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SHELL HOUSTON OPEN

April 24, 2005

John Daly

HOUSTON, TEXAS

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: John Daly, thank you for joining us. You put on quite a show out there for the fans today, 67, got you into a playoff with Vijay Singh. You came out on the short end, but it's got to be a great week for you. If you could start with some opening comments.

JOHN DALY: Yeah, nothing was kind of going too good on the putter on the front nine, missed a lot of short putts. But the way I finished I'm proud of myself for coming back like that and hitting some shots when I needed to. Unfortunately the playoff I came over the 3-wood out of a divot and then a guy stepped on my ball for the chip. That kind of stuff happens, by I wished I would have done better in the playoff.

Q. You had a great week here finishing 2nd. What are you looking for the rest of the year?

JOHN DALY: I'll keep working hard. Me and Jameson, he's my equipment guy, he worked hard trying to get the lies and lofts right. The ones I used for San Diego, I had to put them away because the grooves were worn out, so the second round we put in new irons so this was the third set. We just work on it.

I like the way I'm setting up to the putter but it's a very uncomfortable thing for me to do. If I keep practicing hopefully I can make some more putts. That's what you've got to do to win out here.

Q. You watched Vijay finish up his round on the 18th, didn't swing at all, didn't hit any putts. Does that affect you at all? Obviously you know yourself better than any of us do; does that affect you at all?

JOHN DALY: No, not too much. It was only 30 minutes. I usually -- when I hit balls I usually putt for 30 minutes before I tee off anyway. So no, I just came over the 3-wood just a little bit. I've hit driver two days, hit it way right, and I don't think Peter really wanted me to hit 3-wood off for the playoff, but I hit it right down the middle of the fairway last round today. Just get up there and swing at it, I put a good swing on it, just turned it over a little too much.

Q. Could you kind of just describe what you're thinking when you watch your putt go in on 18 to put you where you are and then just kind of what the wait was like for you and the types of things that were running through your mind?

JOHN DALY: Well, I obviously thought Vijay would hit it in on 18. The 72nd, hole, I thought he'd make that putt. I was just sitting there watching, playing with the kids, enjoying the moment a little bit.

You know, you don't ever want anybody to miss a putt, but it was nice to get in a playoff to have another chance to win. Like I said, I just wish I would have played a little better on that 18th hole.

Q. What was more nerve-wracking, sizing up your putt on 18 or watching to see what Vijay was going to do?

JOHN DALY: Probably the putt on 18. I knew Vijay, the way he plays, I knew he wasn't going to bogey any holes after I saw him hit his tee ball on 17. Like I said, I figured he would have birdied 17 or 18, so I was very fortunate to be in a playoff.

Q. So that's kind of house money once you got into the playoff, you're kind of playing on house money?

JOHN DALY: No, I wanted to win. I mean, unfortunately I just came over that 3-wood just a little bit too much. The first time I hit it left there in the three years I've played here.

Q. At one point in time during the day on the back nine did you feel like you had a realistic shot at possibly a playoff or a win or being right there?

JOHN DALY: Well, nobody was doing a whole lot, and after I missed a short putt on 9 for birdie, about a two-footer, I thought there for a minute -- then I looked at the board, and I think Gavin was 12-under, but nobody really ever got past 12-under, and I was 9. We just kept plugging along, missed a short on 1, made a pretty good par on 11 and started making some putts on 12, then we just hung in there. Probably the shot of the day was the 6-iron on 15 where I had to chip out 212 yards, hit that 6-iron to three feet and made that to keep my momentum going.

Nobody was really going real, real low. I knew I had to birdie 17 and 18 to have a chance, and we did.

Q. I assume Peter wanted you to use driver on 18, on the playoff hole?

JOHN DALY: Yeah, he kind of wanted -- he said, well, you hit what you want. He was leaning towards a driver, but then if I hit driver left, hit it in the water, then got too aggressive or whatever -- I hit the right club. I hit it right down the middle all week. When I did hit driver on 18 I hit it way right and got lucky on some drops. I thought 3-wood was perfect, get it in the fairway after Vijay hit it right. Like I said, it just kind of came over a little bit, not a lot, but the kick wasn't very fortunate, hard kick left. It just happened.

Q. How much does it mean coming in and doing what you had to do on 17 and 18? I mean, what do you take away from that at least?

JOHN DALY: I take a lot. I take it that under pressure that maybe I've still got it. Birdieing 15, 17 and 18 -- well, actually, 12, 15, 17 and 18, gave myself a chance to win the golf tournament. You know, when you're not there a lot, it's kind of nice to do that. It would be nice to be there a lot like Vijay and Ernie and Tiger and Phil and those guys are, but when you're not there a lot, to be able to pull those shots off makes me feel more confident about it.

Q. I know on the 18th you and your caddie were having fun talking about Vijay when he stuck so close to the flag like "here we go again." Can you talk about the history?

JOHN DALY: Every time we play with Vijay on Sunday we end up beating him score-wise but he ends me beating me in the tournament. Flint last year. He's got my number, and I don't know how I can get his.

Q. You've heard plenty of loud crowds before. Can you just talk about what that was like on 17 and 18 with all the roars and maybe how this crowd compared to some of the loud crowds you've heard before?

JOHN DALY: They're some of the greatest fans. San Diego was roaring loud, as well. It's great to have that. It's great to have them behind me. Like I said, I just wish I would have done a little bit better on the playoff. I wish I could have made it a little bit of a playoff for Vijay. I made it too easy for him.

Q. Is that an adrenaline thing down 18, everyone yelling and screaming?

JOHN DALY: It fires me up. I like it loud, and when you've got people pulling for you like that, you want to play good, and I'm glad I did.

The fans have been great everywhere I've gone, and they've been there through thick and thin, and it's nice to finish the way I did today for them, too.

Q. Did you have any interesting interactions with any of them or did anybody say anything unusual? You seem to get that sometimes.

JOHN DALY: No, I was pretty calm. One girl was saying "hey, margarita after 18." I don't drink margaritas. I thought that was a woman's drink more than anyone else.

Q. So she's not a real John Daly fan.

JOHN DALY: That was about it.

Q. This looks like the last year on this golf course and I know it's been good to you. I wonder what your thoughts are about this thing moving across the street.

JOHN DALY: I haven't seen the new one, but right now my feeling would be to keep it here because I've been in the Top 10 the last three years here, but I think it's the only golf course -- Redstone is the only golf course that 100 percent of our Tour players give it an excellent -- the highest you can go, all 100 percent of the players. I've never heard one bad thing said about this golf course that we play. I honestly think if Tiger would come here, he would love it, too, because it is a drivers' golf course. I hate to see it go, but Woodlands was a great test of golf, a great venue there. Right now I hate to see it go, but I'll be back and play the new one next year.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: If we could talk about the closing birdies on 17 and 18 and we'll take one final question. The birdie on 17.

JOHN DALY: Driver, 9-iron to about five or six feet, made it.

18, hit 3-wood, wedge to about eight or nine feet, made it.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: John, thanks.

End of FastScripts.

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