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WGC NEC INVITATIONAL

August 22, 2004

Stewart Cink

AKRON, OHIO

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Stewart Cink, congratulations on winning the WGC NEC Invitational. You led wire to wire. Maybe we could just start with some opening comments. Congratulations on a big win for you.

STEWART CINK: Thank you. It's a huge win for me. My confidence is at an all time high in my career right now. It means so much to me to win in this style, starting with the lead and re pairing every day and all these rain delays. It just seemed like I played about five tournaments this week because there was so much going on.

But to win like this and to really never even make it close and accomplish the goal today, which was to stay totally in the present, is just huge for me.

Q. Talk about sleeping on a five shot lead heading into the final round. It's a big cushion but at the same time you still have to play quality golf in the final round, and you did that.

STEWART CINK: It's a big cushion. In fact, it's probably more nerve wracking than sleeping on a one shot lead or being tied because everybody expects you to win, and the only other thing you can do other than that is to pretty much mess up (laughter). I really didn't want to do that today. My game plan was pretty much just designed around not doing that and playing solid. Really the golf course demands that kind of style anyway. I said that all week. You don't have to alter your game plan much around here because if you hit the same kind of shots anyway, the course is extremely difficult.

Q. Let's talk about this week from being named captain's pick to finishing it off winning the tournament?

STEWART CINK: Being named captain's pick was a huge honor and I was very flattered by that, but since the Ryder Cup race was over at the PGA, I felt like there was just a burden lifted and that I was able to focus on what was at hand this week just for the tournament itself and the NEC rather than what's going on with Ryder Cup races and that stuff. It meant a lot to me. It still means a great deal, and hopefully winning this week and be able to play great in the lead will carry over until Oakland Hills.

Q. What does more for your confidence, getting the captain's pick or winning this tournament?

STEWART CINK: Winning this tournament, hands down.

Q. We mentioned this earlier in the week, but Scott was a pick in 2001 and won two weeks afterwards. Is this a coincidence? Give me a good answer, please (laughter).

STEWART CINK: Yes. Is that good (laughter)? It may not be a coincidence because like I said, the pressure and the burden of trying to qualify for the Ryder Cup team, that's a heavy burden on the golfer. I was right in the fire for a while there. It's a lot to play under.

It may not be coincidental. There may be something to the fact that, okay, while I didn't make the team, I was picked to be on the team, which in a way, I feel almost better about being picked now than I did in 2001 finishing 10th because Hal Sutton wanted me to be on the team. Out of all those guys, he picked me and Jay Haas to be on the team. That right there says, automatic, maybe it's just not me. I'm feeling good about myself but maybe it's just not me. Maybe other people are noticing.

Q. Secondly, now that you've won, for those that have any questions or any debate about who the pick should have been, did you answer some things today?

STEWART CINK: I might have.

Q. Given the nature of the way you won.

STEWART CINK: I might have. I haven't read very much about Ryder Cup picks or haven't seen much about it on TV other than the night it happened. Like I said yesterday, I think, I knew the pick was me and I listened to everybody speculate on who they thought would be picked. I was entertained by that.

What was your question?

Q. Just whether there were any questions.

STEWART CINK: I hope there weren't too many questions, but if there were, maybe this will answer a few of them, but I think the true answer will come from the Ryder Cup.

Q. This week the victory, does this put your career into another level now? Does this push you up?

STEWART CINK: It puts my mind at a new level because this is new territory for me as far as my winning ways. I've won all three of my other tournaments coming from behind with huge comebacks. I've been in the lead a few times going into the final round and not won, and yesterday I downplayed that a little bit. But I knew it was there, and it's not something that's really bothered me, but I was aware of it. So it means a lot to me now to not have that monkey on my back anymore. I can be a front runner like anybody else and I can polish it off.

Q. A lot of the guys on the Ryder Cup team played well on this course the last couple of days and this course is similar to what you're going to see at Oakland Hills. How important was that that the members of the team made a decent performance here?

STEWART CINK: I think if it was the week before it would be important, but this far in advance it's two separate events totally, although you're right about Oakland Hills and Firestone being similar.

