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THE HONDA CLASSIC

March 12, 2004

Carl Pettersson

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: We'd like to welcome our 36 hole leader at the Honda Classic, Carl Pettersson. 63 68, a great start. Talk about the first couple of days, obviously you have to be pleased with how you're playing.

CARL PETTERSSON: Yeah, it's been great. I'm glad I carried on from yesterday, and felt like I played nearly just as good as yesterday, didn't make quite as many putts. But felt really good.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Just in general, after setting a course record, shooting 63, how hard is it to come back and play a solid round of golf without thinking that you can shoot back to back 63s? Isn't easy, but you did a good job today with a 68.

CARL PETTERSSON: Yeah it's kind of tough, but I think it's important if you get off to a good start, which I did today. I birdied my second hole, which was nice, and I just carried on from yesterday.

Q. Can you talk about the shot on 14, which I guess was the fourth hole, how close did you come to the hole on that?

CARL PETTERSSON: About an inch just right of the hole. It's actually a tough pin and I pulled it a little bit. I was aiming ten feet right, 15 feet right. I hit it, I saw it was drawing towards the pin and I thought this could end up being good. It ended up being perfect, really.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: What club did you hit there?

CARL PETTERSSON: 7 iron from 181.

Q. Some guys like to be great front runners rather than hanging a shot or two back, how do you approach it when you're on the lead like this?

CARL PETTERSSON: I've never had a I might have had a 36 hole lead in Europe, I can't remember, but not more than once when I won in Portugal I was, but it got rained out and we had a playoff the next day. I actually don't think I've had a 36 hole lead ever. I've been close in Europe a couple of times, but tomorrow, I'll see what happens. I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing, really.

Q. Do you remember the first time Jesper called you a redneck?

CARL PETTERSSON: Probably last year sometime.

Q. Did that bother you?

CARL PETTERSSON: No, that's fine. (Laughter.)

Q. Is that his way of saying you might be a little bit more Americanized?

CARL PETTERSSON: Yeah, I think so. I played with Jesper at Phoenix this year. It was me, Jesper and John Daly. He said, "I'm out with two rednecks today." (Laughter.)

Q. He also yesterday referred to you as one of those "mystery Swedes," and said that perhaps because you moved to England at that age and came over here at 15, when there's a lot of Swedish golfers coming over here and all of a sudden they realize this Pettersson guy is Swedish. Did you find that to be the case at all? Did the touring pros know your background?

CARL PETTERSSON: Not really. Right when I in 2000, the Swedish National coach called me up and actually asked if I was Swedish. (Laughter. ) He was seeing my World Rankings on the college list and he wanted to know if I wanted to play for Sweden in the European Amateur in the Eisenhower Cup, the World Amateur, so I said sure.

So I went over to Europe and actually won the European Amateur in Austria. Then I played for Sweden in the Eisenhower Cup and finished fourth. I guess that was the first time somebody in Sweden had ever heard of me.

Q. Is it Pettersson (PEE ter son)?

CARL PETTERSSON: Pettersson, yeah.

Q. How much do you think this week you can make a name for yourself and get people to know who you are as a golfer?

CARL PETTERSSON: Well, it all depends how I do on the weekend, really.

Q. I'm sure some people are thinking who, is Carl Pettersson. Some of the Swedes said they didn't know who you were till a couple of years ago, too. Just to make a name for yourself, how big of a week is this to try and do that?

CARL PETTERSSON: I don't think it's that important for me. Most important thing is for me to play good and see what happens from there.

Q. How much did you raise your profile leading the first round or being co leader first round of the British Open a couple of years ago?

CARL PETTERSSON: I think that was pretty good. That showed in myself that I could compete at the top level. I was actually doing had the lead on Saturday for a while and I finish off bad on Saturday. I finish off bogey, double, which really was a bit of a letdown and then I didn't play very good on Sunday. I shot 74 on Sunday and I think that was a great experience to know when you do play well, you can compete.

Q. Was that Muirfield?

CARL PETTERSSON: Muirfield, yeah.

Q. Was there a point when Pettersson (Peht er son) turned to Pettersson (PEE ter son)? This morning?

CARL PETTERSSON: I don't know. I guess at the British Open. I don't know.

