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MERRILL LYNCH SHOOTOUT

November 10, 2006

Justin Leonard

Scott Verplank

NAPLES, FLORIDA, First Round

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Scott, Justin, 9 under 63, a very nice start to the 2006 Merrill Lynch Shootout. A couple general thoughts from each of you on how you played.

SCOTT VERPLANK: We played very solid. We both drove it in the fairway a lot. Justin hit some great iron shots. I made a fair share of putts. He had me in there close a couple times.

But we team up very well together. We were very comfortable playing with each other.

JUSTIN LEONARD: You know, a lot of times it just came down to when we were picking out who's going to hit the second shot as to who's got the better number for a full shot, and it's a pretty nice luxury to have.

Scotty was rolling it well and kind of in a rhythm there, so I think we just tried to select balls where I could hit the iron shots and Scott could make the putts, and we made quite a few of them.

PHIL STAMBAUGH: In your nine birdies did you have many long putts or was anything pretty close?

SCOTT VERPLANK: I think I made about an 18 footer on the 7th hole. Isn't that it?

JUSTIN LEONARD: Yeah.

SCOTT VERPLANK: I think the 1st hole Justin made it from about five.

Then the 3rd hole he hit it a foot.

The 4th hole I made it from about eight or ten.

Then the 5th hole I hit it about an inch. That was easy, a 4 iron.

Actually missed on the next one from about five feet. That was bad on my part.

But then I made about an 18 footer on the next hole, and the rest of them were really all inside six or eight feet.

Q. Similar backgrounds for the two of you. How are your games? I think your games are maybe alike, and how are your personalities maybe meshed together?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, I think our games are pretty similar. We hit it pretty close to the same distance. We both drove it out there and whoever had the better number to the flag was the one that would hit the iron shot. And it just turned out I only hit about five iron shots all day, and I think he only putted about four times all day. I'd drive it down the middle, he'd hit an iron up there close and I'd try to make it.

We teamed up very well like that, and we have very similar games, so it's not like we're picking straws out of the haystack trying to figure out what the other guy is going to do.

Q. Does it help personality wise, just feeling comfortable with your partner?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, I can't stand him (laughter). Yeah, we're good friends, play a lot of practice rounds together, have a lot of stuff in common. I think he's one of the guys that will actually put up with me, so I like him a lot.

JUSTIN LEONARD: We are. We're very good friends. Our wives are friends and our kids are buddies, and so it makes it all the more enjoyable to come down here and play when you're getting to play with such a great friend.

Q. What happens when Oklahoma State is playing Texas?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, I usually have to pay off.

JUSTIN LEONARD: Well, in football. In basketball it goes the other way. There's a few phone calls going back and forth every now and then.

Q. I think tomorrow it's going to be you guys with John and J.B. in the last foursome. Is it going to be interesting?

JUSTIN LEONARD: You can probably see pretty much two different styles, ways to play golf. You know, we're going to be hitting I imagine we'll be hitting first on most of the par 4s and par 5s. We just hope we get to hit our share of tee shots first tomorrow.

You know, those guys I mean, this format is kind of made for those guys.

You know, if we go out and play the way we normally do and the way we should, then we're going to make a few birdies ourselves.

Q. How did you approach this type of format? A lot of people make a lot out of doing well in the alternate shot. You can shoot yourself out of it, but based on what you just said about the format tomorrow, did you put a little more emphasis on this knowing that?

SCOTT VERPLANK: No, I didn't. We played alternate shot in the Presidents Cup together. I love playing alternate shot. I wish we were playing true alternate shot where you actually had to alternate hitting tee shots.

I love that format, and I think Justin is pretty comfortable playing with me in that format. I think tomorrow we're just going to have to keep it in the fairway and hitting it on the greens and keep trying to hole putts. We're not going to drive it on any par 4s or hit it over the trees on any holes. I think it'll be fun to watch.

JUSTIN LEONARD: I take it over the trees on 7.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Oh, that's right, sorry.

JUSTIN LEONARD: But you kind of have to in order to hit the fairway.

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Thanks to you both. Good luck.

End of FastScripts.

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