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84 LUMBER CLASSIC

September 15, 2005

Ben Crane

FARMINGTON, PENNSYLVANIA

DAVE SENKO: Well, Ben, thank you for joining us this morning, or afternoon I guess it is now. Before we get started with some questions, 5 under 67, maybe just some general thoughts on your day and just how you played.

BEN CRANE: I played well all day, drove the ball in the fairway most of the day, and that makes this course obviously a lot more attackable, but the hardest part is probably the greens are extremely firm, with the exception of the 12th hole that they softened up for us a little bit, which was nice, otherwise it would be crazy hard. So I was able to put myself in position quite a bit and hit some short enough clubs in to attack some of the pins.

DAVE SENKO: Maybe just go through your card. You had a bogey at 3.

BEN CRANE: Yeah, I hit it right over first base down the right field line, way right there, and was fortunate to make 4 because I was in such a bad spot. But I was really happy with that after the tee shot I hit.

And then made pars up until the birdied the par 5. Is that 5? Yeah, I hit my second shot down there somewhat close to the green, chipped up there close to a foot, birdie.

Then the par 5, 8, I hit a good drive and a 4 iron that kind of rode the right edge of the green kind of to about ten feet, so I was happy with that and made a good putt for eagle, so that kind of got me jump started, I guess.

10, my playing partner putted in front of me, and he had almost the same putt from about 25, 30 feet, so I just ran it in. I knew the line and hit a good putt.

Then the par 5, I hit a wedge in there 12 feet, made a good putt.

Then the par 5, 16, I was in trouble. I was dead over on the right up against the lip, hacked it out with a wedge and then hit a pitching wedge in from 130 some yards and hit a decent shot to about 20, 15 feet, made a good putt to save a birdie there.

Then good save on 18 there.

Q. You made a lot of significant length putts. Are the greens putting pretty well?

BEN CRANE: Yeah, the greens are they're so firm that it's really hard to bang them up as far as making spike marks or a soft spike indention, I guess, so they're pretty resilient and they're rolling really true. They don't look fast, but they're really fast. I found that out on the 2nd hole when I had like a 20 footer and I ran it like nine feet by, and I thought, "That's a little bit of a wake up call." They're really fast in spots, so you've got to watch your speed. But they're in good shape.

Q. What did you think of 12?

BEN CRANE: You know, I don't think the changes are all that great, to be perfectly honest. But I was thankful they softened up the green to make it more playable. They moved the tee up, which I think is right. I think the setup committee did a nice job.

So we're playing the up tees so the greens are receiving shots better, so now it's a decent hole playing it like that, but obviously it's not playing like the rest of the golf course. They couldn't play it like that, otherwise it would be unfair. The front of that green is only maybe ten yards wide, and if you miss it to the right, you're in the water, and if you miss it to the left, you run all the way down into the flat down there, what is that, a six foot elevation change, so you'd have an incredibly tough up and down, so most of the players are just trying to play it to the back side of the green; that way you have a little wider margin to hit your tee shot.

Q. That green is softer than the others?

BEN CRANE: Yes.

Q. They watered it down?

BEN CRANE: They did. I'm glad they did. I think all the players will be pleased after they go through there that that hole is receiving shots better than any other green out there, which makes it more fair.

Q. How do you feel about how you're playing right now in your career? Is this as good as you've been playing?

BEN CRANE: Yeah, for sure. This is as good as I've ever played. I looked at my caddie yesterday, we were playing the Pro Am, and I said, "You know, this is kind of uncharted territory for me. I've never played this good." I feel good about my game.

You know, it's amazing to think back just about four months ago, and I didn't know if I was going to be playing golf for a living because my back was so bent out of shape and it was hurting just about every time I played. I had to take a few months off, and you just don't know how you're going to come back. All of a sudden, fast forward four months, if someone said you would have played this well, won a tournament, come close a couple times, I would have laughed.

Q. What did you do to correct your back?

BEN CRANE: The guys at Titleist, they have a performance institute that's helped me kind of understand what I was doing to my back when I was swinging. Those guys, and I have a back guy named Tom Boers that has been talking to me, kind of barking at me, going, "Look, you're arching your back when you swing. Any time you put your back into extension or arch up at the top of your back swing, you're putting undue pressure on it." Once I figured out that, hey, guys who do that move are going to suffer from a bad back, they said, "Look, guys who do that suffer from a bad back. Guys who don't, don't generally complain, and you do it." I went, "All right, let's change it." It was a dramatic difference in my swing, on my back swing, and they said, "You know, I think you're going to hit it a lot better and you're going to feel a lot better." I said, "That sounds like a home run to me. Let's go for it." I am thankful I had a bad back, otherwise I wouldn't have made the change really.

Q. How long did it take you to work that into your swing, make that dramatic a change?

BEN CRANE: I would say three or four months. It was a significant change, and I worked on it just about every day, just trying to get back into a better position so I wasn't putting too much pressure on it.

It's starting to feel better and better. I'm almost to the point where it's natural, and I feel a lot better, other than the fact that I played ping pong last night for a couple hours and Freddie Jacobson beat me like a drum, and I'm a little sore. Other than that, I'm fine.

Q. Do you have to do any exercises for that?

BEN CRANE: Yeah, I'm on a core strengthening program to try to increase flexibility and build strength around it, yeah.

Q. Would you say that most golfers do arch their back?

BEN CRANE: No, I would say the good players out here don't. I would say not very many of them do. I mean, I've watched quite a few guys because I'm kind of paying attention to that, and I'd say most guys don't do that.

Q. Do most weekend golfers do it, though?

BEN CRANE: Quite a few, yeah. I'd say a fair amount would do it.

Q. Is this on the back swing, the arch?

BEN CRANE: Yeah. If your shoulder plane changes from if I was just to rotate, my back would stay pretty straight and would actually probably stay in flexion a little bit. If I'm to lift my shoulders this way, lift my shoulders vertically, all of a sudden you put your back into extension.

Q. There's a lot of red up on the board. Is it playing easier than last year?

BEN CRANE: I think guys are kind of learning the golf course, learning where to attack. I don't know yet. I don't know if it's playing easier. Maybe another round or two and I'll kind of figure it out, but I'd say it's pretty similar. It's harder in spots and maybe easier in spots.

DAVE SENKO: Thanks, Ben.

End of FastScripts.

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