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EDS BYRON NELSON CHAMPIONSHIP

May 14, 2005

Jaxon Brigman

IRVING, TEXAS

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Jaxon Brigman, thank you for joining us, great third round today, 6-under 64 around the TPC course. You started out as a Monday qualifier this week and now you're right in the thick of things heading into Sunday's final round. If you could start with some opening comments, a great three rounds for you.

JAXON BRIGMAN: Well, thanks, I'm just happy to be here. I'm happy to be in the tournament, happy to make the cut, then obviously I was happy for a good round today. I was kind of struggling hitting the ball the last few weeks, and it kind of came together this past week. I was hitting the ball pretty well but not scoring well in the last Nationwide Tour event, which was last week.

I came to the Monday qualifier and played pretty well and scored a decent round where I was able to play in this tournament.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: You're from Abilene?

JAXON BRIGMAN: I grew up in Abilene.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: And you live now in Frisco?

JAXON BRIGMAN: Right.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: And you're a permanent member of the Nationwide Tour this year. Talk about your season on the Nationwide Tour so far.

JAXON BRIGMAN: For the first five events I really kind of struggled with my driver and I struggled with my putting. So it turned out that my scores weren't very good. I had one decent tournament in New Zealand, but other than that, I've just struggled to make cuts, and if did make the cut I kind of finished near the bottom. There hasn't been too many good things happening on the Nationwide for me.

So it's an exciting time for me, and like I said, this past week I started hitting the ball better and I'm just happy things turned out for me this week, better with my driver, starting to control some distances with the irons.

Q. Have you played here at the TPC much?

JAXON BRIGMAN: No, I work with a swing teacher here at Castle Hills, but mainly I go to the academy at the back end of the range there. That's where I spend most of my time. I don't really play that much, I just kind of play around wherever. I've played Craig Ranch a few times. But I've only played this course probably once in the past year.

Q. Are you at all surprised to find yourself in the position you're in right now?

JAXON BRIGMAN: Oh, definitely. You know, it's fun for me, and I definitely -- tomorrow I'll definitely be nervous, and I'll hopefully have a good swing thought and something to settle me down during those key shots that will be nervous for me.

Q. Are you concerned about how you're going to fight off maybe changing the expectations you may have?

JAXON BRIGMAN: Well, for me I think that I could go into tomorrow, and if I shot 80, people would say, "Oh, well, he was kind of a fluke," which is probably what people would expect, so that really wouldn't be that big a deal, so I really have nothing to lose, I feel.

You know, for me I've got everything to gain. I mean, it would be a great tournament for me to play well in. Obviously to win the tournament would be for me unthinkable. I haven't even thought about that. Like I said, that's why you play the tournament, but I really didn't think that that could possibly happen considering the way I played.

Q. Did you just play the Monday qualifier because it was at home and didn't really interfere with any Nationwide?

JAXON BRIGMAN: I flew in on Monday morning because we played 36 holes on Sunday, this past Sunday in Raleigh, North Carolina, and I had a tee time of 12:30, so I was able to get here in the morning. I rented a car and drove to Timarron and felt fine and ended up playing well.

I was assuming I was going to miss the tournament, miss the qualifier, because it's kind of a crapshoot. I haven't had that good of luck in those qualifiers. I figured that I was going to come home for a night and drive up to Fort Smith, which is the next Nationwide.

Q. You flew commercial I assume?

JAXON BRIGMAN: Oh, yeah.

Q. No G-4 for you?

JAXON BRIGMAN: No G-4.

Q. You might have bummed a right off somebody.

JAXON BRIGMAN: No, I was lucky I had a 12:30 tee time and I caught a 6:40 flight and got here at 8:30.

Q. Who is your swing coach and how many qualifiers have you played in?

JAXON BRIGMAN: His name is CJ Goecks.

Q. And how many Monday qualifiers do you imagine you've played in?

JAXON BRIGMAN: Really not that many. I would say maybe -- I've never had my card, maybe one a year, so maybe 10 to 15. I've been a pro ten years.

Q. One of your big claims to fame is sort of the whole qualifier school thing you had before. How eager are you to kind of do something where that doesn't -- where that's no longer your big claim to fame out here?

JAXON BRIGMAN: You know, that was obviously a heartbreaking moment for me in '99 I guess that was. But there were some good things that came out of that, and I had a decent year that year on the Nationwide Tour, and then I haven't really played as well or played very well since. I've never really played where I've been in contention on the Nationwide really. I've had some mini-Tour golf success, but as far as stepping it up to another level, you know, I've struggled doing that.

You know, that would be nice if I could play well this week, to say, all right, he's stepped up to another level and kind of wash that away.

Q. What good do you take out of something like that?

JAXON BRIGMAN: Well, I guess Adams Golf was -- Barney Adams was -- I knew him, he lived in Abilene for a time when he was working with Dave Pelz. He helped me out that year as far as just representing their company. I was very appreciative.

