U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 13, 1997

Stewart Cink

LES UNGER: It seems to me like you like playing the U.S. Open.

STEWART CINK: For some reason, yeah, I do like the Open. Just one quick comment on that is the Open is set up in a way that demands the type of game that I play week-in, week-out, and I don't have to change my game plan when I come here very often. I don't have to change it very drastically. I just -- I'm pretty straight off the tee. I play pretty conservative. And, I don't shoot 20-under very often. So, the Open tends to fit right in my alley, so to speak.

LES UNGER: How about reviewing the highlights, and maybe there's a lowlight even of the round for us.

STEWART CINK: Okay. I guess the first hole, probably one of the longest birdies I've ever made in my life because I hit my tee shot and then we got called off the course. Then I made a long birdie putt there to start me off. And, you know, sometimes a birdie tends to really calm you down when you're going into a round like this, and sometimes a birdie might hurt you, get you a little bit tense or excited. In this case, it was kind of a -- it kind of calmed me down and got me on a good level, level-headed feel. And --

LES UNGER: How long a time was it between your tee shot and when you returned?

STEWART CINK: Well, I don't know what time the delay started, but I hit my tee shot and then they called it. Ted Tryba --

LES UNGER: 2 hours and 18 minutes later you --

STEWART CINK: Yeah, we, Donnie Hammond and I hit our balls and Ted Tryba was the third player to hit, and he didn't get to hit. So we had to wait for him to hit, and he was away, so we had to wait for him to walk up there and play.

LES UNGER: I'm sorry to interrupt that.

STEWART CINK: The birdie set me in a good state of mind. And, I just played pretty solid all the way. Really, when you get through 6, which is probably the toughest par 4, when you get through there, you have a couple of holes where you can maybe do something like, you know, 7 is a par 3, which is probably the easier hole, par 3 out here, just because you don't have to hit a tee shot. 8 and 9 are probably two of the easiest holes on the course, I think. If you get through 6, you feel like you can do something on the last three holes on the front.

LES UNGER: And did you?

STEWART CINK: Well, yeah, I played the first six 1-under which was good. I think I did. Yeah. Which is pretty good. If you play the first six holes out here 1-under, you're doing a good job. Then I hit the green on 7, 8 and 9 and had good birdie chances, only got one of them to fall, but still, any time you make a birdie in the Open, you're helping yourself out. You're also jumping over a bunch of people. The 8th hole there, that birdie was -- that was a wedge to about 6 feet and didn't make the putt.

Q. How long was the one on 1?

STEWART CINK: On 1 was 35 feet out of the fringe.

LES UNGER: What did you hit?

STEWART CINK: 9-iron on 1.

Q. About how far?

STEWART CINK: The yardage?

Q. Yeah.

STEWART CINK: That was 142 yards, I think, and the ball went about 130 or 135.

LES UNGER: Finish up, if you don't mind.

STEWART CINK: Okay. On the backside, 10 I drove it in the sand bunker that I drove it in yesterday which -- and it cost me a bogey yesterday and today. You can't play very well out of these fairway bunkers out there. The sand is pretty fluffy. You don't always have a very good lie. 11, I hit a 7-iron from 168, about 4 feet and made birdie there. 12 was kind of a turning point for me. Extreme pin placement today on 12, on the back right of the green, and really steep, really quick areas around that hole. And, I hit it left, just through the green, but at a point where I didn't have a putt. I was just on the collar about a foot from the green. But, I didn't have a chance to putt the ball. I had to chip it up over a mound there and then let it release down to the hole, ended up making a 10-foot par save there. So, that got me going a little bit. And, then I felt -- I felt like I was doing everything right just about. I was hitting the ball good, straight, playing good, conservative iron shots on the greens and not really trying to get too greedy. And then 13 was really my only visit to the deep cabbage today. And, I had to hit a wedge out of the rough there on 13. Ended up, you know, missing about a 10-footer for par, but still you don't feel too bad about making a bogey when you drive it in the rough. I mean, it's a bogey, but you have to take your lumps, and no one's going to get out of here without making a few bogeys. Then on 14, I had 165 to the hole, just out of the first cut of rough and hit a 6-iron about 3 feet there, made the putt. 15, hit three really good shots there. That's the par 5, driver, I laid up with a 6-iron in the fairway, and then I had like 92 yards -- no, I had 97 yards, and I hit an L-wedge about 6 feet there, made that putt. And 16, 17, and 18, I just -- I hit the ball in the fairways. 16 -- 17, I was in the first cut of rough which wasn't too bad. But, I hit the greens in regulation and made some -- made some 2-putts.

LES UNGER: Stewart, last year after your 69, 73, do you remember where you were, what position?

STEWART CINK: I think I was about 10th last year.

LES UNGER: All right. Questions?

Q. Stewart, could you talk about how your experience in last year's Open prepared you for this as far as the mental part of it?

