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EDS BYRON NELSON CHAMPIONSHIP

May 14, 2006

Brett Wetterich

IRVING, TEXAS

TODD BUDNICK: All right, we welcome Brett Wetterich Rick, winner of the 2006 EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Congratulations, Brett.

BRETT WETTERICH: Thank you.

TODD BUDNICK: Your first victory on the PGA TOUR, which earns you a two year exemption through the 2008 season. It's nice to fall back on, isn't it?

BRETT WETTERICH: That's very nice, considering if you didn't have your card locked this year, next year was going to be a pretty tough year for you to get into events. For me to come out and win today, it's an unbelievable feeling. It's going to definitely help me here I think in the future.

Q. Talk about that unbelievable feeling and just kind of walk us through your thoughts as you went through the day today.

BRETT WETTERICH: I was a little frustrated on the front nine. I started the day off good with a birdie and then had up and down bogey birdie kind of deal; bogeyed 9, was a little frustrated there. But I hung in there and came back and birdied 10, I think it was 10, and made some good pars in there and stayed patient and didn't try to get ahead of myself, and it paid off for me.

Q. You looked comfortable on 18, very nice drive, hit the second shot right to the middle of the green and a two putt.

BRETT WETTERICH: Looks are deceiving. I was feeling a little bit of pressure, I'm not going to lie to you, standing over my tee shot. I thought that was a pretty important fairway to hit. I kind of took my time a little bit, took a deep breath. I hit 5 wood off the tee and I hit it perfect.

Q. Does this one feel like a long time coming for you, or do you feel like it's kind of in its own

BRETT WETTERICH: I wouldn't say a long time coming. I don't think I'm a Mr. World Beater. I don't feel like I should have won three tournaments up to this point.

I'm just kind of taking it in stride, and I think it happened for a reason. It seemed like everything from last night until today before I teed off, there was a lot of weird things, like I'm a believer in signs. Like after putting out yesterday the bagpipes started going off and it gave me the chills. Went home, came out this morning and happened to sit in a cart next to me and it's Ted Purdy and his caddie, and on the side of his bag it says "2005 Champion," and I was just kind of looking at that. A lot of weird things like that happened to me, and I just felt like this was going to be my day, and it turned out.

Q. Any other signs that you saw?

BRETT WETTERICH: Not really. I mean, those are just two that just stood out to me.

Q. When you heard the bagpipes yesterday, did that stay with you later on? Did you think about it yesterday or anything?

BRETT WETTERICH: I didn't really think about it too much after that, but when it started, it kind of hit me. It gave me the chills, and it was a weird sort of feeling to me.

Q. Could you tell what song the bagpiper was playing?

BRETT WETTERICH: No.

Q. You can never tell.

BRETT WETTERICH: It sounds good, I know that.

Q. Talk about it looked like you were getting emotional after you lagged your putt close on the last green. Were you having a few tears over there?

BRETT WETTERICH: Yeah, it wasn't a full out bawl, but I definitely had a few tears. I was really happy for myself, but I was thinking about my brother. It was a good feeling, I wish he was here to see it. But hopefully he's smiling down on me. I kind of thought about that.

You know, I'm real happy for my dad because he put me where I am today, real happy to win a golf tournament and for him to be able to see it. And a happy Mother's Day, also.

Q. You had it so close on that last putt you could lose it a little bit and weren't worried about tapping that one in blindfolded?

BRETT WETTERICH: That's all I was worried about. I wasn't so worried about making the putt. That would have been nice. I just wanted to have a little tap in so there was no thinking about it, just go up and hit it in, and that's the way it worked out.

Q. What was your Q school story last year? You got your card on the number?

BRETT WETTERICH: Yeah.

Q. Was it any sort of harrowing finish?

BRETT WETTERICH: Not really. I was inside the top 35 all week. The last day it played pretty tough, and I made a good par on the 17th hole and on 18 I made par and made it on the number. It wasn't anything spectacular.

Q. You talked a minute ago about your brother. You were playing in a threesome with two guys who are very, very close. What was that like for you?

BRETT WETTERICH: I mean, no real feeling about it. I kind of stick to myself when I'm out there anyway. If they want to go they're good buddies, I know, so they can sit there and chat away, that's fine with me. We all talked, but I kind of get ahead of everybody. I walk kind of fast, so it didn't bother me either way.

