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BUICK INVITATIONAL

January 27, 2007

Troy Matteson

LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you, Troy, for joining us for a few minutes here in the media center at the Buick Invitational, just chipping away at it every day. You started out with a bogey this morning and bounced back nicely with that birdie and then had a pretty successful day with a 69. Why don't you talk about the conditions today and what you did well.
TROY MATTESON: For me what I did well today was I made a lot of short putts for par. If you're going to play good on this golf course, that's what you have to do. The conditions were pretty difficult today. The wind was gusty at times and made some of those shots a little more difficult.
But it's just very hard to get a hole straight downwind on this golf course. You have a lot of side wind out there and that makes it pretty difficult to hit fairways. With the rough being down, you get a little break on it this year. Obviously won't be that way for the Open. Just like I said, recovered well, made a lot of good short putts, hit the ball okay, and luckily got away with it.

Q. In that run at the end of last year, not sure, was Tiger in any of those events?
TROY MATTESON: I don't think he played any of those. I played Greensboro which is a bigger event and I played Mississippi and then Vegas and finished out the season but I think by that time he had pretty much tapered out.

Q. That being said, you've kept it going, you've carried it into this year, but now tomorrow you're likely going to be in the same group as he is if somebody doesn't drop out from that top spot. Talk about the difference between now going into a Sunday with him as part of the pack.
TROY MATTESON: I think it's like, you know, it's like everyone imagines. If you can get in the group with Tiger, that's great because you know you're doing well, first of all to be there.
And two, it would be great experience for me just because to have those world-class players around you when you've actually got a chance and you're in the hunt. I think that's really a good thing and I think I can learn a lot from that experience. But it will be different than obviously the final round of Vegas or final rounds of other tournaments that I've been in. It will definitely be a different atmosphere, so I'm looking forward to it.

Q. Do you feel more comfortable in this situation now than you would have been six, eight months ago?
TROY MATTESON: I think so. Gained a lot of experience through that last stretch in last year, and you know, it will prepare me. Obviously the more times I can put myself in this situation tomorrow, I'll learn from it and the more comfortable I'll get.
But I'm still a young guy. I haven't been out here that long and I just need to put myself in those situations.

Q. Being in a group with Tiger, the crowd will be very pro Tiger Woods, does that affect the guys on the course, maybe get intimidated by the louder crowd that he gets?
TROY MATTESON: It can, but you know, people come out to support the players they want to support. And I'm close to my hometown, my family comes out and gets loud and makes a lot of noise. Tiger's liked by everybody, so that's just going to happen and we're just going to have to deal with it.
But you know, they are not out there rooting against you; they are out there rooting for him, and that's perfectly fine with me.

Q. What are your thoughts on some of these former Nationwide guys making an impact on the leaderboard, and can you talk a little about that tour as a proven training ground for PGA golfers?
TROY MATTESON: I think what most people don't realize is how much talent is on the Nationwide Tour and how much talent moves from this tour back to the Nationwide Tour at times.
So there's a lot of great players on that tour, especially guys that have won PGA events that are playing out there right now.
It's good to see those guys coming out here and doing well and competing. That validates why the Nationwide Tour is there. The Nationwide Tour is there, it's a learning ground for players to get to this tour. It's a great experience.
I had a really great time when I was on the Nationwide Tour and I got to ease myself into professional golf a little bit more. The courses out here are just a little tougher. Driving is a little bit more important, but those guys are really good out there.

Q. Can you talk about 18 and what happened there? You blew the ball 30 yards by the other guys off the tee.
TROY MATTESON: I was lucky to get a big bounce off my drive. I didn't hit it all that much further than they did. I just got a great bounce. I had 219 front, 223 hole. I went to hit a 2-iron, just play it in the middle of the green, and the wind picked up and moved it off to the right and then I got a hard bounce and then got under the back bleachers. Luckily I could get a drop going off the green.
Making four would have been great, but 18 is a tough shot. 18 is a really tough shot coming down the stretch. You know, you've just to pull one off there and we didn't quite do it.

Q. This golf course obviously is difficult in length and in rough, but rough is obviously down this year. Do you think you're going to have to go low maybe, 68, 67 to win this tournament, even with pin placements tomorrow?
TROY MATTESON: I think so. I think somebody, one or two guys are going to play really well tomorrow. Regardless of the pins, guys figure out a way to make birdies, either make long putts or hit great shots.
It will be interesting, we've seen most of the pins walking around today; the dots out there. There are still some scoreable holes, and you just have to pick and choose which ones you're going to go at.
JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Let's quickly go through that round starting with that bogey on No. 1.
TROY MATTESON: Just hit it over by the bunkers. Was unfortunate not to get the ball to roll down into the bunker and had a really, really, sidehill lie. I was pretty much lucky to make five. I should have probably made six there starting out, but got a way with five, ended up hitting a good bunker shot and getting up-and-down for five.
2 is just a tough pin placement today. Our whole group seemed to do all right with it. I think my whole group birdied it. I hit it up the right side, kind of got one in the rough and decided to still take that ball back in there and got away with the shot. Made a good 7- or 8-foot putt there.
6, I just played it like you should. I kind of hit it in the rough but you are just kind of looking for anything that you can advance in front of that green today. Hit a 3-wood down there, made a little pitch with a lob-wedge and had six inches for a tap-in.
12 was one of my more interesting holes last year to that same pin. I hit a snap-hook 2-iron that chased across the green and got close. And this year, I don't know what made me hit it over there, but I kind of aimed at the hole and the ball really held its line well and I ended up hitting it to probably 20 feet. Luckily it went in, so that's like picking up two on the field there.
13, if we would have made eagle, it would have been a really lucky eagle. But it was a good solid birdie, hit a driver and 2-iron coming into the green appeared to hit the rough first before it hit the green and it killed it, and it got close to the hole, and I didn't have probably more than six or eight feet for eagle, but all of those putts are pretty slick today, so I was pleased with birdie.
JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you and play well tomorrow.

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