Q. When you reflect back at Michelob when it was over, did you think to yourself, it was so easy why, didn't it happen sooner or did it make you appreciate how hard it is to win?
CHARLES HOWELL III: A little bit of both is what it did. I know that's not the answer you were after, but it was a little bit of both.
In a sense, I felt it was easier than I thought it would be. But on the other sense, I kind of -- it was a little bit tougher than I thought and easier in the fact that I was really worried about just the next shot in front of me and I wasn't worried about a result. I looked at the 18th hole on the leaderboard and saw that I had a one-shot lead with about a 15-foot putt for birdie -- and then the Saturday round where I could have let it go away, and then thinking about how well I played on the front nine on Sunday, I think I had 31 on that front side. If I go shoot 34 or 35, which is a decent front side, I don't win the golf tournament.
So in a sense, it's a little bit of both. Obviously, you see so many times where on Sunday, the players at the top of the field start running away with birdies, or you see the exact opposite, the leaders start coming back to the field.
The Michelob there was actually a case where the leaders stayed right where they were and fortunately, I was left standing there at the end.
Q. Looking ahead, is there any added incentive or if you should win, any added satisfaction to the fall finish, winning that, because you do have a shot at it?
CHARLES HOWELL III: Yeah, I've seen -- obviously, you see the rankings on the leaderboards occasionally.
Sure, it would add incentive to it, there's no question about it.
I haven't added a tournament to my fall schedule because of that. But I've only missed, I think, one tournament, the Buick Challenge, last week I withdrew from because I was tired. But no, I would say that, sure, it adds incentive. Obviously you are always thinking about that.
Kind of like winning or whatever, it sort of takes care of itself.
Q. Talk a little about, you had a stretch where you hit a lot of shots to the right but you got up and down. Talk about the improvement in your short game and how much that meant to you today to be able to scratch out a round when you missed a bunch of greens?
CHARLES HOWELL III: For a while there, I needed a camel to get me out of the sand. It was quite a few holes there in a row where I did miss a few shots to the right. The 10th and 11th hole, two in particular, both second shots were straight downwind. I kind of had a feeling that I had underclubbed myself. It was the right club, but it was just hard to convince yourself how far the ball is going to fly. I got a little out of the shot on both of them, maybe swinging a little hard at them and missed them to the right. Obviously any time you have a hole straight downwind you don't want to miss the green.
Q. Talk about your short game.
CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, the bunker shot on 10, actually hit the hole, which actually I was trying to hit the flag to slow it down there was no other way stop that one.
11, was a really good up-and-down. It was an easy pin being back left, to miss it in the right bunker was just a bad shot. That was a pretty big up-and-down there to keep the round going, yes.
Q. You talked a little bit earlier in the week about maybe a little pressure in wanting to prove yourself. Did you feel that, and was it because of the fact that, obviously, you're the poster boy for the young guns and all that. Did you feel, "Hey, if I go a whole year without winning, I'm really not meeting the expectations"?
CHARLES HOWELL III: You know, I was feeling that. Yeah, I was feeling if I were to go the whole year without winning I would not have met some expectations, sure.
There's a lot of people around me, starting with a great sponsor in Callaway Golf, all the way to a golf teacher, David Leadbetter to my family to everyone around me that putts a lot of effort into my golf. It's not just myself; it's a lot of other people.
In a sense, if I were to go an entire year and not win a tournament, I would almost feel like I've let them down a bit. I feel like it's very important for me to play well because I'm not the only one that gets enjoyment out of that. I know that for example, the relationship I have with David Leadbetter, where he's become like a second father to me and best friends, in a sense, where I think David gets as much enjoyment out of me playing well as I do and the same is true for my family.
You know, from my wife, Heather to my mom and dad, brother, whoever it might be. I definitely felt like I wanted to play well, not just for myself but for them as well. That's important to me, because I like the people around me. I don't have a lost people around me but the people I do have, I always want to keep them close. And it's important for me to do that, knowing that I'm going in the right direction and hopefully progressing.
Q. So a couple of weeks ago, you met expectations. Do you think you can exceed expectations if you win here this week?
CHARLES HOWELL III: I don't know. That's probably something that you can answer better than me, I don't know.
I certainly inside of me believe that I can win this golf tournament, and the people around me believe that I can win this golf tournament. And that's what matters to me. Whether the expectation from the media or from others around or whoever it was said that I should or should not win this tournament, you know, I don't know. But I know in myself, I believe that I can win it, and now will I, I don't know, there's still 36 more holes left.
If I don't, it won't be for lack of effort.
Q. This is going to be kind of odd, but your wife was saying today when we were walking around that you are trying like you know what to gain weight and drinking all of these protein shakes and whatnot, and you are still checking in at about 153. How do you manage to be the only guy out here that is not trying to keep the weight off, say Steve Lowery or whoever else was sitting in the chair earlier today?
CHARLES HOWELL III: I do not know. But I have tried everything I can do to gain weight. I eat all the time. I drink very high-calorie milkshakes right before I go to bed and sleep on them with absolutely no physical activity after they have been consumed. That doesn't work. I still wake up hungry.
I've made milkshakes and left them beside the bed so if I wake up at 3:00 in the morning I drink one then; that doesn't work.
So pretty much, it's hopeless. (Laughter.)
JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you, Charles, for joining us.
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