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MCI HERITAGE

April 17, 2004

Ted Purdy

HILTON HEAD, SOUTH CAROLINA

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you, Ted, for joining us here for a few minutes in the media center. Let me start with as the 54 hole leader, he's the winner of the Crestor charity challenge, in his name a donation of $50,000 will be given to the healthcare charity of choice. In addition the Medical University of South Carolina, the Heart and Vascular Center will also receive $50,000 from MCI and Crestor. Congratulations.

TED PURDY: That's amazing. Crestor, thank you for that, for sure.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: And as we move on to the tournament, great round today. Why don't you talk a little bit your round of 65 today.

TED PURDY: I have to thank my caddy for reading these greens, he's dead on every time. 31 on the front. I mean, that's as good as it gets. And then 1 under on the back. It was just really didn't have too much stress all day. I hit it close a few times and made the putts. So it was a great day. I'm happy to be here.

Q. What's your caddy's name?

TED PURDY: Bobby Conlen, C o n l e n.

Q. How many times has he played here?

TED PURDY: Bobby is a veteran caddy. He's been around this course I think since the inception of the golf tournament, with varies us players. I know he had Charles Howell the last few Tours. He caddies for Darrell Eichenberger.

Q. You haven't played well the last few tournaments coming in here. Did you feel something heading into this week, did you do something during the off week to get yourself ready?

TED PURDY: The off week was great, because I played like seven events in a row, and having a week off to see my teacher and just recharge the batteries, it was big. It's a crazy game. Working with my teacher last week, we just focused on she calls it let me think of the word anyway, basically she's just trying to get me to stop thinking about mechanics and start thinking about the target. And when I'm over every shot my poor shots are when I'm thinking about mechanics and when I have trust in my stuff and trust that the ball is going to go towards the target, when I let it happen I'm hitting the ball beautifully.

Q. Who is your teacher?

TED PURDY: Her name is Pam Barnett, B a r n e t t.

Q. Where is she out of?

TED PURDY: She's out of Moon Valley Country Club in Phoenix, Arizona.

Q. Everybody's radar went up when you said "she" on that.

TED PURDY: Yeah.

Q. That's pretty unusual on Tour?

TED PURDY: It's a it's a sport, and there are just more guys out here, I think. But she's a former LPGA player, herself. She studied under a man Manuel de la Torre out of Milwaukee. And she's been my teacher since I was probably four years old. I've gone and seen other teachers, but they usually messed me up, and I have to come back and get fixed. The more I stay committed with Pam, the better my better I play. And she's got me where I am today, there's no question. And our work last week has definitely is definitely paying off this week. And Pam's a great teacher.

Q. Specifically what is being target oriented?

TED PURDY: Just what it sounds. Really the only thing in my mind is the target, and swinging towards that target. If you're trying to work on mechanics and that stuff, that's the thing to do on the range. And when you get on the golf course, as long as my last thought is the target, you know, the ball is going that direction. There's a few holes out here that I have trouble hitting the fairway, because the way the hole is shaped I don't have a good target and those are the holes I'm missing the fairways on. So when I'm committed to my target, the ball is going there.

Q. Which holes are difficult for you?

TED PURDY: I think the 3rd hole, I have yet to hit the green on the 3rd hole, because I've missed the fairway every day on the 3rd hole. What other hole is difficult for me? I think the 8th hole is difficult for everybody. The 12th 11th and 12th just seem difficult for me to set up properly. So there's about three holes, four holes out there.

Q. Can you give us some background on was it '99 when you were on Tour and went off, and what you did between now and 2003 on Nationwide?

TED PURDY: In '99 I can't really remember that year because I was having too much fun. But I played the Nationwide Tour in 2000. And I played the majority of my time in Asia. I've been playing overseas in Asia. And I've been playing back and forth between Nationwide Tour and the Asian Tour.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Talk about last year at this time, same week and the tournaments going on this week on the Nationwide Tour.

TED PURDY: This week a year ago I won on the Nationwide Tour, the 2002 or 2003 Arkansas First Tee Classic. So maybe it's just a good week for me. And I think maybe watching The Masters and getting all pumped up, that might have something to do with it, too.

Q. Can we follow up on what you mean by having a lot of fun in '99?

TED PURDY: I was missing a lot of cuts, so I tended to find the lighthouse type areas more often (laughter). I was single and 24 or something. One lighthouse led to another.

Q. When did you realize on that front nine that you were in the lead and how did you feel when was it at the leaderboard

TED PURDY: There aren't too many leaderboards on the front, but Curtis and Slocum were right behind us and there was a backup on the 7th, and I saw those guys come up and I realized I had a 1 shot lead over Ben. But I figured I'd better have a 1 shot lead, I was 3 under par and playing 4 under par and just playing lights out. So I was hoping I'd be in the lead.

