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SHELL HOUSTON OPEN

April 21, 2006

Greg Owen

HUMBLE, TEXAS

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Greg Owen, currently tied for the lead at the Shell Houston Open, set the Redstone Tournament course record with a 65 with five birdies in your last six holes. Maybe if we could just talk about those last six holes, especially 17 and 18, certainly nice to walk off the course with two birdies on 17 and 18 I'm sure.

GREG OWEN: Yeah, they're tough holes. They moved the tees up a little bit. You would think it would make it easier but it actually makes the landing areas a little tighter. I just played well all day. I gave myself a lot of chances on the front nine. I missed some real good chances and just played really solid, gave myself chances and just started to fall in on the last few holes.

Q. You were a little bit hesitant about moving over across the street. It didn't appear like the course seems to make a lot to difference to you here.

GREG OWEN: I like the area obviously. It must be something in the water. I don't know what it is. I don't mind this course. I think it's a good golf course. I just preferred the other one. If I win this week, then I'll prefer this one. It just needs a little bit more time to grow and mature, but I think they've got some really good holes. Some of the greens are a little severe in places, but I think it's a great golf course. It's in great condition, which always helps, and I think you've got to play well out there.

Q. A lot of sitting around this morning waiting for the round to start?

GREG OWEN: Yeah, I wasn't sure what was happening to start. Obviously I heard the storm this morning when I was in bed, and I found out that we had a delay. I was just plodding around not doing a lot. I just wanted to get out and start playing. It's not too bad being a Friday. It's a little bit more the weekend when you start thinking about things a bit more. You come up here and you don't know what to do with yourself, whether you're going to over prepare or what, so you try to do little things and do them properly.

Q. I know you've been trying to fix your putting and working on your putting going into this week. How much of a battle was it today when you feel like you're giving yourself opportunities early and you weren't getting things to fall early? They obviously fell in but late.

GREG OWEN: Yeah, I felt like I hit a lot of good putts today. That's all I'm happy about. The quality of putting is a lot better now. I'm not hitting so many pushed or pulled or short or anything. The quality is there. I'm just waiting for them to drop, as I say. I don't feel like I've hit a bad putt today. They only just started falling towards the end. Hopefully it will continue for the rest of the weekend.

Q. Was there anything creative or inventive that you've been working on differently?

GREG OWEN: This week?

Q. Yeah, because you said coming in that you keyed on something different that you were doing.

GREG OWEN: Yeah, I'm just trying to stay as still as I can over it. I was doing a lot of moving looking for the ball to go in the hole. I'm just letting the putter go through into the hole. It's a very basic thing that I had just forgotten that I've got to get back to basics. Isn't that always the case? Go back to the simple things.

Q. Are you happy with your little squeeze that went in? Some guys have to wake up early tomorrow.

GREG OWEN: Yeah, we always knew we were going to finish today. We've had a great time, Brent and Scottie. We've had a great time. We just ambled along it seemed, but we played nice and quickly as we were out in front of the field. The last six holes were really slow, so the guys this evening and then again tomorrow morning, it's nice to finish and know that the job is done for the day and starting fresh tomorrow.

Q. How much of a disadvantage do you think it would be to have to come back tomorrow and tidy up two or three holes?

GREG OWEN: I don't know. I mean, nobody wants to do it, obviously. It's a lot easier to stay in bed and just start from the 1st tee. But it's a case of you've just got to do it, and you've got to be professional about it. You can't go away thinking, oh, lucky so and so gets to go home. I mean, the draws are different. I was third from last out last week, and now I'm first out this week. It's going to be different all the time. Some guys are going to finish, some guys aren't, and you've just got to deal with it.

Q. Is your back still holding up okay?

GREG OWEN: It's doing okay. I'm getting looked after pretty well with the guys in the physio trailer, and I'm trying to work on things myself, as well, so I'm doing okay.

Q. How many course records do you own because you right now have a course record?

GREG OWEN: Three back home, I think. I think. I can't remember. Not many out on Tour, I know that. I think it's the lowest round of the year so far for me.

Q. What's the lowest you have at one of those courses?

GREG OWEN: My home course. In a competition?

Q. Well, the three course records you're counting, what's your lowest?

GREG OWEN: I had a 62 at Royal Zoute in Belgium. That was on the Challenge Tour. No, it wasn't Challenge Tour, it's a European Tour event. I know I packed my bags thinking I was going to miss the cut and shot 62.

Q. You're talking about the ones that you were rolling well that didn't start falling, was it the one at 13 that kind of lit the fuse? That was the first of your birdie stretch there.

GREG OWEN: Yeah, that was a really good putt, a nice three footer. I missed a short one on 6, I three putted 8, and I missed from ten feet on 9, ten feet on 10, 15 feet on 11, 12 feet on 12, and you're just starting to think, what's happening. Then I got another one close on 13, holed out a bunker on 14, holed it from three feet on 15, knocked it close out of a bunker on 16 and holed it from 12 feet, and then the last one was about 20 feet.

Q. What did you hit on those last two holes?

GREG OWEN: I hit 6 iron on 17 and 5 iron on 18. You know, it's nice to finish that way, just a bit of positives into tomorrow. You know the golfing gods, they determine what's going to happen. You just try your best, and if they're going to drop, they'll drop.

Q. The ones that you were missing, were they just misses?

GREG OWEN: Just pace more than anything. Yeah, I just over hit one on 9 and then under hit one on 10. Just hitting good putts but just not quite hitting them. They've got to be perfect. The greens are so pure, they're rolling really good, and you've got to learn the pace. You can't hit one or the other, they both have to combine.

Q. You talked a lot in the last month about what the golfing gods do, what they do

GREG OWEN: I'm just finding excuses (laughter). I don't know, I believe a little bit that something is happening. I mean, why some weeks can you go out and hole everything and then other weeks you commit everything? You're doing the same thing. I don't know. Things happen that some things happen in other weeks and you finish 20th, and you feel like you're doing the same thing and you go and win a tournament. It just doesn't make sense. Not a lot in golf does, does it?

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Greg, thanks.

End of FastScripts.

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