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WACHOVIA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 6, 2006

Shaun Micheel

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

LAURY LIVSEY: We have Shaun Micheel with us. Can we talk about your round today?

SHAUN MICHEEL: Sure we can. This is always the joy for us players, to go through our round here.

Well, a lot of circles on there. You know, obviously I think it's important to get off to a good start out there on the front because there's not a whole lot of birdie opportunities out there. I birdied the 1st hole and that's obviously a great way to start, and just kind of played around for a few holes.

Actually I hadn't made that many eagles this year, so it was kind of nice to get one there on 5.

Unfortunately I kind of gave it right back, missed about a five or six footer on 6.

And then 7, finally put the ball in the fairway there, and I think I hit a 5 iron from I guess about 220, was downwind, to about 15 or 18 feet. It was a nice surprise to make another one of those.

Then again, gave it right back on the short hole, on the 8th there from the middle of the fairway.

Then 9, kind of bailed out to the right, the right of the green, and actually drew a pretty good lie and was kind of able to chip one in. So that was a nice way to finish that front nine.

Then the back was kind of blah, missed a couple opportunities, made a couple good saves in there, as well. Again, hit the 16th fairway, which is something I don't do very often, hit a 7 iron in there from about 190.

Nice par on 17, missed the green to the right.

Then 18, just missed the fairway. I have to say if you miss the fairway, about 70 percent of us are going to make bogey out there. It's kind of an unfortunate way to end, but that's pretty much what you're going to get on that hole if you miss the fairway.

LAURY LIVSEY: You're in the hunt, but tomorrow we're going threesomes off two tees because we're expecting rain. How does that change things?

SHAUN MICHEEL: It's been a long day for me and a lot of the guys because I had to come back out this morning and play. I played six holes this morning, and I had about a three hour break and then off again.

I think the threesomes are tough. It's tough to get any rhythm out there. With it just being a long day, that just adds the rain is going to add another dimension, really, to the whole thing. It doesn't sound like it's going to be any lightning so I suspect we're going to be playing through it.

They made the right decision. They want to get golf in on Sunday and give the fans another chance to see some good golf. They're doing the right thing. You've got to do that. You've got to get the golf in. Nobody wants to come here on Monday.

Q. I'm going to assume you don't like playing in the rain, but how have you done in the past when you've had to do that?

SHAUN MICHEEL: You know, I really cannot recall the last time that we actually played in the rain where there wasn't some sort of delay. I very rarely carry a rain suit. I mean, typically if it's raining there's thunderstorms. I think the last time we played was maybe last year at the British Open.

You're right, I don't like playing in the rain. I don't think any of us do. You know, you're battling your caddie, you're trying to keep your clubs dry, trying to keep your grips dry. It just adds something new, a new variable to an already difficult challenge out there with this golf course.

Q. What's more exciting, just to be playing well again or to be in contention again on Sunday with a chance to win?

SHAUN MICHEEL: Well, probably both. I mean, I've been practicing well, and I just hadn't been able to get it over to the golf course. I've played a lot of golf. I've been working on a few things in my swing basically since August of last year, and it's just taken a while. Tiger is able to make a swing change and he's finishing Top 5 the next week. I'm not like that. It's just taken me a little while.

When you're not playing well and you're missing cuts, that takes away some of the confidence that is probably one of the most important aspects of what we do out here. I mean, if you don't trust or know where the ball is going out there, it's kind of hard to play the game, especially on a golf course as challenging as this is off the tee.

I'm excited because I have that feeling again that I'm kind of on the right track. You know, I felt it out there today. There were a couple opportunities out there where it could have slipped away from me, and I was able to kind of handle that, make a couple of key up and downs, and sometimes the up and downs are what keep you going. So I did that very well.

Hey, I'm excited about the chance tomorrow. If I can go and continue to drive the ball the way that I've been driving it tomorrow the way I've been doing it all week, make a few putts, I don't see any reason why I can't finish on top.

Q. Does this course remind you of Oak Hill at all in the sense that you've got to hit the fairways?

SHAUN MICHEEL: All the golf courses are getting that way anymore, really. I think the difficulty of this golf course is the fairways are so firm, and there's holes that say No. 3, for example, the fairway, it's a right to left hole, but the fairway slopes left to right, and they've pinched that fairway in probably four or five yards on each side. There's several holes out there that are like that. You have to be in the fairway.

Unlike Oak Hill, it's tough to get the ball maybe close when you have to pitch it out. Oak Hill's greens were relatively flat so you really didn't have to worry about spinning the ball back off slopes. But it's just so firm out there. I mean, I don't even think with the rain we're going to get tomorrow, I don't think it's going to soften it up much. It might soften the greens up, but it's just going to make the rough that much denser.

