An interview with:
GARY McCORD
GARY McCORD: What would you guys like to know? I shot 73;
2 over par. The golf course is very tricky. I had a lot of crosswinds
out there today. You got to get the ball into the fairway, number
one, then from there you control your distance on to the greens,
then you putt up the hill. That's as simple as can I get it. If
you don't do that you get out of position, then you get frustrated
getting back into position through the rest of the hole. It's
entertaining to say the least.
Q. (Inaudible)?
GARY McCORD: I only got once. I did a dumb and dumber on
the 8th hole which was my 17th hole. I tried to get a 5-wood up
by the green and I didn't realize it was in a peninsula over here
by North Korea that you couldn't get close to so I kept chipping
around and finally bogeyed the hole and I was right in front of
the green. That's why I'm in the stupid box right here. Only one
stupid for me; that's not bad, one stupid.
Chet, don't you say a word. Not one word.
Anything else? I'm 6 foot 2, 187 pounds. I'm getting old,
my back is bad.
Q. How good is a 66 out here today?
GARY McCORD: Good, very good. That's very good. Tom
is playing well. It's the kind of golf course, you know, Tom
is going to play well. He played in the Open, played well there,
did a good job there and this golf course is right there. If you
can get the ball in the fairway and do what you got to do, you
can handle it, once you got uphill putts.
Q. How many tournaments did you play in?
GARY McCORD: I played PGA and last week; those
are the first three times. I'm not ready. It's a work in progress.
Q. You are not ready; 73 is not all that bad?
GARY McCORD: You know, you got to work your way around it,
and I get frustrated on this golf course. It's a very short golf
course. You don't have to get up and kill it on every tee like
we did at Aronimink. This is in position; in position. A nice
chess match. And a guy like Watson is going to do
well here. He can chess you to death. I don't know if there is
such a word. We will make one up. "Chess you to death."
Q. Rain?
GARY McCORD: Yes, it's supposed to get ugly, 50- to 60-mile-an-hour
winds.
Q. Did it surprise you out there today?
GARY McCORD: Pin placements out there are very entertaining.
Q. Can we talk about the ones on the back side?
GARY McCORD: Just every one of them. It was very entertaining,
if you've put a pin on top of an igloo and putted; that's what
it is out there, every put. Don't hit too hard; it's going to
the other side. Don't hit too short; it will come back at you.
That's kind of what it is.
Q. How did you feel out there?
GARY McCORD: I didn't hurt myself. I'm still standing up,
barely.
Q. Was there an injury?
GARY McCORD: I have an ongoing back problem. I haven't played
much. I haven't played much. I haven't practiced a lot. No, I
don't think that's going to work. So I'm over to the trucks right
now to get the muscle spasms settled down a little bit. I play
very good in pain.
Q. How many drivers?
GARY McCORD: Drivers; five maybe. Four or five is all. Yes,
you use your 3-wood to death out there. I played with Bob
Gilder. I don't think he missed a fairway, did he? He didn't miss
a fairway. First cut maybe a couple of times. Thank you very much.
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