INTERVIEW OF MARK WIEBE

DAVE SENKO:  No bogey, 65? 

MARK WIEBE:  Yes.  Well, what do I say? I played pretty good.  I'm not feeling all that great, so I'm glad it's over, and I get to rest.  The course is in really nice shape, really, really nice shape, and I'm sure a lot of birdies today.  But this golf course you can make some bad numbers on real quick.  I kind of kept my game plan and kept it in the fairway and get it on the green.  I putted really well today.

Q.            You had 12 one putts?

MARK WIEBE:  Yes, well, I putted real well. I had a great feel today with my putting. The pace was really good.  I didn't let anything good too far away from me. I played with new wedges in my bag and a new driver in my bag today.  So I was happy with the way I drove the ball. You know, I played good. Again, the course is in great shape. You know, if you get it going on the right track, you get a chance to shoot low. 

Q.            Birdies, do you remember the sequence of shots starting right out at No. 10?

MARK WIEBE: Yes, 10, I hit it right down the middle and hit a 7‑iron to, I'm guessing here, I'm going to say 12 or 13 feet. 

11, I hit driver. I hit it right down the middle and hit a sand wedge, a pretty good shot, a little long, that was probably more like 15 feet. 

14, I hit a real good drive, really, really nice drive and I hit an 8‑iron, not quite a 8‑iron, and I hit it to about a foot.  Those high percentage putts. Those are fun. 

And then the par‑5, maybe that was the turning point in my round.  I hit a drive a little bit to the right and it landed in the fairway.  It bounced and kind of ‑‑ it didn't fry egg or anything --  but it plugged a little bit right on top of the lip of the fairway bunker.  So I had 263 to the hole, and I was trying to figure out just how to make contact with a 5‑iron, and I hit a really nice shot from this lie. 

The ball was about even with my waist.  I had to choke up to the metal and just kind of get it back into the fairway and it came out nice, and I hit an 8‑iron to about ten feet and made it for birdie.  So it was looking not very well, and all of a sudden I make a birdie. 

18, I think is my next birdie, I had a pretty good drive right down the middle of the fairway just in an old divot.  I tried to hit a 3‑wood and run it up there, the pin was on the front, and I ran it just halfway up that hill, short of the green there and then had a little chip and run shot that I hit up there probably two or three feet maybe, two and a half or three feet. 

3, again, we waited for about 20 minutes. That hole there was a big backup. I hit a pretty good drive after waiting that long.  I ended up having a 60 degree wedge in.  I hit a decent shot. It went kind of to the back edge and that was my bomb for the day.  That was about a 25‑foot putt, I guess. It went right in the middle.  So with the poa annua, you never know. You kind of hold your breath. It's rolling pretty good and you wonder if it's going to stay there or bound around a little bit, but that one was nice.

DAVE SENKO:   Is your son going to be able to make it up? 

MARK WIEBE:  I can't remember.  They are going to Fresno for their next tournament.  I don't know when they leave.  I know he had practice this morning.  It would be nice if he can come up, but I totally understand, he has his own schedule.

DAVE SENKO:   Questions. 

Q.            Mark, you said you were sick, cold?

MARK WIEBE:  Yes, I guess, I had a sore throat.  I watched Gunner play on Monday and Tuesday at North Ranch. My son is playing in the USC tournament. He plays for the University of San Diego. 

I went up and watched him play 36 holes on Monday, and 18 on Tuesday, and then I drove down and practiced and started feeling not very good. 

I went to Titleist on Wednesday morning.  I did a lot of work down there on some clubs and stuff.  7 a.m. Thursday, I felt like I have just been behind trying to catch up.  I think I fell asleep at 7:30 last night.  It's just kind of got me. You know, what are you going to do.

Q.            Do you subscribe to that theory of, be aware of the sick golfer?

MARK WIEBE:  I will tell you, I knew this going into the round. Your expectations are pretty low when you don't feel well.  I was really concerned at the beginning when I got here on Tuesday afternoon, my speed didn't feel right in putting. But I got it, putted so good today. Who knows?

All I know is my expectations were low and I knew that pars were great. I got it going, I shot 5‑under on my first nine. 

And I thought if I can just focus and keep my focus for the rest of the rounds, it would be great. 

And when I made my last putt I looked at my caddy, and he said, nice playing.  I said, I'm glad it's over.  I want to go lay down.

Q.            What do you plan on doing the rest of the day?

MARK WIEBE:  I've got some friends here from high school and college.  I'm going to go talk to them for a while and then probably go have some soup and go to bed.  That real exciting life I lead right now.