Q. When you got to the course today, did you have a number in mind what you might need to do today?

BRETT WETTERICH: I wanted to try I thought I would have to get to about 15 to be honest with you to get into maybe even a playoff or to have a good chance, I thought I'd have to get to 15, and it turned out I didn't need to get that far.

Q. In that sense, how helpful was it to be with the guys that you were basically competing with?

BRETT WETTERICH: That was nice. You didn't have to leaderboard watch too much and look around and see what guys were doing. I think the last group was pretty much the leader, I think, the whole time. So it was nice to know where you stood. It was a comfortable feeling for me.

Q. You talked about the front nine being frustrating. You walk off No. 9, you're three out of the lead.

BRETT WETTERICH: Walk off 9, we were kind of in between clubs there, and I hit a little 7 iron but it went a lot further than I anticipated, and I hit a horrible first putt there. It was a long putt, but I hit a bad first putt. It was a bogey, a three putt bogey. Like you said, I was three back at that time. I didn't know that. I mean, sitting here now. But it was just frustrating. I didn't feel like I was accomplishing anything out there.

It turned around for me on the next hole, make birdie, make a couple pars, make another birdie, and all of a sudden here I am, I'm back into it.

Q. Was there a thought you grabbed onto or a swing that got you going or anything?

BRETT WETTERICH: Not really. I was doing the same things as I was on the front nine, it just seemed that I might have hit better shots maybe, I don't know, on the back nine, or had a putt fall or two. I don't think I did anything different or thought any differently.

Q. After your nice shot there on 13 and the birdie, did you feel then that was winning all of a sudden in your mind?

BRETT WETTERICH: It was nice to hit a good shot there. All three of us hit good shots into that hole. I knew I had to make a putt sooner or later, and something with some kind of meaning to it. It just kind of snuck in the left side for me. For me it gave me that little boost, you know, and I still had a couple tough holes coming up. Like 14, I think that's a that hole scares me to death off the tee. It just kind of gave me that little comfort feeling, like here we go, I'm where I want to be.

Q. Trevor talked about you having shoulders as big as this room and you can see that he hits it a long way, steps up and bombs it. Has that always been your approach to golf? Looks like you step up there pretty hard and swing and go.

BRETT WETTERICH: I go at it pretty hard. That's obvious to see when you watch me swing the driver. I hit a lot of other different clubs today off the tee, too. I hit a lot of 5 woods and 3 woods and 3 irons. I just don't go to every tee box and say give me the driver, I'm going to rip driver here. I kind of take what the course gives me. If you need to hit 5 wood, I don't try to press hitting driver over the corner.

Q. Going at it hard, though, is that the way you learned?

BRETT WETTERICH: Yeah, I grew up swinging like that. That's the way I've always been.

Q. Talk about the 18th hole, the second shot. Were you surprised at all when Trevor stuck it in close and does that change your thinking now? Looked like you might have a cushion but you still had to make par.

BRETT WETTERICH: No, it didn't change anything. I figured he was in there pretty close but I was aiming at the edge of that bunker and take my 20 footer or whatever it was for birdie. I wasn't trying to get cute and hit one over there and hit it close; I just took par in my head. That's all I wanted to make was par, and that's the route I took.

Q. What did you have in and what did you hit?

BRETT WETTERICH: I hit a pitching wedge. I think I had 143 to the hole. I had like 130 cover, and it was downwind a little bit.

Q. Is there anything about this tournament do you think or these courses that's conducive for first time winners to win here? Because there's been a bunch of them.

BRETT WETTERICH: I don't think so. I mean, I think if it's your time, it's your time. I just happened to be out there playing good this past month, and everything fell together for me. I don't think there's anything about first time winners being here that you've got your first time win on the courses.

Q. Just needing to two putt there on 18, what were your thoughts walking up to the green there on the final green after being up there nice and secure?

BRETT WETTERICH: You know, honestly I can't really remember. I was kind of emotional at that time and I was just trying to keep myself together and not go into a full out bawl, just thinking about a few things. I just wanted to get my two putts and get out of there. That's all I was worried about.

Q. What's it like to have your name on a trophy with Byron Nelson's name on it?

BRETT WETTERICH: It's a special honor for me, everything that Mr. Nelson has done for the game of golf and the PGA TOUR and everything around here in Dallas, and he's a legend of golf. For me to have my name on his trophy, it's a special honor for me.

