JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

July 26, 2002

Fred Funk

TODD BUDNICK: 14-under, back-to-back 64s. Breaks the 36th hole tournament record here. And ties the low for the first 36 holes here this season on the PGA TOUR.

FRED FUNK: Wow.

TODD BUDNICK: Let's go over the card.

FRED FUNK: Birdied 1 from probably about twelve feet. Then I didn't birdie two. That was a boo-boo. Then I think my next birdie was 6. I knocked it about a foot. Then birdied 8, hit it about seven or eight feet. Then knocked it about four feet on 10. And about 15 feet on 11. A foot on 13. And 2-putted 17. And that was it. Again I didn't -- I did miss one fairway by less than a foot on 10 today. And didn't miss any greens again. So probably statistically I missed three greens, but I was less than eight inches on all of them, so statistically maybe 3. My official count is none. (Laughs).

TODD BUDNICK: Let's go ahead, obviously the conditions again today were not.

FRED FUNK: A lot softer than it was yesterday with the -- I heard that's the way it was yesterday morning because I guess they watered it at night and the fairways weren't running as -- really high humidity today, less wind than yesterday, so it was really still. So the course played a little bit longer than yesterday, but still in really good shape, obviously, so if you keep the ball in play, same old thing, you are going to have a lot of shots at birdie because the greens are really receptive to really good shots and they are still putting well. Soft conditions and good greens are a combination for good scoring.

Q. (Inaudible) Can we consider you an old fart?

FRED FUNK: No, I am older than he is. Yeah, he is a real good friend of mine, and there's a handful of us out here like I mentioned yesterday that are in their mid-40s, still playing pretty good, and I think it's good to see. We're not ready to roll over yet.

Q. How do you hang with the youngins' who are banging it out there?

FRED FUNK: I can't play the power game that -- I mean not all the young guys hit it a long way, but most of them seem to. And it's hard to compete with them, and when they are really on their game it's tough to beat them. But, you know, the golf course is as long as I am hitting it, long enough and that's kind of the key for me. When I hit it solid I am hitting it long enough so I have short enough clubs into the greens that I can score with. And so far so good as far as that's concerned.

But in my mind there's no substitute for length. You just can overpower a golf course with a lot of length and have such short shots into the greens, and if a guy is in complete control of his game, that's an overpowering player, they are hard to beat because they are just hitting a lot less clubs. Percentage-wise they are going to have a lot more opportunities.

Q. Can you outthink them? Briny referred to the knowledge and experience...

FRED FUNK: You would think you can, but these kids are pretty darn good thinkers too. They are coming out of college programs and the BUY.COM is very competitive. And the one thing with the BUY.COM, I think is they get used to shooting low numbers out there because they have to and, you know, they are not afraid to making birdies. So that's one mentality that's helping them because they are not afraid to make birdies. The hurdle they got to get over it is that it is the PGA TOUR. It is the step up. And if they don't handle that too well, then that's the one advantage we have as far as being a little older being out here a little bit because we have been in position to do that more often, we hope, than some of the young guys.

But regardless, if they get a real cocky attitude and a good state of mind working out there, then they can compete with anybody too.

Q. When you are playing as well as you are playing the last couple of weeks you almost like not want to think and get in your own way?

FRED FUNK: That's the ideal state to be in. I always said if you could take your brain and put it in your locker and go play golf and just the amount of golf -- I mean amount of rounds we played, and balls we have hit, just play on instinct, then we would be a lot better off. The problem is that we get -- our mind races ahead or races backwards but usually races ahead, and you get in a little panic and the weeks you handle that really well is the weeks you are playing really well usually.

Q. Right now do you kind of just --

FRED FUNK: I really am really hungry for a win. I really want to play well and I want it really bad. I don't want it too bad that I am going to get in my own way. I really just try and concentrate on that shot that's on hand and not think ahead and really just trying to set up as many birdies as I can.

