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BUICK CHAMPIONSHIP

August 25, 2005

J.L. Lewis

CROMWELL, CONNECTICUT

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: J.L. Lewis, thank you for joining us. Co leader right now with Ben Curtis. 6 under par, 64. Great start for you this week at the Buick Championship.

J.L. LEWIS: Thank you.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Start with some opening comments.

J.L. LEWIS: I played well from tee to green. I think I hit every green but one and every fairway but one. I putted okay. Nothing spectacular. You know, made a couple of decent putts. I could have actually shot lower today had I had a hot putter.

You know, I'll take it. It was a good start.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: We'll go right into questions.

Q. Are you somewhat surprised 6 under is leading? Did you expect somebody to be lower?

J.L. LEWIS: You know, I can't speak for anybody else, but I could have shot lower today. You know, I think a lower score's probably out there if somebody gets hot a little bit with the putter. Like I said, I had 17 opportunities. A few of those were long putts. I was just trying to 2 putt those. It's out there. Even if there's a little wind, the course is pretty firm, so you can get the ball to the hole.

Q. How was the wind compared to this morning?

J.L. LEWIS: I wasn't around in the morning. It was windy off and on kind of, you know, not real consistent. It wasn't super hard wind or anything. Maybe a club, one club wind, at times.

Q. Usually in the afternoon it blows a little harder.

J.L. LEWIS: It blew harder in the afternoon. It quit for half a hole, then it would start blowing again. You know, I don't know.

Q. Are you a fan of this course at all? Does this suit your game? You can pretty much adapt anywhere?

J.L. LEWIS: It's very important to hit the ball straight here. I like that. Hopefully I can continue to do that because there's a few holes where you have to put your ball in play. In fact, every hole is pretty much like that here. I like that, I think.

Q. Talk about your year a little bit.

J.L. LEWIS: I've had kind of a bad year off and on. I've had a few kind of bright areas. I was hurt first part of the year. I've gradually gotten better and better and better. Had some real good weeks in there.

But it's been kind of for me, I'm pretty disappointed with the way I've played this year. I think I'm a better player than what I've shown. So hopefully I can finish off strong the rest of the year here.

Q. What were the physical problems?

J.L. LEWIS: I had a shoulder problem for a while, then I had hand problems. If I quit golf for about six months, I probably could get over it, but I never quit. I just try to work through it, play through it, get worked on. It's just all part of being out here. There's a lot of guys out here that play with a lot of stuff like that. That's just kind of the way it goes.

Q. Any particular part of your game that's let you down?

J.L. LEWIS: Well, today I felt like I could have putted maybe a little better. Early in the year I wouldn't swing at the ball. Every part of my game let me down. I couldn't hit the shots. Now I'm hitting the shots. I have been hitting it pretty good for about the last 10 weeks or so. It's starting to come around. Funny game, you know.

Q. You had a pretty good qualifying round at Canoe Brook for The Open.

J.L. LEWIS: I qualified for the US Open there.

Q. Was that about the time?

J.L. LEWIS: I started playing pretty good about then. At John Deere, I had a pretty good chance to win the John Deere. Probably, looking back on it, that's probably been my best chance to win in a couple years. Just one of those things. I've had a few other decent tournaments in there, but nothing spectacular.

I feel like I'm getting better. I'm getting in better physical condition. I think I'm thinking better around the course, too. I think it's starting to come together. You just go out there and visualize the shots you want to hit and execute. Execution has been kind of a problem this year. But today I was able to execute a little bit.

Q. Any pain in your shoulder or hand today?

J.L. LEWIS: No. After the round it aches. That's normal. But I didn't have to take any Advil or anything like that. I've been taking a lot.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: If you could touch on your round, starting on the backside.

J.L. LEWIS: Let's see. I missed an 8 footer on 12. Missed a 12 footer on 11. Then on 12 I hit it on the right fringe and chipped it down, made a 6 footer.

Missed a 10 footer on 14. Made a 6 footer on 15. Missed about a 15 footer on 16. Made one on 17. Missed one on 18. Missed another one on 1.

Hit it three feet on 2 and made it. 2 putted from 40 feet on 3. 2 putted from 30 feet on 4. 2 putted five on 6. The par 5, I hit it in the left bunker and hit it up about three feet and made that. Missed it from 12 feet on 7. Missed it from 30 feet on 8. Made about a 9 footer on 9.

I had plenty of chances. Believe it or not, I putted better than I did last week (laughter). If I can get the old putter... The ball is rolling good. If I could get a little confidence in it, just get a few more to go in, a few more that aren't tap ins to go in, I think I'm going to be all right.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Thank you, J.L. Lewis.

J.L. LEWIS: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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