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BOOZ ALLEN CLASSIC

June 24, 2006

Ben Curtis

POTOMAC, MARYLAND

NELSON SILVERIO: Welcome, Ben. Thanks for coming in. A 5 shot lead coming in tomorrow. What do you need to do tomorrow to get back in here in the afternoon.

BEN CURTIS: Just keep playing like I am. Not really worry about what everybody else is doing. Just go out there and hit fairways and greens and make birdies and see what happens.

Q. You hit 18 greens today. It looks like you hit the ball better than maybe the first two days, just didn't make any putts today, right?

BEN CURTIS: I hit it pretty consistent. I hit the irons extremely well. Hit a couple bad tee balls. Other than that, hit the irons really well. Again, it's just a matter of making a couple of putts. It could have been a really good score, but overall I'm very pleased.

You don't want to do anything too stupid out there and run a couple of putts by, but I think they're maybe a little slower than I thought. I kept having a few putts short.

Q. Do you go out there tomorrow thinking about making some birdies early and ending it quickly or do you go out there saying I've got to protect this lead?

BEN CURTIS: I would love to go out there and make birdies the first 2 or 3 holes. Obviously I'm going to try to hit the fairways, hit the greens and see what can happen. You never know. If I don't hit the fairways then it becomes tough. I'm not going to try to protect it, by any means. Guys are going to go out there and they are going to come firing after me, so I'm going to have to keep making birdies.

Q. What time did your parents call you last night and tell you they were coming in?

BEN CURTIS: They were already on the way when I got done yesterday.

Q. Did you talk to them last night?

BEN CURTIS: No, they got in late, 11:00 or so. I was already passed out by then.

Q. Could you talk about playing with the early start, teeing off at 9:00 in the lead group, even though that was meant to get us over early, your round ended up taking over 5 hours. Talk about the slow place of play. Did that affect you at all?

BEN CURTIS: Not really. It was nice to start early, obviously with the weather. It could have been raining at 8:00 this morning, but we got lucky. It was really nice out there, other than being really hot. The slow play didn't bother me; you just kind of expect it. You've got 75 guys out there playing, it makes it stuff to get around pretty quickly, but no, it didn't bother me.

Q. When is the last time you are in the final group? And have you ever had this big of a lead going into the final round?

BEN CURTIS: Chicago and Hartford, I was in the final group on Sunday. But Chicago, I think I was up by 1 or 2. And then Hartford I was down a couple I think going into the final day, but it's been a while.

Q. (No microphone.)

BEN CURTIS: I think 2 shots.

Q. Given what's transpired since the British, winning a second, will it be as important or more important than the first one was?

BEN CURTIS: I wouldn't say it is more important, but it's probably as close as important for me to go out there and prove myself that I can win again. You know, there for a while I was having doubts but I kept working hard and fighting through the mess I got myself into with my golf game, and just tried to keep working hard and now it seems to be going in the right direction.

Q. How long has it been since you felt like you were playing this well? Are you playing better this week than you were the Western last year on the first day? How long has it been since you have as much confidence as you have right now?

BEN CURTIS: Probably since the British or shortly after that. At the Western I felt good, but it was one those things where I hadn't played well at all for the year and then all of a sudden in the final group on Saturday and Sunday. I played well Saturday and then struggled a little bit on Friday, I remember. And Sunday, I struggled as well. But it's one of those things now I feel more comfortable. I felt like today, if I could play well, I gave myself a good chance tomorrow.

Q. This is related to what was asked you earlier. At 6 today you had a 5 stroke lead and I was wondering if you were going to go for the green in 2 or lay up. Do you think about that, because a 5 stroke lead, lay up, or are you feeling in a groove just go ahead and do it?

BEN CURTIS: As good as I felt hitting the ball, I had to stay aggressive. I couldn't think about that. It could have been one of those situations where if I laid up then you make a bogey or par and you're like, why did I lay up when I could have hit it up by the green and made bogey at the worst, or even par at the worst. You don't want to fall in that trap of getting out of your game plan and playing differently than you have all week.

Q. Any way you can describe how much fun it is to be back playing Ben Curtis golf again after a while?

BEN CURTIS: It feels great. It's been a while. I had some spurts earlier this year. The first three tournaments I went I played pretty well at the start of the year. I didn't have any real good finishes, but I was playing pretty solid and consistent. I thought this could be a good year, but then I had a little slow period. But then it's picked up lately and I've been making some cuts consistently.

It just feels good to be playing on the weekend. I think there for a while, you know, I kept missing the cut and it's no fun playing. Even though I got off of to bad start, I felt comfortable that I could come back, whereas maybe 2 years ago I wouldn't have.

Q. You mentioned there has been a lot of stuff going on in the family. Your brother got married and you had a baby shower here earlier in the week. Have you been able to sort of focus in on some other things other than golf and has that maybe relaxed you and sort of made you not as tunnel visioned as you were before?

BEN CURTIS: I think it could, yes. Obviously with my brother getting married, that was a big thing I had to do. I had some fun. I don't know what to say. It's just a lot of hard work. It's finally paying off. I've been working hard on the game this year. I got lucky this week as well. I made a few putts and got going in the right direction.

As a guy, you don't really have to do a whole lot when your wife is pregnant, just keep feeding her and that's it. Make her happy. (Laughter). That's been good. I haven't had to do a whole lot. It's been nice.

Q. So what do you wear tomorrow?

BEN CURTIS: Local. I'm in D.C. I want the crowd behind me, not booing me.

Q. I heard someone say "Go Redskins" today. Do people start believing you're actually a real fan of that local team and do people say, "How about that John Elway?" When you're in Colorado?

BEN CURTIS: I get asked so many questions about draft picks. It's not even funny. I'm like, I can't even name two players on your team. (Laughter). It's a lot of fun and it's good. I mean, it's good exposure. It's a good thing to do.

Q. (No microphone.)

BEN CURTIS: Joe Gibbs. It took me a while, though.

Q. I hate to belabor this, but when did you get the biggest reaction negatively when you wore a Cleveland thing in Pittsburgh? Was there one day that really stood out?

BEN CURTIS: We were playing in the final group. I think it was the first year, '04, and I wore Cleveland and Pittsburgh. And I got booed everywhere I went. That was a mistake, but I'll do it again this year. It was my first time doing it. And I thought, that was bad, but now I don't care.

I hit a putt, it was like 80 feet. And someone said, "The Browns suck and you suck." Just yelled it real loud. What can you do? I'm a Browns fan by heart, so make them mad, that's all right.

Q. (No microphone.)

BEN CURTIS: He's lying. He's just kidding with you. Someone asked me at the Memorial, "Where's your Pittsburgh stuff?"

"In the trash." I'm just having fun with them.

End of FastScripts.

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