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FBR OPEN

February 6, 2005

Scott McCarron

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Scott McCarron, thank you for joining us. Tremendous weekend for you, rounds of 65 and 65 vaults you into 2nd place. You have to be really happy about how things went this weekend.

SCOTT MCCARRON: I am very happy with how I played this weekend. Didn't get off to such a great start Thursday and Friday. We had some very tough conditions with the wind.

Tom Pernice helped me on Friday afternoon. We both see Jim Hardy, and I wasn't hitting it very good on Friday, and Pernice just gave me one little tip and vaulted me to a good weekend.

Q. What was the tip, Scott?

SCOTT MCCARRON: Well, the tip was I was taking it and getting my right arm too far inside, so I was getting stuck a little bit. So he just said when you take it back, try to almost feel like the toe is kind of closing a little bit and that will get my right arm a little bit higher and pin that left arm on your chest and turn.

That really helped. I hit it very good on the weekend. I'm very thankful to Tom being as generous as he is, a fellow competitor giving me some advice.

Q. Did you feel like it was just a game of chase out there today?

SCOTT MCCARRON: Yeah, I didn't look at the leaderboard too much. I was just kind of trying to go as low as I could and fire birdies.

Really after I made the eagle I kind of checked it out to see what Phil was doing, and he was pretty far out there to catch, and he was playing very well. I was still trying on 15, going for it in two with a 3-iron and tried to saw it in there and pulled it a little bit, but I'm very happy with the way I played this weekend.

Q. What's your schedule like?

SCOTT MCCARRON: I'm taking next week off, and then I'll play LA and looks like probably Tucson. I don't think this is going to vault me high enough to get in the match play, which is a little disappointing, but we'll go to Tucson and give it a go there.

Q. Do you like playing in course in Tucson?

SCOTT MCCARRON: I haven't played there for many years, but it's a good golf course.

Q. Do guys look at opposite the match play a chance to cash in?

SCOTT MCCARRON: A little bit. I'd like to think that you have a chance to go out there and win a golf tournament, but again, from World Rankings if you're going to get in the Masters and trying to get in the world Tour events it almost hurts you playing these unless you finish in the Top 10.

I think they need to do something different with the World Rankings. They don't make any sense. I finished the year probably around 110, and when I started back up I was like 134.

In the off season you drop because I'm not playing in Australia or Europe, and I've got to really make up that ground to try to make it into the top 64.

Q. Through 15 today Phil had missed six fairways in a row and his scrambling has been wonderful all day.

SCOTT MCCARRON: His scrambling has been wonderful his entire life (laughter).

Q. That was my question. Can you address what you know about his short game?

SCOTT MCCARRON: His short game is one of the best on Tour, and when Phil starts driving the ball in the fairway, he's very tough to beat. He drove it pretty well obviously when he shot 60, so he's got a driver he feels comfortable with, but if he misses the fairway he's a very good chipper and a very good putter.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Let's first touch on your weekend. What went so well for you? You mentioned you made a correction in your swing, but shooting 6-under two days in a row, what did you do well.

SCOTT MCCARRON: The first two rounds I didn't hit the ball well but chipped and putted really well. I've kept that going. I've been putting really well.

James Sieckmann, who is my short game kind of guru, I've been working with for almost a year now, he was out in San Diego, and starting the year I haven't played in the winter because Reno has four feet of snow, and I went down to Palm Springs before San Diego, and Sieckmann and I worked on putting and he gave me a good key for putting.

I led the Tour on putting in San Diego and I'm still No. 1 on putting, and really just putted well. My putting kept me in it the first two days, and then my ball-striking came around, and I still putted well this weekend.

Q. When is the last time you had two consecutive rounds like this?

SCOTT MCCARRON: Well, who knows. I've had a lot of good rounds like in Las Vegas, I've had some low rounds there. You know, I can't remember. I'm almost 40, I can't remember what I did last week (laughter). But no, it's good playing. 6-under both days, good playing, and I'm very happy with that.

Q. Where would you be without the long putter? I'm sure you're asked that a lot.

SCOTT MCCARRON: The long putter certainly helps me. I've worked very hard with the long putter, which has got me to putting very well. I don't putt well all the time, but I'm able to see the line a little better, helps me release it. I don't want to think of where I'd be without the long putter, I want to think where I can go with it.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: If we could talk about your round a little bit today, the highlights. Eagle on 13.

SCOTT MCCARRON: I hit a good drive in the fairway, had 5-iron from about 227, tried to land it short of the green, bounce it up there, made a good shot, made about a 33 footer or so right down the center. That was really the first time that I kind of looked over at the leaderboard just to see what guys were doing. Before that I really hadn't looked.

Then 17, hit a real good drive there, short right of the green, had a very difficult chip, hit it to about ten feet. I've had that putt many times in practice rounds and know that it breaks a little bit right even though it looks like it's going to go left. My caddie and I, Rich Mayo, who did a great job, had a perfect read, inside left edge, and put it right in the center.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: You have a nice paycheck here, and I'm sure you'd like to get back in the winner's circle.

SCOTT MCCARRON: I think this is going to be a breakout year for me. I struggled a little bit last year, had a lot of equipment changes. Things are going really well with that, so I feel like I'm going to have a great year. This is the start I wanted, 6th in San Diego and looks like a 2nd or 3rd here.

Q. When did you switch to the putter?

SCOTT MCCARRON: Long putter, 1991, a long time ago.

Q. It doesn't seem like it's been that long.

SCOTT MCCARRON: 11 years on Tour now.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Scott, thanks.

SCOTT MCCARRON: Thanks, guys.

End of FastScripts.

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