Q. Do you recall a round where you got 24 putts?

TED PURDY: I had 23 yesterday.

Q. You said something on TV like Darren Clarke said you were a hell of a player and you have to believe in yourself. Do you struggle with confidence issues and how do you think you'll do heading into tomorrow?

TED PURDY: You need to have confidence to win on Tour. You've got to have the confidence before you win. I just need to believe Darren I've had many people tell me I've got a great swing and my putting stroke is great and everything else. But until you believe it for yourself you're not worth a dam. And I haven't been worth a dam until and I think this week and as long as I'm focused on this target tomorrow, I've got confidence the ball is going to go there. I think I've got the confidence. I'm depending a lot on my caddy. And I think I've got the confidence to do it tomorrow.

Q. You feel you can win tomorrow?

TED PURDY: Absolutely. I mean, I hit 12 under par on this golf course, pretty dang good. As long as Darren Clarke thinks I can do it, I'd better believe it myself.

Q. On 15 did you have any options or did the conditions determine the chip out and layup there?

TED PURDY: I hit it so far in the junk that I didn't really have a play. And then and that was another hole that I actually debated with my caddy, I said do we hit 3 wood here? And I've been hitting my driver straight. He just thought I should hit a driver. But just having a doubt in my head, put something in my head and I hit it in the trees. If I have an intuition tomorrow I need to go with it and take a 3 wood. It's a three shot hole anyway, unless you're stupid, I think, unless you can't get it over the last tree by the green. I need to go with an intuition. As long as I trust myself tomorrow I'm confident I'll do fine.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Let's go through your birdies and bogeys starting with the birdie on No. 2.

TED PURDY: No. 2, I hit a driver and a 5 wood to about 25, 30 feet and 2 putted for birdie.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Par 3, No. 4.

TED PURDY: No. 4, I hit a wonderful 4 iron, it was windy, into the wind, to about ten feet right behind the hole, made the putt.

No. 5 I hit a driver and I outdrove Darren Clarke there, you can mention that. And a 3 iron just along right of the green and hit a relatively easy chip but left it short. But I made the five footer there, I think.

6, I had a drive, I got fortunate on 6, my ball flew in the bunker but popped out on the right side of the fairway, and then I hit a sand wedge to six feet or so and made the putt.

No. 9, I've been aggressive the last two days and I've hit it right in front of the green, and I've yet to hit the green from right in front of the green. So I laid back with a 3 iron today and hit a sand wedge to about ten feet and made the putt.

12, that's a hard hole and I escaped with a birdie. I hit a driver down the left hand side of the fairway. And I hit an 8 iron just left of the pin and I had a perfect straight putt from about 10, 12 feet.

Bogey on the par 5, I doubted my club selection on the tee and I hit it right in the trees. I had to chip out and then I with an 8 iron. And then I hit an 8 iron layup. I didn't get it far enough down and the tree was blocking me from going with an aggressive line to the hole. So I had to use the backstop behind the hole and suck it back. And I had my caddy knew that putt. He had it down and it was a straight putt. I think it looked like it wants to go right and I just pushed the putt and missed it. But I wish I'd made it, because we had it read right.

16, I hit a 3 wood down the right hand side and hit a 9 iron pin high and relatively straight putt and made it.

Q. A different winner earlier every week the beginning of this year, did you get the sense of why not me, why can't it be me?

TED PURDY: Again, it takes you've got to have confidence to win. And I don't think I have I didn't think I had the right mindset to win until that lesson last week with my coach. I think I'm in the right mind frame to win this week. Todd Hamilton has played in Asia a long time, seeing him win got me kind of pumped up to want to be there. And Zach Johnson's win after playing, Zach beat my brains out last year, but seeing him win kind of motivated me to and he mentioned yesterday or the day before, he said, Ted, it's your turn. The Nationwide guys kind of stick together.

Q. Have you given a lot of thought to your first win?

TED PURDY: Yeah, man, it's the number one thing on my to do list (laughter). Yeah, it is. I've got a list of goals and that's number one, other than family and everything else. But I need to cross that off tomorrow. Winning on the PGA TOUR, and I don't have to go into it, but it means a lot. You're a lifetime member of the Tour, that means your family has insurance the rest of your life. You're a lifetime member, the two year exemption is huge. Wins are what we're playing for. And it would mean a lot to me and my family if I did win.

Q. Somebody mentioned that you're a new father?

TED PURDY: Yeah, I have a ten month old son, Sam.

Q. You said that that might have changed your motivation?

TED PURDY: Absolutely. And that's another good point. I think I started playing well at conception a couple of years ago (laughter). And I don't know what caused that, but I hadn't made a cut in the 2001 season, Nationwide Tour I had struggled a little bit I struggled a lot. I think the week we conceived I finally made a cut. So I owe a lot of this to Sam, absolutely (laughter).

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thanks for joining us, congratulations.

End of FastScripts.

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