DORAL-RYDER OPEN

March 7, 1999

Steve Elkington

STEVE ELKINGTON: How about that? Pretty lucky, wasn't it? But I will take it.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I was a little upset with myself there. I actually -- I felt like I let everybody back in. It was never my tournament to start with, then I got a hold of it, then I dropped the ball there at the last hole, but I -- I didn't hit that putt that bad. It was a straight putt, and I thought it might curve a little to the right and Tway just missed his, he thought he hit a good putt and looked like it stayed high. I had a real good look at it Gypsy and I, I thought maybe just may curve a little bit, and I played it just inside the center. I think I felt like I hit it pretty good. Anyway, I did -- pretty severe lip-out. I was pretty disgusted with myself.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Yeah, I drove so perfect there that I was actually shocked when I got up there because it was almost to that bunker. That bunker is 300 yards up there, I was probably only 10 yards from it. I hit a real low drive and it was on a downslope. I thought, well, I had 168 yards and the wind is into me off the left, and I thought I will take a 7 and try to low -- bit of a low shot down the right side and let it follow the contour. I mean, there is no -- didn't feel like hitting any other shot at that time. I didn't feel like throwing it way up in the air and it never really -- I never really got it and it never really kicked on, sort of bit about it. Actually I got lucky, Tway was behind me, he putted. I got a perfect read, then I didn't hit -- I felt like I hit a pretty decent putt, but it just -- all you fellows that play golf down here, you know when the grain gets it, it just runs until it wants to stop. It was probably about four, five feet.

STEVE ELKINGTON: My foot is fine.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Yes.

STEVE ELKINGTON: What would you have done? You would have dove in the lake.

STEVE ELKINGTON: The first hole I was driver, 3-wood, on the back fringe, 50-foot putt, 2-putted. Just tap-in. No. 2, hit 2-iron and wedge, about ten feet. Birdie. 3 was a par. 4 was a par. 5 was a par. 6, I hit drive and wedge to two inches. 7, I hit a drive -- 3-wood and 8-iron to about 20 feet, birdie. 8, I was driver, 2-iron in the left bunker, splashed out to about a foot. 9, I hit 8-iron about ten feet, birdie. 10, I hit 3-wood, 3-wood on the back of the green and 2-putted from about 20 feet just tapped it in.

STEVE ELKINGTON: On 10? Tap-in, maybe a foot. Then 11 I hit 3-iron and 7-iron about twelve feet, birdie.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I was feeling no pain at all. I was fine. I was actually thinking ahead. I was thinking to myself, well, if I can hit a good drive up the next hole I can maybe get on the green, then if I will be out of -- I will be able to play the par 3-down wind and next hole downwind. I was sort of counting my birdies a little bit. Then I parred the par 5. Then I -- when you get into that sort of flow of a round, you certainly don't think of anything negative. It is all: How many more birdies do I think I can get. And then I stopped my momentum, I -- as everyone knows, that hard 13th hole, if you land short of the green, it stays short. If you land on, it runs through. It has just done that ever since we have come here. I -- 217 yards to the front. I hit a 3-iron and landed on the green, ran right to the back. I 3-putted it.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Yeah, well back, though, on the back left. Had about a 50-foot putt. 3-putted, missed about a 4-footer. Then I parred the next. I parred 15. 16, I hit a nice 3-wood shot over the bunker, then I hit a sand wedge in there about 15 feet. Made that one. Then 17, I drove straight, I had 8-iron, had 160 yards, hit it about two feet. Then the last -- we know about the last. Driver, 7-iron 3-putted it from about 40 feet.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I think I have. I think I had eight at one time.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I think it was on the TOUR, out in Palm Springs I think at that course that Duval shot a 59. I think I had about eight in a row.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Oh, about '88, '89 -- '87, '88 somewhere in there.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I don't think I have a history. I have had a few.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I think this course is a course you can come back from -- come from behind on.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Because it is difficult normally. And if you shoot a good score, a real good score, it is hard -- it is not as easy to play with the lead when you are going on a course that is a pretty hard course. If a guy is out there just freewheeling like I was, of course I felt the pressure probably as much as they did the last eight holes, but I had none on me for the first 11, so. That is mysterious about golf, golf is a strange mental game. You are in the lead and Greg Kraft is playing real well, two-shot lead, when he is teed off, I am almost tied with him, here I am coming from six shots behind, I am at the turn when they are teeing off and he is already behind almost. So at that point it is mental, isn't it? Because he is already behind. So he is feeling like he is fighting back. I have got all the momentum and it is just -- it's real Sunday golf on the TOUR. It is a menagerie of emotions, different scenarios and different things that go on. Some guys from behind, some guys -- I have done both -- last year I was in the lead, at THE Players Championship everyday, you know, I led from -- that was just gut-wrenching. This one today was fun. It was a fun round.

STEVE ELKINGTON: 64 got in front of all of them, didn't they?

STEVE ELKINGTON: Well, there is never a thought of winning until you get a thought of winning - if that makes any sense. Hey, I don't go -- I didn't have a thought of winning until I was leading. Then I thought about winning. So...