Q. In terms of your schedule now, I know you just won and everything else, but can you see yourself changing your schedule at all because of this?

BRETT WETTERICH: Maybe a little bit. I'm still going to stick to what I've done. I'm not going to just play two weeks and then take two weeks off, I know that. I'll still play the tournaments I planned on playing the rest of the year. I might get into a few other ones that I might not have been in, and that may change my schedule maybe. I don't know, we'll see how it goes.

Q. When you started the year, did you write your goals down, and was one of them specifically to win? What was the goal?

BRETT WETTERICH: I've been asked this earlier in the year, and my response was that I wasn't consistent enough in making cuts, and that was my biggest focus this year, was to make more cuts. I think the more you make the cut, the more opportunities you're going to be in position to win. That was my approach, and it's worked out for me this year. I've missed three cuts but they've all been by a shot. They haven't been way off the list. I think it's paid off for me.

Q. This is the third time in a month you've been knocking at the door. Do you feel like there's something that you've figured out about your game that kind of has you a maybe different level player than you were?

BRETT WETTERICH: Not really. I was playing good this month, and I was making putts. That was my biggest thing. Now that I've been under some serious pressure I thought these last few holes here, I feel like I can win more out here to where before it was just kind of like I might have just said it, like yeah, I can win out here. But now it's a reality. Now I want to win more and more.

Q. Adam Scott was real effusive in his praise of how you handled yourself down the stretch. Did you, A, surprise yourself with how you kept it together the last few holes; and B, how much does that take you to a new level of expectation and comfort if you get in that position again?

BRETT WETTERICH: It was tough. I'm not going to sit here and say that it was real easy for me the last few holes to just walk up and get my yardage and hit the shot because it wasn't. You know, I was feeling the pressure. I just tried to take a little bit more extra time and think about what I needed to do instead of just rushing into things.

Q. What was the shot you stood over down the stretch that was the hardest to pull the trigger on?

BRETT WETTERICH: I would probably have to say the drive on 18, I think. That was my biggest shot for me. I knew where I was hitting it on 17, I was hitting it left. It was going to be somewhere in the middle of the green, take my two putts and get out of there. 18, the tee shot worried me a little bit, and we took a kind of simple approach and hit 5 wood, and it went down there a long, long way.

Q. 310 yard 5 wood.

BRETT WETTERICH: (Laughing) it worked out nicely.

Q. Did you kind of ease up on it a little bit?

BRETT WETTERICH: A little bit (laughter). I didn't want to hit it into the bunker.

Q. Had you been hitting 3 wood there or driver previous?

BRETT WETTERICH: I hit 3 wood and 5 wood there all week.

Q. Can you talk about tearing up thinking about your brother on 18? I don't know the story.

BRETT WETTERICH: Well, the story is he was killed in a car accident coming home from work, and that was about three years ago. Yeah, you know, I think about him a lot. That's why I put his initials on my golf bag. It kind of reminds me of him. It was kind of special, just thinking about him coming up because I know he would have been watching me, and hopefully he was.

Q. What's his first name?

BRETT WETTERICH: Mark.

Q. His middle name?

BRETT WETTERICH: Todd.

Q. Did you say your parents did watch today?

BRETT WETTERICH: I'm sure they were on TV. They weren't here.

Q. Where were they watching from?

BRETT WETTERICH: I have no clue.

Q. You haven't had a chance to talk to anybody?

BRETT WETTERICH: Not yet.

Q. Can you run through your background?

BRETT WETTERICH: I grew up in Cincinnati, went to college in at Wallace State in Alabama for a year, and then I moved down to Florida, where I'm at now in Jupiter, and it took me, honest to God, a good two years, two and a half years before I even made a check down there when I turned pro. It was build my way up, and each year I got a little bit better and better, and finally I came out of the mini Tours right to the PGA TOUR in 2000.

To me it was a big jump for me, and I definitely wasn't ready for it. I got hurt that year anyway, but I wasn't ready for it, and I went back in 2002, got my card back, played again. I didn't play good at all.

The two biggest years for me were playing the Nationwide Tour. I think I learned a lot about myself and how to play the game of golf down there. I truly believed that it's helped me last year and this year.

Q. You went all the way through high school in Ohio?

BRETT WETTERICH: Stayed there and went from basically from high school to Alabama for a year and then to Florida, where I'm at now.