Q.            Bogey‑free round on this course, sick or not, you got to be happy with that?

MARK WIEBE: You know, I'm extremely happy. I didn't know I was bogey‑free until my caddy told me on the last hole, when I picked my ball out of the cup.  He said, all right, first bogey‑free round of the year. I had no idea, which kind of tells me that my head was in the right place.  I  stand right where I needed to be, on this shot, right now.  I never got ahead of myself at all.  I never looked back at anything that I had done or second‑guessed anything. 

Again I was just so busy trying to keep my focus.  When you don't feel good, sometimes you start thinking about how good you're not feeling instead of golf, and I was determined to not let that happen.  I can be a baby now and thank, God, I don't feel really good.  But had I felt good, I probably wouldn't have shot as low today. 

I'm real real happy with bogey‑free on this golf course.  This is tricky, as you all know. 

You can just all of a sudden hit one shot into the trees, or hit a goofy shot into a green, and you are above the cup, and you are begging, you are just begging.

Q.            Especially when you have 2 par‑3s, 8 and 17?

MARK WIEBE:  Yes, 8 played like a booger again today.  I hit a 3‑iron there is hard as I could.  I was just happy to be putting.  If you can be putting.  Even if you are off the green, if you can be putting you feel like have you a chance to make a par. 

17 played hard.  That was our eighth hole today. 17, we weren't sure where to land it. 

I was up on the tee first, and the wind is blowing. The pin was in the back tier, and I landed it on the lower portion of the green and it had no problem going to the back fringe. That's a tough hole. The wind swirls in there. All of those people are sadistic that sit up in their seats there. You hear all of the sound effects. You can close your eyes and know how the guy hit it that you are playing with. 

Q.            With the weather was there any thought of withdrawing?

MARK WIEBE:  No, no.  I'm not deathly ill.  I just don't feel good. I'm sorry I don't feel good.  We don't get to play that much on the West Coast. I grew up in Escondido. I usually love the weather and love the golf courses.  I grew up on poa annua greens. We've been on Bermuda, and I didn't fare too well down in Florida on the Bermuda.  I was anxious to get on actually anything other than Bermuda.  So it was nice to come to the poa annua greens and then have a day like I did today.

Q.            Are you pretty excited?  I don't know if it was your off season but Gunner's qualifying for the Farmer's Insurance Open?

MARK WIEBE:  That was my off season, I was way excited. We were stoked for him. It was a great experience for him, fantastic. I don't know if he could have learned anymore than he did that week because he played real well on the South course, and I think that day he learned, you know, he is pretty close to having the same talent as the guys on the TOUR. And on the North course he had his lunch handed to him, and I think he learned that he needs to stay in the present and not think ahead of himself. So it was a very valuable experience. 

He came right back the next week and finished third in their tournament that they host, and they won.  The team one. 

I was a little worried about him.  I know he was really down after Friday's round on the North course, but he really rebounded and had a nice finish at their tournament.  I'm tickled for him.  He is 21, you know.  I kind of still remember that.  It was a long time ago.

Q.            Can he beat you now?

MARK WIEBE:  Oh, yes, we went head‑to‑head this summer pretty hard, believe me. It was about 50/50.  When he beats me, I let him know I'm spotting him 60 yards off the tee, he should beat me.  When I beat him, I don't mention how long he is.

DAVE SENKO:  Is your daughter in high school now?

MARK WIEBE:  One daughter graduated from Stanford this past June and I have one more daughter getting ready for college.  This is her senior year in high school.

DAVE SENKO:  Is she playing any sport? 

MARK WIEBE:  She is a big soccer player. They are in basketball, near the playoffs right now, waiting for soccer to start, I think.

Q.            The back 9, do you come at it with the back 9 being a little bit easier, is that where you are going to try to attack on the holes and par is a good score or does it matter?

MARK WIEBE:  I'm not good enough to do that, to plot my way around. I take it when I can get it.  As soon as you think you can rip up a 9, you are going to shoot bad on it. I don't know. We have two par‑5s on one 9 and one on the other. 

But if you are hitting the ball pin‑high, these greens aren't that big. If you are pin‑high on most of the greens out here, you've got a shot at it.  If you are pin‑high on a couple of them you better have your lagging game.  No. 7, don't get above the cup. Actually it might be easier if you are above the cup than if you were pin‑high because you got to play so much break depending on what side of the hole you are on, it's breaking. 

Other than that green, if you can be pin‑high, you are up a lot of chances. I don't think that we as players ever think about what 9 we're on, we just want to make birdies and putts.  We are all the same as far as that goes.

DAVE SENKO:   Thanks, Mark.