Q. If you had a high finish other than winning here this week, would that change your plans the rest of the year? If you finished 2nd or 3rd would you come out here and try to Monday qualify and chase the card?

JAXON BRIGMAN: I'm sorry?

Q. Let's say you finished 2nd or 3rd or 4th; would you think about trying to chase your card out here this year? Would it be a nice problem to have?

JAXON BRIGMAN: That would be a nice problem to have. I don't know what the scenario would be. Obviously then I would get in I guess FedEx, which would be the next one. I wouldn't get in Colonial, so FedEx would be the next one. That would be a great scenario, to finish Top 10 or be in contention to win the tournament. And then, I guess -- but chase it, you can't really chase it qualifying because then if you've played well out here you would think that you could play well on the Nationwide Tour. I would probably just stick to the Nationwide and play that full-time.

Q. If you're Top 10 you'll go to Memphis --

JAXON BRIGMAN: Go to Memphis, hack, and go on to Nationwide.

Q. At this point it seems unthinkable to you about winning the tournament. Now tomorrow if you're making the turn and you're right there, at what point do you maybe entertain the thought?

JAXON BRIGMAN: Shoot, I don't really know. You know, I'll just hopefully play well tomorrow and I'll figure it out when I get done. I'm kind of a wing-ding guy.

Q. It's better to not just worry about it?

JAXON BRIGMAN: Right.

Q. What has been the highlight of your golfing career to this point? What do you point to as kind of the --

JAXON BRIGMAN: Obviously the scorecard thing is probably -- as far as recognition. But I haven't really -- I've really only had success on the mini-Tours. My best finish on the Money List on the Nationwide Tour was 58th, and I've played out there six years. This will be my seventh year.

Q. Mini-Tour wise, did you win in some of the Iron Mans?

JAXON BRIGMAN: Yeah, I won some Iron Mans. I won Tight Lies Tour events. I haven't had the success on the Nationwide Tour that I would have liked to have had.

Q. Does your lack of success at that level tell you that had you gotten your card in '99, you wouldn't have performed well on the Tour, or does maybe today tell you that, hey, if I got to the big show --

JAXON BRIGMAN: I'm a different player than I was then, so it's really hard to tell. That was the year I finished 58th on the Money List, so that was 2000. I didn't really play that well, but I got it around to end up playing decent that year.

But as far as being on the Tour, I don't know how I would have done. I would have to say that I wouldn't have done very well, just the way I hit the ball.

Q. You were one of the top juniors in the state. 25 years ago what were your expectations of golf?

JAXON BRIGMAN: 25 years ago? I guess I'm 34, so that's when I was nine (laughing). 25 years ago, you know, that's about when I started playing, and I would have -- I was following golf.

Q. Say 15 years ago.

JAXON BRIGMAN: 15 years ago, so that's when I was in college. I wanted to play, and I knew I was going to play professionally. So out of high school, I wanted to go to play college golf, so I played college golf at Oklahoma State. That's all we talked about was playing professional golf in college.

Q. Did you think it would be easier than this?

JAXON BRIGMAN: Not really. I think Coach Holder did a really good job preparing us, how tough it is and how tough Q-school is. I was ready for the grind.

Q. Do you have any sort of hard luck stories you can tell your grandkids 20 years from now or however many years from now about the way you worked your way up out here?

JAXON BRIGMAN: Well, I don't know what you mean.

Q. What have been the toughest times you've had along the way?

JAXON BRIGMAN: Obviously I've played just mini-Tours and I haven't had the greatest success on the Nationwide Tour, so as far as financially, for me it's kind of a struggle from year to year as far as -- you would think a pro golfer as being always a rich guy or whatever. I've made money and I made money as a pro to continue to play, and as long as there was money in my checking account, then I was going to keep playing. If I ever ran out, then I would probably think about doing something else.

Q. Have you ever come to a point where you're like, boy, I need to do X here, I'm out of money?

JAXON BRIGMAN: There's been times like that. I had sponsors my first four years, some guys in Abilene, and then after that I went on my own, and I was kind of out of money. Then I went to Tight Lies and I was panicking, I missed the cut, and I thought, "Man, this is awful." Then my dad got a friend of his to give me a little money to last for about two tournaments, and from there I just made enough money to keep playing, and that was in '98. So '98 to now I've just kind of done it on my own.

Q. How do you explain the last three days?

JAXON BRIGMAN: Well, today was a good day. Today was -- as far as what I've been working on and ball-striking-wise and putting, it all came together and I drove the ball well and I hit some good iron shots and made some good putts. So today as far as -- and as far as thinking-wise, I think I did a really -- I was proud of myself for the way I handled it.

Q. What's it like to be on the Nationwide all year? Some of the cities aren't as big as some of the Tour stops. Next thing you know, you Monday qualify and Byron Nelson is sitting there. What's this week like?