My mindset when I made the turn today was just to set up 9 birdies, just go out there and set up nine holes. I make nine pars, that's fine. But at least try to hit the fairways and get it close to the pin and give yourself opportunities. That's what you need to do when you are playing well, try not to get ahead of yourself. I got a little ahead of myself on -- was 6-under through 13 and was thinking I can just make a couple of more and get my 63 or 62. Then I said stopped, I had to catch myself. All of a sudden I am thinking score. And I didn't want to think score. I wanted to just back off and concentrate on what I am doing. And not think of a number at the end. Just let myself go. That's the only way you can really play. Try your hardest over every shot and hope the results are good. That's what you really need to do.

Q. (Inaudible) walking up the fairway 280 yards?

FRED FUNK: Playing with Peter Jacobsen you are not thinking golf very often, you are talking about a lot of other stuff. We talked a lot about -- we basically fixed all the flaws of the PGA TOUR in two days. And how we can right the ship and if there's any righting of the ship needing to be done; just how to deal with corporate America, you know, how to handle the sponsors and how to sell the Tour because in this day and age you really -- it's getting tough in corporate America. We were out there talking shop and really coming up with who would be our next Commissioner. (Laughs). Peter, he's a lot of fun.

Q. Is that a good pairing for you because of another guy with some experience and background with you --

FRED FUNK: It was fun because well, for one, I was really -- I usually root for the guys I am playing with anyway but I really wanted to see Peter play well, and he's swinging the ball really good. I wanted to see if he can get out of his own way and he did. He let himself play good. I think maybe the last year or so - I don't know how long it has been - but he hasn't been able to get out of his own way and mechanically he's swinging really well. But he won't let himself just let it go. He seems to be on the verge of letting it go right now and enjoying it and trusting it and just seeing what happens. Seeing that I was kind of reminding myself that okay, I wanted to see that in him -- I want to see that in me too. So I was trying to see the same thing. What I was seeing in him I was trying to make sure I was doing too. It was good to see him. Peter and I are really good friends or Peter is good friends with just about everybody so I don't feel any special. But it was good to see him play that well. I think our group -- I mean Pat played real well. He was whining yesterday he was getting lapped he says, man, I feel like I am getting lapped out here. Peter got all over him and said make some birdie and he did. He got to 9-under himself. It was a good group. I think it was 14, 9, 9, and that's a lot of birdies in a group. Stableford we would have been the leading group, I think, with all the birdies we had and a couple of eagles.

Q. Heading into the weekend through 36 holes you are either going to be in the lead or near the lead. (Inaudible) --

FRED FUNK: I feel really good mainly coming off such a good week last week. I played really good the last three rounds and I felt really good on Sunday. I was in contention. I felt like I was enjoying the moment, and I ended up birdieing the last two holes to kind of steal second or was handed second basically, but was making a run at it. I was standing on 16 knowing I needed to make three birdies because Spike was already in. And I didn't birdie 16 and then birdied 17 so now I am out in the middle of the fairway thinking I have got hole it. I knocked it about five feet, and felt good about that. And I enjoyed it. It was fun. I wasn't nervous at all. I was kind of in the moment, and when you are in that kind of thinking mode I think you can really perform your best and that's what I was doing last week. If I can keep doing that here, and not like you said earlier not get in my own way and go play, then I shouldn't have a problem. I don't have too many moving parts in my swing so I shouldn't have -- usually when I hit a bad shot, it is just a straight push or a straight pull. It's not much of a curve to it. And that's -- with that in mind, I just try to let myself go and swing and trust it, and usually good things happen when I do do that. Bad things happen when I don't trust it.

Q. Did you do anything different in the off-season; played less, more?

FRED FUNK: No, I haven't. I just -- the West Coast I putted ridiculously well. It wasn't that I hit the ball that great. I hit it really good at Tucson but I just was getting up-and-down. I was making great par saves. I was making, you know, enough birdies, but biggest thing out there I just wasn't making that many bogeys because I was getting up-and-down so much. My putter was hot through Doral then it went just dead ice cold for like two months and then it's just come back around this last week - two weeks.

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