Q. When you came here, did your parents pronounce it Pettersson (Peht er son)?

CARL PETTERSSON: Pettersson (PEE ter son), just because it's easier. In Swedish it's Carl Pettersson (Peht er schon), so that becomes confusing. So I just said Pettersson (PEE ter son), just to make it easier.

Q. The British Open experience, the experience of finishing second to Tiger last year at San Diego, was that maybe not quite on the level of contending in the British Open on a weekend, but did that help you also?

CARL PETTERSSON: Obviously, last year was my rookie year, my second tournament to finish second, that gave me a lot of confidence. It made the year easier last year knowing that I was in every tournament and planning events and stuff like that.

Q. I seem to recall your rookie event was your hopeful, that being the Sony Open, and you flew 15 hours there as the ninth alternate

CARL PETTERSSON: I was first alternate.

Q. And it was a rare time when no one dropped out.

CARL PETTERSSON: I was thinking usually somebody drops out, so I said I would go. My caddie, I felt bad for him. He lives in Manchester, England. He flew 25 hours and we ended up going home.

But I guess that's what you've got to do.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Let's go through your round. You started on the back side, birdied the 11th hole, your second hole, the par 3.

CARL PETTERSSON: I hit a 6 iron to about seven feet and made a nice putt there.

15, I hit a great shot. I hit a 6 iron to about ten feet and made that.

1, I hit a 3 wood way left of the traps and managed to hit a 9 iron about ten feet and made a good putt there, too.

2, I hit a reasonable drive but it went into a bunker, left fairway bunker. Hit a 6 iron just short of the green and chipped up and 2 putted.

5, the par 5, I hit 3 wood, 3 wood right on the front edge and made a good 2 putt.

Q. Is that chip on 2 difficult with the pin where it was?

CARL PETTERSSON: Actually I had a real easy chip. Thought I hit a good chip but it just released. I guess it went about 12 feet, 10, 12 feet by the hole.

Q. Didn't go down?

CARL PETTERSSON: No. It stayed up.

Q. Was it close?

CARL PETTERSSON: I guess about three for feet or something.

Q. There are a lot of guys who played well this week, but they got a lot of birdies and bogeys on the scarred. How good is it to go through 36 holes on this course with one bogey, and is it a result of the way you're swinging or patience?

CARL PETTERSSON: A bit of both. I'm hitting really good iron shots right now. The way the course is set up, if you do miss a drive here and there, the rough is not real penal. So you can still have a good shot at the green.

So the times I've missed the fairways I've had good lies in the rough and been able to hit it in a save spot on the green.

Q. There's like three Swedes up in the top five, just talk about that.

CARL PETTERSSON: Yeah, obviously Jesper is playing good. He's played good all year. Freddie has had a fantastic year in Europe last year and is carrying on, playing good this year. It's always nice to see fellow countrymen up there playing good.

Q. Not to overdo the redneck theme, but are there any traditional redneck pursuits that you would say you enjoy, tractor truck pulling?

CARL PETTERSSON: Unfortunately, I've got one bad habit I like my Skoal; I dip. Once in awhile I listen to a few country music some of the country music.

Q. Pick those up in junior college or Alabama?

CARL PETTERSSON: Yeah, probably. Probably North Carolina.

Q. Otherwise, pretty pure Swede except for that?

CARL PETTERSSON: Yeah, I guess I don't eat like the rest of the Swedes. I'm not that healthy either.

Q. Have you ever had a pickup?

CARL PETTERSSON: No, no. I've got a Corvette and a Tahoe.

Q. Are you a NASCAR fan at all?

CARL PETTERSSON: Not really, no.

Q. Some things you're drawing the line on?

CARL PETTERSSON: Yeah, yeah.

Q. Talk about this whole Swedish redneck thing, just fill us in real quick, I don't know how it started.

CARL PETTERSSON: I guess it was in high school, college and stuff growing up or moving to the south and adjusting to things like that. And people can't believe I'm Swedish. But it's not that big of a deal. I guess people make it more of a bigger deal.

Q. You like your pickup trucks and NASCAR and things like that?

CARL PETTERSSON: To some extent, yeah.

End of FastScripts.

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