MICHELOB CHAMPIONSHIP AT KINGSMILL

October 6, 2002

Charles Howell III

TODD BUDNICK: All right, we welcome 2002 Michelob Championship at Kingsmill champion Charles Howell III, your first career PGA victory and your 68th start. It must be a very happy day for you today, Charles.

CHARLES HOWELL III: Yeah, it's hard to put it into words. It really hasn't sunk in either way. I've heard a lot and I've been asked a lot of questions, when are you going to win or what do you think it takes to win or you should win, and you know, after a while you start listening to it, and I know that ideally I'm not supposed to, but after a while it starts to get in your head a little bit, and then I knew I was working hard. I've spent many hours on the driving range and putting green and practice areas working on it, and I felt that I was close but I obviously wasn't quite there.

I got here to this tournament this week and I was hitting the ball okay. I just missed the cut last week funnily enough in Texas, and I got here this week and I had no expectations after that. I knew that my game was close but it wasn't great, and yesterday I think I turned things around. My short game was the best yesterday I think it's ever been in my career, and I know people may not see that because I don't think the first 11 or 12 holes were on TV, but I got the ball up and down from places that you just shouldn't get the ball up and down from. That without a doubt saved me.

Q. Looks like you accomplished two goals today, your first win and you've moved up to 18th on the money list, which I would feel pretty good about seeing that you've made your first Tour Championship. How do you feel about those two?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Pretty unbelievable. I don't know what to say about that. When I started the year my number one goal was the Tour Championship and there was no question of that. My second goal was to win a golf tournament. By finishing fourth and sixth the first two events this year, the Sony Open in Hawaii -- not the Mercedes but the Sony Open and the Bob Hope the following week, it was a good thing that I finished well but it must have been a bad thing because I got maybe a little bit too close too soon, and I put some pressure on myself and my season was a bit flat there for a while.

After that fortunately I was able to win this one here, but I know I talked to David Leadbetter on the phone last fight and he told me your first win is going to come when you say you were hitting the ball okay but putting and chipping your best, and once again he was proven correct. I would say that my ball striking this week was decent, but my putting and chipping was definitely the best part.

Q. Would you say 15 was the perfect example of that?

CHARLES HOWELL III: 15 was a great example. I hit 3-wood off that tee there. I haven't hit the fairway yet on that hole with a driver all week, and I hit 3-wood there and I had a perfect 3-iron in. I didn't know where I stood at the time, but I felt I had to make three there, and knowing -- assuming the guys behind me were going to birdie the hole, and I hit a decent shot, it started where I wanted it to but I turned it over right to left instead of fading it, and I was left with having to get that ball up and down. That's a perfect case in point there.

TODD BUDNICK: To back up David's comment, you did finish second in putting this week.

CHARLES HOWELL III: Yeah, Brendan McCartin, my caddie, and I were talking I think it was two weeks ago. I think the only tournament that he's been with me was at John Deere that I had 120 putts and I finished third, so my putting has been less than stellar it's safe to say.

Brendan who used to work for Jose Maria Olazabal got pretty tired of watching me miss puts. He goes from one of the best short games in the world to me, so I worked a lot on my short game with him. The first thing he did was he took me 60-degree lob wedge and took it into the Callaway trailer and took every bit of balance right off it. He said trust me, this will work. It's been great.

I owe a lot to Brendan. He kept me calm out there today. You know, I was just enough in contention to get nervous but I was just enough out of contention to get hacked off at myself for not being ahead. So for the first win I probably couldn't give a better scenario. I wasn't in the last group and I was right on the border of leaving one back, one ahead, right in there. I was almost at my steady boiling point most of the day, which is I guess the comfort zone for me.

Q. You had no three-putts for the 72 holes. How do you rank that?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, I darn sure wasn't wanting to get my first on that last hole. You know, I rank no three-putts with -- I didn't even realize that. No, I'm very pleased with that now that you bring that up. So far in my professional career I have not been known for my putting, and that's one thing that I think out here that you have to be is a great putter. When I look down the list of the best players in the world from Tiger to Sergio to Ernie Els, they're all fantastic putters, and so that's one thing that I've spent a lot of time on and David Leadbetter has spent a lot of time on with me is the short game aspect of it. You know, how many times do you see players just hit the ball all over the golf course, and when they get done in the scoring trailer they turn in a 68? You know, that's the one thing that I've been focusing on.

