BANK OF AMERICA COLONIAL

May 23, 2003

Kenny Perry

TODD BUDNICK: Like to welcome Kenny Perry to the interview room. A 6-under 64 today. No bogeys. Talk a little about that round.

KENNY PERRY: Well, I just can't say enough of how nice the weather was today. It's been hard for me to believe that, in the last two rounds, how we played this golf course under soft conditions with no wind. So I was very fortunate. I had a good tee time at 8:14 this morning and I kind of got out there and the golf course was very receptive and I was able to get off and I birdied I think 17, no, 16 and 18 which is my 7th and 9th.

And then I eagled the first hole, which got me to 4-under. And it was just a nice steady day. I didn't really have any troubles. I hit all the fairways and the only green I missed I think was the last one, the ninth hole, which I played safe. The pin was in the front there and I shot it long and ended up knocking it too far. But I was able to get up-and-down. So all in all it was a great day.

TODD BUDNICK: Kenny, you've got two top-10s this year, including the T-2 at Bay Hill. Are you happy with where you are at this point in the season?

KENNY PERRY: Yeah, I played very steady this year. I played very poorly last week. I missed the cut last week at the Byron, but I think that's the only cut I've missed all year. I think. I've just been real steady. I had a second at Bay Hill and just I've been in contention, had a lot of chances. I finished second here last year, so I got a lot of good memories, a lot of good feelings for this golf course. And hopefully I can get out there the next two days and play some good golf.

Q. You ever had back to back rounds here before where the scoring was conditions were this friendly?

KENNY PERRY: Never. Normally this golf course is very fast, very firm, and it's very windy out there. And it requires to you execute a lot of good shots.

Q. Did you get a sense that it was becoming faster as the day goes on?

KENNY PERRY: No, I hit a 2-iron on the 9th hole, which was my 18th, and normally a good hard 2-iron would have ran into that bunker. I didn't even come close to getting to that bunker. It kind of hit and plugged in the fairway. So the golf course is wider because all your drivers are hitting in the fairway and staying within five yards of where you're landing. So it kind of opens up the golf course that way.

TODD BUDNICK: You must feel like you're playing a different course then.

KENNY PERRY: Totally different golf course. I never seen it play like this in my 17 years. It's always been very firm, very fast, very windy.

Q. How about the greens, was there any change in the greens between yesterday and today?

KENNY PERRY: No, the greens were the same pace in my opinion. I played late yesterday, so obviously they -- I thought they were just a little bit slower earlier this morning but as they, as we went along they kind of picked up pace during the day.

Q. Based on where you are now, how does this set you up for sat and Sunday?

KENNY PERRY: It's always good to be in the lead here. Because this is not a catch up kind of golf course. It's the kind of golf course you get out there, you kind of hang on. I don't know, I think I shot 9-under, 9- or 10-under for four rounds last year to finish second and I'm already at 8-under after two. So I'm just going to kind of set up for the golf course the way I played today. Play very position oriented and hopefully hit greens and hopefully the putter will stay alive and I keep making some putts.

Q. The pin placement today did it vary differently from yesterday or how differently was it?

KENNY PERRY: The pin placements? I thought the only tough pin out there today was number nine. The ninth hole is a very, very tough hole. All in all, I don't know maybe the pins today were more on the left side, because I hit a hook. So maybe it favored me a little today, I don't know. It seemed like most of the greens were a little on left side today. But they try to, the TOUR staff tries to set the golf course up to be pretty comparable Thursday and Friday, so the guys have the same conditions both days. Toughness-wise. They always set a few real hard pins and then they give you a few you can shoot at.

Q. What little wind there is, where is it coming out of the east, can you feel?

KENNY PERRY: Those little, what was that cottonwood or whatever that is out there, they would just hang. They weren't moving in any direction.

Q. Still out there?

KENNY PERRY: Very still. It's just breathless out there. So there was really, I couldn't tell a direction, if any. It was maybe one or two mile an hour at the most. If there was even that.

Q. Do you practice that putt on 8 much? The putt out there?

KENNY PERRY: You don't get that shot very often. That's kind of awkward. When the ball is waist high with you. And you're choked way down you're trying to do something. So I always know that putt that your tendency is to hit it too hard because you choke way down in the middle of the shaft. So I just made sure I hit it easier than I thought I needed to hit it and it was perfect speed. It ended up going pin high. I just couldn't aim it.

Q. Did you try to -- I noticed your caddy was almost trying to see if you could stand up there. But there was just no room?

KENNY PERRY: No, there was no way. Kind of weird. That was kind of the same situation I had to win the Buick on the 72nd hole. I had to exact same deal. It rolled right up against the collar, against the edge of the bunker and I had to stand way down in the bunker, so I've had a couple shots like that, but you don't actually practice that shot.

