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THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

October 31, 2006

Stewart Cink

ATLANTA, GEORGIA: Pre-Round

TODD BUDNICK: We thank Stewart Cink for dropping in here at the 2006 TOUR Championship. Stewart, your fifth appearance here. A great year for you, seven Top 10s, including a second at Bridgestone earlier this year in the playoff loss to Tiger. Give us a rundown of your season to start.

STEWART CINK: I think the first thing you can say is it definitely hasn't been a great year, because there's no wins. I can't call it a great year. I've played well, I've had some good moments, I played well at the Ryder Cup.

But there's that glaring omission of no wins. So this is it for me. I've got a chance to qualify for the next tournament on the schedule, and that's the Mercedes. If I don't, then I guess I'll start up at Sony.

TODD BUDNICK: Always nice for you, as well, TOUR Championship being held in your hometown of Atlanta. Talk about that.

STEWART CINK: Well, my home course right here, it's so special. It's a great place; everybody loves it. I've never heard one complaint about the golf course. It's a great place, a good venue. I always use the TOUR Championship as sort of a measuring stick for my play during the year, as most players probably do.

So to be in the field feels great and to have qualified a long time ago feels good, too. I didn't have to put too much stress on myself getting in.

Q. There are a few you left out. You said it wasn't great, but that's the feeling like, emptiness? You did all this work for the whole year and you didn't get a win?

STEWART CINK: It's not really that I didn't satisfy goals. I mean, yeah, I wanted to win tournaments. I wanted to contend in majors. It's not like I just have this empty feeling. I obviously wish I had won, and that's part of the goal, but it's not just one goal.

I'm trying to improve as a golfer, and as a competitor I'm trying to improve faster than the other guys are. I feel at the end of this year I'm better than I was at the start of this year. So that's a huge goal that I think I've reached.

It doesn't take the place of winning, but it's something. At least I feel like I haven't regressed. There's been years out here where I feel like I didn't get better and I went backwards. This year is not one of those, thank goodness.

But I've identified parts of my game probably this year, again, that need work and that probably could be improved to push me up a notch or two, and I think that would probably take care of a couple wins.

Q. This tournament, like the other four that are going to be part of the playoffs next year obviously you're in transition but this is really the first look at one of those tournaments. I guess others you've played recently. But when you look around here and you see the bigger grandstands at 18 and the BMWs are part of that, do you see this event like others are building up a little bit bigger towards next year?

STEWART CINK: Well, I think the TOUR Championship has always been pretty big. It's always been a special tournament. I remember driving nice courtesy cars ever since my first one in '97. It's hard to say whether this tournament now is reflecting on next year's FedEx Cup and the transition to a whole new playoff series at the end of the season.

But I think that it more plays to the strength of the Tour and how popular our events are, especially a tournament like this here, with Coca Cola being a sponsor. This town bleeds red and white. It's Coca Cola through and through. It's just a it's almost a close knit relationship between the sponsor, the golf course, the Bobby Jones history, and now we've got a legacy that's been a few years in the making with this tournament hosting it year after year.

It's really turned into a real marquee event in Atlanta outside of just the golf world.

Q. You can speak to this town this time of year. This is a college football time of year. Do you sense the move to September is really going to help this tournament's explosion?

STEWART CINK: Well, it's not getting out of football. It's not like we're going to get away from football totally. I mean, football is our we don't even really look at football as a competitor. I mean, nobody can; it's the king.

Everybody is going to still have summer on their minds, so there will be a lot less rusty golf clubs in closets around town than there are now. I think people are going to be excited about it. It's the year end series with four tournaments in a row. That's going to be big news, I think, and it's going to be in front of the newspaper. Everybody is going to be busy reading about it and hearing about it on the radio and hearing about it on television and watching it.

It'll be a lot bigger because it's going to be on the tail end of those three other huge tournaments, as opposed to now where we have sort of a lull between the Ryder Cup and that. I think that's really going to bolster this tournament.

Q. Do you like the idea of a FedEx Cup?

STEWART CINK: I do.

