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WGC BRIDGESTONE INVITATIONAL

August 25, 2006

Davis Love III

AKRON, OHIO

CHRIS REIMER: Davis Love, 8 under par, one off the lead after the second round. Talk about what it's like being in this position playing with Tiger.

DAVIS LOVE III: Well, it's a good position to be in on this golf course. It's playing fairly tough and nice to get a good score and it will be nice to play with Tiger. As I said on TV, I'll thank him in person for inviting me to his tournament this December. He invited me yesterday.

It'll be fun. It'll be better than playing behind him, certainly. I played behind him on Saturday last week, and it was a little raucous. This should be in the eye of the storm rather than on the fringe of it. I've played with him a lot, so I'm looking forward to it.

Q. You talked I think last week about how this whole Ryder Cup process is over, it kind of takes the pressure off. What's maybe happening these first two rounds that wasn't happening for you during that period of time?

DAVIS LOVE III: Well, I played pretty much like this the first two rounds last week, too. I think the difference is going to be can I play four of them rather than two. I played two good ones at International and didn't get to play on Sunday, and I've had a lot of weeks like that, and that's

Really in my year what I'm disappointed about is there's no consistency. I putt one good and not the next or drive it good one day and not the next, and go home or go to any other town and shoot the course records. I've shot more low rounds at home playing with my son or playing with friends this year than I ever have, so I know I'm playing well, but I've just got to put four together. That's really the challenge. I don't think anything really changed after Tom's announcement Monday morning except that I got a couple weeks off.

Q. Were you aware of what was going on on the roof?

DAVIS LOVE III: When one or two fans told me that Tiger was having a problem up there. I still don't know what was going on, other than he made a bogey.

Q. What do you think happens between those great rounds when you're away from the Tour and a Tour event?

DAVIS LOVE III: As the great Vinny Giles said, I've got a pencil in my hand. Once you start keeping score it's different. I think it's just like the guy who hits it good on the driving range but hits it bad on the golf course. You just start thinking about results, you start thinking about what you're playing for rather than just playing and get out of your normal one shot at a time routine.

Tomorrow the last thing I need to think about is how good Tiger is playing and what a streak he's on and how I need a win and how nice it would be to go to Kapalua and all those things. I've just got to concentrate on playing a round of golf and let the rest take care of itself.

Q. Lucas yesterday said about the same as you did, he had no one to blame but himself about not being on the team. But the other thing he said was the pressure is over. He thought so much about it, as you did, that it's done with and it's time to move on and he's feeling much more relaxed this week. Do you find yourself in the same boat? Did I come in late and you already answered that question?

DAVIS LOVE III: I thought about that halfway through the round today. I said, "you know what, you're still thinking about the Ryder Cup every hole, it's just you're not getting to go now." I'm thinking about who he's going to pair together and how it's going to go and how is Vaughn Taylor going to do because I'm going to be pulling for him because Jack Lumpkin coaches him, too. I'm still excited about it. I still want them to do well and to win. I'm still paying attention.

But maybe the expectations of making or not making the team are going to take a little pressure off of me going forward for the weekend, and one of you guys asked me the question yesterday, doesn't it feel weird to be here where everybody gathers together as a team? Yeah, that's the feeling I have now is it's kind of weird Justin Leonard said, I walk out on the driving range and the next three guys are Ryder Cup guys and captains. I feel like I'm intruding.

That's kind of the way I feel strange because I really wanted to make it and I know how much fun they're going to have. We had a great talk with Zach and Kim last night. They were asking for tips, things they're unsure about. It's still nice to be thinking about it. I'm proud of playing on six of them and I'm still excited for these guys to go win. I can't get it out of my head, but you're right, the pressure maybe is off a little bit.

Q. Once these matches are finished, do you think you'll have any doubts about making the following team?

DAVIS LOVE III: No, I'm hoping they give me points this week. But I'm excited about the challenge. I enjoyed the challenge of trying to make the team. I didn't handle it very well mentally, and I think I've learned my lesson a little bit, and even a 42 maybe you can learn something about yourself and about your game.

You know what, maybe there is a challenge that I have ahead of me that playing under all that pressure is going to help me with. Maybe I'll learn something that will help me this weekend or in London or at the TOUR Championship or the week before the TOUR Championship. You never know. This will help me in the long run, I'm sure.

Q. Rules are rules, but I'm just curious, if someone were to have told you that a ball went over the grandstand, on top of the clubhouse roof, over the clubhouse and into that little trash service area close

DAVIS LOVE III: It's out of bounds, right?

Q. Would you have thought that was out of bounds?

DAVIS LOVE III: I would have thought it would have been. Obstruction? Biggest obstruction ever?

Q. The only out of bounds is the driving range.

DAVIS LOVE III: Yeah, if there's no white stakes, there's no white stakes. But you would have thought.

But no, I guess if you still miss this side of the road, you would think the road would be out of bounds. Is the road not out of bounds, either?

Q. Because the points changed the way they changed at the Ryder Cup with these quadruple points in the last year, I haven't done the numbers, but there's a good possibility if they hadn't done that you would have been right there. Do you think that that process I mean, even though it obviously didn't help you, but do you think in the long run that was the right thing to do?

DAVIS LOVE III: I think they're trying to get guys that are playing better this year. You know, I think there's obviously a reaction to the fact that we haven't been winning as many of them as we should have, so they had to they felt like they had to change to try to change that. My thing is you take a bunch of guys over there, if they putt well, we win, and if they don't, we won't. It doesn't matter how you get two of those 12 guys. I think they're just going to have to go and putt good.

If I would have made the team the way I played this year, I don't think that would have been fair, either. So maybe take Tom's approach, maybe just Top 10 Americans every week get points, and that way you know who the ten best Americans are.

But it's kind of hard, then you have to take a look at other tournaments, too, and a guy wins opposite field event, he gets the same amount as a guy that wins a full field event, things like that maybe skew it a little bit. But if I was Tom Lehman I'd be real happy with the 12 guys I've got. I don't think that really has anything to do with it.

Q. Your assessment on the putting, is that pretty much what you guys' downfall was, the ones you lost?

DAVIS LOVE III: The teams that I played on, yes, it's been putting. Presidents Cup, one of them was lack of preparation, and the rest of them were lost because of putting. You know, they threw us a curve ball going to Australia. We just didn't know what to do in December or November, whatever it was. The teams like I felt were really good, like the '97 team, we putted horribly, and they seemed to always putt great. I don't think there are 12 better putters than our 12. But I think in the long run that's what's cost us is poor putting, so that's good that they're going next week and going to scout out the greens for a couple days.

I know a bunch of us have already done that, too, scouted it out.

CHRIS REIMER: Thank you, Davis. Good luck tomorrow.

End of FastScripts.

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