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MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 5, 2007

Brett Wetterich

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA

LARRY PUGH: My pleasure to introduce Brett Wetterich. Congratulations on your 3-under 69 today. Would you like to make some comments on your round?
BRETT WETTERICH: I think it would be easier if they just asked me questions.

Q. It hasn't been that long ago, three weeks ago in Miami, you were in contention. These conditions that we're seeing today, what does it tell us about this golf course and the leaderboard looking at it now?
BRETT WETTERICH: That's a hard one. You know, this is my first time being here, so I'm not real sure how the course is today compared to years past. But I know it was playing tough out there. The greens are awfully firm, and they are fast. And if you're not in the right spots, you're going to make some bogeys out there.

Q. If you're in control of this course overnight, you water it more? Less? What do you do?
BRETT WETTERICH: I don't think I'm going to say anything on that. They have their plan of attack on what they want to do out here and we've just got to go out and play.

Q. What'd you like to see?
BRETT WETTERICH: The same. I thought it was a good test of golf out there today. To me they don't have to do any changes.

Q. How much did you talk to other guys or hear about how it's so difficult to play here as a rookie; that you need the experience to contend?
BRETT WETTERICH: I tried not to talk to people like that. I didn't want to get a lot of negative thoughts in my head, you know, how hard it is to play for your first time here.
You know, I got some good advice from people and that was awfully helpful.

Q. Anyone in particular?
BRETT WETTERICH: I got to play with Mr. Floyd on Tuesday, you know, and he told me an awfully lot about the golf course and little different putts, that in my mind, they have to go right, that are dead straight, just little things like that. He gave me a little bit of a chipping lesson, which was awfully helpful.
Even I played with Larry Mize nine holes on Monday, I think it might have been, and he gave me a lot of information as well.

Q. It seemed like you were grinding early and then after a while kind of found a groove. Was there one shot, one hole that said to you, "I'm okay"?
BRETT WETTERICH: I think after I made the couple good pars on the front side there, it was -- 4, I made a great putt there for par which kind of settled me down a little bit. Then I had another good par for me I thought, on 6, I had a good 2-putt for par. And I made a birdie on 7. So I think that little area right there is what settled me down.

Q. Can you talk about just what it means to you to be leading after one round in your first appearance here?
BRETT WETTERICH: It's nice to shoot 3-under and see your name at the top of the leaderboard, but it's only Thursday, and an awful lot can happen in the next day and the next two days after that.

Q. Aside from the technical advice that guys gave you about chipping and putting, did anybody give you any advice of just dealing with it and just how to approach the Masters?
BRETT WETTERICH: Not really. You know, I just kind of -- I never really asked people anything, you know, in that regard. I just wanted to know more about the golf course, where not to miss it, things like that, how to approach it.
A couple people came up to me and said before don't wear yourself out. Don't go up there early and play 18 every day because you'll get worn out. I played nine holes Monday and Tuesday.

Q. How is the first day at Masters different from other days?
BRETT WETTERICH: This is a lot different. This is the biggest tournament in my mind that I want to win. It's the Masters and I want to win this golf tournament. To be able to go out and start off with a good, solid round, it means a lot to me.

Q. Any advantage in not having expectations; like you said, you didn't want any negative thoughts?
BRETT WETTERICH: I think negative thoughts are bad obviously. So for me just to come out here and try to get my own feelings for the course, as well, a little input from other people, I think that was helpful to me.

Q. How much did things change for you after the Nelson victory, on the course and off the course?
BRETT WETTERICH: It changed a lot. You know, I started getting recognition for myself and I started playing better golf, you know, and I don't know if that was the turnaround or the couple of weeks before that was the turnaround, but everything just kind of spiraled and I had -- in this last year, you know, it's been an awfully good time out here playing.

Q. Now that you've played an actual tournament round on this course, can you describe what it's like to deal with just the speed of everything and just the whole --
BRETT WETTERICH: The speed, the speed of it changes. I'm not really rushing around like I did -- I shouldn't say rushing around during the practice rounds, but I'm definitely taking more time and putting more thought into my shots, you know, today, as I did before like I did on Monday and Tuesday.

Q. Can you talk about on 18, your third shot, just kind of what you were trying to do there?
BRETT WETTERICH: I was trying to get that ball onto the green. I had no chance to flop it. I guess maybe you could have threw it up off that hill and got it coming back. I just wanted to make sure that I hit it hard enough that it didn't grab onto the grass and get into the grain and give myself 6 or 7 feet for par.