Q. Why?

STEWART CINK: Because I think it gives more meaning to a year long a season let me start over. It gives more meaning to events, how they relate to each other. Right now it's hard to say really the relationship between Greensboro and Tampa. We've got two really good tournaments, but the winners of those two tournaments get all the perks that the winners get. But after that, you know, whoever picks up points in those tournaments next year is going to mean something. A guy finishes 5th and comes out of nowhere to get into the FedEx Cup, it's going to mean something.

I think it's good for us to tie the whole year together and say, Remember, Sean O'Hair qualified for this thing and got himself so high because he finished second two times in a row back in the summer.

They're going to name those tournaments. It's just going to generate a whole lot more of a buzz about the whole season instead of just tournament after tournament.

Q. How long do you think it'll last, the buzz?

STEWART CINK: How long is the FedEx contract? No, just kidding (laughter).

Q. The only reason I ask

STEWART CINK: It all depends how long we all keep talking about it. I know right now I'm behind closed doors talking to my manager about my schedule, what I need to do, how we're going to take advantage of this points breakdown the best, and I'm not alone. Every player is doing it. You're going to see players I'm not going to guarantee everybody is going to play more, and I'm not going to guarantee I'm going to play more. I probably won't play a lot.

But there's probably going to be tournaments I decide to play in that I didn't because of the points. I'm not going to be alone in that, either. It's just going to bring out a whole new level of interest for the fans and for us, because we're all going into this thing for the first time, players and fans alike, media.

We're all going into it for the first time. I mean, the fact that we're just sitting here talking about it right now, that's the start of it.

Q. Could you give me an example of how your schedule might change without getting too committed or specific?

STEWART CINK: I think the obvious example is going to be the last tournament of the year, which is the Greensboro tournament, the last FedEx Cup regular season tournament. If I need something to boost myself up a little bit, I mean I think it's important to be high up before the repositioning occurs.

I don't want to be left in the dust without a chance to win it. So if I need to earn points, if I haven't already earned what I think is a good starting position in the playoffs, then I'll play. Same can be said for any tournament down the line. The closer you get towards the end, I think people are going to start taking inventory and seeing where they stand and seeing where the playoff points are going to put them if they finish high or play well or have a win or not.

There's going to be a lot of repositioning. I don't think players are just going to sit back and say, Well, what's really the difference between 14th and 21st on the Money List? I'm in the TOUR Championship. Some players are already saying I'm already going to Kapalua. What's the difference? Why would I play? And I don't think that's the case next year.

Q. Professional athletes always say they play for the victory, for the love of the game, you don't play for the money. Next year you're going to have a chance at 10 million bucks, and the FedEx Trophy Cup would be nice to have on your shelf, but 10 million bucks is 10 million bucks. When it comes down to playing for that much money, is that the biggest carrot you can think of to go after?

STEWART CINK: It's a big carrot. Obviously money is something. I mean, we wouldn't be I think everybody out here likes earning money for playing golf. You know, it's pretty obvious.

We're lucky to earn it. I think next year, though, the winner of the FedEx Cup, at the end, the bonus, the $10 million or whatever it's going to be, I think that person will be able to stake the claim of, I played under the system and I won the whole season.

This year there's going to be a Player of the Year. It's hard to argue against Tiger. He's going to be voted in. It's an addition of all the votes to see who wins it, right. Next year it's not. There's no subjectivity to it whatsoever. If it's a close race this year and it's voted upon, like a couple years ago Tiger and Vijay came really close in the voting. Unpublicized numbers, but from what I understand it came really close. But there was a winner. There was a guy that finished 1st, called himself Player of the Year.

The guy that finished second said he didn't win. Well, he didn't win under the current rules, but next year there's no disputing who won, right? You've got to play golf and play under the stress of maybe having a chance to win, and the winner is going to be a clear cut winner, which I think is awesome. That's something to carry around and be proud of.

Q. What if Tiger wins two majors next year and Justin Leonard wins the FedEx Cup? Who's your Player of the Year?

STEWART CINK: Whoever is the winner of the FedEx Cup is going to be the winner of the FedEx Cup. I'm sure there's lots of room to say who had a better season in the majors or whatever. But it's not about it's not just about the majors now. We're talking about the whole season where you're trying to beat your peers. To me that means a lot.

Q. Would you rather win a major next year or win the FedEx Cup?

STEWART CINK: I probably would rather win a major because I've never won one yet.

