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BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSIC

January 21, 2006

Chad Campbell

LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA

JOHN BUSH: We have our leader, our current leader at 24-under par, Chad Campbell. Chad, thanks for coming by and spending a few minutes with us. A 5-under 67 today, if we can get some comments on your round and I'll get you to take us through your card.

CHAD CAMPBELL: I got off to a good start. The front nine played really well. I had a bogey there on the back nine that kind of slowed me down a little bit. Never really got anything going after that.

A little unhappy with the way I finished, but overall, happy with the round.

JOHN BUSH: Birdie on No. 4, the par 5.

CHAD CAMPBELL: Hit driver, 3-wood just through the green, probably 25 feet from the hole and 2-putted from there.

6, I hit 6-iron about 20 feet past the hole and made it.

7, driver, 9-iron to about a foot.

9, I hit driver, laid up with a 5-iron, sand wedge to about four feet, five feet.

10, I hit driver, 8-iron to about 15 feet.

11, bogey, perfect drive, 6-iron, hit it a little long left, didn't get up-and-down. Missed about a 15-foot par putt.

14, I actually drove it left, not a very good tee shot. Knocked it down the middle of the fairway, hit a great sand wedge to probably six, eight feet.

Q. You said that no lead was safe, and it sounds like your words are pretty true right now. I think you have a one-stroke lead at the moment.

CHAD CAMPBELL: Right.

Q. How concerned are you going into tomorrow?

CHAD CAMPBELL: Not really. I feel like I'm playing well and look forward to having a good round tomorrow. I think it will be good. I don't know how many holes Scott has got left, but he's over at Bermuda Dunes, kind of expected him to maybe get to 24.

Q. Did you either consciously or unconsciously back off of a strategy of going after birdies or did you keep your foot on the throttle?

CHAD CAMPBELL: I was trying to, just ended up the last few holes, I wasn't hitting the shots and wasn't making the putts. That's the way it goes.

Q. Awfully tough to do that four days in a row.

CHAD CAMPBELL: It is. It is.

Q. Is it kind of the unknown tomorrow, besides how well anybody plays, is the course, or have you guys gotten used to it now and you think you have it figured out?

CHAD CAMPBELL: You know, probably pretty used to it. We adjust pretty quick to courses.

You know, without any wind out here, you can make some birdies. The guys on Wednesday and Thursday kind of got the bad end of the deal with the wind blowing so hard. It was a totally different course that we played today.

Q. You mentioned your goals and that you want to be more consistent this year. Your ranking took a dip last year. How important is it to get your ranking back where you want it?

CHAD CAMPBELL: That's important, not necessarily just my ranking, just playing good, and then everything will take care of itself then.

I just want to contend for tournaments and hopefully come out on top some. You know, my main goal is to make the Ryder Cup Team.

Q. Which would you rather see tomorrow, windy condition or non-windy condition?

CHAD CAMPBELL: Somebody asked me this a while ago. I don't know. I can't control it, so there's no use really worrying about it. Just kind of wake up in the morning and see what we've got.

Q. So you don't think you have an advantage playing in the wind then?

CHAD CAMPBELL: Scott is from Oklahoma, too; it blows there. Either way is fine.

Q. I noticed, while the celebrities are signing autographs, you go right up and hit. Is that sort of what guys usually do or is that your own sort of strategy?

CHAD CAMPBELL: We don't sign autographs during the tournament, so that's just what we do. I don't even know if it's actually even allowed. It's nice sometimes kind of not paying attention to them and let them do their own thing. That's what they are; they are entertainers. That's their job out there, the with fans.

Q. It looks like you'll be playing with Scott tomorrow. How well do you know him and what would a victory mean to you?

CHAD CAMPBELL: Me and Scott are pretty good friends. I've known him for a while now.

A victory would be huge. It's been a while since I won; Bay Hill in '04 was my last win. Ready for tomorrow and hopefully everything will work out for me.

Q. When you say close friends, do you guys hang out off the golf course together very much?

CHAD CAMPBELL: No, not really. Every once in a while during football season, maybe we watch a football game or something together if we happen to be at the same place. As far as hanging out, not really, but we always talk to each other on the range. Sometimes we play practice rounds, you know, decent friends.

Q. He's an interesting guy for a tournament like this, because he's obviously a great ball-striker but not a big hitter. Not a surprise he's up there with you, even though he's not a big hitter?

CHAD CAMPBELL: He keeps it in play. He's probably one of the straightest drivers we have out here. He always keeps it in the fairways and that gives you a lot of opportunities. You can really control what your ball is doing out of the fairways, and putts it pretty well.

Q. Last week you got used to holding an end-of-the-day lead. Is it something you're pretty comfortable with and have you felt any pressure at all?

CHAD CAMPBELL: No the really. It's such a long tournament, you can't really think about it. You've got to keep pressing and keep making birdies because you know somewhere between 25- and 30-under is going to win, so even after the first or second day, I don't even know what I was, at 12, you know, you're only halfway there to the number that's going to win. So you've just got to keep going. You're really not thinking about it too much.

Q. If you had a preference, everyone wants to be in the lead, but would you be more comfortable being one stroke back going into the last day with the pressure on someone else?

CHAD CAMPBELL: No, I'd actually rather have a one-shot lead to be honest with you, then you have a shot to play with. I'd like to have about a ten-shot lead (laughter).

Q. And even that's not safe here.

CHAD CAMPBELL: Exactly, you're right.

Q. When you look at these four rounds that you have played now, how does it compare to some great four-round stretches in the past? You would have won this tournament already in any other tournament. How does it compare and how does it feel about how well you've played?

CHAD CAMPBELL: You know, I think it's close. It's close to the tournaments that I've won. So far, maybe not quite as well. You can get away with a few things out here. If you hit a little bit of errant shots, the rough is not as bad as normal. You know, that's why the scores are so low.

I think it's up there. Ask me again tomorrow and I'll tell you a better answer.

Q. You mentioned that your last win was at Bay Hill in 2004. That's only two years ago; that's not that long. Are you kind of putting the squeeze on yourself? Do you expect to do more than that?

CHAD CAMPBELL: No, not really. I expect to win. I think I have the ability to win. You know, to me it feels like Bay Hill has been a long time, so ready to get another one.

JOHN BUSH: Chad, thank you and good luck tomorrow.

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