STEVE ELKINGTON: No, I felt like I had a chance on the 8th.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Yeah, I birdied 8 to go 5. That put me at 10. They were just teeing off. So I am thinking if he shoots 2-under and I shoot -- get to 14, I can beat him.

STEVE ELKINGTON: That was my number once I got to 10.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Might have. I might have.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Oh, no, I wasn't really angry. It was a one of the greatest rounds I have ever played. I was just frustrated when I came off because I done all that work. I had the tournament pretty much - not sewn up, by any means, but I had -- I didn't want to leave any crumbs out there. I wanted to keep it tidy -- I wanted them to know because they were probably seeing the scoring and they were seeing me go along. I wanted to send a message -- I wanted to send the message I was 15. I didn't want to see them go, oh, he has bogeyed the last. That was good. I didn't want them to feel that. I wanted to do it for myself. But I am not really an angry player. I don't really get that angry about my golf. I am not a club-thrower or anything like that, but I was just a little bit frustrated when I came off there as anyone would be.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Yes, just went back in the room just sat down. I wanted to just, like I said down on the green, I wanted to throw my feet up and enjoy the day, but it was pretty -- two hours I had to sit there and watch the golf, and just watching the scenarios of the young fellows coming in, like hard to pull against like a guy like Greg Kraft and Dunlap, those young guys. Ernie you thought would be there for sure. I was sort of hoping for a playoff, to be quite honest. I thought somebody could have gotten to 14. I was thinking about what I was going to do off any -- to go back to the 18th hole be. I was wondering about going over hitting a few shots try to pretend I was on that tee a little bit getting ready for that, really.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I went when they were on 16.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Yeah.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Well, no. I had to put the throttle down. There wasn't any -- like 10th hole, there was the 10th hole I drove down the middle; then I had a 260-yard shot to the green where I had to pretty much go across the water the whole way and it was the sort of shot where you could lay-up if you wanted to the right and play a pitch, but I thought, no, I am just going to blast a 3-wood; see what happens. I will just blast it - everything else is going good - just blast it right at the flag. Put it right on the back edge; made a super birdie. But I was in no position to play any strategy as far as protecting what I had. I had to put the throttle down all the way because I was so far ahead of -- they had so much golf to play. Even if I played the best, I could -- they could have still gotten over the top of me.

STEVE ELKINGTON: My first victory was 1990 in Greensboro. I was finished so early they didn't have me on TV. They just had me -- I was -- they didn't even know who I was, I think, at the time. They got me putting out. I hit it like that at the last hole for birdie (indicating three inches) They got me putting it in. That was the only shot they have of me winning the tournament.

STEVE ELKINGTON: That was with -- leaders were then on the 12th or 13th, so it was about -- when I walked back to the room, Kraft was on 12.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I wasn't in danger, I wouldn't say that. I finished 2-under.

STEVE ELKINGTON: What is your point?

STEVE ELKINGTON: They were due to me. I had been waiting for them all week.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I do feel for the young fellows like Greg. He is a good player, but he had control of his own destiny. I want to win just as much as he does. But he had it in the fairway on 18. He hit a poor shot. So I am sure he will be disappointed and probably he will have to stew on that one for a while. He will probably learn from it. Maybe next time he will, I don't know, maybe, you know, like my friend Billy Ray Brown had a chance to win a couple of days ago and fatted that one on when he was playing against Tiger. He said he just felt he was just so nervous on the shot that he just -- he didn't feel like it was going to come off for him and he hit a bad shot. Tiger finished off eagling it anyway. Very hard for the fellows to break through. Press is pretty tough on the young players. You guys have been particularly tough this week on the players, you know, Els is saving everyone, save the field all the young guys, no one can play all this, that, they feel that a little bit too. So there is a lot of good -- there is probably more young players on the Tour that are going to emerge whether you guys want them to or not soon enough. There is so many young players, guys like Kraft, some of the little Lefty from Australia that played so well this week, Chalmers, Greg, he is a great player. I think he will be one to watch. There is a lot of guys out there. I have not seen so much talent since I have ever come out on the TOUR as there is now.

STEVE ELKINGTON: No, that is right. Don't you play here tomorrow?

STEVE ELKINGTON: Well, I was, quite honestly, getting ready. I left the practice range to come over to the putting green because I know I am going to go down to the tee; I know I am going, maybe not even going. I went over. I wanted to putt a little bit. Because I know I am going to have to go to 18 or I am going to lose, so, be quite honest with, I would have taken a playoff.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Everyone has to play that hole. It is a very -- very dangerous hole. It is the hardest tee shot we play because I don't know -- I don't know if everyone understands why it is such a hard hole, the water is obviously down the left, the hole goes to the left, and you don't want to go right, and the player almost has to curve the ball right-to-left to get it in the fairway. Most guys want to curve -- we all want to curve it away from the water just like you guys do, right? you want to curve it away from the water. Then the wind is helping the curve, see, so you -- when you get on the tee, you are always trying to get that right hand in there late to get it down there. That is what is so hard about that tee shot. Then it is not -- you know if you miss-hit your second shot, you are going to go in the water. So it is rated the hardest whole on the PGA TOUR, hardest finishing hole hardest par 4, whatever.