Q. You haven't won the FedEx Cup yet, either.

STEWART CINK: That's true, no one has (laughter).

If I win a major next year, I'm going to play hard to try to win the FedEx Cup because I think I'll give myself a chance.

Q. To continue this line you've brought up here, what if you're sitting here a year from now in the same position, didn't win a tournament but you managed to make the field and you win this tournament, and then you say, "I should be Player of the Year"?

STEWART CINK: No, not at all, because you haven't done enough. It's a whole season. You can't do enough in one tournament to make up for a whole season like what I've done this year. I mean, I've played well at times and had some really good moments, but I haven't done enough to beat the guy that wins it all. I know I haven't.

Now, I don't think I would have done enough if I won last week and this week.

Q. Going back to the playoff that you lost, do you have any second thoughts about the ruling that Tiger got in that tournament?

STEWART CINK: No, because I don't remember the ruling. I don't know. I don't remember the ruling.

Q. The clubhouse is what I'm talking about, Firestone.

STEWART CINK: No, because I was watching TV. In fact, I was in the gym when all that was unfolding, and everybody was sort of laughing about you could see the ball and all that. That's just the way the course is set up. If there's no out of bounds, there's no out of bounds.

Q. Don't you think the clubhouse ought to be out of bounds?

STEWART CINK: I don't know. You'd have to ask the rules officials.

Q. They don't think so. I've asked them that question.

STEWART CINK: Maybe it should be, but I really don't know. To answer your first question, no, I haven't second guessed it. That's the first time I've thought about it since the tournament.

Q. We're all new going into next year. Let's take a scenario where you take a swing like Brett Wetterich had, and he's done okay and come into this thing ranked 50th or whatever. And then he has his May in September and he wins two, two, two or whatever and wins the FedEx Cup. Is that a true measure of a guy who won the season long race?

STEWART CINK: It will be under next year's system, I guess. That's one of those things, it's hard to say that it's going to be a perfect system. I mean, it's impossible. It won't be perfect. There will be changes, I'm sure, after the year. We'll see how it performs and all that.

It's likely that there will be some imperfections in it, and it's likely that there could be somebody like that that jumps up and grabs everything. In that case, he's done it at the right time, so congratulations to him.

But I don't think that's a good enough reason to knock it. It's a good system. It's designed to get fan interest up, for FedEx to get more exposure, and for the PGA TOUR to grow and get more exposure. It's designed for that stuff, and it's going to identify a really great player next year, whoever the champion is.

I mean, it's an easy target right now because it's new and all that, but I just don't really see the point of beating it down yet.

Q. Why do you think it's an easy target?

STEWART CINK: Because it's new and it's big; it's been highly touted; it's a lot of money; it's a change. There's a lot of reasons to knock it down and say why it's maybe not the best system.

But to me it's something to strive for; it's exciting. I don't know, I just think it's going to be a good change for us. I mean, we were I think if you sit still in our business you're going backwards, and we were sitting still for a while. So now we need to move forward.

Q. Is it a gamble at all in any way? I mean, if the right guys don't play in all the events, it's

STEWART CINK: Yeah, but is this a gamble having a great tournament here and some of the top don't play? It's obviously not pretty. Got the top two guys that just deciding not to play. It's not pretty. This is a gamble. Yeah, it's a gamble. But I don't know any way around it. What are you going to do, force people to play? It's not really possible. You can't do that.

I mean, I hope that everybody would see the greater good in playing next year. That hasn't happened this year, but I'm hoping it will next year.

Q. It will raise the at bats minimum to 17 or 18?

STEWART CINK: You could. That also would be a gamble. If a player thinks that we're forcing him to play more than he wants to play, he could just not take membership on the PGA TOUR and play in the tournaments that's he's going to get in without membership. The majors, the World Golf Championships, and use some exemptions and play overseas and collect appearance money and all that.

It's not necessary for anybody to be a member of the Tour if you have opportunities elsewhere.

Q. I don't know if "ironic" is the word or just "different," I guess when you think about golf and NASCAR and the two audiences. A lot of people don't see them intermingling a whole lot. Is it interesting to see the Tour as following the NASCAR model?

