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THE HONDA CLASSIC

March 12, 2005

Brett Wetterich

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA

JOE CHEMYCZ: An even-par round of 72. I know it was difficult conditions out there and being in the final group the for the first time in a little bit, just talk about your day and handling the pressure of being the 36-hole leader.

BRETT WETTERICH: The day started off pretty good. I thought, you know, I got off to a good start and made a birdie -- made a couple of pars. Made a birdie on the par 5, I guess it was. I had a couple under early which eases things for me, or eased things for me.

Then I made the turn and then it was a totally different ballgame. I hit a couple bad shots and early on, 10 and 11, I made two bogeys there and from there I kind of struggled.

I thought I hung in there really well today. I made a few mistakes mentally, maybe a bad club here or a bad club there, but I think I held it together pretty good. I was proud of myself for that.

JOE CHEMYCZ: You had a nice birdie at 17 to get back to 12-under. That was a tough bunker shot.

BRETT WETTERICH: Those are never easy. I had probably a 40-yard bunker shot there, maybe it could have been a little less, but I had been practicing that and it paid off in that instance.

Q. How far did you hit it there?

BRETT WETTERICH: It was a few inches, I would guess.

Q. Do rounds like this mean more to you than the 66s when you're dialed in and you can play and do everything you want; and you had to struggle today?

BRETT WETTERICH: I definitely think it does. When you're shooting 6-under par, 5-under par, things seem to be easy because you're obviously hitting the ball well and you're knocking it in there and you're making a few putts.

But today, it just wasn't like that for me. I struggled a lot and I kept my head in the game, and I think that's more important to me than shooting like the 5- or the 6-under round.

Q. How important were 15 and 16 to save par back-to-back like that?

BRETT WETTERICH: The one on 15 I thought was really important. I hit just a terrible shot there, but I hit a great third shot and I made a really good putt there, which really held me together because I was on the verge of, you know, starting to get angry at that point. I felt pretty happy walking off that green with a bogey, and then I made a great up-and-down for par on 16.

Q. You had to back off the putt on 15; right?

BRETT WETTERICH: Yeah, I was just getting ready to hit it and someone started taking pictures behind me, which, I don't know, it couldn't have been that great of a shot.

Q. Was that where you had to fight the "just-don't-lose-it-here"?

BRETT WETTERICH: Yeah, at that point, definitely, because, like I said, I was getting close. I had to make a good up-and-down on par on the hole before that. I made, I don't know how long it was, but it had to be ten feet, at least. In that stretch of holes only being 1-over, I was very happy.

Q. Could you speak about the overall emotion, because basically, you jumped to a big lead, lost it, jumped back to the lead, lost it and got it again. Was it an emotional day throughout?

BRETT WETTERICH: Not really. It wasn't that emotional until I got to the back nine, and I wasn't really worried about the birdies on the front nine. They were nice, but there's always something that's going to happen and you're going to make bogeys out there. It was nice to have those birdies, but I wasn't like on a big roller coaster where I was so happy that I couldn't stand myself.

Q. When you finished, what were you feeling?

BRETT WETTERICH: I felt really proud of myself because it took a lot for me to hang in there today. Mentally, it took a lot out of me in those last six, seven holes. I was most proud of that than anything.

Q. You struggled pretty hard today, but you look up, and here you are, tied for the lead with a chance to win. Just talk about having that opportunity.

BRETT WETTERICH: Going out and shooting even par today and still be tied for the lead, I think for me it's great. Obviously, you know you shoot a bad round -- it's not a bad round, because it was a great round for me today. But you think of shooting 72 on a Saturday, you think you're going to be behind three shots at least, maybe four.

So I'm happy to be in the position that I'm in, and I feel very fortunate so hopefully I can go out and shoot a decent score tomorrow.

Q. When did you know for certain you were in the tournament field here?

BRETT WETTERICH: Monday morning when I came to check in. I already thought I was in. I was grabbing the sheets and already filling out stuff and I couldn't find myself, they said, "Oh, you're in."

Q. Did you know you had been bounced by Cabrera?

BRETT WETTERICH: I never even knew it. I watched the tournament a little bit. I didn't see much of it. I was actually playing golf. I didn't know. I wasn't paying any attention to that. Never even thought about it.

Q. What was last night like being in the lead and sitting on the lead? Was it different for you what did you do different?

BRETT WETTERICH: I didn't do anything different to be honest with you. I actually slept good last night, I think because I was so tired from the day before. I just went home and we relaxed.

We watched the telecast on TV, my dad and a few friends of mine, so I was just watching the golf and we got some dinner and just relaxed. Same as the night before that and the night before that. So nothing different.

Q. With the closing stretch on this course, is the game plan tomorrow a little bit to go out and try and get as many birdies as possible on the front, maybe 10, 11, 12, and then be prepared for a tough grind on those last six holes and hold on?

BRETT WETTERICH: It would definitely be nice to be going into -- starting on 13, I think that's where it really starts I think on the back nine. It would be nice to have a few birdies to spare at that point in time and hopefully be somewhere close to the lead or in it, or just to have a chance going into those stretch of holes and to have maybe just a little bit of space with having a couple of birdies.

Q. When you won your Nationwide Tour event in Louisiana did you get a lifetime supply of Cajun sauce or something?

BRETT WETTERICH: No, I wish I would have, though. No matter what happens tomorrow, I'm planning on going down there and playing in two weeks, I think it is. I love the food so much and the tournament. It's a good tournament, but I'm going more for the crawfish. (Laughter.)

Q. Even if you win here?

BRETT WETTERICH: Well, if I win here, I probably won't be going.

Q. Will a win get you into PLAYERS?

BRETT WETTERICH: I don't know if it would or not.

Q. Is it routine for you to go straight to the range off a round or were you working on something?

BRETT WETTERICH: I felt like I was losing a lot of shots right on that stretch during the back nine. So I went over there to just try to work on a little something just to try to get either, you know a little draw, if I can just picture that and hit a few shots and picture that and just see that, just made me comfortable.

Q. 15, you hit it left?

BRETT WETTERICH: Yeah, that was a pull-hook there. It wasn't even a hook; it was a pull. I just pulled the shot.

Q. Lee Janzen has won a few fairly good tournaments in his life. Going off the first tee today, were you trying to pretend there was no other golfer there?

BRETT WETTERICH: No, just treat him like me, you know. Obviously, you know what he's accomplished in his career, and actually he made me feel really comfortable out there today. We were talking a lot. It wasn't, I'm my way and he's his way. We got to talk a lot and it was nice to play with him.

Q. Do you think being in the last group today will alleviate any emotions or whatever that you might have had being in the last group tomorrow now that you've done it once?

BRETT WETTERICH: I think it will be the same. I don't see there being any difference from today or tomorrow. I mean, it's Sunday and that's the only difference.

Q. How big of a day is tomorrow for you?

BRETT WETTERICH: It's an important day for me. I mean, to go out and shoot a good round, I think is important for me. Today was nice, I think maybe just 3-under, if I can go out and shoot 3-under, 2-under, you know just a good solid round of golf, I think that will be really important for me confidence-wise, and just to know that I can hang in there and be in that situation and not fall back.

Q. What's your home course around here?

BRETT WETTERICH: Medalist.

JOE CHEMYCZ: Play well tomorrow.

End of FastScripts.

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