Q. What kind of neighborhood do you live in in Jupiter?

BRETT WETTERICH: It's probably a little rowdy right now. I live in some townhouses, and we have a good time out there. There's a group of us, and we have a fun time. We're all pretty close.

Q. A group of players or caddies?

BRETT WETTERICH: No, just people that I met. I lucked out and moved into a place where we had a lot of good neighbors and we all get along.

Q. So no famous neighbors?

BRETT WETTERICH: No, not that I know of.

Q. Where do you practice?

BRETT WETTERICH: Medalist in Hobe Sound.

Q. Do you play with the Shark much?

BRETT WETTERICH: No. I see him out there, but I haven't played with him a lot.

Q. Did you get any words of wisdom from Byron before or after the ceremony on the green there? Did you guys have a chance to chat at all?

BRETT WETTERICH: We didn't really chat too much. He was just saying that he was happy for me to win the golf tournament. I really couldn't think of any questions to ask him. I was kind of nervous as it was.

Q. There are a lot of guys on Tour who, give or take, are as long as you are and approach using that advantage in an entirely different way, just hit driver everywhere. Have you ever flirted with that?

BRETT WETTERICH: No. Everybody is different. I might have been like that a few years ago. Maybe that's what helped me back. A few years ago I probably would have hit driver everywhere, too. I think I've learned how to play the game.

Q. Do you remember when you made that change?

BRETT WETTERICH: No, I mean, it just kind of happens, I think, after you get tired of teeing up another ball when you hit it out of bounds when you could have hit a 5 wood or a 3 iron and have a chance at birdie. Enough times of that and you'll change your mind.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about your overall game? I noticed you were like 8th hit in greens in regulation, so you're a bit more than just a bomber. You're hitting a lot of greens.

BRETT WETTERICH: I've always hit a lot of greens throughout my career, my short career. I've always hit a lot of greens. My biggest thing was my short game, putting. I was always real streaky. Chipping around the greens sometimes I had problem with, still do, longer rough around the greens. That's about it, really.

Q. Have you worked with anybody extensively on any part of your game?

BRETT WETTERICH: Not really, just kind of myself. Growing up, I mean, there were a couple guys, but nothing lately.

TODD BUDNICK: Let's go through starting with the birdie on 1.

BRETT WETTERICH: Birdie on 1, I hit 5 wood off the tee with a 9 iron that I hit to about maybe four or five feet, broke just a little left and made that one.

Bogey 4, I missed like a two , two and a half footer there. It was just a terrible bogey.

Then I bogeyed the next hole, missed the green left and hit kind of a poor chip and missed my putt there. I mean, that's kind of a legit bogey, but the hole before that really kind of frustrated me. I hit 6 iron off the par 3 that I bogeyed.

Then the par 5 I hit one pretty far down there and had a 6 iron in and got out of there with two putts for birdie there.

10, I hit a driver down around the corner, and I had a little 9 iron in there, also hit a little 9 iron there and made the putt. It was about 15, 20 feet, I guess.

Then the par 3 I hit 9 iron off the tee to about 12 feet and it kind of snuck in the edge there on the left hand side on that hole. It was playing 154 today, somewhere around there.

Then the par 5, I hit a drive down there pretty far and hit a 6 iron in and got my two putts on that hole, got out of there with a birdie.

Q. Same caddie through all this, Brett?

BRETT WETTERICH: Yeah, he's been with me if he lasts this year, he'll be five years. I'm kidding, by the way. It'll be five years before this is over. We've been together.

Q. What's his name?

BRETT WETTERICH: Patrick Tarrant.

Q. Was your brother also an athlete or a golfer?

BRETT WETTERICH: Yeah, my whole family grew up we played just about everything.

Q. Did he excel in any sports?

BRETT WETTERICH: He played high school basketball. He was on the basketball team and he golfed a lot. That's about it.

Q. It sounds like you guys were pretty close?

BRETT WETTERICH: He was a little older than me, but still, any time you lose a family member, it's a tough deal. I wish I was a little closer to him, knew him a little better. But we had fun while he was alive. That's all I can ask for.

Q. What city was he living in?

BRETT WETTERICH: He was in Chicago.

Q. How much older was he?

BRETT WETTERICH: He was six, seven years older.

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you very much, Brett. Congratulations on your victory.

BRETT WETTERICH: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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