STEWART CINK: Yeah. Last year I was in a funny situation because on the second round, I teed off at 3:10 and the leaders had pretty much done what they were going to do. I started off par, eagle. So, I got to 3-under par and I was by myself leading. And, so, that was unexpected. You know, I made a long eagle putt last year on the second hole, and kind of put myself into a -- definitely an uncharted territory. And, I remember how I felt. I remember my hands were a little shaky and everything started getting a little faster. My tempo was faster and everything. And, so this year, when I kept moving up a little closer, and the guys leading were kind of coming down, I just remembered how last year, I kind of got a little fast and lost a few shots that way. And, I was thinking, hey, just don't waste any shots. What's the point of wasting shots now when you're doing a good job in the Open, and, you know, there's no reason to get greedy and make some crazy mistakes. And, I just tried to keep my tempo the same, my speed. Everything was the same, walking, practice swings, try to take real smooth practice swings, rhythmic, and I tried to plan my shots really, you know, conservatively and take out the bad parts of the green, and swing really aggressively which is the best way to hit the ball for me. And, so that's what I learned from last year in that situation.

Q. Stewart, what's the difference today and last year's Open compared to a year this year that's not like you've wanted it to be. What happened today that hasn't been happening during the year?

STEWART CINK: Well, I think what's happening is my game hasn't really changed a whole lot. Well, let me start over here. What's happening here is my game is the same as it's been kind of the whole year, except that you don't have to shoot real low at the Open to play well or to make the cut. How many times would I be in the press room if I shot 2-under on a regular Tour event; probably wouldn't be. So, you know, that's what I meant when I opened up with saying that my game plan doesn't change when I come to a course like this because it's almost always the same. You might say I need to change my game plan every other week.

Q. So in assessing this season, have you just not made enough putts, I mean, basically?

STEWART CINK: Basically, if you look at my stats, my putting stats are bad.

Q. Tee-to-green you're pretty happy this season?

STEWART CINK: Well, I'm not pleased with the way I'm hitting the ball, really. You know, I've been pretty straight most of the year. My iron shots are off and on pretty good, you know. I'm basically a pretty good ball-striker, and in greens in regulation, I'm usually pretty high. My total driving, you know, distance versus accuracy is always in the, like, top-30. So, that's pretty good. And, this year it's been the same. But, I'm like 149 in putting.

Q. I mean, I presume that's in total contrast of last season, your performance on the Nike Tour or do you consider putting not your greatest strength?

STEWART CINK: No, that's my -- I've always been probably a better putter than anything else. This year, you know, I mean, everybody has slumps in their putter. I've just had a slump. Lately I've been kind of putting better, since I guess the Nelson, I've been putting better, much better.

LES UNGER: How many putts today?

STEWART CINK: 27.

Q. Could you think back to your senior year, your head-to-head meetings with Tiger?

STEWART CINK: Think back to them? Okay. All right. How's that? No, as far as --

Q. Tell us about a couple of them. Did you, you know, like I know a couple of the bigger college tournaments how you did versus Tiger?

STEWART CINK: Well, you guys always bring this up. I was like -- we played about six times, you know, in the same tournament, and I think I beat him like four. But I wasn't playing against Tiger, you know, I was playing against the course. And it just happened I played well when he was there, and I don't think it has anything to do with him, really. But, you know, it was -- he was a great player when he was in college, you know. Not, of course, as good as he is now or he would have won every tournament. I guess when he comes to tournaments, everyone kind of brings their level up a little bit, and they're doing it now. I guess it's been that way everywhere he's played.

LES UNGER: Any other questions?

Q. Stewart, do you feel that you can use this performance for the first two rounds as kind of like something to get you jump-started for the rest of your season or aren't you thinking that far ahead right now?

STEWART CINK: No, I'm thinking about the rest of the season. When you're in a slump like I've kind of been in, you just -- you try to find something that's going to bring you out of it, and a good tournament here might. It may not. But, you know, I always think about the future and the rest of the year and how I'm going to play from here on out, you know. You're always hopeful. But, I really have to concentrate on the next two days, too, you know, and start tomorrow and play good solid golf again, and just add them up in the end.

Q. Stewart, you had an exhibition against Tiger in Atlanta. Didn't you win that?

STEWART CINK: Yeah, we had an exhibition when Tiger and Stanford came to our tournament at The Farm in Dalton, Georgia. Well, the day before that, we had an exhibition in Atlanta at our course down there at Druid Hills, and we had a match where the ones played against each other all the way down to the fives. And, Tiger and I played a match there and I won 3 & 2, but that was in college.

Q. What year was that?

STEWART CINK: That was 1995.

Q. Stewart, any thoughts about playing in one of the last groups tomorrow the third round?

STEWART CINK: Not really, except I get a few extra hours to mill around in the morning, I guess.

LES UNGER: Congratulations. Good day. Good luck tomorrow. Thank you.

STEWART CINK: Thank you all.

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