Jim Furyk JOHN BUSH: We will get started Jim Furyk with a five under par 67. Jim, you played Spyglass Hill today. Comment on the record and the conditions over there for us. JIM FURYK: Where were we at five under today? JOHN BUSH: Five under 67. JIM FURYK: Obviously real happy with the way I played at Spyglass. Not an easy golf course. Obviously early on we started out the weather was actually quite nice, relatively warm. I got through the holes out on there on the ocean without much wind. About the time we got to the 8th hole or so the wind was slow picking up, about five, six, seven, eight nine, started blowing pretty hard. Tough conditions for the last ten holes for me. I played real well the back nine, shot five under. I'm happy with the day, the score, and looks like we have got some very difficult conditions coming up. It's supposed to rain next couple of days, showers on Sunday, and I didn't see a temperature in the 60s, so it's going to be quite cool and hopefully not too windy. JOHN BUSH: Questions? JIM FURYK: I just covered it all. Questioner: Jim looks like you had a bit of an up and down on the front nine there. Could you talk a little about that? JIM FURYK: I made a bad double bogey at six, drove the ball perfect, hit a bad lie in there, was playing long into the wind. Flared one out over the right, short right, hit a bunker, there was another bunker between me and the bring kind of faded out to the bunker in front of me, missed a 15-footer, I turned... it's been real difficult up and down but I turned a five into a six and wasted a shot there and was disappointed. 8 was playing tough. It was a hard ball up the hill, wind left to right. I drove it okay but I let my iron slide, hit the bunker behind it, wasn't able to get the ball up and down. Made it, actually ended up hitting my first putt by and making a four footer coming back. Made bogey there. Made three birdies to cover them up but you are going to make some bogeys on Spyglass, especially these conditions. I guess really not the only disappointment I have is I didn't do a good job on 6. I looked at the damage, I hit a bad shot, it's okay if you make bogey but. Questioner: Have you played Spy well, is that somewhere you may take? JIM FURYK: I think when conditions are good the scores are probably the highest at Spyglass. I have had some good rounds there, actually my first time in this event I shot four or five or six under out there. I enjoy the golf course, it's probably my, put me on the 6th tee it's probably my favorite golf course of the three. The holes are interesting, the 2, 3, 4, 5, but I love the tree-lined fairways and the look of it from 6 on. It's incredible. I can play a lot of golf out there and have fun. Questioner: When conditions are tough out here, is the place you don't want to be? JIM FURYK: Right. I have to think this afternoon for those guys stuck out there on the water this was definitely the toughest scoring because you are just, the elements are right there. You don't have trees to protect you, there is no place to hide. It was blowing pretty good today, it was still whipping on the backside at Spyglass pretty good at spots. I guess nothing like it was down there on 3, 4 and 5 in the afternoon, so I'm glad I got through there. Questioner: Some equipment change I hear? JIM FURYK: I've been working. I guess I should apologize for anyone that was here. I was supposed to show up yesterday and I was practicing and I whiffed, so I apologize. It was my fault. Questioner: We were here till 8:00 waiting for you. JIM FURYK: I know that's not true. Jake is playing behind me, he said there was a few people hanging around. But anyway, it was my fault. And yeah, I've been working on equipment. I had a driver break on me in November, and not being out on the road, not being out on tour, it's a little tougher to work on at home without some of the equipment trailers and that to work with. You know, you think in this day and age with as good as we are at making equipment, measuring equipment would be easier than that to get a replacement but I really haven't been that happy with my driver. I wasn't happy with the driver that I played in Hawaii. Or the one I played actually even when I won in December, the Nedbank, I still wasn't real happy or confident with that driver. And I just had a hard time matching up with the rest of my set and I was a little disappointed. I thought I was on to something earlier this week and I didn't like the way I drove the ball yesterday in the practice round. I went back to the practice tee and just got out three hours later, I forgot about my appointment here. Actually I drove the ball well, I drove the ball well I think the work I put in yesterday really helped. I wore myself out, if I hit a couple hundred drivers yesterday but it helped. So a new driver in the bag today and it seems to match up with my set. Questioner: What is it? JIM FURYK: It's a new Taylor Made, actually. Questioner: What broke? JIM FURYK: A six iron. Obviously being Srixon person, it's the second driver I've broke in two years. And the other one was a nonSrixon before I was with the company, so I kind of split the face, got a little crack, it's common. The bombers do it. Quite often you will hear about it put a new one in play, little pea shooters like me wear that like a badge of honor rather than getting upset, but I don't think my 282 average is wearing out any driver faces, I had a couple split and one was the