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BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSIC

January 17, 2007

Dudley Hart

LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you, Dudley, for joining us for a few minutes here in the media center at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Nice round out there at the Classic Club Course. Just talk about your day a little bit and then we'll go into questions.
DUDLEY HART: Okay. You know, just got off to a pretty boring start. I hit some pretty good shots early on the front, and didn't really make much of it.
Then I had a couple crazy shots that I saved myself on and I ended up turning at 1-under and made a really good par on 10 after a bad drive and after that, the last eight holes on the back, I really, really hit it good. I gave myself pretty much every hole, I had a pretty good birdie opportunity and I managed to chip-in just off the green on the par 5 for eagle so obviously that helped a lot.
I just seemed to get it, a lot of times, just seemed like if you can hang in there sometimes and get on a good stretch of holes you can have a good day and that's what happened today.

Q. The slow start, or the conservative start, whatever you want to call it, maybe a function of the temperature and the delay and everything this morning?
DUDLEY HART: Not really. You know, I've played out here long enough where you get used to delays, and I pretty much knew there was a delay when I walked out of my hotel room. I could feel it, as cold as I was, that it was about 15 degrees cooler than it was yesterday. So I was ready for that when I got out here.
By the time we tied off, it was pretty nice. You know, really almost didn't even need a sweater. So I can't blame that slow start on weather or anything. I think it was just -- didn't seem to get it real close and didn't make -- just didn't make any 30-footers. I wasn't hitting it quite close enough and didn't make the longer putt.

Q. You're familiar with this tournament, obviously. You've been here before, and it's so different than anything else, even the AT&T, because the revolving teams, the spread of the courses. What's the feeling, guys say, oh my God, I'm not there, or where do I go; or is there like an uncomfortable feeling in playing here?
DUDLEY HART: It's not really uncomfortable. It's just it's more you never really know where you stand. I mean, you can look at the score board right now and I don't even know where I'm at but, you know, guys are playing -- the golf courses are so different, because you have two very traditional-type courses and then two more what I call modern-type golf courses, a little more trouble generally, tougher around the greens and more undulations.
You know, you try to take advantage of the two more traditional courses because you seem like you can't get, generally, not to jinx myself, but you don't get into as much trouble on those courses.
But at the same time if you don't go out there and shoot a good round, you can get lapped by the field. So you never really know with playing four courses how the weather may change from one day, especially out here, because you can get some pretty good wind whipping around here and we got pretty lucky today, it was nice.

Q. I don't want to say you dodged a bullet, but you did catch this golf course on a good day?
DUDLEY HART: For sure.

Q. A couple of guys last year caught it on worse days.
DUDLEY HART: Yeah, I had that one. It may be -- we don't know if I caught a good break or bad break right now. I would rather have it done without a lot of wind, I can tell that you because chances are that it's going to blow out here at least a couple of days.
You know, time will only tell, really, if I caught a good break as far as weather is concerned but I'm glad to have this one behind me and go to another course.

Q. Second year for this course in this rotation, last year, just kind of feeling it out I guess, do you feel a little more comfortable on this course now?
DUDLEY HART: A little bit. I think you'll see more lower scores here this year than last year, mainly because it's matured so much more since last year, you know, new golf courses, they are always so hard and fast and a lot of times, people think that the firmness helps because the ball -- the course plays shorter.
Generally, the firmness is harder for us because not only will the ball roll more, it will roll into the rough easier, it will roll out of fairways, but the greens, just can't stop it on the greens, and the greens are much more receptive this year than they were last year.
I think you'll see some better scores here maybe than you did last year.

Q. Are you pleased not to be in the A Group? Have you ever been in the a group, and has it proved a problem with guys stopping, telling jokes, etc.?
DUDLEY HART: You know, you just have to prepare yourself for it. I mean, I've played in the AT&T, I've played with Jimmy Connors for eight years in the AT&T. He's not really a stop-and-joker kind, but I've been on that wave in that tournament and here. You've just got to prepare yourself for that before you even start your round.
You know, it's going to happen. Just don't let your know, you know, get affected by it. The hardest thing when you're in the celebrity wave is it plays so much slower to me. If you're not ready for that and not just going to accept the fact it's going to take you 30 to 45 minutes longer than it does everybody else each day, then you're going to drive yourself nuts.