Q. Was it more of a relief to win or more ecstatic or what?

CHARLES HOWELL III: More ecstatic I'd say. I mean, winning is definitely a relief, but I didn't expect it to be this one. You know, I knew I was in contention, you know, after the first two rounds. I knew I was close, but I always said -- to be quite honest I had trouble putting four good rounds together, and without my short game improvement on the first 12 or so holes on Saturday, I was in for that again. I was in for shooting maybe one or two over versus three under and then I would have lost it and wouldn't have won the golf tournament. I'm pretty pleased with that.

Q. Did you know at any point at 15 that you had the lead?

CHARLES HOWELL III: I knew I was walking down -- I was walking down the 15th fairway -- I walked off the 15th green, I'm sorry, and looked up and I saw that Billy Mayfair's name had gone from the leader board. It was either on 15 or 16 but it kind of shocked me, and then I looked and saw that Brandt then had made a bogey, but then he birdied -- what did he birdie, 15? I knew I was tied on the 18th tee but I did not know that he had made a bogey until I got out there and looked at the scoreboard. Actually I was in the fairway and I heard the crowds give it their whoa, and I didn't know if Brandt had made bogey or what had happened, but I still thought I had to birdie the last hole.

Q. How nervous were you on 18?

CHARLES HOWELL III: I couldn't feel my arms on that second shot, I'll be honest. Fitting as it would be, I like to hit the ball hard, and if there was any time I would want to have a good full yardage in my hand it would be that one, and I had a three quarter wedge left in. So with the top win and with -- that's not an easy not. Fortunately I was able to hit a good drive to have a three quarter wedge in. I hit the shot just left of the hole, and Brendan looked over and me and he said something to the effect of why do you hit the ball left of the flag when I asked you to hit it right. I couldn't feel my arms on that one.

Q. Standing on 18 thinking at that point you're tied and not knowing what's going on, and how pure is that drive you hit considering the pressure and the circumstances for you?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, that's probably the best drive I've ever hit right there considering the circumstances and all that. You know, I was probably lucky that I knew -- that I thought I was tied for the lead at the time because I had in my head I had to make a three. With that mindset I was more aggressive on the shot than had I known, okay, I'm one ahead.

You know, I also owe a lot to Corey Pavin who I played with. He helped me tremendously. Earlier this year at Pebble Beach, Corey and I were paired together for the first three rounds actually there, and we played a lot together. We were able to become friends, and then we played a couple practice rounds together as the year has gone on. Playing with him was the best pairing I could have ever had for a Saturday and Sunday. You know, Corey is the perfect person that shows you there's more than one way to get the ball in the hole, and yesterday we were actually laughing on Saturday how many times I got the ball up and down, when he said I'm supposed to be doing that, not you. He was able -- those last few holes he just said stay calm, hit your good shot there, hit your good shot there, and I owe him a thank you.

Q. On 18 after you hit that drive both he and his caddie said something to you, patted you on the back.

CHARLES HOWELL III: After I hit the shot Corey walked up and he tapped me on the shoulder and he said great shot. Hit you a good one up here. It's just enough -- I know it doesn't sound like much, but it's enough in that circumstance where it means a lot. I know there's a -- granted, if Corey and I had been tied for the lead we would have been trying to push each other in the water, and both laying 150, it would have been a quest to see who would have gone in first, but no, at that circumstance, yeah, I owe him and his caddie both a big thank you.

Q. It seemed like the first 15 holes, 14 holes every time you made a surge you immediately stepped back again. Was there a time after that before your arms went numb when you were relaxed and you were feeling pretty good about things?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Oh, yeah, until the 18th fairway I was actually surprisingly relaxed all day today. You know, for the first nine holes I thought I played nine great holes there, and that was the one thing I did want to do definitely, and then, yeah, I hit a bad tee shot on the 10th hole and I spent the majority of that fairway talking to myself in foreign tongue, and then the 11th fairway I missed it just enough to catch a flyer, knock it over that green. Maybe that was a blessing because that got me kind of back grounded a little bit. It got me a little bit irritated and I seem to play best when I'm a little bit irritated.

Q. You looked pretty irritated after what happened at 6.

CHARLES HOWELL III: Yes.

Q. How hard and how far do you think you hit that drive at 7?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Yeah, on the sixth hole it's always an iffy driver or 2-iron, and I've always felt driver is a better play because the fairway becomes wider up there, and I missed that fairway Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and I knew the rough on that hole was very deep, and plus with that being such an easy pin, that's a birdie hole every time, and then to walk away there with bogey, I was extremely irritated, and I think the drive on the seventh hole probably showed that. Yeah, that went a long way there. I hit driver and 9-iron into that hole.

