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JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

July 8, 2005

J.L. Lewis

SILVIS, ILLINOIS

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Okay, J. L., you back up 64 with 65 today and are the current leader at 13 under par. Just a couple comments about your round and we'll go hole by hole.

J.L. LEWIS: Okay. Well, I played good. I made a few mistakes that I was able to kind of recover, got lucky a little bit a couple of times and then I made some good putts, so that was kind of it. I don't know if I struck the ball as well today, but it was fun. It's fun when the ball goes in the hole, so that was good.

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Golf course conditions about the same as yesterday?

J.L. LEWIS: Well, it played longer, I thought. The fairways dry out a little bit towards the end of the day and you can kind of get some bounce and roll on the ball, but it played longer, I'm sure, all the way around. I was having to hit more club into these greens. I thought the pin positions were maybe a little tougher today, too.

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Just take us through your round if you could.

J.L. LEWIS: Lest see, No. 3 I parred the first two, hit a 6 iron in there and made it from six feet.

4, I hit it to the right, got lucky, we found the ball and I chipped it out and made a pretty good putt for a 5.

Next hole, driver, wedge, about eight feet and made that one.

Then on 8, I hit driver, 9 iron about three feet, made that.

10, I went for the green in two and I hit it right on the front of the green and then putted it down there and made about a six footer.

12, I hit it over the green, seemed like both the times I hit it in the rough today I was in the deep rough, so I didn't have much of a I hacked it out, missed the putt.

14, driver, 68 yards from the hole, lob wedge about 12 feet, made that one.

16, I hit 9 iron to about 18 feet, made that.

17, I hit driver, 3 iron in there about 12 feet, made that.

Then on 18, I chipped out, hit it out there about 15 feet, made that. So I made my share. That's how it went.

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Obviously a comfort zone for you here, and you talked about that yesterday. You're in good position.

J.L. LEWIS: Yeah, I enjoy playing here. I've had good luck here, but still, it's all about being considered you still have to go out and play well, and that's what I'm going to need to do on the weekend.

Q. What is it that makes you specifically comfortable here? You play well here every year. You've got the comfort zone.

J.L. LEWIS: Tough thing to explain. If you look up my tournament by tournament stats, the first couple of years I was having some injuries and I didn't play very well. The last month I've been getting healthier and healthier and every week my stats have been very good. U.S. Open my stats were very good. I didn't place very good but my stats were very good. Then the week before that at Congressional my stats were very good, and then at Westchester I was 7th in accuracy and 19th in distance, top 20 the first two days in greens. So this week I think I'm probably my stats are probably very good and my putting stats are probably a little bit better. So it's been coming for a while, but my instructor, Bill Moretti, a guy I've been working with for years and years, if he's not the best instructor, he's close. He's at the Academy of Golf Dynamics. He doesn't like to come to Tour events, doesn't like to travel on the Tour, but I'm really lucky I found him. He told me something on my putting just last week and it's made a big difference this week. I've been able to hit the ball on line better. The guy has saved my life a lot of times as far as golf swing and he's simplified everything. I really rely on him a lot.

Q. What did he tell you?

J.L. LEWIS: He told me to get my hands on there balanced, instead of one hand this way and one hand that way, just get them balanced, so I've been working on that. I wouldn't say I'm totally comfortable with it, but it's better than it was and I'm managing to get the ball on line better.

Q. You missed a few more fairways today?

J.L. LEWIS: Yeah, I did, early especially. I pushed a couple balls off to the right. 7:30 is an early tee time. I mean, it was tough. I mean, I just couldn't really get it going there for a while. I'm usually an early riser and all that, but it's hard to get up you almost have to get up at 4:30 if you really want to be ready to go, and I kind of overslept a little bit and I was having a little trouble there, but then I kind of got it going about No. 6 and I seemed to drive it a little better than that. I hit a bad drive on 18, but I think I know what I'm doing with my swing, so I'll go out and work on a few things and hopefully be ready to go tomorrow.

Q. How much did you oversleep this morning?

J.L. LEWIS: Not much.

Q. You weren't running to the first tee or anything?

J.L. LEWIS: No, I got here about 6:30, so I was here an hour before. 7:30 is an early tee time, no matter where you're at.

Q. What's your routine? When do you like to get to the golf course?

J.L. LEWIS: I like to eat about be done eating by about an hour and 15 minutes before and go out there and stretch for about 20 minutes and kind of maybe do some sort of aerobics for about five or ten minutes, kind of get your blood circulating, and then go.