Srixon. I just love it. I hit it all year last year, I put it in play here at this event. Played it all year and loved it. And I went to China, played an event and it broke in the middle of the tournament and I haven't... I had one happen at the year before at Flint right before the PGA. I was scrambling trying to get a driver I like. It takes time. You think by mid-November, by the time February 1 rolled around I would have something I really liked and it just hasn't been. But today I was pleasantly surprised and hopefully that will keep up. Questioner: You think the logical follow-through, the weather gets worse. It's going to take a better player, more experienced player and therefore maybe that's an advantage for someone like No. 2 in the world and No. 5 and 6 and 9, some of those guys or not? Does it matter at all? JIM FURYK: Possibly. By, you know, when I was ranked 50th in the world, no one really paid as much attention. I felt I could grind it out, play in tough conditions I think a lot of it here is you still have to have... you have to play well but you also, when the weather is bad you want to get through certain spots and you want to catch Pebble on a nice day, you have to play well, but you also... I've played this event when the weather was perfect on Thursday and Friday and played Spy and Poppy on Saturday it blew 20 and was miserable. I got stuck at Pebble Beach, there is not much you can do. It's the toughest courses. I really wish my rotation would have been a little different that year. So you need to play well, but you also hopefully get a good draw and the weather hits your rounds the way you would like it to, so. Three courses that stuff is going to happen. Questioner: You mentioned rotation. Most players would be happy to sort of have Spyglass out of the way, given the forecast. Is it a little unsettling to have two rounds at Pebble, what that could be with the elements. JIM FURYK: We all play together on Sundays, so you don't worry about that as much. You know, no, it's not real unsettling because you can't really worry about anything, you can't predict, go out and play as hard as you can. And there is times where I've looked at the weather before a tournament started and said geez, I'm going to get a bad break going early, late, it ended being the other way. It could be raining a little cool or raining but if the wind is not blowing it will be fine. It's more I think when you are playing at Pebble you worry more about the wind and being out there on the ocean and getting hit pretty hard on 3, 4, 5 all the way through. You know, ten and eleven, before you get a little bit away from the ocean, but there isn't a lot of protection on the course and it really shows its teeth when the elements are out. Questioner: To clarify, on the driving range yesterday were you trying a lot of different drivers or the one driver today that you liked today? JIM FURYK: I tried two drivers yesterday on the range. I modified the one I'm playing right now a little bit. So it was kind of a third. I tried two and I reshafted one of those, so kind of three. JOHN BUSH: Real quick, Jim No. 6 and 8 out of the way birdied all four par 5s. Take us through those birdies No. 1. JIM FURYK: Again that's my wedge. I drove it, laid up on one, with a 5 iron hit a gap wedge to about three feet to start out the day. Made birdie there. I birdied par 5? I did 4, 4, 3 wood off the tee 9 iron ended up about oh, probably just couple of feet. And then off to 7 I hit a driver 3 wood just short right of the green and I hit a bad pitch to 15 feet but was able to make the putt I had an easy pitch, bad shot. But knocked it in and we talked about 8. My next birdie was No. 10. I hit a driver and a gap wedge to about five feet 11 I hit a driver and my hybrid just short of the green pitched it up to about oh, three four feet. Knocked it in for birdie. And then 14, last par 5 I hit a driver I laid up there and then I hit my gap wedge again but I protected a little, it was up on the front over the bunker and protected, knocked it 25 feet in and knocked in a pretty good one there. And the last birdie was 17, 3 wood and I chipped a little 9 iron from about 111 trying to keep it under the wind and keep it from spinning back on the green like I've done for about the last eight years and ten feet behind the pin and knocked that in. Actually I missed one. I missed 15. JOHN BUSH: Par 3. JIM FURYK: I chipped a little 9 iron there to inches, two three inches. JOHN BUSH: Anything else? Questioner: You joked about your 282 average. On those courses the common wisdom seems the length isn't as huge an advantage here? But how do you take that with the weather coming in, is the play much longer? JIM FURYK: With the greens being this soft and the rain coming in, it kind of... it tends to... I don't think it plays to the long hitters because even if I'm hitting three iron, as long as I can stop a three iron it's fine. I might be hitting 5, 6 iron where length is a big issue where greens are very firm, very hard, you know. You get major championship, and I think the place like Augusta in the past in the past it used to be a lot approximate more wide. They have tightened it. In the past the greens were an issue. You could hit a driver any time pretty much get a driver where you could put some spin on the ball, stop it. The average length guys on the fairway with a 5 iron versus 8 is a big way, but if they are soft you can stop it's okay. I tend to