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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

March 23, 2006

Ben Crane

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA

Q. Kind of a tough way to end up today. Can you talk us through 18? You were 6 under going into that hole.

BEN CRANE: I'm really not that disappointed with the way I finished. Obviously you don't want to end with a double. But I really didn't hit a bad shot. I kind of took it down the left side there and cut it a little bit too close. I thought it was actually going to be all right, but I was confident enough to step up there and hit my next one in the fairway and make a recovery par for a double. All in all, I haven't played golf for quite a while being injured for most of the year. I'm just excited to be playing again and excited to have played well.

Q. Can you take us through the back, exactly what was wrong and what you've done

BEN CRANE: I kind of sprained my back. I was kind of hurting myself when I was swinging, and so I've gotten some help from my coach, Butch, and the guys at Titleist have all helped me to get my back in a better position up top. It's really been a process, but now with the help of a few guys, we've gotten my back in a better position while I'm swinging. Now I'm not hurting myself when I'm out there, which is obviously a step in the right direction.

Q. What were your expectations when you showed up here this week, and what's running through your mind when you've survived 17, you've taken it to 6 under

BEN CRANE: I really didn't have any expectations, I just came out here with the idea I want to see where my game is at. I told my wife and my caddie, I have no idea what to expect out there tomorrow. I have no idea what kind of shape my game is in. I feel like my game is improving, but I don't exactly know where I'm at. I'm excited to be playing again, excited to see a lot of our friends, and it's just a thrill to be out here. It's an exciting day.

Q. How good, bad, indifferent is the back feeling?

BEN CRANE: I feel great. I did not have any shot where, oh, my back was aching there or anything. I felt great all day. I had my back guy, Tom Boers in town checking me all week making sure I was ready to play. He looked at me and said, hey, you are a 10. That gave me a lot of confidence to come out here and relax and just play.

Q. You had some back problems last year, at the end of last year, too. Is that the same thing?

BEN CRANE: Yeah, it's the same deal. You know, I was able to go like six months towards the end of last year without any problems whatsoever and we thought we had kind of resolved the issue, and then all of a sudden on the West Coast I got some new clubs and started hitting too many balls and got into the old cycle again and hurt it again.

Q. That's when you found Boers, last year?

BEN CRANE: Yeah, I've been working with Boers for a while. I don't know if I'd be playing right now if he wasn't able to loosen me up the way he does. I'm thankful for that.

Q. Was it more of a stress situation at the top of the swing than it is anything when you're following through?

BEN CRANE: I mean, everyone's back is different, and for my back, when my back gets arched, it puts a lot of pressure on my spine, and just the way I'm built, that puts me in pain. If I can keep my back out of an arched position, it seems to make my back feel a lot better and go for a long time without hurting.

Q. Did you baby it a little bit? Did you have to baby it the last few weeks? Were you babying it coming into this?

BEN CRANE: Yeah, I went to Columbus, Georgia, to work with Tom Boers, and I would play a round of golf, have him look at me, play a round of golf, look at me. He just kept saying, looks good, looks good. It just got better and better. It takes generally six weeks to heal from an injury, and so I'm getting towards the end of that.

Q. Does he stretch you every morning? Does he give you exercises?

BEN CRANE: Yeah, he's a physical therapist and he kind of just stretches those joints and is able to go right to the source and makes me not only feel great but play a lot better, too.

Q. This round underneath your belt, I mean, are you looking forward to the week now, just you're feeling good and

BEN CRANE: Yeah, I'm excited. I was so excited to step on that 1st tee and excited to get to the last three holes. I couldn't be any happier about being out here. It's just a lot of fun, and I'm doing what I love to do, and I'm very blessed that God has given me the talent to come out here. Anyway, I'm thrilled that I'm healthy and I'm playing again.

Q. Can you just tell us real quick, when you WD'd earlier this year, what happened?

BEN CRANE: You mean Honda?

Q. No, I was thinking earlier. Didn't you WD earlier than that?

BEN CRANE: Oh, San Diego I played the first round, and then I woke up Friday morning and felt horrible, and just my back would not go. It was just locked up. From San Diego until now I've been recovering and all that. I thought I was going to play Honda but I still wasn't ready. This is really my first tournament in quite a while.

Q. Did you get down to Honda?

BEN CRANE: I went there, played the Pro Am, thought I might be ready to play, and then like 20 minutes before my tee time, I said, you know what, I don't think this is going to be good for my back, and I'll give somebody else the opportunity to play. It just wasn't quite ready yet.

I'm glad I made the decision because coming in here and coming into the next couple weeks I want to be healthy. This is a great stretch. We've got some big tournaments.

Q. You talked a little bit about going to Columbus, Georgia, to see Tom. You've got another trip to Georgia coming up here in the not too distant future that I'm sure means an awful lot to you since it's your first?

BEN CRANE: Yeah, I couldn't be any more excited about going to the Masters. I've been there a few times to kind the check the course out. I've got my whole family coming in. It's a pretty incredible place, so I'm excited about the week to say the last.

Q. What was your first impression when you went?

BEN CRANE: I felt like I knew every hole. I had never been there, and I felt like I knew every hole to a certain extent. That was the only course I've ever been to where I felt like I've almost been here before even though I've only seen it on TV.

Q. What year was your first trip to Augusta?

BEN CRANE: This year.

Q. Just as a player in the field, you just went down to play?

BEN CRANE: Went down to practice, yeah.

Q. So you haven't actually

BEN CRANE: No.

Q. So you went in the fall, or when did you go?

BEN CRANE: We went to October with my dad and a couple friends and had a great time.

Q. So you've already seen the course changes?

BEN CRANE: Yeah, it was cold and windy and I hit 3 wood on 4 a number of times. It will play a little bit shorter in the tournament I'm sure, but it was cold, breeze in our face, 3 wood. I played it five times, I hit 3 wood four times and 2 iron once.

Q. Anything outstanding out there, long putt, chip in?

BEN CRANE: I got to No. 7, I was playing really well, made a few putts along the way. Got to 7, drove it just in the rough, had to chip it out there maybe 40 feet short of the green, pin was up front, and I had to land it short of the green and let it bounce up and trickle down, and it went in. So that was like, wait a minute, here we go. That was a nice momentum builder and keeper and all that stuff.

End of FastScripts.

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