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VERIZON HERITAGE

April 14, 2007

Jerry Kelly

HILTON HEAD, SOUTH CAROLINA

DOUG MILNE: We'd like to welcome Jerry Kelly in after a 4-under par 67, puts you atop the leaderboard. Just a couple comments about the round, highlights and not too many lowlights.
JERRY KELLY: You know, I started out well today, just good chance on 1, birdie on 2 with an up-and-down, about a two-foot putt.
And then missed a shot with a 6-iron on the next hole. It was nice to bounce back with a 1. That let me know my swing was still there. I just tried to do a little too much on 3. But it came off perfectly with a 4-iron, 199 into the wind, left to right. That was as good as I could hit it.
And then another bunker up-and-down on the next par 5 to about three feet.
And then the par 3, 5-iron to about 10, 12 feet.
9, just as well as I can draw up how to play a hole is what happened on 9. I actually came out -- I walked down the range and tried to find a perfect spot for me to lay it up because I've always had trouble to that right pin. I hit a 5-iron off the tee to the exact distance that I wanted to and the exact angle I wanted to and almost made my iron shot and knocked in a good five-footer for birdie there.
12 was a good driver, 8-iron to about 12 feet or so.
And then I think I kind of -- I fell asleep a little bit. I had a wedge from the middle of the fairway, the ball was a little bit below my feet, and I was thinking about hitting a draw and then I thought it might go too far. I didn't get a clear picture, and that's something that's plagued me in the past, was the easy shots being more trouble than the hard shots. It showed itself right there. I'm really glad it showed itself today.
Then the par 5, 15th, I couldn't reach it in two, and I tried to hit the hardest drives that I've hit all week. I just felt like, you can't really get in any trouble up there, so I'm just going to try and kill this one, and who knows, maybe I can get there. But I can't get there, and my best play is to play a little bit so I can get it past the tree at the edge of the green. I knocked it right up against the crook of a tree, had to hit my putter left-handed. I hit a great lay up with a utility to about 70 yards. I thought I hit a perfect shot, and it kicked forward about 15 feet and hit a good putt and it missed.
Really, I hit all good shots, a couple mental mistakes. And I had chances coming in on 16 and 17. Those were really good shots in there. I hit good putts on both of them, and they just missed. So there you have it.
DOUG MILNE: When you were in here yesterday you clearly didn't feel good. You're still coughing a little bit. How do you feel now?
JERRY KELLY: Yeah, I definitely got my -- I wouldn't really say I got my adrenaline back, but I got my focus back. It shows me that -- you guys would think I'm crazy, but if I take one Advil or one Aleve, I'm toast. I can't feel my body. I'm very hypersensitive to medicines. I took cold medicine, as well, and I was really just in a fog, didn't feel well, couldn't get my energy up.
You know, last night I just thought about my swing, thought about my round and my mental side. I came out with the same thoughts that I had later in the day yesterday. So that shows me what I need to do and what not to do.

Q. The sand trap shot on 5, that was incredible. It looked like there was no way you were going to get it up-and-down. What was going on in your mind there?
JERRY KELLY: I had been -- actually, my coach Jim Schumann just taught me, which is scary, taught me really the correct way to open and cock my wrist to really get the bunker shot high up in the air. I was going around me which was making me send it back out too much and closing it down. So I've been practicing a lot since it was fairly new to me, and just cranking that thing back and hitting it. I've been hitting some great sand shots. I haven't been getting them up-and-down as much as I'd like, but I'm hitting them better than ever. Those up-and-downs, as I get more feel, will come. And I could hit it as hard as I want and it was just going to go up and not out, so that was fun.

Q. How do you think Ernie is going to be tomorrow in the final round? He's got a very high ranking, he's got a couple of wins. Is he intimidating?
JERRY KELLY: He's not intimidating because he's a great guy. He's a really nice guy. He's got a smooth swing. The only thing intimidating about him is his golf game. When it's on, it's incredible. Hopefully I can get to the point where maybe some people think I can be intimidating in a final round.
I understand that, my ranking isn't high enough. I haven't done enough to be intimidating. But that's what I'm striving to do, too. I just enjoy playing with Ernie. He's a nice guy and a great player and it doesn't get much better than that.

