DORAL-RYDER OPEN

March 5, 2000

Franklin Langham

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: I did.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Got to shoot lower (laughs). What do you say, the day started out good. I have already been asked about the six-shot lead I had and, heck, it was great at the time. But I was never going to be comfortable unless I was standing on 18 with a six-shot lead or something. I kept -- every time my mind would try to jump forward, I'd always just go back to my swing keys and how I want to execute each shot and there is only a couple of guys that could have caught me with a round like that and Jim went out and did. He shot 65. He would have had to shoot 66 to beat me, and he did. What a great round. My hat is off to him. He shot 30 on the back nine. I gave him a little bit of light, he took advantage of it. My hat is off to him.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: No. Like I said, I just -- I have played a lot with Jim. Heck, I expect him to make every put he stands over. I knew if given the opportunity, he could. There is still a lot of birdie holes out there. Your mind flashes forward, wow, this is great and I just -- every time it would do that, I just prepared myself to just block it out just go, okay, you are ahead, don't worry about it. Just think about what has gotten you here. Don't let up. I didn't. I'd hit a couple of shots that I'd like to have back. That is golf. You are not going to hit every shot perfect. Came to 18, hit two of the best shots of the day and I was very happy with the way I finished. I don't feel like I folded or anything like that. I played great this week. I am not going to argue about 21-under par.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: No, I was sweating. The wind stopped today and I was hot out there. I was using that towel all day.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: I get like I need to birdie 18 to have a chance. I gave it a good roll and didn't quite make it. After he hit it close the people were going nuts on 18. I said, hey, let's hole it. Someone has done it - it's been done before. I hit -- the shot went right over the pitch. I couldn't have hit it any better, just a little bit long.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: 148.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: My mind is a blur. Ten feet. It was straight down the hill and it was hanging left-to-right and I might have hit it a little bit through the break, but I wasn't going to be short. I ran it four feet by. Heck, you got this far, don't cozy it down there. I needed to make it. I tried to play a little less break; made sure I got it there; didn't go in.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Little easy 8-iron. 155 -- that is my 155 club, just tried to smooth an 8-iron in there.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: 17.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Yeah, that was one of the ones that shocked me coming in. Hit a pretty good tee shot there. The ball -- just my ball is going so far today, it felt like maybe it was adrenaline. I don't know. You learn from it. But, yeah, it just got out of the first cut, just right into that second cut, ball was kind of sitting against the next cut of the rough and it was just -- it was one of those things, you know, you just shake your head, you don't want -- by no means -- I didn't give up. By golly, what a bad break at a wrong time. I had to take it wide. I couldn't take a chance at catching the palm tree. As long as I got it up there somewhere near the green, I still was in the ballgame. It just came out dead straight with no spin on it, just a knuckle ball. I guess you saw it ran through the bunker, it was so hot.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: I misread it just a little bit. I thought the grain was not as strong as it was. I think I missed it on the low side. I had read it as an inside left putt. It broke just a little bit more than that.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Yeah, I felt good. I felt in control of myself. It's a hard thing. I mean, I had to go through last night and for the first time leading the tournament after three rounds and didn't really feel like eating. Got up this morning; ate a little bit, but that is all part of it and learning to deal with it. Heck, guys more likely than not, you know you have to get here a few times before you win one. This has been -- this was probably my third really good chance to win a golf tournament out here on Tour. Actually, two, probably Tiger is playing so good in Disney I don't know if I have had a chance but I played well there.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Deposit Guaranty when Fred Funk won two years ago?

