THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 24, 2000

Hal Sutton

HAL SUTTON: I thought the golf course again played pretty tough. I know there were more lower scores, but I know when I got up this morning saw the wind blowing and sun shining, I knew we were going to get some faster fairways, and firmer greens late in the day. Which we did. But anyway, I was happy with the way I played.

HAL SUTTON: I felt like I played a really good -- 17 and 18 was really weird for me. Two days in a row I stood on 17 being second off the tee, I watched two balls go into the water. I thought Steve hit a decent shot today. Wind was into us, and let up, he just went right through it over the green. Then I was -- I 3-putted in shock, I guess, but anyway, then 18 Stuart Appleby gets to the tee, snap hook in front of me. It is like, really didn't want to see that, you know, the instant reaction when you see something like that is to go way right. I was determined not do that. I thought I hit a pretty good shot when I first hit it, drifted to the left; went into the water. I dropped it. I haven't been able to get a ball to go out of the short rough - looks like it is going to fly every time; just won't go anywhere. Actually, if anything, I probably got a little bit lucky that the ball stayed up there. The rough was real deep, I am not sure it could have got in the water. But anyway, I was standing on the railing trying to hit that shot. Hit a decent chip up there about twelve feet left of the hole. Making that putt was a big, big key.

HAL SUTTON: I think it is very penal. It is so thick. It is so consistent. Seems like you have always got a bad lie in the rough, whether you are just missing the green or whether you are off the fairway.

HAL SUTTON: I think this golf course is in excellent shape. I think they have done a nice job of setting the golf course up. What you have got here is you have got -- you are trying to get this golf course right on the edge of its greatness here. And you have got dry, gusty winds, which has a chance of taking it beyond that point. I don't think it's gone beyond that point yet. Depending on what the weather does this weekend, you know, I think the golf course has played great to this point. I don't think it's been unfairly set up. I think it is a great test. It's got -- it's been a great stage, let me put it that way.

HAL SUTTON: Yeah, I am just trying to play real patient. I was determined not to let, you know, I got a little bit slower when I hit it in the water on 18. I just tried to take my time, make sure my thoughts were in the right spot. You know, the one thing that I had going for me on 18 was I didn't put a bad swing on that ball. That was one of those -- that was a pretty good swing that happened to end up turning over too much and going in the water. So I didn't lose any confidence by hitting that shot, in other words. If it had been one of those quick ones in the left, you know, or fan it way over on the hill on the right side, well, then you can tell that a guy is trying to duck out at that point. I made a good swing at it. Just happened to go in the water. I left there, drove it good the next few holes, so.....

HAL SUTTON: I think it could. I think -- but again, I described it earlier. They are trying to get it right on the edge of where it is very tough, but fair. When you have got dry, gusty conditions like that, it can get out of hand before you know what is going on.

HAL SUTTON: No, but you know what, they shouldn't talk to any of us about it. I think -- it is in good hands. They will do what is right. I think they all admitted that it went a little bit too far last year. I think they are aware of that. They don't want it to do that.

HAL SUTTON: Well, I mean, you -- there is times out there right now where we are switching from offense to defense. You have got to be smart enough to know when to hit the accelerator and when to hit the brake. I think that is what makes this golf course great is that you do have to hit the brake and hit the accelerator. It is easy to hit the accelerator constantly and it is easy to hit the brake constantly, but it is hard to know when to get on each one.

HAL SUTTON: No.

HAL SUTTON: Wind was really gusting around when we got to that hole right there. I told myself walking from the 16th green to the 17th tee that it was going to be gusty; let us just put a good swing on it. I was going to be out of our control, let's make the best decision we can on what club to hit and let us put a good swing on it. That is all I have control over. And I did that. I did. I did exactly what I intended to do. But that is all you can do on that hole.

HAL SUTTON: I am a lot better player than I was in 1983, I think. There is lot better players on the Tour now than there was then too, but I think I am -- I think I am a much smarter player now than I was in 1983. And my short game is better right now than it was in '83, too, so.....