Q. Your lead was down to two at one point. Were you even aware of that or did you ever look at the leaderboard?

STEWART CINK: Starting on the back nine, I guess, around 10, I started knowing started looking at the leaderboard, not being concerned about where I was but just glancing to see what the story was. It was a tough day out there playing, not because of the weather, the weather was beautiful, but the golf course was really tough today. The pins were tucked, the greens were fast. Fast greens and nervous golfers don't really mix too well (laughter). I saw it got down to two, I think, after 12, and I had a couple of really huge par putts for the next few holes that I buried, and that does a lot for my confidence, too.

Q. Were you that nervous?

STEWART CINK: Oh, I was nervous, absolutely. If I wasn't nervous there would be something wrong because it's a five shot lead in a tournament on a huge golf course. I've been playing well but it's not like I've been hitting the ball perfect. I was in the rough a lot today and all week, and these fairways with narrow and the rough is punishing, so it was a huge goal to stay in the fairway, and I was proud of myself for hitting the last five.

Q. You mentioned a couple days ago, and just to understand a perspective, where you had said there was a point where you were really, really low and you were having a hard time trying to figure everything out, weren't sure about your golf game or, I guess, mentally, too. What did you do to bring yourself back out?

STEWART CINK: It was 2002 when I was struggling the most. 2001 I qualified for the Ryder Cup team, and then we had the delay, and I started comparing myself as a golfer to the other Ryder Cup team players, not just the current guys but the ones that were in the past, too, Ryder Cup guys down the line, and I started being really harsh on myself for making mistakes. For instance, Ryder Cup players don't miss three footers, don't hit the ball in the rough on par 5s, just really hard on myself. And it changed very gradually over time so it's almost like I didn't notice it.

At The Masters in 2002, my swing coach, Mark Wood at the time, I sat him down and said, I've got problems. I mean, I'm really worried about where the ball is going to go, and I'm worried about missing putts. I'm scared of leaving myself a three footer coming back. So I had a lot of putts that were dribbling right up to the hole and stopping.

Right there, he told me he had a friend down in Florida, a I'm not even sure what he was, his name is Preston Waddington, and he's a doctor, like a brain guy (laughter), a therapist I'll use the "T" word but he's not a sports psychologist. He's like the opposite of a sports psychologist. I've really learned a lot since then, the last few years, about fear in a golfer's mind and where it comes from, and instead of trying to push further out and filling your mind with other thoughts, I've really tried to grasp the fear and figure out why I'm afraid. Why is a golfer afraid of a three footer when it really is just a ball going in a hole or not. It really boils down to sense of self issues.

I was letting my golf results, my scores, my position on the Money List, wins, not winning, everything, affect the way I felt about myself, and there's enough burden out here to carry when you've got these guys you're playing against and the golf courses are difficult.

You know, it's too much to ask of a person to perform under that kind of stress and add all this sense of self on top of it. It's psychoanalyst mumbo jumbo, I guess, but I've really gotten to a place where I'm accepting of my mistakes. Out there today I was just prepared to accept any of those putts not going in.

Q. How long did it take you to turn it around?

STEWART CINK: It took a little while. It's a work in progress to this day. I still talk to Dr. Preston Waddington every Wednesday, once a week for an hour. It's sort of the way the golf course unfolds itself different every day, you face new challenges, well, in my mind I face new challenges every day, too. I love talking about it because I'm proud of myself for admitting that I have issues, and being strong enough to go and tell somebody that I needed help, and I got help and worked hard to deal with it.

Q. What part did Southern Hills play in all this, your doldrums?

STEWART CINK: Southern Hills was a result of the way I was feeling more than it was a catalyst. It probably didn't help much missing a short putt on the last hole to not be in a playoff. It started before then. I had a couple of other events down the road before that that came along that probably contributed to it, but really, I think the main thing was, as I elevated my game and moved up in the World Rankings and moved up on the Money List and became a tournament winner and qualified for The Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup and I was on the way up a little bit, every time I took a new step up, I started becoming harder on myself, and I was less and less I gave myself less leeway for mistakes, so I was just killing myself. It was just too much stress to play under.

Q. Given that, what did it feel like today to walk up to the last final fairway, to the last green knowing that you had won?

STEWART CINK: Well, it's indescribable how good it feels. Just to see my ball land in the fairway on 18 and knowing I had only a 7 iron to the green, it was like a dream situation, literally. I've been watching the NEC here at Firestone since I was a little kid, and I remember all the great finishes, and to see myself envisioning that and feeling the wind on my skin and hearing the trees and seeing the grass and everything, it's something I'll never, ever forget. Just a really beautiful scene for me right there.

