JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

September 11, 2003

Jonathan Byrd

TODD BUDNICK: We thank Jonathan Byrd, the clubhouse leader, 6-under, 65. Jonathan, got off to a great start with five birdies in your first seven holes. Talk a little about that start.

JONATHAN BYRD: Well, I just hit a lot of good shots starting off. I played the first hole somewhat solid.

Then went into 2 and hit two good shots in the middle of the green, just an easy two-putt birdie, which is nice to start your round.

Then the third hole, par 3, I hit a decent shot, just hit a little right, poor chip, made bogey. I felt good about my swing all week, and going into 4 I hit a good tee shot, a tough back pin with a good bit of breeze in our face, nice little 7-iron to about five feet, very pleasurable shot, and made birdie.

Then hit some good tee shots on the next two holes, good iron shots. I hit it a foot on 6 and about 12 feet on 5, made two birdies.

Then 7, I hit a poor shot right of the flag and short and got an awesome kick off the big mound and kicked down to about 12 feet and made the putt for birdie.

Then I played 8 and 9 pretty awesome and just didn't make my putts. Making the turn I felt great. I didn't miss many shots.

10, hit driver, 6-iron to 20 feet and almost made eagle. I couldn't start off my round better. I hit it mediocre the rest of the day, made some good par saves and made a birdie at 17.

TODD BUDNICK: You're 64th on the money list and you have three top tens, none since The Masters. Have you felt yourself struggling or you're just not posting good scores?

JONATHAN BYRD: No, I struggled at times. I played well at the U.S. Open. I didn't finish in the top ten, but I was right there. I had a chance to win on Sunday going into the weekend. Other than that, Boston I finished, I guess, 13th. With driving the ball pretty poorly, I finished in the top 15.

My attitude has been great the last month and that's all I've been trying to work on and hoping the game would follow with it, and I'm starting to hit it better. Yeah, it's been a struggle lately, but I'm just trying to stay patient.

Q. Was the course fairly soft this morning or were the greens pretty fast?

JONATHAN BYRD: It was soft. When you've got hole locations and you feel like you're hitting 5 or 7-irons, you feel like flying it all the way to the hole. Being able to do that makes things a lot easier. Holes like 1, you fly it all the way to the hole. If these greens ever get firm, it's going to be a lot more challenging but the greens being soft it makes it a lot easier.

Q. Why were they soft?

JONATHAN BYRD: Well, I mean, we teed off before 8:00 and it's hard to get a course firm that early in the morning. Going into the second nine, you know, 17 starts to firm up. You know, this afternoon I think it will be baked out. I don't know, it's summer, bent grass and humid. It's hard to get a course too firm, especially when we've got rain coming tomorrow. The greens are in great shape and we'll make some putts and you're going to see good scores.

Q. What in particular for you was good for you today or was it all facets?

JONATHAN BYRD: I wouldn't say all facets, but when you're mentally feeling good and you're trusting your game and you're just kind of out there enjoying every shot and having fun, that's when things are good, and then to come with that I was hitting the ball where I wanted to and controlling my trajectory and controlling my distance and hitting fairways.

I was keeping it in play all day, and you keep giving yourself chances and I'm putting well, so you just know you're going to continue to make birdies, then I'm 4-under through 7 with a bogey, I just feel good about the day.

Q. Was there anything particularly difficult about the golf course for you?

JONATHAN BYRD: Well, I think the back nine, figuring out the exact wind. The back nine is tough with the breeze. The 11th hole is kind of tough, you're kind of coming back through the trees and you don't know whether to draw it off the tee into the wind or cut it back into the wind to make the shot a little easier, and then coming back into 14, I guess 14 is the short hole, that's an easy-looking hole, but there are going to be some bogeys there.

Then the rest of the holes, it's tough to gauge the wind. The wind was the hardest thing on the back nine. The guys in the afternoon are going to have to deal with that a lot more than we did.

Q. Did it help having played the golf course a year ago? Do you think guys who have seen this track are at an advantage?

JONATHAN BYRD: Totally. Any time you see a course, the more you see it, the easier it is because you've just got a better feel for it and you've hit more shots on it. I feel -- I really enjoy this golf course, and I lot of guys didn't play last year, I guess, and this is more of a first time for them, so being a second-year player, this is a rare thing that I may have an advantage over some other players, that I've played the course more than they have.

Q. When did the wind kick up for you? Was it right at the first tee or the ninth tee? Where was it?

JONATHAN BYRD: Probably around kind of 8 and 9 it started to pick up. 9 it started to pick up, and then coming into 10 it's kind of pumping downwind on the tee shot, which was very helpful going into a par 5, getting a few extra yards off that tee shot, and then the rest of the day was pretty consistent.

Q. You talked about your attitude. Do you have more of a comfort level having played here last year?

JONATHAN BYRD: Definitely. I don't know the right way of saying it, but the better you play, the more confident you are. The more times you win the more comfortable and confident you are. I haven't won in a while. It's been almost a year since I've won a golf tournament, and that feels like a long time. I don't know how much I feed off that tournament. I did watch tapes of it before I came to this tournament trying to get a little motivation, but it's been a while and I'm ready to get in contention and try to have a chance to win a golf tournament more often.

Q. You talked about playing well at the U.S. Open. Could you compare the setup there as opposed to the PGA in terms of fairness or unfairness? There's also been a lot of talk in Chicago since the Open left, if the Open comes back to Chicago would Olympia Fields be a good venue to host another one or should it go to another course?

JONATHAN BYRD: I thought Olympia Fields was -- that was my first Open, so I don't have too much to draw from. Comparing that course to the PGA is pretty difficult because the PGA is just -- it got me. I mean, I shot 80-79. Those are the worst tournaments as a pro I've ever had. They're just different. One is longer and one is not. I thought Olympia Fields was a good test. You saw on Sunday people struggling, me included, and it was the firmest course we probably had all year, that including the PGA, and the firmer you get these golf courses, the firmer the greens are, it's always a test.

Maybe at Olympia Fields if the rough was just a tad thicker. It was very playable that week. I hope it goes back there. I thought it was a good golf course and it was a good test. Not many people were under par just like the PGA, and the PGA was more difficult because you had to drive the ball.

Q. Was this the first week you pulled out tape from last year?

JONATHAN BYRD: I hadn't done it in a while. I mean, my tournament, the one I won was a pretty exciting finish with the eagle and birdies on the back nine, and I was kicking myself, why haven't I watched this more often. I watched that tape and the tournament I won on the Nationwide Tour just to kind of look at my swing and my routine and different things and just to see myself in contention. But I don't look at it too much. People bring it up all the time and I think about it, and I say, how did I do that, but I probably don't think about it enough.

Q. Why did you pick this particular time?

JONATHAN BYRD: I was going to practice on Monday before I flew out that afternoon, and I was just -- I hadn't been swinging too well, and I said I'm going to watch some old tapes and see what my action looked like back then and see -- I wanted to see how much my swing had gotten better since the Nationwide Tour and the PGA TOUR and then how much better it is now and just check those things out, and I saw that, and then I got to see myself hitting great shots and winning the golf tournament. I don't know, I was getting ready to go practice and I needed a little kick in the butt maybe.

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you, Jonathan.

End of FastScripts.