BUICK CLASSIC

June 8, 2002

Loren Roberts

TODD BUDNICK: Loren Roberts, even par 71, sitting at 10-under par for the tournament. Another weary soldier here. Tell us about your day today, please.

LOREN ROBERTS: Really, just didn't hardly make any putts the front nine today. Hit it pretty good first few holes and had a lot of birdie chances. I think I hit every green up to the ninth hole and parred all the way around. Then 9, I think I had a 63-yard sand wedge shot from the bottom of the hill and just served up a bowl of chili and didn't even get it up on the green. Ended up 3-putting from just short of the green there for bogey.

Then drove it in the right rough at 10. Had kind of a bad lie in the right by the bunker. Didn't get that on the green. Didn't get up-and-down so I made two bogies there with wedges in my hand, sand wedges in my hand.

Then I just kind of fought the rest of the way around. But I made a good birdie at 13, and then birdied the 15th hole for the third day in a row again. Hit it in there probably about 12 feet, ten feet right below the hole and knocked it in with another 2-iron. Then I hit it back on 13, hit a 9-iron in there about four or five feet, for birdie, but I missed some really short ones on the back nine today.

Really weird round, I missed it there three feet behind the hole on 14 for birdie and three feet left of the hole on 17 for birdie. But I got up-and-down out of the bunker and would make it from ten feet for par at 16 and same thing on 18, eight feet behind the hole after I drove it in the trees and had to chip out. Had a 3-wood for my third shot on 18 but got up-and-down out of the bunker. It was a weird day.

TODD BUDNICK: How many holes did you play today.

LOREN ROBERTS: I just played 18. I finished yesterday.

Q. Even though today was weird, what do you go into tomorrow feeling at this point with what you've done this week so far?

LOREN ROBERTS: Well, I'm going to try to hit the ball a little more solid. I hit some wild shots and balls to the right today, and usually when I start doing that, I need to make a couple of adjustments. So I'm going to get up tomorrow and before I play, just kind of work on that.

Usually, in a four-round golf tournament, if you play really well, you have three really good rounds, and one of those rounds is not that good but you just try to get your way through it and you shoot 1- or 2-under and you hang in there, especially on a tougher golf course like this, if you can hang in there, that's usually your bad round. I don't know of anybody that really plays four really lights-out rounds in a golf tournament to win. I'm hoping that I got my bad round past me today.

Q. How important was it, once you got to 8 with a couple of guys at 10 and 11, how important was it to get back to 10 (under)?

LOREN ROBERTS: The turning point I think was at 12 where I hit a really good drive. For me it was playing into the wind and I didn't get it down over the hill, I was straight up on top of the hill and hit a 4-wood probably about ten feet short of the hole there. I didn't make it for birdie, but that was really big there. Hit two good, solid shots on probably the hardest hole on the golf course. Then I hit a lot of good shots all the way in and I had makeable birdie putts all the way in the house, except 18, really.

Q. Chris Smith was in and he said he's played with you a fair amount. What do you see in him as a person, as a golfer?

LOREN ROBERTS: Well, he's a very easygoing guy. I look at him and I see power. He's built a lot like Duffy Waldorf or something like that, that can really hit the ball a long ways with not whole lot of effort. So he can overpower a golf course.

Q. He's a guy that's trying to win his first one on TOUR. He's won on the BUY.COM, but do you -- going back into the far recesses of the early part of your career, do you know that mindset that he's in, trying to go into a final round leading, trying to break through?

LOREN ROBERTS: I sure do and I'm probably in the same mindset myself tomorrow. I desperately want to win again, but I know what he's thinking about. You know, he's a pretty happy-go-lucky kind of personalty. He's not an uptight personalty. I think he will probably do well. I think he'll sleep better than most.

Q. Do you think if things firm up a little bit, wind and good forecast tomorrow, that it's going to be the toughest conditions all week tomorrow?

LOREN ROBERTS: I think it will be probably a little tougher tomorrow. Obviously they are not putting water out there. They are mowing out there again and probably will roll again. The greens were still pretty soft today. The pins were in tougher positions, but with the softness, they were somewhat accessible.

And I don't know, we got so much rain the other day, I don't know if they can really get them firm like they normally are here. I was looking at some of the pins and they have some of the traditional Sunday pins there.

Q. When you are standing over that putt at 18, how do you fight the desperation you're feeling to break through again, and to preserve your round and rally?

LOREN ROBERTS: That was a good putt for me. I hit it in the only spot, I couldn't get it down the fairway from. I had to chip out and still had a 3-wood left. When I hit in the left bunker, actually I was probably happier to be in the bunker in the rough and it's easier to control the ball out of the sand.

That was a barometer of my round. I felt like if I could just get this one in, I'll be in a good frame of mind tomorrow, and I'll feel like I kind of got away with one today.

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you.

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