Q. I was watching with your dad and he said that was stupid.
BRETT WETTERICH: That's why he's there and I'm here. (Laughter).

Q. We did talk to you after you were in the frying pan at Doral in the last round with Tiger. Are you any different having gone through that experience that day?
BRETT WETTERICH: I feel comfortable now being around him more, you know, like I would feel more comfortable than I did during that time. I was a little nervous playing with him on that Sunday. It's nice to know that you can go head-to-head playing with the best player in the world by far. I know he wasn't playing his best golf that day, but it's still nice to know I didn't shoot myself in the foot and drop seven shots and come in 10th.

Q. Given the dry conditions and you're such a powerful player, did you gear back on your tee shots or anything like that?
BRETT WETTERICH: Did I do what?

Q. Because you're so powerful, in the dry conditions, did you gear back to make up for the run of the ball?
BRETT WETTERICH: I did. I hit probably five or so 3-woods today off the tees where normally I probably would hit driver.
But like you said, it's a little drier, and some of the holes that I didn't hit 3-wood on Tuesday I hit today because the wind was different. A lot of things kind of played into that.

Q. What were your expectations coming into this week, and even though it is Thursday, do you feel like you can win this tournament?
BRETT WETTERICH: I don't know. You know, it's kind of tough. I feel like I can, but being my first time out here, it's only Thursday and I did play a great round of golf today. I'm not going to take anything away from that, but there's still a lot for me to learn on this golf course; and winning a major, I have a long ways to go of learning the ins and outs of being able to contend.

Q. How well do you know Raymond; did you specifically seek him out and did he tell you anything specifically that helped you today?
BRETT WETTERICH: I'm very good friends with his sons, Robert and Raymond, so I've been around the Floyd family a fair bit of time. It was nice to be able to come out and play a practice round with him because obviously he knows, you know, the ins and outs of being here. So it was just nice to be able to hook up with him and get some of his knowledge.

Q. Was there anything specifically said that came in handy today?
BRETT WETTERICH: Not today. A lot of the things that he was telling me about were the pins haven't been there yet, to where he was showing me how they don't break.
Some of the stuff, too, not being here and there, that's always going to come into play every day. But some of the pins that stick out more in my mind of, you know, they are not breaking, so I know that now. And hopefully the pins are there.

Q. What will you work on when you leave here?
BRETT WETTERICH: Today, right now?

Q. Yeah.
BRETT WETTERICH: Probably nothing today. I'll probably take it easy. I've got an early tee-off time tomorrow.

Q. You don't go to the range or anything?
BRETT WETTERICH: No.

Q. What kind of factor was the wind for you and how did you deal with that?
BRETT WETTERICH: I didn't think it was that big of a factor. I mean, there was a couple of holes where it was, but I didn't have a lot of shots where I was, you know, stuck between clubs because of the wind or anything. So in that regard, it wasn't that big of a deal, you know, in my mind.

Q. You made mention of your birdie on 7. Can you just walk us through that hole?
BRETT WETTERICH: That's a hole there, I hit 3-wood off the tee. To me you've just got to get it in the fairway no matter what, 5-wood, 3-wood, driver, whatever you feel comfortable hit, you just have to be in the fairway, that green being so small. And I hit a good approach shot and I had a really tough putt coming down left-to-right downhill and I hit it perfect.

Q. About how far did you have into the green? What did you hit?
BRETT WETTERICH: I hit wedge into it. I had like 140 maybe, but I had like 130 to clear the bunker, so it was a perfect wedge.

Q. And about how long was the putt?
BRETT WETTERICH: 12 feet maybe, I don't know.

Q. With the course changes last year, and then the dry conditions this year, nobody's really seeing -- anybody in the field has seen them together. So did that help maybe mitigate the experience factor a little bit being that nobody has seen today's conditions?
BRETT WETTERICH: Yeah, I can't see how that would hurt me. Guys have played a lot of rounds around here, and this is my first one under tournament conditions.
Not seeing those things and not having bad thoughts of any changes, it definitely doesn't hurt me any.
LARRY PUGH: Brett, congratulations again, a great round, and good luck the rest of the week.
BRETT WETTERICH: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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