STEVE ELKINGTON: No. No.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I was even with four to go and I birdied 8 and 9, so.... I had the easy holes coming at the end, see. I was on the front 9.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I think the course is impossible for the average guy, but for us, it hasn't changed much for us, quite honestly. Hasn't changed where we need to go. Raymond has not put bunkers in where we normally would shoot to. He has made the bunkers bigger, he has made all the nasty shots bigger and deeper. It doesn't look -- some of the bunkers to me don't look like they should be there. They look too big and too round and they just look like big pitts, but it is a very good course and the very good course is still out there. It is still for us -- for us it is still the same. Pinched in a couple of holes to make the layups and the driving a bit tighter. No. 1, for example, No. 18, but other than that, it is the same good course that we have always known. I don't know about the field. This field to me always seems like it has a lot of top players and then it has like the TOUR school will get in. Kind of like a Pebble Beach type field - when you get a lot of the top players playing and then the sort of the middle of the 125 doesn't play.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I will tell you why I have won here. I have not challenged it at all. I just play straight. Most of the people -- a lot of dog-legs and stuff here where you shoot across these bunkers, I just play short. I mean, I am a good iron-player. That is my strength. So I have just -- I just lay-up. I actually play the course shorter off the tee than I did before. I play -- it is actually an easier course for me because I am a strong iron-player. I just lay up. Like 2, for example, used to be able to hit a drive down there, now they have got two bunkers. I laid up with a 3-, or 4-iron, play my longer second shot. No. 11 is the same, used to be able to shoot 1-iron or 3-wood down the left now just lay-up. Play 7-iron to the green. So 16th hole, most everyone shoots across that big bunker I lay it up to the right with a 3-iron everyday when I won in 1997 laid up everyday this year except today, felt like I needed to hit 3-wood today to get down there and have a good chance of making birdie which I did. That was the only time I got off my game plan. So I just -- I don't fool around with it. I just play down the fairway. I don't think I was in -- I was in one fairway bunker this week, on the 8th hole the first day. That was the only fairway bunker I was in all week.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I was sick. I had spinal meningitis. That is pretty bad.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I don't know. I wasn't looking too good, man, I can tell you that. Main thing was I lost so much weight took me most of the year to get it back -- went down to 180. I am 200, 210 normally. I am more your weight, Tim.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I am 200.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I think so.

I am very happy with things at the moment. Regardless of the win, a lot -- when you get a bit older, I suppose, I am 36 -- we got some of the young players with so much emphasis on them Tiger and Duval and a lot of the young fellows that are all single, you know, and playing 25, 30 weeks a year a lot harder for us guys to compete with them over the course of the year on the money list. But we can certainly beat them head-to-head, no question about that. A lot of guys fall into that category, guys like Price, Couples, and Mickelson all those type -- Mickelson is probably in the other category, but once you start having the family and you get a bit older, you don't play as many events and you really you try to focus on the big tournaments. I have always thought this was a big tournament. Doral kind of represents the start of the golf season on the East Coast. So I don't think I have never missed this event. I think it is an important event, it's a big event.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Before then. I think I was pretty much before the PGA I felt pretty good.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Oh, yeah.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Yeah, but I don't know why I did that. I was always playing here. Actually my wife committed for me on a Wednesday, Wednesday of that week. I normally don't commit until late. I am always been a late-committer.

STEVE ELKINGTON: He has made them -- knocked a few back in too. They stuck out a bit further than they did on some of the holes.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Yes, made them shallower. The sand in these bunkers is so easy for us to play out of. They are easy bunkers. You probably never even saw a miss-hit shot this week out of one of them. The sand is so packed down there is almost almost impossible not to hit a decent green-side bunker shot.

STEVE ELKINGTON: In one then.

STEVE ELKINGTON: I was in a few green-side ones, but they are perfect. Green-side bunkers, they are -- sand is just perfect. You can't hardly miss one out of it. They are -- good bunker players just licking his chops when he goes in here.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Well, as I said, I think we have got -- we have pretty well represented them this week, I think there is always this new thing on the Tour where who-is-here-and-who-isn't-this-week-type-thing. It puzzles a lot of us players because we all make our schedule. We all think -- I think basically every player plays -- every good player out here plays courses he thinks he can win on, and have his best chance or plays with the most money. That is one of our prerogatives. I think if we are ever going to have a rule out here that makes any sense, that all the players would have to play all the events. I have said that for years. That would stop all of that talk who is here who isn't, play every event, every player has to play every event in five years. But that got knocked back. A lot of players don't want to be told where to play. But I'd sign up for it first thing because our biggest challenge that we have is for the Tour is to make sure all of our sponsors are happy. We want to have -- I'd love to say that we have the Huston Opens and everyone has everybody -- everyone is going to visit there in five years or the B.C. Open, makes me go up there. I am really the target guy, what makes me get off the couch to go play, other than that is it is really a good event. I get to pick and choose what I want to do.

STEVE ELKINGTON: Why? (Laughter). Turn around, I will show you. (laughter).