Q. Stewart, you said you were less concerned with missing putts. Were you aware of how many you were making? They flashed up at one point you made 56 out of 57 putts inside of nine feet. I mean, is that just automatic or were you feeling it or

STEWART CINK: I'm telling you, being less afraid of missing them, usually the ball ends up in the hole more often. That's something, too, that I've never really thought of stats like that. Like I've made 50 of these in a row or whatever. I haven't missed from this range. I treat every individual putt or shot like it's its own individual thing. I know even from a foot, make or miss, hey, it's happened to everybody, and I'm going to go on either way. Time is not going to stand still. I'm really pleased with that result, and I putted well this week. I had a lot of good putts.

I actually didn't realize it was 56 out of whatever you said, but it felt good.

Q. On No. 3 your drive was in the rough. You had kind of a difficult chip over the water because of your line. How would you have handled that shot before your you're mentally tougher now. How would you have handled that three years ago?

STEWART CINK: I would have used the same strategy. It was a tough shot because the lie was bad, I had no room before the flag on the green because there was water right there, I had to carry it, and behind it there was no room, either. The difference between me now and me three or four years ago when I was not in such good mental condition is I would have really been scared of where that ball was going to go. When I hit it, I would have been making a fearful swing at the ball.

Today, like I said before, I was prepared for anything there. If I had to drop my ball because it went in the water, I was ready, but I knew that was the right play, and I was committed to it. As it turned out, it came out great.

Q. Not to spend too much time on this, but usually when people have problems at work which this is your job and they get to the point where you were talking about, it affects other parts of their lives. Is that the case with you?

STEWART CINK: No, it never really affected anything else in my life because I've always been sort of inward as far as the golf, as far as that. A friend of mine did make a mention of it one time right after the U.S. Open at Southern Hills when I missed that little putt, a golfer friend of mine, came to me and sort of imitated me the first time he saw me, he kind of did the whatever I did when I missed the putt, kind of did something like that. He was making fun of me, and it hurt pretty bad because that was sensitive stuff for me at the time.

You know, I had to tell him it took a while, but after I had worked through some of that stuff with the Doc, I called up my friend and I said, you know that time you came over and you mentioned that stuff, and I gave him the whole schpiel. He's a mini Tour player, and actually now he's been seeing somebody, too, about stuff like this (laughter).

Q. Pardon my ignorance, but you can be nervous but not afraid?

STEWART CINK: Absolutely. There's different kinds of nervous. The first time I understood I was having something going on with me that was maybe different from other players, I was working with the psychologist, and I sat down with him in a meeting, and I said, "you know, I really feel nervous, more nervous than I feel like I should, like on the first hole, even on Thursday, Friday. I'm really nervous about playing." He said that Jack Nicklaus said if you don't have butterflies in your stomach then something is wrong. At that moment I realized that a sports psychologist didn't really get it, and it was more than just being nervous.

So there's scared nervous and then there's excited nervous. Today I was really excited. It seemed like 36 hours passed from the time I got up this morning until I finally got to tee off. It reminded me of the first day of Ryder Cup for me and sat out the first match and had to wait until the afternoon. I couldn't find enough stuff to do to occupy myself that morning. I couldn't use the Internet because I was in the UK. I didn't watch TV, either, because of that (laughter).

I had to iron my clothes about four times for the Ryder Cup. Today I only ironed them once. There's different kinds of nervous. So being nervous and excited, having butterflies, is one thing, but as far as being afraid, I never felt afraid today.

Q. Talk about your time at Georgia Tech, and also I want to ask you, how were you able to handle being in college and having played golf and being a husband and father? That's got to be difficult.

STEWART CINK: Well, I love being the husband and father. I hope I never have to go back to college (laughter). I don't want to do that again because that was difficult, and financially, I don't know how we made ends meet. In fact, I didn't. When I turned pro, we had negative $5. That's not a very good net worth. It was really tough, balancing the schedule, and my wife had to take a job. Georgia Tech really didn't help us out much, either. They never really gave her in state tuition. We lived in Georgia but she was from Alabama like I was, so we had to continue paying out of state for her, and it was a lot of difficulties. Overall when I look back on those days, it's what has gotten me to the point where I'm at now where I'm able to persevere through a lot of things.