JAXON BRIGMAN: It's a lot of fun. In fact, I'm just kind of sitting here going, "What am I doing sitting here? These guys are having to listen to this guy."

But it's definitely kind of a shock for me. I haven't really -- I laughed, I said I wasn't nervous. I mean, I'm nervous, and I know I'll be nervous tomorrow, but everybody is nervous. Hopefully I'll be able to control that and calm myself down and play like I did today.

Q. Does a Monday qualifier get a courtesy car this week?

JAXON BRIGMAN: You know what? That was a cool thing, we did. I asked because I was like, "Does a Monday qualifier get a car," and he said, "You bet." The guys at the Salesmanship Club have been really nice.

Q. Did you complain because it was the wrong color Cadillac?

JAXON BRIGMAN: Oh, no, I was fired up.

Q. They didn't send you to Rent-a-Wreck to get it?

JAXON BRIGMAN: No, it's been a great experience. Everybody has been very friendly and very welcoming like I was a regular Tour member. It's been very nice.

Q. Let's say you win tomorrow. How is this tournament going to be remembered, the tournament a Monday qualifier takes it to the house or the tournament where Tiger Woods misses the cut?

JAXON BRIGMAN: I think Tiger missing the cut is a bigger story. I just kind of ran through my head, the guys that did it. I guess Rich Beem, and I don't know of anybody else.

Q. There haven't been many.

Are you normally a nervous kind of guy?

JAXON BRIGMAN: Yeah, I'm nervous. Yeah, I'm a nervous wreck. I might hide it but I'm always a nervous wreck. That's okay, I'll be all right.

Q. Do you have a lot of people you know out here, friends, relatives?

JAXON BRIGMAN: That will help calm the nerves.

Q. Any idea how many you've got?

JAXON BRIGMAN: Let's see, I've got my -- 20.

Q. I heard they were pretty boisterous today. Did you hear them?

JAXON BRIGMAN: That was probably my wife. She's probably cackling over there.

Q. Will you be able to just play golf and forget the dollar signs tomorrow?

JAXON BRIGMAN: That will be tough because obviously that's very important for me. It's such a big event and there's so many people that it kind of takes your mind away from that kind of stuff, kind of makes you focus in on the shot. That's what I did a good job of today.

Q. Back a few weeks after the '99 thing, I talked to you on the phone and you were really good about it. You actually said you felt bad for the guy -- Jay Hobby.

JAXON BRIGMAN: Wow, you've got a good memory.

Q. Have you ever talked to him since?

JAXON BRIGMAN: No, I haven't talked to him. I think he's playing the Gateway Tour. I saw him that year obviously, and I haven't really seen him since. Since about 2000 I really haven't seen him.

Q. How does 64 here rate with the best rounds that you've had? I mean, maybe not just numerically but in terms of satisfaction and where it happened and the surroundings, et cetera?

JAXON BRIGMAN: With all that considered, it was one of the better rounds I've played as far as just -- I mean, obviously you feel like you left shots out there, and I bogeyed No. 3, couldn't even get there in two. That was a par 4.

But that was really the only hook-up that I had all day, and I told my caddie, he's like -- well, I birdied the next hole, and he's like, "You got a mistake back." I didn't really miss a shot there. I mean, I missed the shot. It's just the hole was playing so long that for me it was going to be tough. I was going to have to get up-and-down for par, for sure.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Jaxon, you said your career best on the PGA TOUR was 66, bettered that today with a 64. If we could go through your birdies and one bogey. Start on the back side. First birdie came on No. 12.

JAXON BRIGMAN: No. 12, that was kind of into the wind left to right. That hole normally plays downwind, so it was kind of a tough tee shot. I hit a good drive, and that was a key drive for me. That was a drive that was early on, and I struggled with that wind direction. So I hit a good drive there, then I hit a good 6-iron to about 12 feet.

No. 14, I hit a Cobra Rescue club off the tee and hit a wedge to about six inches.

Par 5, 16th, I hit a driver and a Cobra Rescue club in the bunker and hit it to about a foot.

Then 18, I hit a driver and a 6-iron to about 20 feet.

Front side, only bogey of the day, No. 3, I hit a driver and a 3-wood about 20 yards short left in the rough, chipped it to about 15 feet and missed it.

Came back with a birdie on the next hole, 4, driver and an 8-iron to probably eight feet.

7, par 5, I hit drive in the bunker, laid up with a 5-iron, hit a sand wedge to about 15 feet, made that.

8, par 4, I hit a driver and a 7-iron to about six, seven feet.

Q. You had chances on 6 and 9, too, I believe?

JAXON BRIGMAN: Yeah, I hit a really good shot on 6, hit a good drive and an 8-iron to probably six, seven, eight feet there. I didn't have that great a putt.

Q. Could you be disappointed in 64 from that standpoint?

JAXON BRIGMAN: Not really, no. I'll take it (laughing).

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Jaxon, thanks for joining us and good luck tomorrow.

JAXON BRIGMAN: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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