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THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

May 7, 2007

Ken Duke

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA

DOUG MILNE: Ken Duke, thank you for joining us. It's a nice time to have you here. Congratulations on another fourth consecutive Top 10 finish yesterday. Just a couple comments on your play as of late, and then a couple questions about being here at the TPC Sawgrass.
KEN DUKE: Yeah, I've had a really good run the last four weeks, and hopefully just ending off this week with a victory, that would be nice. But looking forward to coming here. I've heard so many things about this tournament and just really excited to be here with the best players in the world.

Q. Have you had a chance to play this course ever before?
KEN DUKE: I have played it a few times, just coming up from south Florida. I think I played it twice, then I played in the U.S. Amateur here in '94. And that's the only three times, four times I think I've played it.

Q. Have your tremendous finishes the last four weeks kind of offset any fatigue you might normally be feeling?
KEN DUKE: A lot of people has asked me that, but I've only been playing -- last week I only played nine holes practice round, and I didn't even hit any balls on Tuesday. I'm really trying to just back off of what I've been really working hard on and just kind of tuning up what I've got. Just my confidence is really high right now.
And I'll play nine, I think, tomorrow and nine Wednesday just to try to see the course on both nines and just go from there, and I'm taking next week off, which is going to be good.

Q. What are your memories of the '94 U.S. Amateur here?
KEN DUKE: Not much. Just excited to be there. I played in the '93 Amateur and the '94 Amateur. I don't really remember much at all. It's been a while back.

Q. Did you --
KEN DUKE: I made the match play and lost in my first match.

Q. Of course that's kind of a memorable one, some guy won that tournament that year?
KEN DUKE: Some guy that's winning about every week (laughter) that won last week, as well. Yeah, it was great to watch it after we lost and everything. It was great to watch the rest of it.

Q. How fun was yesterday, because it was obviously with Woods, but you were right in the mix. You played with Steve Stricker?
KEN DUKE: I did. I know Steve. I've played with him a couple times before. I just never really got off to a good start.
But it's just great to be in contention the last four weeks. You know, if you can get that one good round on Sunday, you never know if some guys come back, you might step in there and get one. It's just been really, really good, and my game feels really -- I feel really comfortable playing those last two or three groups every week, so it's been really good for me.

Q. Did you expect this stretch of play coming into it? Had you made any changes with your game, or did you --
KEN DUKE: I didn't. I didn't. I had a stretch last year about a month and a half or two months, did the same thing. I won, then I came over to Wachovia and Monday qualified, finished 14th, then I finished 14th and 5th the next few weeks.
I knew it was coming because I did it last year. I just had to be patient.
The West Coast I really forced a lot of things, tried to make things happen. And just I had a few weeks off; I didn't get in Bay Hill and didn't get in the Masters obviously, and kind of got back to the basics, and Hilton Head I turned it around.

Q. Are you a streaky player? Can you get on a roll?
KEN DUKE: I think so. I'm getting ready to shut her down after this week; I need that rest. But if you can get on a roll like that, I do pretty well.

Q. You said last year you got on a roll. Is this time of year your time of year traditionally, going way back?
KEN DUKE: It's funny, last year exactly this time of year is when I played well. I won at the BMW in April, then did the Wachovia, and just run a couple weeks into May and played well again.
I don't know what it is. I've heard that guys play really good certain times of year, the first of the year, the last of the year or in the middle. So for me it's been good the last two years, right here in April and May.

Q. Anything before that, though?
KEN DUKE: Not much. Not much at all.

Q. Why did you do that, Monday qualify last year for Wachovia? Was it just the location?
KEN DUKE: First of all, I knew how good a tournament it was, and we were only two hours away from Greenville, South Carolina, and I had my family with me, my wife and two daughters, and I really didn't want to drive like eight hours all the way to Virginia Beach, and that's where we were headed. I was hoping to get in there, then play there, then we had Arkansas the next week and we were going to go there because that's where I'm from.
So that was really the main reason. I just did not want to drive all the way to Virginia Beach.

Q. But after you got in and played well, is there a temptation, man, let's keep chasing these Monday qualifiers?
KEN DUKE: No, because I thought I had a good chance to finish in the Top 20. Especially having won the week before, I really felt like I could just stay out here on the Nationwide and play there and try to get the Top 20.
The money qualifiers are tough. You can get on a roll and play good through them, but you've still got to make $600,000 or $700,000 just to keep your card. I believe you need to set your schedule on a Tour and stick to it instead of trying to jump around. It's very tough to jump around and try to Monday qualify, then you've got to get to the next tournament. It's crazy.
So you can plan your schedule if you're on a Tour, and the jumping around is kind of tough.

Q. This tournament is obviously being played in May for the first time. I'm curious, over the last few weeks has there been much chatter amongst the players about what was happening in May, the new clubhouse, obviously a different time on the schedule as opposed to two weeks before the The Masters?
KEN DUKE: Yeah, I played with Phil on Sunday of Dallas, and he asked me if I was coming to THE PLAYERS, and I said yes, I was, because of the Nationwide. I said, I heard it's going to be pretty tough. He said, oh, yeah, just the change of time and plus the renovations and stuff. He said a lot of these greens just don't hold a shot, what they usually hold.
He said it's going to be very, very difficult, he thinks, especially if the rough is going to be up, which it usually is. He thinks it's going to be a real good challenge. I don't know much more. I was just picking his brain about what he thought, as well.

Q. What's your -- coming in, what's your thought on the golf course, just from what you've seen over the years and what you've heard?
KEN DUKE: I just think it's a major. I look at it as a U.S. Open because U.S. Open rough is always high and the greens are always fast and the fairways are really tight, and that's the way they set this place up. You really have to watch what you do and you have to get the ball on the greens in a certain spot. If you don't, you're going to be penalized.
DOUG MILNE: Okay, good luck this week. Thanks for stopping by.

End of FastScripts

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