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SHELL HOUSTON OPEN

April 20, 2006

John Daly

HUMBLE, TEXAS

JOHN DALY: I was real solid today, just one bad tee ball and a bad 9-iron on 7. It was just one of those good solid days, hit a lot of fairways and kept myself out of trouble.

Q. You played well on the other course last year. I know it doesn't relate, but do you think it's coming to this tournament, that you had success here last year?

JOHN DALY: Kind of, but this is a totally different golf course. The other one you can rip driver on all the par 4s and par 5s, and this one here you can't. On a couple of holes, that's the hard part about this course that makes it a little bit harder. The fairways are about the same width, but 330 or 340 off the tee they close in to 10 or 15 yards and they're kind of hard to hit. I hit a lot more irons at this course than I like to.

Q. How about the wind? It seems like it picked up a little bit this afternoon?

JOHN DALY: Yeah, you think it's doing one thing and then you hit it and it's doing another. I hit pretty decent shots on one of the par 3s. The guys hit 5-iron just pin high, and I hit 6-iron and it went over the green. The wind can kind of just mess with you a little bit. It can change on your backswing.

Q. You always have a decent-sized gallery here, people following you around. Do you get the sense people are attached to you?

JOHN DALY: The fans here have always been great, even when we played the Woodlands and the other course. It's a great city for golf and all sports. It's great, I love the people here.

Q. Was the wind into you on 15 when you got there?

JOHN DALY: Yeah, we had 291 to the hole. I really didn't think I could fly a 3-wood there, and Peter said we can probably roll it up, and I just caught it really solid. I hit a crappy putt but still made birdie. It worked out all right.

Q. How many times were you able to hit driver today? You said you hit a lot less drivers here on the other course.

JOHN DALY: Probably about half of what I did on the other course. I hit probably six 2-irons today, a couple 3-woods, probably six drivers today.

Q. You obviously had a lot of confidence on the other course. Do you have any comfort feeling here? Is it kind of a struggle for you?

JOHN DALY: A little bit. When the wind blows here you struggle because hitting the ball in the fairway is a premium because the par 5s you can at least roll the second shots on the green. You hit something low and roll them on. The wind can play a factor. Like I said, a lot of the holes narrow up at 320, 330.

Q. On 15 what did you hit there?

JOHN DALY: I hit 3-wood but it was against the wind off the tee. If there was no wind I probably would have hit 2 or 3-iron off the tee. That's what makes a change here. The other course, you know exactly what it is.

Q. And the wind I'm assuming is much more of a factor on this course?

JOHN DALY: I think so, yeah, quite a bit. There's a lot more water on this one, too.

Q. No. 5 was coming across, wasn't it?

JOHN DALY: Yeah, that was hurting out of the left. That's definitely a tough hole.

Q. Do you feel like this is a course you can have success on? Obviously you had a good day here, but how do you feel about it?

JOHN DALY: I do. I'm hitting my long irons really well. I got the 2 and 3-iron this week, got them all set, and I'm hitting my long irons good again. If I'm hitting my long irons good I can keep the ball in play. When I'm doubtful if I need to hit 3-wood or driver, I'm going to hit my 2-iron and I feel like I can hit the fairway with it and at least have a chance to knock it on the green.

But the course, I do like it. It's an awfully good golf course. If we could just stay somewhere for a while, it would be nice. Either this one or that one, but let's stop moving.

Q. How do you feel in general about having the 72nd hole with that kind of a water factor and that kind of a boom or bust factor to decide a tournament? Do you like that?

JOHN DALY: I do like that. The bunker is playable. I don't know if my 2-iron -- if I pull it a little bit it's going to go over the water. It's like 250 to 258 carry, so we just hit 3-wood, aim it at the bunker, and if it turns over, it turns over, and if it didn't we'll just play out of the bunker. You just don't really know what to hit off the tee, and that's probably what makes it special coming down the stretch if you do have a chance to win.

End of FastScripts.

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