STEWART CINK: Well, it is interesting, but I think there's a real good basis for the reason why we are looking at NASCAR's model is strictly just success. Their model has been successful with their group of audience members, and we hope ours will be. I for one am a crossover of both, because I like NASCAR. I may be the only one, but I am one.

Q. We've referenced the money with the FedEx several times, and there's going to be a huge pot of gold out there. Couldn't you argue, if you were a media guy like me who's always scratching his head wondering about things, the money right now maybe is why Tiger and Phil aren't here? They don't need the money?

STEWART CINK: Yeah, you could say that. I mean, money we talked about it before. Money is not the only reason we play out here. Maybe next year the TOUR Championship means a little bit more in the big picture than just a check. I don't know. I mean, I don't have all the answers.

I think the reason that I don't think the reason Phil and Tiger aren't playing here is because I don't think they really considered the money very much; it's other things. I don't think they looked and said, Do I need to earn the million for winning this? No, I don't need to earn it so I'm not going to play.

I don't think that's the scenario anybody had. But who knows. It's not like anybody is here playing because they need the cash. I mean, just to get here you've already earned good money.

Q. Could it be that the absence of Tiger and Phil would indicate that there did need to be a change in the system?

STEWART CINK: That's what I was thinking when I was in the process of answering your question, my mind was going there. That maybe next year when it does mean a little bit more it's not just one tournament at the end of the season, it's a whole culmination of a season, that maybe they will want to play next year, I don't know.

I guess when Phil would come in here he's not coming in here this week, is he? If he was coming in here and you asked him, he may be able to tell you, but I haven't talked to Phil in a few weeks. I don't understand a lot of things he does.

Q. NASCAR, as I remember it, their guys drove all over the place because they had contracts that call for them to do that. Not with the organization but with sponsors, team owners. Would a solution have been if your sponsor had you under a contract that says you have to play just say you have to play 15 events, but in addition you have to play a TOUR Championship if you qualify.

STEWART CINK: Yeah, that's a logical way for this type of a situation to be averted in the future. But what's going to be the first one to do it? My contract with Nike already says I have to play a minimum number of tournaments. But for me it falls way lower than I'm ever going to play. I'm a 27 tournament player pretty much, and I think my contract is 15. So it's not an issue for me (laughter).

They could say that, and I think it makes sense, but who's going to be the first one to do it? Who's going to be the first one to risk losing their marquee player because they say, I want the freedom to choose? That's the thing.

I don't think it's an issue, because I'm never going to skip the TOUR Championship. I don't quite understand why certain people are, but maybe sponsorship needs to get in there and say, Look, we're paying you this money to perform on the big stages, and this is a big stage that they're missing out on.

Q. It seems like I'm asking all these gamble questions. Do you see any risk at all with the Golf Channel being the primary carrier next year for the Tour, in ratings or fallout from that in that it's kind of a niche and not in that many households and you're going to be staying in hotels many times over the course of the year when you can't even see it?

STEWART CINK: You can say that it's a risk. I like The Golf Channel. I think that they're growing; they're a good product; they cover golf tournaments as well as any network, I think. And so I like having us on The Golf Channel. I don't see it being a real huge risk, because most of their coverage is going to be Thursday Friday, which it's basically I think it boils down to an advertising inventory question.

You know, how are we going to move inventory Thursdays and Fridays on The Golf Channel? Are they going to move it? Are we going to move it? Right now we kind of team up and help the networks sell on Thursday and Friday. As long as The Golf Channel is strong with their sales and they keep their spots moving out the door, then I don't think there's a problem with it.

Like I said, I think they do a great job covering tournaments.

Q. We haven't asked you about the Georgia Tech game.

STEWART CINK: What do you want to know?

Q. I see on TV where you've got a chance to win the ACC, their division, and get in a playoff.

STEWART CINK: Yeah, they're in the driver's seat right now in whatever side of the conference they're on, the coastal.

Q. So they get to the FedEx Cup if they

STEWART CINK: No, that's the BCS FedEx Orange Bowl, right? They're playing good. I'd like to see them win, and beating Miami is always good no matter what Miami is doing.

Q. Do you go to a lot of games?

STEWART CINK: No, not really. My whole family is more into ice hockey, so we go to those.

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you, Stewart.

End of FastScripts.

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