Q. What was your yardage in?

CHARLES HOWELL III: 154 front, 177 hole. I was pretty irritated there.

Q. At the Bob Hope you double bogied the 17th hole with an opportunity.

CHARLES HOWELL III: Yes.

Q. Did you learn from that? Did the thought cross your mind when you got to 16 and 17 today at all or did you learn months ago what to do?

CHARLES HOWELL III: All I kept telling myself all day today was just stay in the present, stay in the present, stay in the present, and I work with a sports psychologist, and we spoke, that to take the present and stretch it out like a rubber band and make it last as long as possible.

At the 17th hole at Bob Hope I pulled the ball left in the water on that tee, and I knew exactly where I stood. I was trying to force it to make birdie on the last two holes there and I was too far ahead of myself. On the 17th tee I was giving my awards speech so to speak, and all I wanted to do today was just try my best to play one at a time. I knew being hopefully my first win but in contention for a first win it wasn't going to be easy, and I'll be honest, I did drift ahead to thinking of winning the golf tournament, I did drift ahead to who I would thank, but when those thoughts came through I tried my best to let them go and stay back with the shot.

I spent a lot of time talking to Brendan about absolutely nothing. We had conversation about some of the stupidest things, and he kept it going, which was the best thing ever. You know, Brendan won the 99 Masters with Jose Maria Olazabal, and I felt that anyone who can win that golf tournament has something to him, has some serious guts, and it showed today. He never blinked, his expression never changed. Where I was nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof at times, Brendan stayed the same and I wouldn't have known if I was in first or last place.

Q. Several guys when they break through and win find it becomes much easier. Duval did that here, and by the time he came back and won the second time it was like his seventh win. Do you feel like that might be you?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, I hope so. Golf is a funny game. Like I said earlier, if I was ever going to pick a tournament I'm going to win or not going to win, by the way that my golf swing felt this week I probably would not have picked this one. But on the flipside of it I was kind of the same way in college golf. It took me a while to win, but once I won I won quite a few times after that. You're right about that. It just feels a little bit different. I know I've done it before, I know I can do it again, and I think coming from that point of view, when before I could talk about a playoff loss to Shigeki or a third here or a third here, it's still not winning. The gap from first to second is larger than the gap from second to third. It's hard to explain that but it is.

Q. Just getting back to 7, when is the last time you hit driver, 9-iron at a par 5?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Oh, it's probably been -- I think maybe one of the holes in Reno, Nevada, I think I did it once there, and then a par from there at the Bob Hope earlier in the year.

Q. When is the last time you did it at sea level?

CHARLES HOWELL III: I don't even know, maybe at the Bob Hope, and that's it. Of course they have thin air, as well. At sea level I don't know.

Q. How many extra yards were anger yards?

CHARLES HOWELL III: I'd say a good 25, 30 on that one, yeah. Normally on that hole -- the left bunker is 290 to get past that. I had been driving it in the range of having around 210 to that flag, 210, 215, 220, somewhere in there, and I asked Brendan on the tee how far is it to carry the left bunker and he said 290, and I thought that's not going to be a problem. He probably knew I was a little bit irritated, as well, but I think it cleared that bunker quite handily. I just had 177 in. Yeah, that was actually -- I know I laugh about it, but that was a pretty big turning point there was that tee shot because I was able to hit a 9-iron into the hole and make eagle, make a three there. As hard as the greens were getting, I don't think I would have been able to hold it that close to the hole with any club much longer than a 7-iron. Had I been hitting 6-iron in there or so it would have been tougher to make a three. That 9-iron still released a good ten yards.

Q. How important was that seventh hole making the eagle there? How important was that in the entire scope of things?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, it was important because I had just come off a bogey, and on that tee, I know it's a par 5 and I know that I can reach it in two, and at that time I have to assume that every par 5, Billy Mayfair and Brandt Jobe are going to birdie it, both of them. There's that hole left and 15. So assuming that those guys are going to make four there, not only is it important for me to make a four but when I hit a drive to take advantage of it and make a three. That was pretty huge for my confidence there.

Q. Who is the psychologist you use?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Jim Fannin.

Q. What do you think is more important than getting your first victory, is it the physical or the mental? You spoke of both here today.

