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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT

June 3, 2005

Bart Bryant

DUBLIN, OHIO

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Bart Bryant at 6 under par.

Q. Talk a little bit about your round today. Obviously you had to be feeling pretty good out there today.

BART BRYANT: Yeah, I got off to a fairly good start today, birdied the 3rd and 4th holes right away. That kind of took the stress out of the round early. Just actually played very solid. I didn't miss a fairway yesterday, although today I missed a couple, so I'm going to try to work on that on the range a little bit.

By and large, I played very well, only made a couple mistakes and then recovered very well, and I also made a couple of fantastic up and downs like on 18 from an impossible position. That all kind of added up to a decent round of 69.

Q. What's it feel like for you to be as you see your name on the leaderboard, it's got to get you juiced up.

BART BRYANT: Fortunately I've seen my name there a few more times this year. I'm kind of getting used to it. I saw my name there four or five years ago and I would make an automatic four or five bogeys in a row. I like seeing my name there and I enjoy being at the top going into the weekend and that's where I'm starting to feel more comfortable.

Q. Is that a result of the win last year?

BART BRYANT: I believe so. That's a big part of it for sure.

Q. What is this year about for you after the year you had last year, building on that?

BART BRYANT: Honestly it's trying to validate to myself that I'm in that category of winners and try to back it up with a really strong year, maybe have some chances to win here the rest of the year, and maybe win one. If not I'd like to secure it a couple times and prove to myself this is where I belong.

Q. Are you past the point of being intimidated by the quality of the field?

BART BRYANT: Well, you know, honestly, I think so. It's funny, if your game is really good, you don't feel intimidated. Sometimes you're kind of knocking it around but you're shooting low and you don't feel intimidated. I've played with Tiger this year, I've played with Vijay, played with Davis Love. I've played with all the guys, you know. Luckily when I've played with them I've played pretty well, so that's helped me be a little more comfortable.

No, I don't really feel intimidated when I come to a tournament like this anymore.

Q. Your win in Texas, are you a good wind player, is that how you were able to win there? Does that explain where you are today?

BART BRYANT: Yeah, probably. I mean, there was a little wind last couple of days. I don't think it was a real big factor. There's no doubt that most of my top finishes on the Tour has been when the wind is blowing. Growing up in New Mexico learning to be a wind player, I learned to hit the ball pretty low. It suits my game a little better when there's a little wind.

Q. How are you physically?

BART BRYANT: As far as when I came back from the surgery?

Q. Yeah, how long did it take and when did you feel like you were back?

BART BRYANT: I felt good all last season. That was a big part of playing well is I was actually for the first time able to practice. It had been a couple, three years since I was really able to practice more than a couple hours, more than a couple days in a row, and I think that's why I'm playing a little bit better now is I'm able to spend a little more time on the practice tee.

Q. You're one of the guys that chased this dream for a long, long time. Are you pinching yourself now or figuring this is overdue because of the time you put in?

BART BRYANT: Some days I pinch myself, but luckily my instructor Brian Mogg just has been after me the last couple of years saying, "Man, look at your stats and then compare it to the other guys and look how much money you make. You really deserve to come into your own. It's about that time. You've kind of been an underachiever if you look at the stats." So he kept pounding it into me and finally I started believing it.

Q. Is he a Cleveland guy?

BART BRYANT: Brian Mogg, he actually is at Keene's Point there in Orlando. He works with a few guys on Tour.

Q. I mean his background.

BART BRYANT: You know, he went to school here at Ohio State, I know that for sure. I don't know if he's a Cleveland native or not.

Q. Your win in Texas last year came during the Ryder Cup, right?

BART BRYANT: It did, yes.

Q. Was that a describe that kind of dynamic of winning in a week when everybody else's focus is kind of somewhere else.

BART BRYANT: Obviously we're missing the top players in the world, that's nice (laughter) for your first win. And it's a smaller tournament. The focus is not on the tournament that week. In fact, being in the lead and even winning the tournament, I didn't get much publicity, and that was fine. So I kind of eased my way in the back door and saw that there wasn't as much attention on me that week as there would have normally been. That was probably really nice for my first win.

Q. How does life change with a two year exemption?

BART BRYANT: Well, I'm able to play tournaments like this, Colonial, The Heritage, so I've added a few different things to my schedule, and just being able to know two weeks out I'm going to take a week off or I'm going to play instead of them calling me and saying, "Hey, guess what, Bart, you get to play this week."

Q. How long have you been with Brian?

BART BRYANT: I've been with Brian for about five or six years now.

Q. Where can I get a hold of him?

BART BRYANT: He left for France today.

Q. I can't then. Thanks, appreciate it.

End of FastScripts.

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