BUICK CLASSIC

June 6, 2002

Michael Muehr

TODD BUDNICK: Welcome, Michael. You had a 65 today, best round of the season. You started on the back side and got off on the wrong foot on No. 11 it looks like.

MICHAEL MUEHR: Yeah, I drove it right. It's probably one of the toughest, if not the toughest hole, on the golf course. I think there should be a lot of 5s and 6s there. I made bogey there and settled down a little bit. Good par on the next hole. Then I had a good stretch, I think I birdied five out of six.

TODD BUDNICK: Can you walk us through 13?

MICHAEL MUEHR: Yeah, 13, drove it well. Hit a 7-iron to about ten feet behind the hole and made a good putt, a little downhill putt.

14, 8-iron to about eight feet.

16, I got really lucky. That was kind of the springboard on the round. I hit a shot that was going to be in the bunker, but it hit the side, kicked up by the hole to six feet and I made that. So went from 4 to 2 pretty quickly.

17, made about a 20-footer for birdie there.

Then 18, drove it in the green-side bunker in two and got up-and-down for a birdie there, as well.

5, I had to lay up and hit sand wedge to about 12 feet.

Same thing on 18. Drove it in the rough. Had to lay up and hit wedge to six or seven feet.

TODD BUDNICK: All in all, a very good day for you. Give us a little idea of how the course was playing and how you felt.

MICHAEL MUEHR: The course is playing great. I mean, I think the rain was great for the golf course. It was playing really hard and fast, which probably makes it tougher. A lot easier to keep the shots in front of you today when it's soft. The fairways are a little soft so the ball doesn't get away from you. The greens are the course's best defense, they are so severe, really drastic at times. They are a little softer and they are really, really smooth, which is kind of nice.

Q. What does it mean to you -- I know you've been struggling, but to shoot a good round like that today?

MICHAEL MUEHR: Great. I just felt it was around the corner. Last week I was at home for the Kemper and put a lot of pressure on myself, but I probably played well enough to be leading after two days and I missed the cut. I missed every putt, probably 10 putts inside five or six feet.

So this is -- I felt like it was around the corner, and playing really well. I think that the Open experience, the qualifier on Monday and Tuesday, I got that last spot. Hopefully that's kind of a springboard for better things to come. It's been a tough year, but at the same time, I really feel like I'm playing a lot better.

Q. Considering what you went through Monday and Tuesday, especially Tuesday, could you consider this sort of like, well, almost like a free pass because the pressure is not as great?

MICHAEL MUEHR: A little bit. I went from really down and out Monday night. I finished bogey, double-bogey, to get into that playoff. I was clear into the Open. Almost didn't show up on Tuesday morning. I was so disappointed. Just felt like, here we go again, it's been this kind of year, can't get a break. I almost didn't show up Tuesday and just kind of went out with nothing to lose and made a couple of birdies in the playoff and stole that spot away. That's the kind of thing that can really, really turn your year around in a hurry.

Q. Where was the playoff?

MICHAEL MUEHR: It was at Woodmont in Maryland.

Q. Did you birdie two holes in a row?

MICHAEL MUEHR: Yeah, six of us birdied the first hole, we all parred the second hole and I was the only birdie on the third.

Q. What was the iron you hit on 16 where you got the good bounce in there?

MICHAEL MUEHR: 3-iron.

TODD BUDNICK: Michael, you have struggled this year. What is it that you just found recently that's changed the game a little bit?

MICHAEL MUEHR: I was actually injured a little bit earlier in the year, a bad wrist. I was tinkering around with some equipment and I finally had a couple lessons, right around THE PLAYERS Championship in Houston.

Other than that, I can't really put my finger on anything, other than just it's time to get going. I've practiced a little bit harder and gotten into some familiar territory. I'm a lot closer to home and spent a little more time at home and not beating myself up so much.

Q. It's been 10 years now since you've won. When you come back to this area, I know you're from New Jersey, but when you come back to this area and play, do you have a good feeling about the type of golf courses?

MICHAEL MUEHR: I love it. When everybody asks me what my favorite golf courses are, I immediately say the Metropolitan area. I love the old courses. Tillinghast is my favorite, so to be able to play the Open at Bethpage will be great. All of my best friends are in the New York area, in Hoboken or the City or wherever. I'm sure I'll have a good crowd this weekend. It's always nice to come back here. I live in D.C. now but I feel like this is my home. I love the area.

Q. What do you remember about ten years ago; that year was a pretty good year for you?

MICHAEL MUEHR: That was a great summer. I was in college. I didn't have a thing to worry about. That was probably the best time of my life. I guess that was the summer after my sophomore year in college. I don't remember a whole lot about it just other than it being great. I guess those were both events in Connecticut. It's fun to be back up here.

Q. What was the other tournament in Connecticut?

MICHAEL MUEHR: The Met Amateur. That was at Weburn (ph) in Darion that was in '92. Same summer.

Q. How did you not win Player of the Year that year?

MICHAEL MUEHR: He.

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