Q. How far was your eagle?

KENNY PERRY: It was about 40 footer. I had 266 to the hole and I hit a 3-wood from the middle of the fairway right in the middle of the green. So it was probably one of the nicest 3-woods I've hit in a long time.

TODD BUDNICK: Why don't we just go through the other birdies.

KENNY PERRY: Okay. I birdied the par-3, which was, I birdied 16, which was my 7th hole. I hit a 7-iron about 10 feet left of the hole.

Then 18 I hit a pitching wedge about three foot short of the hole. It was a nice little shot I hit in there.

Then I hit driver, 3-wood, made about a 40 footer for eagle on one.

5, I hit a 2-iron off the tee, probably the toughest hole on the golf course. I hit the greatest shot I hit in a long time. I hit a 4-iron about a foot from the hole. Never left the flag stick. It was kind of nice on that hole to walk up there and just tap it in.

And then I birdied the next hole, 6, I hit a driver and a sand wedge about 6 feet from the hole and made that. And then I parred in. Pretty steady round.

Q. How is your gallery today?

KENNY PERRY: Well when I started playing better it picked up the last couple holes. But I think they're all waiting for Annika.

Q. What did you do to put yourself in position for that unique putt at 8? What did you hit in there?

KENNY PERRY: I hit a 5-iron, it was 208 to the flag today. And I hit a 5-iron, it was pin high, dead pin high with the hole, but the bunker is right there. It didn't go in the bunker, but it was hanging on the edge of it.

Q. You mentioned missing the cut last week, was it nice just to be able to turn right around the following and come here and say hey, get a second chance?

KENNY PERRY: Last week was a week where I don't know what the deal was. I just couldn't concentrate for some reason. I just wasn't ready to play last week. And then when you come back to a place where you've played well, I just had good vibes coming into this week. I had a nice weekend. I didn't do much on the weekend. I stayed in Dallas, I didn't go back home. And I just relaxed and just tried to get my head together for this week. Because I really enjoy playing this golf course.

Q. What's your take on how Annika played and the whole thing?

KENNY PERRY: I think she played great. I couldn't have been under that scrutiny and -- because I played with Tiger two times last year under it was the PGA and the World Golf Championship, both times where he was I guess his slam bid was continuing on and we were paired together the third round or whatever. And the media was just, it was just really intense out there. And I performed very poorly. And she shoots 71, my hat was off to her. I think she did a great job.

Q. You ever had a tap in birdie at number five before?

KENNY PERRY: Never.

Q. In all those years?

KENNY PERRY: Never. That's a hole you usually just play for the middle of the green. And I'm hitting 2-iron off the tee, a lot of guys will slide it around that tree up there and hit a short iron in. But I'm a hooker, so I don't much like to hit that fade ball. So I hit a 2-iron down the left side and I hit a 4-iron, usually go for the middle of the green. But the pin was kind of in the middle of the green so it was a pretty free shot for me. Because I knew if I turned it over it was going to be fine also. The pin was kind of back right.

Q. Feel pretty good about your position? Do you feel like you got pretty pleased with where you are?

KENNY PERRY: Yeah. Terrific. Any time you can go out there and shoot 6-under on this golf course, you accomplished a lot of goals out there. I really played steady. It was just an easy round, it was a fun round. Hopefully I can have that same kind of feeling tomorrow.

Q. Was your approach on 7 blocked? It looked like you were over there on the right?

KENNY PERRY: Yeah, I hit a good drive on 7. Normally that fairway crowns this way, normally it will funnel to the left. And it must have gone right. And I was blocked out from the trees. So I just hit a sand wedge to the left front and took my two putt and went on.

Q. Had a couple of guys take quadruples at 9 today. You weren't too tempted obviously to hit at that pin?

KENNY PERRY: I hit it in the back bunker. I had, I'm thinking 150 to the hole, with a 2-iron off the tee, and you know it's a flag stick where if you can push it a little right you don't carry the water and if you pull it a little left you don't carry the water. So it's always -- I told my caddy to put me back there, there's a ridge back there in the middle of that plateau and I wanted to be on that ridge. And he gave me about 160 yards to there. And I hit a 7-iron, but I was a little juiced up and I flew it in the back bunker on the fly. But I knew with all that green and it's all downhill it's really not that difficult of a bunker shot. I just wanted to float it out on the green and let the ball just release to the hole. And it did, it rolled all the way down there too.

TODD BUDNICK: All right. Thanks, Kenny.

KENNY PERRY: You're welcome.

End of FastScripts....