Q. How do you feel about Firestone as a golf course and Akron as a Tour stop. There's some mumbling that this event might not come back beyond next year. What do you hear from other players about this place?

STEWART CINK: That's the first time I've heard about it not coming back here. I would be really saddened. I would go out on a limb and say everybody thinks this is one of the top three or four courses we play every year. You have to have every part of your game on to play well here. You have to drive it good, manage your game when you don't drive it good. It's a really tough golf course, like playing a major. As far as Akron, the Tour stop, everywhere you go, basically we're all creatures of habit, we do the same things, we stay at the same kind of places, we eat dinner at the same kind of places. It's fine with me, and I haven't heard anybody complain about anything.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: If we could touch on your round quickly. Two birdies, two bogeys today, starting with a birdie on the par 3, 5th hole.

STEWART CINK: Yeah, starting off, I was nervous like we talked about, and anxious to get the day started and see how it unfolded.

The birdie on the 5th hole really was a real calming birdie, had a calming effect on my whole system. I hit a good shot there, not spectacular, but a 6 iron from 200 yards, 18 feet to the right of the hole. It seemed like all day I had downhill putts. These greens were fast today, and controlling your speed was really difficult, but that one I just let it fall right over the front edge. It was nice to get it started 1 under as opposed to 1 over.

I hit a bad drive on 6, pulled it left and I got blocked out behind a tree. Chris DiMarco was two feet from my ball and he had a perfect shot towards the green, but I had to chip out, so I missed about a 15 footer for par.

10, I hit a good drive but it went through the fairway and about a foot into the rough, which is about the worst place you can be on this golf course today, and I was only 120 yards from the green and I had no chance of reaching the green, just hacked it down the fairway, hit it about 80 or 90 yards and made a pretty good chip from 30, 40 yards short of the green there, about six feet, but I was above the hole, had another downhill putt, a tough putt, and missed that.

Good opportunity on 17, I was about five, six feet on 17. I didn't know exactly where everybody was on the leaderboard. I saw that I was four shots ahead, but I didn't know if that was right or not. So part of the goal there was not to go hit it too hard. I really wanted to make that, but I accomplished, I guess, half the goal. I didn't hit it too hard.

Q. Then you finished in style with a birdie on 18?

STEWART CINK: 18 was like a dream come true. It was downwind and exactly how you want it to be playing the last hole. I hit a perfect 2 iron down there about 270, just busted it. I had 190 left. The 7 iron was just jumping out of the bag. It was so perfect. There was no other choice for the club selection. I hit it right on my target with a 7 iron, pin high. It's nice to know you have about five putts to win. If a couple of those putts earlier, the birdie putts, maybe the one on 17 would have fallen, that would have been great, but it was nice to calmly stroke it, and wow, the ball went in.

Q. When it got to a two shot lead when Sabbatini birdied after you had bogeyed the 10th, 11th or 12th hole, did you realize at any point that it was that close?

STEWART CINK: I knew it was two well, when I was on the green on 12 I knew it was two and I hit my first putt about four feet past, so I knew I had to putt to stay 2. I made a really good stroke, and from that point on, I realized it was game on, that it was closer than I was hoping it was going to be today. I didn't miss another shot the whole day. I just hit my driver perfect every hole, hit all my irons exactly on my targets, and I still had some par putts I had to make, but the golf course was tough. You weren't going to stick it close to the hole a lot today.

After I saw I was only 2 up, it's not like I had a talk with myself or anything; I just stayed with my plans and made aggressive swings the rest of the way. I figured I was going to have to go out and win this thing instead of not losing it.

Q. Do you think most players realize how peak mentally you have to be in this game to be successful at it?

STEWART CINK: Most players on Tour, like average golfers around the country? No, I know they don't realize it. You hear things like, "how can he miss that putt or how can he hit it fat from the fairway when he's leading the tournament?" Leading a PGA Tour event is nerve wracking for everybody, and sometimes your body just doesn't act the way you think it's going to act. I've had experiences when I've been in really nervous situations where I try to talk to my caddie and it comes out like some other weird language (laughter). You don't have 100 percent control of your bodily movements and that's why you hit bad shots under pressure, and that's why hitting good shots under pressure gives you the confidence to go out there and do it again, so no, I definitely don't think they understand.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Stewart Cink, congratulations.

End of FastScripts.

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