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BELLSOUTH CLASSIC

April 3, 2005

Scott McCarron

DULUTH, GEORGIA

JOHN BUSH: We welcome Scott McCarron to the interview room. You're at 6-under through two rounds and you got out of the gate fast with that start with three birdies in the first four holes, talk about that and your round as a whole.

SCOTT McCARRON: Yeah, again, you know, it was a very difficult day with the wind, pretty cold this morning. I started off on 10, which is kind of a downwind hole, and hit a good drive and then hit 3-wood in the bunker shot up to about five feet and made that for birdie, a good start.

And I birdied 12 with a good drive and a 7-iron to about six feet.

Then birdied 13, a good drive and a little sand wedge in there about six feet. It was a nice start. A nice start to the day.

JOHN BUSH: What was the key to the round for you?

SCOTT McCARRON: Well, I think, you know, staying warm was probably a good key. It was difficult conditions out there again, very cold, I'm out there, I've got hats on and gloves on and turtlenecks and I really didn't prepare for the weather this week, so I had to go out and buy a bunch of new stuff the other day, so just trying to stay warm. Towards the end of the round, it actually got pretty nice out there, the breeze was still up a little bit.

JOHN BUSH: You took us through the first three birdies, let's go through the rest of the card.

SCOTT McCARRON: 18 I had a little 9-iron and just got a little lull in the gust, flew over the green and didn't hit a good chip, one of the easiest chips I've had all week and left it about eight feet short and missed that putt.

Made a bogey on 2. Hit an 8-iron up in the air back in the bunker. It's tough to judge the wind, it's swirling around so much.

Hit a good 3-iron off the tee on 3. A little sand wedge in from about 98 yards or so, about three feet and made that.

Then No. 4, I hit a really good drive there and had 268 to the hole or something like that. And I hit a beautiful 3-wood just short of the pin about 30 feet and then just putted that up and made birdie there.

Then just kind of parred it out.

Q. What is it about this course since you've been playing here in '97 that matches up so well with your game?

SCOTT McCARRON: It's a golf course that I really love. The first time I played it, I got a chance to play it with Greg Norman, the gentleman who designed the golf course, my first round here. So he showed me a little bit about what he was trying to do, some of the spots where you could hit and get a little extra roll. It played pretty firm and fast that year. It's playing pretty long and soft this year, but just a golf course that really fit my eye well and I think it's one of our best TPC courses we play all year. It's a golf course that mirrors a lot of Augusta-like looks to it and is just one of those when I step on the tee I just picture good shots all the time.

Q. Do you get a good feeling mentally being here, do you just have a good bounce in your step when you approach?

SCOTT McCARRON: I think so. I look forward to coming here. Certainly winning twice -- I've missed the cut a few times here, too. I've played good and I've played not so good. It's certainly a golf course I enjoy coming to and it's a tournament that I've really grown to love.

Q. Did Norman give you any secrets that you think you have now that nobody else has?

SCOTT McCARRON: Oh, yes, lots of secrets that only I have. (Laughter.) And we're going to keep it that way.

Q. How has it matured and changed and grown into itself?

SCOTT McCARRON: Well, '97 coming right out of the box it was probably in the best shape I've seen any golf course in any TOUR event. It was beautiful. I don't think anybody had played it really before we got here it was playing fast and firm, no divots in the fairway, no ballmarks, it was in unbelievable shape.

Unfortunately we've had a lot of rain here obviously this week but the golf course still is holding up well. It's a golf course that I think are some of the best greens we play all year, some of the best fairways that we can hit off all year. So I think it's matured very well.

Q. Inaudible?

SCOTT McCARRON: Well, you know, I'm probably going to be in some position near the lead. I don't think I'll be leading after because the wind is calming down a little bit. But it's going to be a good horse race out there, and hopefully we'll have a little calmer conditions and we can do go and make some birdies and make it a great event toward the end.

Q. Talk about tomorrow. It looks like Mickelson is playing so well today.

SCOTT McCARRON: Who? Who?

Q. Phil. You know who. And Billy Mayfair. Talk a little about Mickelson and him --

SCOTT McCARRON: There's a lot of guys that still haven't played, the guys that are going to go off in the afternoon. I think the guys that are teeing off in the afternoon, those are probably going to be the leaders in the tournament because the conditions are starting to calm down a little bit. I'll be somewhere near the lead, I'm sure Billy Mayfair will be somewhere near the lead and so will Phil.

Q. Yesterday you were talking about the cold and the trudging along forced you to do things shot-to-shot to keep it simple. What else besides that is clicking for you right now?

SCOTT McCARRON: A couple things. I putted well the last couple of days, made a lot of really good par putts, and you have to do that in the wind because you're not going to hit it close all the time. So I'm making my 4-, 5-, 6-footers for par a lot and you get quite a few of those with the wind.

The other thing that's clicking, Tom Pernice helped me on the range on Tuesday and Wednesday. He and I both see the same teacher, Jim Hardy. And when Jim is not here, he only comes out to about six or seven events a here, Pernice and I kind of look at each other's swing and Pernice has helped me a lot at start of this year and also this week. Just a few little tips here and there got me going in the right direction.

And having two days after, you know, all I did was hit chips and putt for two days; so really worked on short game there those two days. Feels kind of nice to rest and not have to worry about making big long swings.

Q. What are your thoughts about the possibility of this tournament moving to someplace else in the calendar?

SCOTT McCARRON: I think it probably should move to someplace else. We've had five out of the last seven years have been pretty tough condition-wise. I think it's time for this tournament to go to either a May date -- I think that's what Dave Kaplan says.

Q. How aggressive an approach do you think you're going to take to this course tomorrow to walk out of here with a win?

SCOTT McCARRON: It all depends on what the conditions are going to be like. If it's windy again like today, you've got to be aggressive and pick your spots. If the wind dies down, certainly you're going to have to make some birdies tomorrow to compete in this tournament. So, you know, it's going to be kind of a horse race out there I think.

JOHN BUSH: Scott, thanks for coming by. Good luck tomorrow.

End of FastScripts.

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