HAL SUTTON: I think you missed the word I think more "appreciative" player. You know I am appreciative of the opportunity to get my game back and to try to keep it back. I don't take anything for granted anymore. I am always trying to figure out a way to be better and even after I have played a good tournament, if something was off or something was wrong, I am still trying to fix that one little thing that will take it to the next level instead of -- back then it was easy, I was naive and young and it was easy for me to say, oh, I shot 71, it wasn't any big deal, you know. I mean, somebody who was really being realistic about it, they might say, you know, you shot 71, but I was 75 or 6 in the making. Now if I shoot that kind of 71, I mean, there is a red flag up for me and I am thinking what do we need to do to fix that; let's -- don't let this linger; let's get it fixed now. But you know what, I am not sure you -- anybody is smarter -- Tiger has done a very good job of being smart enough to do that, but he has got a great supporting cast around him that may be reminding him of it too. It's hard when you are a young person not to let yourself off the hook a lot.

HAL SUTTON: It is a fair golf course now than it was then. This is one of those golf courses that I think the majority of the changes that they have made have improved it a lot. There is a lot of times that they make changes; you think: Man, how could they make it worse, but they did. This is one of those that most of the changes that they have made have been popular changes.

HAL SUTTON: I ain't even seen who is on it really. I know Omar shot 5-under but I don't know about anybody else. It doesn't make any difference. I said it yesterday, I am going to continue to say it, the only person that I can control is myself and I am out of control half the time, so it is not about me trying to keep it under control, but I am certainly not going to be able to control somebody else in what they do so I am going to work on trying to do the best I can with me.

HAL SUTTON: Fulton is a good ball-striker depends on what kind of mood Fulton is in, really.

HAL SUTTON: Was he? I like Fulton a lot. If you don't want to hear how it really is, well you better not talk to Fulton. He is bearer of the truth most of the time.

HAL SUTTON: I putted really, really well today. I missed two short putts on the first nine. I thought I hit them both perfect. I missed a short putt on the first hole we played and I had just barely missed the green on the right. Hit an unbelievable chip headed in the left center of the hole, just makes this quick drive, catches the right lip, goes out, I am three feet on the other side of the hole; I got the same direction I was just coming from and I thought well, it's got to turn a little bit to the left and it didn't do it. So I missed that putt and then made some nice putts, then missed that 6-footer on 17, but I made four really good putts in a row starting at 18 for the bogey. Then I made really good one at 1, 2 and 3, so that is what turned the whole round around, the putter.

HAL SUTTON: You want to go through the round real quick? 10, I missed the green with an 8-iron, just off the edge and chipped it about three feet. 12, i hit a really good shot behind the hole, sucked it up off the green; took a little 4-wood out of the fringe and run it in the hole from about 12 to 13 feet. 14, 9-iron twelve feet left of the hole made it. 17, I 3-putted, hit 8-iron and 3-putted. I told you about No. 18, I made about 12-footer for bogey there. 1, I hit pitching wedge in there, really good, landed just short of the hole, sucked back -- green was like asphalt, I don't know how I did it, made about 18-footer there. 2, drove it just in the edge of the right rough, laid it up, hit pitching wedge in there. Green was like a rock, goes by about 17 or 18 feet, I made that. 3, again green was like asphalt, hit it about four feet short of the hole, it goes about 40 feet by. I hit an unbelievably good putt, but honest to God it had gone eight or ten feet by if it had missed it. I thought it was in the whole way, but it would just never slow down. So I made four really good putts in a row. Then 6, I hit a pitching wedge about five feet there made that.

HAL SUTTON: No, I can't relate to that at all.

HAL SUTTON: You didn't get what you wanted to hear out of Fulton? I really don't want to talk about that. Why are you asking me about that?

HAL SUTTON: I can't give you one on that. Anybody else?