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MCI HERITAGE

April 18, 2004

Ted Purdy

HILTON HEAD, SOUTH CAROLINA

LAURY LIVSEY: We'd like to thank Ted Purdy for coming into the media center for a few minutes and talk about what had to be one of the most exciting days out here with a disappointing finish. Why not talk about the day and a little bit about your round.

TED PURDY: Well, I started off great. I hit a perfect drive, 8-iron to about five feet and made birdie on 1.

And then a perfect drive on 2. And hit a poor second shot and made birdie there.

And then I was aggressive with my second shot on 3. And it hit the right side of the green and kicked down in the bunker. And I made bogey, I didn't get that up-and-down.

Then I -- yesterday I was making all the putts. And today I didn't -- I made a couple of good saves coming in. I just didn't putt as well as I did the previous three days.

Q. How do you feel about what happened today?

TED PURDY: I wanted to win. I don't play for money. I'm out here trying to win golf tournaments. And I was close. A year ago in Arkansas I was in a three-hole playoff. A year ago today. But I won that one. Stewart, I mean, to shoot that way today was phenomenal, the way the pins were, was a phenomenal round of golf, was great. I got beat.

Q. The lie on 16, the last hole, on your wedge, was it in the light rough?

TED PURDY: Yes, I was just in the light rough. And I flagged it. I thought I was going to be tight and it must have just jumped a little bit because I had a perfect wedge number. I think I was 128 to the hole, and you want to be a little past that pin, because it's dead short. And it just flew a little too long.

Q. When did you notice Stewart's number up on the board?

TED PURDY: I think -- when I was on 8 green I had a four-shot lead. When I was on 10 green I had a 1-shot lead. So it was like he must have played a hell of a back nine. Yeah, I knew what I needed to do. I knew I had it at 11 and needed to par in. And I bogeyed 15. And I played it smart. I hit a 3-wood off the tee and I hit a beautiful second shot and it just ran through into that waste area junk. And I didn't hit as good a waste area shot as Stewart did and I made a bogey. But I was thinking I was going to birdie that hole and ended up making bogey.

Q. How tough was the course playing out there, especially the back nine?

TED PURDY: Not any harder than any other day. It's just a hard golf course. It's a lot harder when you're trying to make pars. And Stewart was making birdies, so -- and I was making birdies yesterday and it seemed a lot easier yesterday. But, yeah, when you're trying to make pars on this golf course, it's tough.

Q. At the end of regulation and then I guess the first time on 18 you had putts to win, did you think you were going to make them?

TED PURDY: Yeah, that shot on -- in regulation that was the easiest putt you can have, pretty straight putt. I just have to get it started in the direction of the hole. And I guess I was a little jumpy and I pulled it.

Q. Ted, is it hard to know, you kind of were touching on this, but hard to know what the number is and just go out to shoot and just to play and not know what it is?

TED PURDY: I knew at 12-under I was pretty secure if I got it under par today. And when I got it under par I was like 13-under, and nobody was close, yeah, I was like -- and I'm playing well, I'm playing solid. I birdied the par-5 on the front to get to 13-under and the next hole, 6, I'm in the middle of the fairway with a 9-iron in my hand and I hit it in the right bunker, and I'm hitting the ball well, so that was -- I just hit some poor shots that I think just because of the situation I was -- I was swinging a little too aggressively and I was coming out of them a little bit and they were going right.

Q. It didn't change the way that you approached how you shot, knowing that you didn't want to do anything really bad and you didn't have to make birdie?

TED PURDY: Yeah. It's a terrible way to play golf. I hated the way I was playing today, just because I was trying to make pars. And it's just not -- that's not any fun.

Q. On 10 you hit a solid shot, it just went right by the pin?

TED PURDY: 10 I hit a beautiful shot. As solid a shot as I hit all day. And it goes over the green and then I've got a tricky chip shot that I flubbed. But I almost made the putt. Yeah, it's like I made bogeys when I made good shots. At 15 I hit straight shots and made bogey there. And 10 I hit great shots there and made bogey there. I just got unlucky.

Q. Ted, can you express how it feels to have that first win so close and not get it?

TED PURDY: It hurts. I'm going to win next week. Yeah, I need to get back into this position. And I'm playing well enough to go win next week.

Q. It's probably hard to think about it now, but what do you take out of this week?

TED PURDY: Oh, a lot. This is huge for me in my career, and it's the best finish I've ever had out here. It's a huge boost. A lot of pretty good players in this field and I damn near beat them all.

Q. What do you do for a caddy now, next week?

TED PURDY: Bobby is going back with Dave Eichelberger next week. I've got Fred Funk's old caddy coming out of retirement, Pablo, next week, so I tend to get all these old -- I'm trying to get all these old, smart guys to get me through this. We were close, we had it, it was there, shoot. Stewart won it, but just as equally I think I lost the tournament.

Q. What about 13? I thought you maybe could have taken another drop away from that drain. Weren't you pretty close to that?

TED PURDY: 13, I was standing on the drain the first time and then I took a drop, which helped me, because I had a tree in my way. And when I made the drop, the official came over and said I did an illegal drop, my arm wasn't parallel to the ground, it was low. So he made me redrop. And when I redropped it went to a similar place it was the first time. But I wasn't -- I couldn't take another drop. It wasn't in the way there.

Q. Yesterday you talked about confidence. Was there any point out there today where you might have felt like it was slipping away and lost a little confidence?

TED PURDY: No, I was hitting good golf shots and making bogeys. I never lost confidence. I might have lost a little confidence in the putter. But I made a couple of good saves. I made a great save at 17. And I don't know if I lost confidence in the putter, I just got a little anxious and didn't put good holes on them.

Q. How far were the putts on 17 and 18 in regulation?

TED PURDY: I think they both were probably ten feet, both about ten feet.

Q. It looked longer than that.

TED PURDY: 18 feet. I'm really proud of the way I never gave up once. And I was trying to get -- Stewart shooting 7-under, man, give me a break (laughter). That was pretty good.

Q. What was going on with your drive on 16 that hit the cart and stayed in bounds?

TED PURDY: Yeah, that was lucky. I didn't realize that until -- in regulation I hit a good 3-wood down the right-hand side and I was behind the tree. And I kind of had that in mind the second time and I blocked it right, it hit the cart path and apparently one of the friendly officials blocked it for me from going out of bounds, which would have ended the playoff right there. But that's a good karma, I should have won then. To get the ball up-and-down from where he was, in the left waste area from where he is is phenomenal. He's got four or five yards of landing area, and if he's short, he's making bogey for sure, and he landed it, I mean -- he had about a two-yard landing area and he hit a perfect shot. But he'd been missing putts, so I thought I might have a chance.

Q. In regulation on 16 did you have to go around the branches?

TED PURDY: Yeah, I had to draw around the tree, I couldn't go around the pin.

Q. It was a great roll after that?

TED PURDY: Yeah, it was fun. I have to get back in the hunt next week.

End of FastScripts.

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