CHARLES HOWELL III: The mental. There's no question. You know, I think that it's definitely the mental. There's a sense of -- you know, my wife Heather, my mom and dad, my golf coach David Leadbetter, they all tell me you can do it, I know you can do it, you'll get that first win, don't worry about it and all that, but that's a hell of a lot easier said than done is all I can say, especially when everybody in the golfing world has an opinion obviously, and I don't want people to say that you are the next thing not to have won or you should win or something like that, so not only did I want to win this golf tournament but I felt I also had something to prove.

You know, I can't thank my family enough. That goes down to -- considering Brendan is part of my family and David Leadbetter and everyone. Although they've always said I could do it, it's very important to go ahead and do it myself.

Q. Did you hire Brendan specifically to help you with your short game or was that just an added bonus?

CHARLES HOWELL III: It was an added bonus, yes. I first met Brendan this year at the Masters. I was paired with Jose Coceres and Brendan was caddying for Coceres. As we were going along playing the Masters, I almost felt like he was a second caddie for me then because he kept me going along and he gave me a wink here or there or a good shot or a good putt, and you can just tell being around someone who knows what they're talking about, and he definitely knows what he's doing. I've had countless times where I've been behind a putt reading a putt, and I would bet everything in the world that his read was wrong and mine was right, and he's right every time. A couple times I've even said you are nuts, and he says, no, just hit it there, and I hit it there and it works out perfect. As far as he goes, it's hard to thank him enough. He's been there and he has guts.

Q. When did you hire him?

CHARLES HOWELL III: The first week we were together was at the John Deere Classic in Moline, Illinois, and we've been together obviously every event since then. It was a very big blessing that I started with him the week before we were in Denver because getting my yardages at altitude would have been something.

Q. It sounds to me like there's just no one thing a person, player, pro can put his finger on is the reason. I mean, you've done a lot of things since you were here a year ago and we were talking to improve your game. Today it looks like all of those played some factor.

CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, you're right. As long as I play golf, you know, one thing will be always true, that I will always work on my golf swing. I see Nick Price on the driving range in Orlando when he's working with David and he is still working on his golf swing. You know, until the day that I die I will always work on my golf swing, and it will never be perfect, it will never be -- I will never be happy with it.

But on the flipside of it, I always have to work on my short game because that is definitely one thing that was obviously huge this week. I can't say enough about yesterday's round. I think it's not impossible because as soon as I say it's impossible Tiger will prove me wrong, but it's impossible to hit 72 greens in a golf tournament, and so knowing that you have to get up and down sometime. So I really don't think that an individual can go for four days and say for four days, wow, I hit the ball fantastic every single day. Now that I say that Tiger will do it. But I really think it's very difficult.

Q. You mentioned Tiger a couple times there. It's like a parlor game in golf, is everybody as good as he is, as young as he is, who can hang with him for the next ten years. Your name has been tossed about by some folks. Do you ever think to yourself, hey, me?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, I certainly hope so. You know, it would be so much fun to do that, and I say that because you'll be in contention. I talked to Esteban Toledo after he was paired with Tiger the last round with Tiger on Sunday at the Buick, and I said did you like playing with Tiger on Sunday? And he said I want to play with him every Sunday because I know I'm in contention. If I were to be able to challenge Tiger, obviously in the years to come and all that, I can't imagine something more fun to do and more exciting every single week. Had I won this tournament or had I not won it, to play the last nine holes with a chance to win is totally different. I wasn't nervous but I was excited -- not until 18, but I was excited and ready to hit them, and, you know, I think anybody in that category of Tiger and Phil and even the greats, Greg Norman and all on down the line who have won those events, it's so much fun to be in contention. It's hard to say.

Q. Even though you weren't in contention the last day at Hazeltine, how much fun did you have with Garcia that day because there was a big gallery following you around? Did that maybe give you a taste of what it might be like with those guys?

CHARLES HOWELL III: No, that day was -- although we weren't in contention, we were both trying to beat each other's brains out, I can promise you that. We had our own little PGA going there. I think I was three under three 5, I think he was maybe two under, something like that, and that was great because you're exactly right, it did give me a little hint of what maybe a Sunday at a Major is like in contention to play with him on that Sunday. It came down he ended up beating me by one. That was a lot of fun there. Granted, we're friends, but on that day I can promise you, I'll speak for both of us, we were trying to beat each other. It didn't matter if we were finishing last and second to last.

Q. You said you and Brendan had a lot of discussions about mundane stuff. What was the most ridiculous thing you talked about on the back nine today?

