MICHELOB CHAMPIONSHIP AT KINGSMILL

October 5, 2001

Chris Riley

CHRIS RILEY: Yeah, it was. I had a couple of eagles today.

CHRIS RILEY: Yeah, I hit a 5-iron in the left bunker and it plugged under the lip and when we got up there we couldn't even find it. So I had to start looking for it. I found it. I left it in it. It plugged again when I hit my second shot because I could hardly get any club on it. Then I hit a good third shot to about four feet; then missed the putt.

CHRIS RILEY: Yeah, my third year out here, I just told myself it is going to be a long day. My rookie year I might have panicked, but, you know, just be patient and it will come back to you.

CHRIS RILEY: Driver, 5-wood in the right bunker, made it.

CHRIS RILEY: Yes.

CHRIS RILEY: 50 feet.

CHRIS RILEY: Yeah, I hit driver, 9-iron in there about ten feet. Bogeyed 6. Right rough, didn't have a very good lie, hit a wedge up there short of the green, chipped it to about five feet, missed it.

CHRIS RILEY: Driver, 3-wood, chipped it to about -- not a very good chip, twelve feet; then made that. 11, driver, sand wedge to about two and a half, three feet. 13, I hit a bad 7-iron left in the green; had an impossible chip and chipped it about 40 feet and 2-putted: 14 drove it in the left bunker; had 117 out of the bunker, hit about twelve feet, made it. Birdie. Then I eagled the next hole. Driver, 5-wood right at it to just over the green, probably 20 feet, chipped it in.

CHRIS RILEY: Yeah.

CHRIS RILEY: 15?

CHRIS RILEY: No, it was just -- it was right there. It wasn't very hard. But I mean, it is one of those chips you expect to make but if you don't you tap in.

CHRIS RILEY: I guess I just wanted to play hard and I am excited about the weekend. I seem -- I play well here every year -- every year, it is only my third year but I have played well last year so I have got good -- I am excited about tomorrow.

CHRIS RILEY: It was kind of a weird day because on the 2nd hole. I felt like I got a bad break and then you know, then you chip in. Those are lucky breaks. I kind of just felt it was kind of an up-and-down day but I will take it any day, 4-under, so, hopefully tomorrow will be a little bit more solid.

CHRIS RILEY: Yeah.

CHRIS RILEY: Yeah, I'd say so after making the double on two I was just, you know, hoping to make a birdie on the next hole and get one of them back. Whenever you step up to a par 5 out here you got to feel like you got to attack it, make birdie, or else the field is going to get you. So definitely then when that went in, it was a bonus, so I just tried to keep a level head out there and just feel like everything is going to even out. I got a really bad break on the 2nd hole. Then you hole one on the next hole, you are just like -- so.

CHRIS RILEY: I am feeling a lot more comfortable out there now. It is my third year and I am having -- I am getting better every year so that was one of my goals and I think when I chipped in on 15 I saw that I was tied for the lead or whatever but it really didn't affect me. I really just kept playing my game and, you know, as long as I am getting better that's all I try to do.

CHRIS RILEY: Yeah, and it was a real bad break. It hit it in the lip and we couldn't find it. Some guys out here might have gotten really upset. I just kind of said you know what, do the best you can, and my rookie year I might have been starting to freak out because I knew you know, making cuts out here is pretty good, so, I shot 5-under yesterday making double on the 2nd hole. I might have started to panic or whatever. But you know, with the experience that I am getting, I just said it is going to be a long day and hopefully it will even out.

CHRIS RILEY: Yeah, I made two eagles. I made three eagles in two rounds, so I am doing -- I think that's probably more than I have made all year. Like I said, a lot of people back home call me crazy for coming here to Virginia because we got Vegas next week and that's where I live. They think I should stay there and practice but I am one of those guys that want to be playing going into the next week. It would have been real easy for me to go from San Antonio back to Vegas. Good friend of mine Bob May did that. So he went back to Vegas and I said, well, I am going to go onto Virginia.

CHRIS RILEY: You mean roller coaster ride?

CHRIS RILEY: I usually -- my best finish of the year was at The International where I finished second. I do make a lot of birdies. I am just trying to cut on the mistakes a lot more. I am used to making a lot of bogeys and a lot of birdies. With the eagles that I had today, two of them, yeah, I consider this probably one of the most up-and-down rounds that I have had.

CHRIS RILEY: For anybody it is, right. That's one of the reasons why I am still out here, I believe is because I am a really good putter and my chipping, my short game is what keeps me out here. I don't hit the ball long. I don't hit it -- I hit it straight but I don't hit it long and I really can putt really well so,...

CHRIS RILEY: Yeah, I think here distance isn't a real factor out here, but keeping it in the fairway is. The greens are -- I mean, last week and this week the greens are really hilly and I am -- if I can get on the putting green I feel really comfortable.

CHRIS RILEY: No, I mean, I have learned out here to take one shot at a time; don't get ahead of yourself. I listened to all the advice people give me; don't get mad, keep your head, you know, be patient, and some people have a hard time dealing with it. But I just listen to what the veterans have to say, and -- tonight we're only halfway done, so hopefully back nine on Sunday I will be close, so that will be something to look forward to. But I am just going to put one good swing at a time and one good put at a time.

CHRIS RILEY: Yeah, but I mean, I just try to think about one good swing at a time, one shot at a time. It's easy to get ahead of yourself out there. But that's where you really got to focus.

CHRIS RILEY: Geez, one shot at a time, I think. I mean, just worry about the shot you are about to hit; don't worry about a shot you hit in the past. It's over, can't do anything about it. Just don't worry about the one coming up. It is hard to do.

CHRIS RILEY: Yeah, it is. My last three holes 16, 17, 18 over there on the river, 17 I hit a 9-iron and I had like 107 to the hole, I just got it going in the wind. It was about twelve feet.