Q. Did you eat today?

J.L. LEWIS: Oh, yeah. I don't skip meals, even if I'm late (laughter). Forget the warm up and go for breakfast instead.

Q. What suffered this morning?

J.L. LEWIS: No, I got here. I mean, I was shaving in the car, you know, got here and ate. I did everything. Nothing suffered. I was just a little slow getting started. I will have a late tee time the next two days so I'll have time to get up and get everything moving by the time the tournament starts. That's a big deal.

Q. Every year here. Is there another place that's like this for you?

J.L. LEWIS: Well, I've had a lot of Top 10s in my career, and I really don't know how many. I guess we could look it up. They haven't all been here. I seem to do it here a lot. Like this year I was Top 10 at Riviera and Top 10 at TPC, which in my opinion are maybe the two best courses we play. TPC takes no prisoners, and it was blowing 45 miles an hour the last day, and I was pretty proud of that.

I can't explain it. I don't know what to tell you, I like it here. But I like the Tour. It's been a great life. The only downside of the Tour is being healthy enough to play it all the time. You know, if you can stay in the game and be competitive and feel good and feel like you're making your best swings and you're giving 100 percent of yourself when you're out there, that's been the hardest part of the whole thing. But as far as the travel and the courses and everything, I really like it.

Q. What was it this year?

J.L. LEWIS: I don't want to tell you it's old age, but it could be. I had a hand problem for a while and they told me I had torn ligaments between my fingers, but I could play with it. But could I play with it as well as I'm doing now? No. I mean, it was affecting the way I could swing the club. But now it's way better. My shoulder was bothering me, now it's way better. I'm one of those, I don't really believe in surgery, so I just take the time, do the therapy, whatever you can do, try to strengthen it up, and it's good now, so I kind of can't complain.

Q. So you fixed it in the weight room?

J.L. LEWIS: Well, I fixed it with people I had some injections, and I did whatever I could to get myself where I could go.

Now I'm getting where I can go a few days in a row. Before it was like one day and then it was just terrible, I'd have to take a bunch of Advil to keep playing. I don't like to take that stuff. It's not that good for you. I will if I have to, sometimes I do, but I'd prefer to just go out there and feel good every day.

Q. Do you feel different here because you won at Oakwood?

J.L. LEWIS: I've got to tell you, I'm pretty comfortable. Geez, I don't know what to tell you. It's a funny game. I still get nervous and everything. I mean, it's the same feeling when you're in contention as it always is, but you have to like that. The more you like it, I think the more you'll get there. This year I just haven't been able to play well enough to get there. But I do like it. It's definitely a challenge.

Q. So much of the attention this week is on Michelle playing here. Is that bothersome to you at all, the fact that you're atop the leaderboard and she's

J.L. LEWIS: No, that doesn't bother me because it's pretty phenomenal. She's 15 years old. Let's face it. Has there ever been anybody that age, man or woman, that could play in a Tour event at age 15? I don't know. Maybe there is, but I don't think they've ever done it. She's already played in how many? Four or five? Obviously she can go out and break par. More power to her. That's pretty impressive.

Q. Do you ever run across Mike Brisky?

J.L. LEWIS: I never have, but I've thought about it a lot. I know he got injured after that, I know he got hurt, and I don't know if he's still playing or not. I kind of felt bad for the guy because he played very well and lost. It's a tough thing to do, play well and lose. I've had that happen to me a few times, San Diego, had a tournament I probably should have won there and I kind of gave it away. Really all you can ask yourself is to go out there and give it your best, and hopefully you perform the best you can and that takes care of itself. But when you don't perform the best you can and you lose, it's a different feeling. Going out and playing good, that's all you want to do.

Q. You were talking earlier about kind of getting lucky and getting fortunate and being able to recover this morning.

J.L. LEWIS: Yeah, I got lucky, I found my ball. Steve Jones found my ball off to the right over there and I was able to chip it out.

Q. That was on No. 4?

J.L. LEWIS: Yeah. So after that it was good.

Q. How deep were you over there?

J.L. LEWIS: Only about two yards into the real heavy stuff, but it was far enough that it was a problem.

Q. Do you guys typically help each other look?

J.L. LEWIS: Yeah. We've got five minutes, but if that case I was lucky, he stepped on the ball and found it.

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Okay, J.L., thank you very much and good luck on the weekend.

End of FastScripts.

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