Q. Have you ever played a round -- at someplace near Bill Murray in the AT&T, because that seems to be the last few years where all the chaos takes place.
DUDLEY HART: Yeah, I played behind him one year a few years back, and it was tough. It was tough. I love Bill Murray, I've played with him before, not in the AT&T but in a charity tournament and he's a lot of fun to play golf with. But playing behind him, I wish I had a cot or something out there, because I was talking some naps. It was a long day but it was fun to watch what he was doing.

Q. Do you guys sort of admire Scott Simpson for putting up with him?
DUDLEY HART: He and Jeff Sluman; not as a partner, but place in the group with him every year. They both say they just write it off as a fun week and if they happen to play well, they play well, which is a good attitude to have.
It's not very often we get to have a tournament where you could take that attitude, and those guys, they figure in that pairing, they just want to go have fun and laugh, and they still want to play well, don't get me wrong, but they don't worry about it as much as other tournaments.

Q. Did the cold affect the course much?
DUDLEY HART: Not too bad. Sometimes if you're not careful, you can get the greens are a little frozen and they can release. I hit a shot on 1, I was just in the right rough and it released pretty good but I don't know that it was as much having not a great lie in the rough as it was the greens being pretty firm.
I did break my tee trying to fix the ball mark so that might have been an indicator, but it was a little firm. (Laughter) On the range tee we were all laughing because it was like we were hitting off a mat. It was hard to take a divot because you go about a quarter of an inch down and the club bounces out of there, it was definitely industrial frozen.

Q. When did you know there was going to be a delay; when you walked out of your room or when you got here?
DUDLEY HART: When I walked out of my room, I wasn't going to go back to sleep or anything but I could pretty much guarantee there was going to be a delay and when I turned my car on it was 32 degrees and it only got colder when I got here, I figured chances were we are going to be a little behind.

Q. Just AT&T, I'm looking ahead a couple weeks after playing here, does the AT&T seem like a more normal tournament because you're one person and you're praying only three courses?
DUDLEY HART: A little bit. It's strange not playing with another pro because we're obviously used to that. Sometimes it's helpful because you can get a little feel off of a guy on what he's hitting certain places and maybe certain putts you can get a read off of him. Sometimes with the Ams, their speed control is a little shaky on putts so you don't really watch them, some of them, not all of them. So you don't always gets good of a feel off a guy that's stalling it around or hitting eight feet by on putts.

Q. And at the AT&T, usually guys play with somebody they want. Here you're playing with three people basically you don't know. And do you have any problems, are most of them pleasant and do they enjoy playing with you or do they sort of --
DUDLEY HART: You'd have to ask them if they enjoyed playing with me, I'm not sure. I'd like to think they do, but I try to have fun with it. We're going to be out there five-plus hours usually, so my mind-set is to try to have a good time with them.
You know, you're going to get people that you like more than others. I'm just going to say that. And sometimes you get guys that you don't -- you wouldn't really look forward to playing with again, and I'm sure some guys would say they don't look forward to playing again with me at times.
But for the most part, guys are good. They understand that you're trying to do your job and they try to stay out of your way. I mean, that's really the only problem I've ever had with guys is just being inconsiderate, not only to me, our partners. They hit out of turn, they hit whenever they want; stuff like that, that gets under my skin a little more than somebody being a jerk to be honest with you.

Q. The normal Pro-Ams you guys play on Wednesdays in a regular tournament, that's a throw-out day, that's more of a practise round. Here, it's the real thing, so it's certainly different, right?
DUDLEY HART: Definitely, definitely, because you've got to post a number. In a Pro-Am, I'm just trying to have fun with them and try to help them when they need me and otherwise, just get a feel for the golf course.
Now, it's for real and we've got to post a score and you know, it's not just hit and giggle like on a normal Wednesday.
JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you, Dudley.

End of FastScripts

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