always looked at and admired and tried to pattern myself after.

Any time you think that someone is -- or that you're working hard, just look no further than him to see how hard he's working. Obviously, he's a heck of a player.

Q. You have not given up on this tournament. You're still hanging in there, you just haven't gone away. I wonder your thoughts and your confidence level right now?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, the golf tournament is different because it's such a small field, with only 30 players in the field. It's different in the fact that when you tee off on Thursday, you know it's a 72-hole tournament. Obviously every tournament we play is 72 holes, but you still know that it's 72 holes, you've got 30 great players here. So you don't have any opportunity to go away or you don't have any opportunity to slack off a little bit.

The golf course here has helped me a lot, because par is a good score. It's not a golf course where a bunch of birdies are being made and a lot of players are running away from it. So the players at the top no doubt are the ones that are playing the best this week. That's been an advantage for me. And I've also played here quite a few times. I'll be doing my best tomorrow.

Q. Are you surprised at all when you looked up at one point and saw Vijay at 9, and could you speak to the final three holes where a lot of guys were dropping strokes; you played the last two well.

CHARLES HOWELL III: I first looked at the leaderboard going up, I believe around 14 or 15 and saw that Vijay was at 9, and then Tiger, myself and David Toms I think were all at 5. So that was a bit shocking there. I would never have guessed that someone would have had a four-shot lead on this golf course, simply because the premium that's put on making pars and birdies how hard they are to come by.

Q. What did you hit on 17?

CHARLES HOWELL III: I hit driver, 8-iron to about four feet for birdie.

As far as the last three holes, 16 is one of the toughest driving holes on the golf course. Because where we are landing the ball is the neck of the fairway and you can't afford to hit 3-wood off the tee for your second shot. I still had a very good drive there and hit second iron into the green -- those are not the holes you look to make birdie on.

Q. Pretty aggressive play on 17?

CHARLES HOWELL III: No, that was -- actually, that was aggressive. That was one time it was not an accident. That was actually very aggressive and meant to go away. I only had an 8-iron to the green where I'm sure a lot of players might have had more than that.

Q. What's your excitement for tomorrow?

CHARLES HOWELL III: I'm very excited. If you'd asked me on Wednesday, I'd take the last group on Sunday, I'd take that at every tournament. I'm very excited to go play tomorrow. Three shots is obviously a lot, especially against a player as good as Vijay, so I'll have to play really well to catch him.

But on this golf course, it's been proven birdies do go a long way so if I'm able to go out there and play well and that goes for anyone at 4-under, 3-under, you have Tiger and Phil Mickelson right there at 4-under. Obviously, they are very accomplished players. So I think they can make a run as well.

Actually, it should be exciting tomorrow. Obviously if Vijay goes out there and plays great tomorrow, then he'll win.

Q. Since you're going to be playing with Vijay and you have Tiger and Phil right behind you, is that going to influence the way you think that you have to play, pretty aggressive, as opposed to having different kinds of players in the hunt with you?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Not really. It won't affect the way I play. I think a lot of the holes out here dictate the way you play. Very few you can be very aggressive on. The pins have been very difficult all week and I'm quite sure tomorrow, from seeing some of the marks today, they are pretty tough tomorrow as well.

I think the few hills that I can be aggressive on, I will be. There's no question about that. But a lot of times, par is a good score, as well.

Q. Have you been having trouble with your putter this week? You did not make a big one all day long.

CHARLES HOWELL III: No, I feel like I've putted okay. Not great, but okay.

The greens here are tough to read. The speed is changing every day because they seem to be getting faster and faster. We played a couple of practice rounds and they were -- for East Lake standards, fairly slow, and as the days have gone by, they have gotten faster and faster. It really is hard to believe a few times how quick the putts are.

I would say my putting, it's been okay.

Q. You're hitting 3-wood off of 15?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Yeah, 3-wood off 15.

Q. You've been doing that all week?

CHARLES HOWELL III: I've done it all week. I hit driver, 5-iron and -- 3-wood, five, and 3-wood, 6-iron into it and today I hit it a little thin and right to where I had been hitting and caught the tree. I thought it was okay, but obviously not.

Q. At the Michelob, how many were you behind going into the final round? Does that give you confidence to know you can rally to victory?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Going into the Michelob I was three behind, same as here. But at Michelob, I believe I shot 5-under on the front nine. It just shows you that you have to keep moving forward.

Maybe it would not take 5-under here, but then again, it might. It does give me confidence, but obviously it will take a good round.

Q. Are you aware of Vijay's history here the last two tournaments?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Didn't he lose in a playoff to Hal Sutton?

Q. Yeah, he held no worse than his share of the lead the last two times around here and didn't bring it home either time.

CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, he's done okay then.

I knew he lost in a playoff to Hal Sutton but obviously he plays the golf course well. He's not one to give up much. But it should be fun. It's still a learning experience for me. I'm not going into here as a seasoned veteran. I'm not going into here as someone whose played three or four TOUR Championships and who have played 10, 15, 20 majors.

As much as I am excited to be here and would love to -- obviously I will give it my best shot to win tomorrow, I still learn a lot from all this. Getting to go play, like with David Toms today in the last group, all of that is still building hopefully things that will help me in the future.

As much as this is a golf tournament, it is also a test for me.

Q. How many times have you played this golf course, do you estimate?

CHARLES HOWELL III: I've played here in two U.S. Open qualifiers and one U.S. Amateur qualifier. So I've played here five, six times.

Never for fun. It's too private. Had to have a reason to come out here. (Laughing).

TODD BUDNICK: If we could just have your card real quick, the birdies on 7 and 9.

CHARLES HOWELL III: No. 7, driver, 9-iron to 15 feet.

9, driver, 2-iron, just short of the green, chip up-and-down.

10 and 11 were both bogeys.

17 was a driver, 8-iron to four feet.

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you.

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