BELL CANADIAN OPEN

September 6, 2002

Billy Andrade

MODERATOR: Great round today.

BILLY ANDRADE: Thank you.

MODERATOR: 5-under par, 67. Excellent position going into the weekend.

BILLY ANDRADE: Right where I want to be. I got off to a great start today birdie-ing 2, 3 and 4. You know, then it was like, "Right now we're right up there, let's just keep it going."

I hit a lot of good shots today, very solid. I made one bogey today. Yesterday I didn't make one. On the 6th hole, a hard par 3. Other than that, I played very solid.

I like my position, being right there with Neal. When I get myself in this position, I seem to thrive on it. I've gotten myself in this position now. I'm looking forward to the weekend, go for it.

MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Did you find it playing any differently today than yesterday, no rain at all? How did you find the course?

BILLY ANDRADE: Say that again.

Q. Did you find it play any differently than yesterday?

BILLY ANDRADE: You know, the greens were -- obviously yesterday morning, we were the first wave of going out. They were in much better shape as far as, you know, not having anybody on them. They were perfect. This afternoon they were a little rougher because of all the play.

I thought the greens were a little softer this afternoon than I imagined they would be. I thought they would be much firmer. But they held very well.

I just love this golf course. I think it's a wonderful golf course. It fits my eye. I just love being here, love being in this position.

Q. (Inaudible)?

BILLY ANDRADE: They weren't as firm like I was anticipating them to be. A couple were. But overall, they were still receptive. I think that's why the scoring is so good. Not to say this weekend they may not change. I think the fact it didn't blow today kept them a little moist, where I think like Wednesday afternoon it blew pretty hard in the ProAm and I think they got firmer.

Without the wind blowing, I think they kind of held in check. But if the wind blows tomorrow, obviously the greens will get much firmer.

Q. (Inaudible)?

BILLY ANDRADE: I've had a love/hate relationship with Glen Abbey. I've shot some terrible scores there, and I've won. So far I just like the way this golf course plays for me. My eye fits it very well. I feel comfortable on this course. I can't say that I like it better than Glen Abbey or worse. I think they're both challenging, fine golf courses.

Q. (Inaudible)?

BILLY ANDRADE: I just step up on holes. Like Hazeltine, seemed like I stepped up on every hole, I didn't like it. It just didn't fit the shot I was trying to hit on some of those tee shots. When you're trying to hit shots you don't feel good about, then you're not going to obviously do very well. You're going to do well on courses where you just like the way it plays, you like the way the tee shot sets up.

This is a golf course where I can drive it into play. The rough is brutal. If you're in play, keep it in the fairway, you're going to have your chances.

Q. (Inaudible)?

BILLY ANDRADE: Thank you. I'll work on it for tomorrow (laughter).

Q. It is a different golf course. Does it help to have won a championship like this going into the weekend, the position you're in? Can you draw on that?

BILLY ANDRADE: Absolutely. I think any time you've won a tournament, you've gone back, had success in a country like this, I think I'm going to use it. I've won this tournament before, and though it's not the same golf course, you know, I didn't realize the magnitude of this tournament until I won it as far as how prestigious it is to win this event, to be the National Open champion of Canada.

I did an outing after I won in '98 with a bunch of senior golfers, and they were just telling me that back in the old days, this was the fifth major. It was an honor to win this tournament. It really obviously made me feel wonderful and special that I'd done it before. I would love to do it again.

Q. (Inaudible)?

BILLY ANDRADE: I just think it's the times. The times back then were different. They didn't have maybe as many tournaments. The Canadian Open was viewed in the players' eyes as an unbelievable tournament.

Today, you know, there's so many that guys pick and choose where they want to go. But until you win this tournament, I think a lot of our players don't really understand the magnitude of how special it is.

Q. Is there a little bit more of a relaxed field out there without Tiger around?

BILLY ANDRADE: No, it doesn't matter if he's here or if he's not. You're still trying to play the best you can. When he's in the event, it's different. Usually you can't make a whole lot of mistakes if he's on. You know, I got to worry about me. I have a hard enough time worrying about myself, about making it to the next day, than worrying about Tiger Woods or anybody else. When you're out there, you've got to take care of your own self, not think about others, if you want to do well.

Q. Were you in the hazard on 18? Did you take any kind of risk for how you played that?

BILLY ANDRADE: You know, it's Friday, and you can -- I think the rule of thumb is you can lose it but you can't win it on Friday.

You know, if it was the 72nd hole and I needed to make a birdie to win, a par to tie or something, I might have given it a shot. But the lie was pretty bad. It's Friday. You know, my thought was, "You know what." It was tempting, but it's pretty stupid play if I went ahead and tried to hack it out. If I didn't get it out, now I'm ruining everything that I've accomplished for 35 holes.

I felt like, I'm a pretty good wedge player, let's just get this thing out of here and try to get up and down for par. The worst I'll make is bogey. Let's not bring in double or triple or whatever on the last hole on Friday.

Q. (Inaudible)?

BILLY ANDRADE: About like that, three feet.

Q. When you first came out, you had a pedigree. People expected big things from you. Are you happy with the way your career has gone? Do you feel there's some majors, Ryder Cup team, Presidents Cup team?

BILLY ANDRADE: I haven't had a run. All great players have their runs where they play for two years where it's just, you know, the hole is wide open, you hardly ever make a mistake, you play great golf. I haven't had that run yet.

I've played some good golf in spots. I've been very inconsistent overall. I truly believe that if I can get my driving down, get my swing down where I don't hit it all over the place... If you drive it bad out here, you've got a slim chance of doing well.

I've been a notoriously poor driver for my whole career. Until I can fix that problem, which I think I'm doing a better job of it, then maybe I can get on one of those rolls.

As far as being happy, I wake up happy. It doesn't matter if I miss the cut this week or if I win the tournament, I feel that I'm the same person when I play great or if I don't. Results in golf aren't going to make me in my skin feel better about myself. I don't know. I would have loved to have won the Masters five times and the US Open a few times, accumulated much more money, titles than I have so far in my career. But, you know, what, I play golf for a living. It's a pretty damn good living. I got no complaints. Opportunity to play, people I've met, my wife still loves me, I got a couple great kids that are healthy. I got nothing to complain about.

I look at it that way. Golf, you know, what, it's secondary. If I do well, it's great. If I don't, my kids don't really care, my wife doesn't really care, it's not that big a deal to me.

Obviously I'm competitive. I hate to lose. I love to play well, love to be in this situation. I'm going to do the best I can. Win, lose or draw, when I leave this place, doesn't really matter if I win or not as far as how I'm going to be perceived in my family and in my own self. I don't know. If that answers your question.

Q. (Inaudible)?

BILLY ANDRADE: I haven't played with him in a while. He's great. I love him. He's a good old country boy from North Carolina. I went to college in North Carolina. I went to college with guys just like him.

Q. (Inaudible)?

BILLY ANDRADE: I can talk any way you want me to talk. I can say "Eh," "about" (with a Canadian accent) as well as I can say "Dunkin Donuts" (with a New York accent). He's a breath of fresh air. I'm looking forward to playing with him. He is a piece of work.

MODERATOR: Thank you.

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