What they said: Mark O'Meara

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MODERATOR: 31 on the back and 7-under 65. Nice playing in the first round.

MARK O'MEARA: Thanks. It's nice to get off to a good start. Certainly bogeying the first hole wasn't the best way to get the day started, but relative to certainly being in Dubai last week and then bouncing back over and kind of fighting off a head cold over the weekend, not feeling my best, I'm certainly pleased with the round today.

I putted well. I managed myself well out there today and I kind got a couple of good breaks. The hole in the bunker shot on 14 was a good break because I kind of hit it a little bit heavy and kind of chunked and run it up there, so it was about as perfect as it could go in. We can go over the round real quick if you want.

MODERATOR: Yeah.

MARK O'MEARA: First hole, I blocked my drive in the right bunker and I had a wedge, kind of fatted it to the left front bunker, blasted out to about 10 feet, missed that for bogey.

The birdie on 3, let me think what I did there. Trying to remember that hole. I hit a good drive and I hit a good 3-wood right off the front of the green, pitched it to about six inches, birdie.

Number 6, I hit a good 7-iron, it was downwind, to about eight feet, made that for birdie. 7, I hit a good drive, 3-wood just off the right side of the green, hit a good pitch shot to about eight feet, made that for birdie. Two under on the front.

10, I hit a 3-wood off the tee, pitching wedge to about 12 feet, made that for birdie. 12, the par 5, I had a good drive, hit a rescue club off the back left edge, pitched it down there to about six feet and made that for birdie. Made a good par save on the next hole, made about an eight-footer for par on the next hole, hit it in the right bunker, blasted out and made the putt. And then the eagle on 14, I hit a good drive, hit a 3-wood up in the right front bunker about pin high. I don't know how long the bunker shot was, probably 40 yards, 30, I was just off the green, pin high, probably about a 70-foot bunker shot, something like that. Kind of hit it heavy, but it was a downslope and it kind of ran right in and plopped in the middle of the hole. The birdie on 17, I hit a good drive and hit an 8-iron to about 14 feet and made that for birdie.

MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. Is there any issue with the travel halfway across the world and picking up one week right into the next?

MARK O'MEARA: Not really. You know, it was probably a benefit to miss the cut. I felt going over there that I was playing well, going to Dubai, and I just putted bad. I really did, I didn't put very well. I had like 67 putts for two days and I missed the cut.

So I came back on the early Saturday morning flight and I arrived back in Houston Saturday morning, so I just hung out on the weekend because I felt awful, wheezing and sneezing and coughing and stuffy head and just miserable. But I went and practiced on Monday and hit it all right. The jet lag, you know, not too bad. All my life, I traveled a lot more than other American players, played around the globe a lot. I seemed to always do very fairly well with the jet lag. I never really use that as an excuse.

So today I think the best thing was, I noticed I bent my putter about a degree flatter when I was home this weekend because I think maybe it was a little too upright. Bruce Davidson, who's been teaching me in Houston, he's like, you know, even in the Senior Skins game, I noticed the toe was off the ground a lot, which sometimes my toe is off the ground a little bit. So he said, Why don't we try it, let's bend it a degree flatter. So we did and I putted really well today, I really did.

But I spent some time in the weekend putting in my backyard. I have an artificial turf putting green in my backyard in Houston so I spent time trying to keep my head steady and worked a little on my stroke. It seemed to pay off today for sure because I hit a lot of good putts, I made a lot of three- to five-foot putts range, which was really important to keep the round going.

Q. Should amateurs take that as advice, to lean on their putters a little bit, go home and bend that?

MARK O'MEARA: Well, no, I think they just need to go out and practice more. They don't practice enough, let's face it. No one spends any time putting, it's no fun. They just want to go out there and whack it with their driver. That's where you score, your short game, chipping and putting for sure.

Q. Russ Cochran's doing so well right here. Is he one of those guys that the players who have maybe had a little more success have always thought has had all the tools and maybe confidence or something that once upon a time held him back in his PGA TOUR career?

MARK O'MEARA: Maybe. I mean, Russ has always been a good player. He's a real feel player, he can get it out there, and certainly toward the end of last year he came on strong. When you win and you're playing well, that certainly breeds confidence and he got off to a nice start this year, so it's not surprising to -- he's been known to shoot low scores. We saw it in Korea. Where else have we seen it? He shot a good score at SAS. He shot a good score -- didn't he shoot a low score --

MODERATOR: Hualalai.

MARK O'MEARA: Hualalai. So he can light it up. Bernhard is very methodical, very solid, probably the best player we have out here consistent-wise. He was my partner at the Senior Skins game, so it doesn't surprise me to see him shoot those scores, either. He doesn't stop working at it, he's trying to always get better.

Q. Freddie was stuck between playing Riviera or coming back here and defending, and he's leading -- at least has been leading up until now. It can't ever be the wrong decision to play the PGA TOUR when you --

MARK O'MEARA: He still hits it far enough. He's had success at Riviera. I know he won here. It is difficult. I mean, it would have been hard for me. I would have come back and defended, but that's just me. I'm not Fred. But knowing Fred -- and he's been on the west coast, he has his place in the desert. He's won twice, I think, in L.A.

That golf course, you have to have some power and some length and some local knowledge, and he certainly has that and it's not surprising to see him play well there. It really isn't. He can still compete. A lot of the guys, Lehman, some of the guys that are still playing the PGA TOUR can still compete out there. Who knows, maybe one of the guys can get a win.

MODERATOR: Anything else? We'll let you go.

MARK O'MEARA: Thanks, you guys. Appreciate it.