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CIALIS WESTERN OPEN

July 8, 2006

Carl Pettersson

LEMONT, ILLINOIS

JOHN BUSH: We'd like to welcome Carl Pettersson into the media center after a bogey free 6 under 65. Nice playing today.

CARL PETTERSSON: Thank you.

JOHN BUSH: Obviously you had things going your way, no bogeys, six birdies. Just comment on what seemed to be a pretty easy day for you.

CARL PETTERSSON: I just played solid tee to green and gave myself a bunch of chances and didn't really mess up anywhere along the way. I made a couple of nice par saves, but that was about it.

Q. Here you are at 9 and tied for the lead. Can this hold up or do you think you'll be back a bit?

CARL PETTERSSON: I think 11 or 12 will probably be leading by the end of the day. At least I gave myself a chance. Good round tomorrow, who knows?

Q. It's got to be getting tedious playing good week in and week out, isn't it? Aren't you getting tired of it?

CARL PETTERSSON: No.

Q. Did you have other chances out there that maybe you left short of the hole or

CARL PETTERSSON: Yeah, I mean, every round of golf you always have missed opportunities. You know, I made my fair share today. 18 I had a great chance, hit a terrible putt. But I'm sure some other holes I had chances, too. That's the way it is always. You can always go back in the round and think of three or four different putts.

Q. Since the fall obviously you've played very, very well. Is there something that kicked in, any kind of thing you can put your finger on?

CARL PETTERSSON: I think the beginning of last year I was playing pretty bad really. I wasn't really playing bad, I was thinking bad. I think I learned a lot from playing bad. All of a sudden I started playing better and better, and I kind of figured out there's no point in worrying too much about I was too tense at the beginning of last year and trying too hard really.

I think I learned a lot from not playing well, and then I don't really know what turned it around. I just started playing better and better, and I kind of drew from I learned a lot from playing bad, just the mental part of the game really.

Q. What did you learn, to relax?

CARL PETTERSSON: Just relax and try your best. There's nothing you can do. If you hit a bad shot, it's okay; hopefully you're swinging good enough. It's just easy basic stuff, but it helped me a lot this year.

Q. What was making you so tense?

CARL PETTERSSON: Just trying to put too much pressure on myself, I think. I don't know, it's just one of those slumps. I was missing the cut by one, missing the cut by one, and just got low confidence. But I managed to turn it around and just kind of even if I start having negative thoughts now, I kind of just push them aside and tell myself not to worry about it.

Q. So more mental than physical?

CARL PETTERSSON: Oh, definitely, yeah.

Q. Do you look at leaderboards on a third round, and are you aware that Tiger is making a move today? And if so, what do you think of that?

CARL PETTERSSON: I didn't really look. I looked a few times, but no, not on the third round. You kind of just look to see who's maybe if one of your buddies is playing good or something like that.

Tomorrow if I'm in contention, I won't really look on the front nine, but I might have a peek on the back nine. I don't study the leaderboard now.

Q. Did you feel there were a lot of low rounds out there? The conditions have been so good, and there have been 64s that could have been a lot lower than that? Does that give you a better feeling going out there, knowing that there are low scores out there?

CARL PETTERSSON: Definitely on this course if you play well, you can score low. There's plenty of birdie chances. But it's a good golf course. You've got to play well to shoot low. You can't skank it around. The rough is pretty thick. Definitely, if you get it going there's plenty of birdie chances. I don't know what the low score of the week is, 63 or something.

Q. How much, if at all, are you thinking about the Ryder Cup? Are other people reminding you about it?

CARL PETTERSSON: Yeah, a little bit. I'm trying not to think about it too much. I'm just trying to play good golf and hopefully it will take care of itself. It's definitely in the back of my mind, but I'm trying just to concentrate on the tournaments coming up and play well, and if I make it, great; if not, no big deal.

Q. Is that part and parcel of the don't put too much pressure on yourself strategy?

CARL PETTERSSON: Yeah, I think so. Just try not to get worked up about it, and it seems to be working.

Q. Where do you stand now on those lists?

CARL PETTERSSON: I don't even know. It's so confusing because I don't know who drops out and who does what. I don't know (laughing).

Q. How difficult is it to change your mindset from being somebody who worries to somebody who takes it easy?

CARL PETTERSSON: I've always been pretty laid back. I don't know why I got so tense at the beginning of last year, but I'll try not to do that again. I don't know, it's just one of those things I think happens to a lot of people out here. If you start playing bad it kind of plays with your mind a little bit, but I've kind of learned to not let it bother me now, and it seems to have helped.

JOHN BUSH: Carl, thank you very much.

End of FastScripts.

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