Q. The conditions tomorrow are supposed to be pretty rugged, at least with the wind. How do you prepare for that, or do you?
JERRY KELLY: I'll tell you what, you're going to need guts tomorrow, guts to pull off shots, guts obviously to win. I watched a great movie a couple nights ago which is going to help me tomorrow in this final round. It was called "Pre," about Prefontaine. It's going to take guts to play this round the way you know you can play the round and get it done.

Q. Does it change the objective at all for the third round knowing what you're likely to face tomorrow in terms of shooting a score? Does that become a more urgent concern?
JERRY KELLY: No, I thought about that last night for about five seconds, and then I realized I go out there and deal with my process, there's nothing else I need to think about. There's some situations coming down the stretch where you may have to do something, but it certainly doesn't happen on Saturday, and hopefully it doesn't have to happen at all if I just play my game out, let the chips fall that way rather than trying to press something like I have in the past.

Q. How difficult is it to put the enthusiasm of making that hole-in-one behind you and getting back into the rhythm of things?
JERRY KELLY: I've actually had enough of them now. This is my 11th. I think that's four or five in competition, PGA TOUR competition. So it kind of -- it's certainly not old hat, but I do know how to get rid of it. If it was for a boat or the car, it might have been a different story (laughter), but I was more disappointed I didn't get anything for it (laughing).

Q. It really bunched up on the leaderboard by the end of the day. At what point and how much do you pay attention to what people behind you are doing?
JERRY KELLY: I didn't pay attention until I made the bogey. I knew I was in the lead, but I didn't really pay attention to what the shot situation was until I made the bogey, especially with him birdieing right on top of me.
I didn't want to lose my first 54-hole lead.

Q. As far as tomorrow, though, do you pay a little bit more concern to people behind you because there's more of them now than there were coming into today? I think there's 10 or 12 guys within three or four shots now.
JERRY KELLY: Yeah, tomorrow is going to be a totally different animal. There's not going to be guys up there posting big red numbers early. It's not going to happen. If it does happen, it'll let me know that I can do it, too.
But more than likely, it's going to be survival. It's going to be a little closer to Saturday at The Masters. As I told you guys, the conditions have been great, and it's been feeling easy on this place. By no means do I think this is an easy golf course. By no means. I will not let that part of what the scores are right now get in the way of what could happen tomorrow because I respect the heck out of this golf course. I think it's one of the best we play, period. And when the conditions get thrown at us tomorrow, it's going to be tough.

Q. I think it's been about five years since --
JERRY KELLY: '02. Oh, too long ago (laughter).

Q. And you said it's your first 54-hole lead.
JERRY KELLY: I think so.

Q. How do you deal with all that kind of entering into tomorrow, or do you have to just throw it out of your mind and just focus on those 18 holes?
JERRY KELLY: I kind of relish the steps that I'm taking, so I really wanted a 54-hole lead. I really wanted my first Top 10 in a major. You know, I really want to do all these things. I'm not afraid to do them. I really want to do them, and that's kind of what got in the way in the past.
Hopefully I can just let things happen a little more and go through what I'm trying to do with my mental side, and next thing you know, I reach even more goals.
They make me happy. They don't scare me.

Q. Can you take us through the ace a little bit? Was there any thought process? I mean, was it a perfect club for you for the shot?
JERRY KELLY: It was perfect. I had 199. I hit my 4-iron 200 yards. We were a little into the wind, but it was also a little left to right. So if I play a cut, it's usually about a 195 shot. I thought with the left-to-right wind, if it was in, it could carry it up there just enough to where it could release and go into the hole. I started on a tree about 30 feet left of the hole, right on the tree I wanted to, trajectory, fade, everything was exactly the way I saw it in my eye. For that to fall right where I wanted it to and crawl in the hole, that -- it really doesn't happen all that often where we hit perfect shots to make hole-in-ones because a lot of times we're not aiming at the pin on a lot of the par 3s that we get.
So sometimes you're going to get hole-in-ones that you're like, well, I might have pushed that one over there a little bit. That was a green light pin on the right side of the green there a little bit, and that was as good as I can hit that shot.
DOUG MILNE: Thanks for coming in. Congratulations, and we'll look forward to more good stuff tomorrow.

End of FastScripts

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