Q. When did you tweak your swing or change your swing and why did you do that?

SHAUN MICHEEL: I don't know, I started fiddling with it last year. I started out '05 pretty well in Hawaii. I finished 13th, and I played pretty well the first three weeks, and then I missed two cuts in a row by one stroke, Pebble Beach and Doral. I don't know, I just wasn't feeling it. I felt like I needed to do something.

I went to someone and started working on a few things, and it actually, I think, inhibited what I was trying to do. I just got off. I started working on the wrong things and started working with Todd Soames a little bit in August. Most of what I worked on was just my posture, trying to get back in my setup. I think if you ask any of the guys out here where they look first with a swing problem, it's probably in their setup. Could be alignment or ball position or both, and that's pretty much been where it's been for me. I've been listening to everybody, do this, do that, try this, try that, and that's what I was doing.

I got off and then I couldn't do what I did before. I wasn't trying to perfect anything, I was just trying to tidy up a few things that I thought were kind of keeping me back.

Q. I think you've had three Top 10s since Rochester. Does that feel like a long time?

SHAUN MICHEEL: Yeah, I mean, a lot of that is putting, too. Mike Shannon from Sea Island came down and helped me at Doral this year on Wednesday, and I put in a new kind of putting style and approach to the putting on Thursday at Doral, and I went from I think 124th in putting to, I don't know, 45th or something in a couple of weeks.

But if you go back and you look at my stats, you see in '02 I think it was '02 I was 4th in greens in regulation and then in '03 I was 13th and then the last couple years I've really slipped. That's kind of always where my game has really excelled. Again, you can't be trying to get up and down for par and really survive. You just don't make enough birdies doing that.

So I'm just trying to get back to how I was swinging before, even at the PGA. Fortunately I have a lot of videotape from that week, but I can't tell you how difficult it's been trying to get back there.

Q. How frustrating has it been for you as you've been trying all these things?

SHAUN MICHEEL: It's been pretty frustrating at home for my wife, I think, too. She asks, well, what did you work on today? It seems like every day I had something new that I was coming home with. Could be a different set of irons or I changed my shafts or whatever it is. I've been working hard. It's not like I haven't been practicing; I've practiced more in the last year, year and a half than I ever have.

I do keep kind of a journal or some notes in my computer, and one thing stood out from last year or a couple years ago, and I had it in bold. It says, "Stay off the range." I haven't really listened to myself too well. I've been spending more time out there kind of maybe feeling guilty if I didn't go out there and practice. Now I'm getting to the point now where I'm able to go out and take two, three hours and really focus on all aspects of the game. Instead of standing out there for five or six hours, I've kind of keyed in on a couple things that seemed to be working well.

Q. In your mind after Rochester where did you feel like your career was going to go?

SHAUN MICHEEL: I don't know. I was probably as shocked as anybody else that I was able to win that golf tournament. I didn't expect really to be able to win. We're all trying we're all out here trying to get better. I didn't have any expectations. I felt a little bit more pressure, I think, outside. Some of the things that I read or have read we're our own worst critics out there. People are excited for you, they want you to do well, and if you're not doing that you feel like you're letting people down. I have a lot of family and friends out there that have been pulling for me, and it's frustrating. I'm trying to just build some consistency in my game. I don't feel like I have to win.

I think sometimes people forget that I'm out here trying to make a living. I've got bills to pay just like everyone else. I mean, obviously I'm trying to win, but I realize that the pressure of trying to win every week is just something I'm not probably ready to handle.

I think that also I've got a two and a half year old little boy. I'm not ready to give up my time for that, so there's a balance there. If I can just find a way to get some good solid work ethic in in a shorter amount of time, then that's pretty much what I have to do. But I am excited about the direction that I'm going.

Q. Do you almost see it as don't try to win and then you'll win, kind of? Don't put so much pressure on yourself and maybe it'll happen?

SHAUN MICHEEL: Yeah, there are certainly guys out here, Retief is one, Vijay is one, Tiger is one, they're expected to win. That's kind of how I approach the PGA Championship. I didn't have any expectations really of winning the golf tournament. I think that is easier because then if you don't win, you've got an excuse; I wasn't expecting to win. I don't know how those guys do it. They do a great job with it.

Vijay, he's so consistent, and that's really what I'm trying to get. It is a lot of fun to be in contention. It's fun to challenge yourself and be able to rise and put away those self doubts and those demons that we all have, and I've just persevered just trying to persevere through the bad times. Everybody has got ups and downs. It's all relative. My downs compared to Tiger's downs are completely different. It's just a balance, and I think I'm finally finding that.

LAURY LIVSEY: Thank you, Shaun. Appreciate your time.

End of FastScripts.

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