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WGC NEC INVITATIONAL

August 20, 2005

Jose Maria Olazabal

AKRON, OHIO

Q. It's getting better every day, score wise.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Yeah, scoring has been better. I'm just happy with the score obviously today, 4 under. Anything under par here is pretty good, so I'm really pleased.

Q. Wobbly said you putted a bit better today; is that fair?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Well, today I think and both days I made a few more putts than the first day. The first day I really did not make any putts, and obviously when you make a few putts it helps the scores.

Q. You're obviously glad to get finished?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Yeah, I didn't believe it was going to be that short.

Q. Had you teed off at 18?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: No, I didn't. I had to tee off. I had to play the hole.

Q. So they just gave you the 15 minutes to finish off?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Yeah, which was very nice.

Q. Will you get started early again tomorrow?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: I don't know. I think Tiger at the moment has a few more holes to play, and the golf course is a little bit softer, and I think he's going to be able to attack the flags. We'll see how many under he finishes. It depends pretty much on him.

Q. For you, I mean, you set the record out here. Kenny Perry is having a great round here today, 6 under, up until he didn't get a chance to finish. Are conditions here as easy as you've seen them or how do they match up with some of the easier conditions?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Yeah, it depends on how hard the golf course plays. With the rain we had today, the greens will be softer, and I think you will see better scoring tomorrow because those greens are going to be holding and we're going to be able to attack the flags, and I think that is crucial if you want to have a possibility to score well here.

Q. On 18 did you miss a chance to really get one back?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Yeah, I left myself about a 12 footer, and I hit a good putt, it just lipped out.

Q. When you look at going into tomorrow then, obviously you're close enough to the lead for another good round, another good round, another good 66 probably gets you close. How do you look at that?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Well, I'm going to just go there and play my game and see if I can play good.

I think Tiger is well ahead of pretty much everybody the way he's playing. He knows the golf course, I think he likes the golf course, he has won here I think three times already. So I think he's going to be the man to beat, and I think it's going to be up to him.

Q. Actually some good news and bad news. Bad news, you missed your putt on 18. Good news, you're finished for the day.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: You said it all. I had a good chance on 18, I just missed it, but I just managed to finish my round today, so I'm not going to have to wake up at 5:00 o'clock tomorrow morning to finish my round.

Q. What is it about Firestone that gets the juices flowing for you?

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: Well, I really don't know. I cannot pinpoint what the reason is. I've done great things around here, but I don't have any explanation for it. I think it's a tough golf course, I think it's a golf course where you have to drive the ball straight and it's very demanding with your irons because the greens are small and well protected. I don't know. I mean, I'm glad that it's happening.

Q. Last thing, you know, the experts say you have to be a good iron player to play Firestone. You'll go down in history as one of the greatest iron players ever to play the game, so a pretty simple explanation.

JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL: On one hand, yes, but on the other hand, the way the golf course has developed through the years with the thicker rough and narrow fairways, I think it puts a lot of premium on good driving, too, because as soon as you miss the fairways, it happened to me a couple times today, I missed the fairway and pretty much with my length I'm dead meat. I'll try to keep it in play tomorrow.

End of FastScripts.

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