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Thanks, Lee.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Well, somebody asked me that downstairs, if I am standing here ten years from now and done the same thing and hadn't won one yet, then it would be devastating. It is not devastating to me yet. I am only in my fourth year on Tour. My time will come. It just wasn't meant to be today. I would have like for it to have been, but sometimes you can't control that. That is golf. That is what makes this sport so good.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: No, I didn't do anything crazy or dumb. I just had a couple of errant shots, bad breaks. I don't want to -- I don't even like to say bad breaks -- it was only one on 17 that kind of baffled me a little bit how far the drive went. That is golf. You got to deal with it. You got to roll with the punches. If you don't have a tough chin you won't be out here long. There are a lot of good guys that played awesome this week by the scores; unfortunately there is only one winner - that is the great thing about it and the tough thing about it all in one.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: No, not really. You can't look behind you. All I can do is what I can do and I just said I went out there trying to birdie every hole without me doing stupid things. I went out there, especially the way I started I was playing so good birdied the first three holes, made a great up-and-down on 4 and felt just really in control of myself. And like I said, I can't control what the other guys do, you know, they are back there. I looked at the scoreboard on 17 just before Jim had made his putt, just to see, and after he went 1-up then that kind of negated me looking because I was -- I had to go for it then. I had to try to make birdie on 18.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: No.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: I knew where I was with Jim, but I knew he was playing good and I didn't think anybody would be playing better than he was. It kind of got to be Match Play, I guess you could say, the last five holes or so.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: No, like I said, I hit two of the best shots of the day on 18. Killed the drive and hit a great 8-iron. I mean, I don't know, like I said, couple of the shots, 13, I hit it a little too far, maybe the shots that seemed to bother me were the ones that went too far a couple of times. Maybe that was adrenaline more than nerves when you are hitting the ball so good. I had one on the front nine -- what hole was it, No. 6, hit a 9-iron that went probably 155. That is only my 8-iron club. So you got to learn to manage that too and that is one thing I learned when you get going and you are hitting the ball good, you probably hit the ball a little further; that adrenaline gets you pumping, so, no, I didn't really feel -- even when he hit it close on 15, I hit a good shot in there. I had the putt dead in the tracks. Greens probably grew a little bit late in the day. It was going down grain, going with the grain. Came up six inches, a foot short, but I hit a good putt there. What do you do? I don't know.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Yeah, but it really wasn't -- I'd rather have the putt back, you know, that was the one that I have been making those all week. Yeah, that was kind of a squirly shot. I ended up being okay over there; was trying to bring the ball in from right-to-left; kind of hung it in a little bit. It caught the right side of the green, kicked right. Good chip up there and really felt good about the putt. It is -- just one reason or another didn't go in, but yeah, those -- that swing was probably the one that I was kind of like: What happened there, but other than that, I felt like I hit the ball pretty good on the back. Hit some great shots coming in.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: He just said: Your time will come and Jim is a good guy. We have been friends for -- played buy.com Tour together, played a lot of golf together, and he knows it's hard -- everybody knows it is hard to win out here. It is a shame we all play some really good golf this week, but like I said, there is only one winner. He is very much a gentleman.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: I felt pretty confident. I felt like, hey, that was a shot that went too far; couldn't believe how far that ball went. That was only ten feet right of the pin. It went through the green. But actually I had a pretty decent chip at it. I made it. All of a sudden that gives you confidence every time I had gotten -- the other time was on 7 I made the putt for par. When I hit the iron shot a little long and left and that gives you confidence. You feel like, hey, I am going to keep swinging and if I miss it, I figure I can get it up-and-down; my odds are pretty good. I felt good with all the clubs. I hit actually a pretty good shot, really tough lie on 17 there with the first chip shot and it was one of those, once it lands on the green, it is going to take off.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Until you told me that, I didn't even know it was 6 with 7 to play. I am being totally honest. I just kept saying -- because as soon as you do that, then you set yourself up for failure, I think. Like I said, I wasn't going to be comfortable until I got to 18 and had a big lead or something, which I, unfortunately, didn't have, but I knew I was leading. I knew I pretty much was gauging myself against Jim and my caddie I knew would let me know if something else was going on. But he was the one playing good and the one that can catch me.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: I think it helps a lot. You heard a lot of guys say the first win is the toughest. This is his 6th. He was in a position where he hit some great golf shots coming in. I know he had nerves going to, but he was going right at it. He had all to gain; nothing to lose. Jim is a great player and heck, last three years he is one of the best players in the world out here. It shows by his record. He has played great every year, and played great on the Ryder Cup and stuff like that, so he has been through a lot of that and he probably had situations like this that I had today. He has been in my shoes before and probably draws from instances like that. It makes you a better player. Hopefully next time maybe the shoe will be on the other foot for me against whoever it is.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: I don't know yet. I will sit down and think about it. I am not trying to avoid the question. I just -- I just got done. Sure, I am disappointed, but I am not disheartened. It let me know that I can win. If you can lead a tournament for three days and play good golf like I did today you can win a golf tournament out here. Unfortunately, I would have liked for it to have been today, but it wasn't meant to be. I will sit down and think about it and draw positives from it and go from there.

FRANKLIN LANGHAM: Yeah. I don't know maybe so, I just -- I knew what I had to do but I knew what I had to do on 16, 17 and 18. I hit a great 3-wood and pretty good sand wedge, went a little far on 16. 17, like I said, I hit a pretty good drive that just ran through the fairway; wasn't like it was -- that drive was very similar to the drive I hit on 18 that went a long way, but there is nothing out there on 18 to block you. I don't know. Heck, I will sure draw a positive from that. My back was against the wall and I had two of the best shots of the day when I needed to. Unfortunately the putt didn't go in. I would have like for him to have had to have made his, but didn't happen like that.

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