pick and choose my schedule a little bit more. If it's kind of bomb's paradise in a place where it's not that tight off the tee hit it a few different spots just bomb it and don't have to hit a lot of shots around it, I tend to want to take weeks off and wait till I find some spots where I feel my game is more well suited. So. Questioner: Pea Shooter Open. JIM FURYK: It doesn't make, I just have a... like kind of the older architectural style hits some draws and cuts and working with these drivers, I'm not hitting it over many bunkers, I have to be able to hit the ball. I'm hitting around a lot more stuff than I am over. Questioner: Just curious, any thoughts on the International? JIM FURYK: It's a shame. I heard that yesterday I was surprised I heard in the past couple weeks while I was home bumping around with some of the people that work for the TOUR I thought the events, I know I was struggling but I thought they had found a sponsor last minute and it was going to be fine. And I was sad to hear that there is not going to be an international this year. So, it's an event I don't know how long it was on the schedule, but probably 25 years. Questioner: 21. JIM FURYK: 21 years. It's sad. Mr. Vickers worked really hard. And all the people that put a lot of time in, volunteers, all the dollars raised for... Denver is a big, a great city, and so it will be missed in our schedule. And there is not really much more you can say. It's, I guess it happens but you feel for all the people that really spent a lot of time to put on such a good event and just do good things in their community. Questioner: Jack said today golf is pretty much a one-man show in terms of his perception. JIM FURYK: Jack Vickers? Questioner: Basically if Tiger played it or said he would play it a couple years in a six-year contract they would have been fine. Is that a fair way to look at it or is it putting too much heat on one guy? JIM FURYK: Well, you know what? I'm probably not well versed enough to answer that from a business aspect. I haven't sat in the same meetings and contracts and looked at the television ratings and studied the stuff the way Mr. Vickers has. You know I think our... so I probably can't answer that question as intelligently as I would like to. I think our tour would like to believe that... that there is other players that can carry tours as a group rather than one person. But you know ultimately you have to look at it Tiger has really helped and been a driving force in the elevation of the tour, and you know and television contracts, and our purses going up, whatever, and just golf becoming a bigger sport for us professionally since he has been a golf professional. So I think there is probably a lot of truth in that but I would hope that as a group we could also put on a good show. So. But Mr. Vickers would have a, you know, would definitely anything I would say to rebut that comment would, you know I wouldn't have any ground to stand on. I wouldn't be speaking on any knowledge. Questioner: One of the feelings that had come up from Mr. Vickers at some point also was that you guys being in a position of playing every tournament at least once every X amounts of years. Would you be in favor of that or is that something that just can't happen given the structure of the tour? JIM FURYK: Well... Questioner: Do you want to go back the birdies and bogeys? JIM FURYK: It was a more fun conversation. The birdie part especially. The double at 6 wasn't all that fun, but you know I think if you give me my cake and let me eat it too, obviously I want to be able to pick and choose my schedule. Theoretically I'm an independent contractor. And I believe in that. And as we talked about before, I don't want to go play events that I don't feel suit my game. I want to pick and choose my schedule to prepare for the events that are most important to me. So I would like to do that. Do I think it's impossible? No. But you know, I think there could be... there could come a time and age when is that would happen. But if I had to pick my... if I had my druthers on which way I would rather go, I guess I would rather be able to dictate where I played and when and you know, the difficult part about the whole question is that all the players are in... you know, we are in competition against each other, obviously. Golf tournaments there is 43 events give or take one, or two, and you know they are in every bit as much or more competition amongst themselves for getting fields and television rating and keeping sponsors happy and the whole idea. Raising charity dollars and they are if a lot of competition amongst themselves and you know as a player, you know, there is a couple very popular events on tour that I don't play because for one reason or another scheduling, golf course, whatever it may be but for the most part we tend to congregate in certain areas and I don't mean that is a shot to international because it was a wonderful golf tournament I thought it was fun I liked the format, and... but you know, I like the fact that we get to pick and choose where we want to play. I want to play the Colonials of the world, and Westchester country clubs and although I guess I don't have my choice, one of the FedEx play-offs, but I want to play on some of those courses and there is a few that no offense that just don't suit my style of game I would rather stay home. JOHN BUSH: All right. Jim, thanks for coming by. JIM FURYK: Thank you, appreciate it.