CHARLES HOWELL III: About what we were going to play next week in Las Vegas, be it poker or blackjack, or has he ever -- about bluffing in poker, probably that. You know, I'm not a gambler, I don't gamble, but we were just talking about that because just something so far away from golf as we could get. I just asked him if he'd ever won any hands in poker bluffing, just things like that. They were some things very simple. It got me thinking about something completely opposite than golf. It was a good thing because there for a while I had my head on, well, if I was holding this why bluff this. Oh, I've got to hit a shot now, and bam, and there you go. Yeah, we were pretty much discussing next week.

Q. Do you plan to play on through now although you've won or will you take a rest?

CHARLES HOWELL III: No, I plan to play on through. I said that I was going to play on through and I've committed to the tournaments and I'll play on through. I love playing golf. You know, next week is in Las Vegas. I don't know how you beat Las Vegas. Then the following week is in Orlando at Disney. I live in Orlando now, and the Buick Challenge is up at Callaway Gardens, Georgia, and that's the last year for that event. They were nice enough to give me a sponsor exemption at the beginning of the year when I first started. I always felt I owed it to the tournaments that gave me sponsor exemptions. Johnnie Bender here gave me one my first year out and I'll always owe her that.

Q. How many did you play consecutive last year?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Way too many. I think it was -- I think it was 13 or 14. It was a lot.

TODD BUDNICK: Charles, if we could just have your birdies and such.

CHARLES HOWELL III: Okay, the first hole was a 3-wood, wedge to maybe two feet, birdie.

The par 5 third hole, driver and a 5-iron to about 30 feet, two-putt birdie.

The fourth hole was a 3-wood and a 6-iron to about a foot, birdie.

Q. How long was that shot?

CHARLES HOWELL III: 189. The seventh hole, driver and a 9-iron to 15 feet, made that for eagle.

Then 9, a driver, a wedge from 158 to about eight feet, birdie.

Then I bogied 10 and 11. I missed the fairway on 10, had to lay up left, terrible wedge shot, two-putt bogey.

11 I hit it just in the first cut of the rough on the right but the ball sat straight down, and I had 166 to the hole into a little bit of breeze, and I hit 9-iron planning on a flyer, and it flew. It pitched by the hole, but it was gone. It was over the green, bogey there.

And then 15 I hit 3-wood and a 3-iron, had 248 to the hole, hit 3-iron, up and down birdie, and then parred out.

Q. Bogey on 6?

CHARLES HOWELL III: I hit a driver in the left rough, second shot in the front bunker, and then the bunker shot to maybe six feet and missed that.

Q. How long a shot was the second shot and what did you hit?

CHARLES HOWELL III: On what hole?

Q. On 6.

CHARLES HOWELL III: I had 85 yards to the front and I swung as hard as I could on a 9-iron and it probably went 70 yards.

Q. Did it ever get over the height of your head?

CHARLES HOWELL III: It might have gotten over the height of mine but it didn't get over the height of many. If you were about 6'3" it wasn't over your head.

Q. A year ago or maybe even six months ago would you have been savvy or mature enough to pull 3-wood on the tee at 15?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Probably not. I probably wouldn't have because I would have had a mindset of probably being too aggressive, and that's -- and in fact, it's funny you bring it up because Brendan and I talked yesterday about hitting a 3-wood off that tee. I even there for a little bit said do you want to hit driver, and he said no, no, we're going to hit a 3-wood. He knew that the club there was a 3-wood and he set it down and said you're going to hit a 3-wood, you can still reach the green in two.

It's little things like that that I owe to him. Had I been carrying my own bag I probably would have hit a driver there. I could have hit driver 6-iron into the green, but with the odds rolling my way I would have been hitting a driver and a wedge and a wedge.

Q. You talked about Johnnie giving you the sponsor's exemption when you started and now you win the tournament and there's no tournament to come back and defend. Any thoughts about the fact that this is it?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, before I even won the golf tournament I had said to a few people that I was disappointed we weren't coming back here. Of all the spots I got in my first year out here, this was my favorite golf course, my favorite hotel. It has the best room service I've ever had, and it was my favorite of all of them. They even have risotto, which is huge for room service. But it was my favorite spot, no question.

To hear that -- of all the events that the Tour is losing for next year, this is the last one I would have want to have heard. I could have named a million more before this one. Hopefully it's not gone for good. Maybe in a few years we can come back here because I'm not old enough to appreciate the long history of the event because I've only played in three of them, but I know for Scott Hoch to stand out there on the 18th green after the event and hang around to present just an award of appreciation, I know it means a lot.

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you very much, Charles, and congratulations on your first victory.

CHARLES HOWELL III: Thank you.

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