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AT&T CLASSIC

May 17, 2007

Kevin Sutherland

DULUTH, GEORGIA

JOE CHEMYCZ: We welcome Kevin Sutherland in today with a 7-under par 65, the best round you've had in this tournament. Previously 68 was your best, and you did that three times. Maybe just talk a little bit about what was good out there today and let them ask you some questions.
KEVIN SUTHERLAND: You know, I hit the ball pretty well. Actually I hit the ball very well. I was very pleased with the way I hit it. You know, I played well. You're not going to shoot 65s very often, so it was a lot of fun. The course is in great shape and the weather is perfect. The ball is really running down these fairways so you can get to the par 5s, and I took advantage of all four of them today.
My day was pretty much I hit a lot of shots. I didn't have to work too hard for pars except for maybe No. 9. I had one bogey, but it was a three-putt from not much more than 22, 23 feet, it wasn't very far. And that was at No. 5. But besides that, it was a pretty stress-free round.
JOE CHEMYCZ: 16 of 18 greens today.
KEVIN SUTHERLAND: Yeah, I hit the ball -- it seemed like an easy day for me. One thing I did, I holed it out of the bunker on No. 16, so that was kind of nice.

Q. Looks like you got going after 16. Is that kind of what jump-started the round?
KEVIN SUTHERLAND: Yeah, obviously it was a nice bonus. I hit a pretty good shot in there and I just came up a half a club short. On 16 I hit an 8-iron and it caught the lip of the bunker and rolled back in. It was a fairly easy bunker shot, but to hole it was a bonus. That kind of got me going.
All of a sudden I birdied 17, hit a wedge in to about five feet, and knocked it on the green in two on 18 and two-putt for birdie there, and all of a sudden I shot 4-under on the front. It kind of adds up fast when they come in bunches like that. Yeah, it was really just a solid day for me.

Q. Are you a streaky player by nature?
KEVIN SUTHERLAND: Not really, I'm not. But it seems like this year has been a little bit like that. I've made a lot of cuts, but I've had streaky rounds where I've shot a lot of really good rounds and then some 75s and stuff, which is not normally the way I play, but that's just kind of the way it's gone this year.

Q. Based on the way the course played for you today, do you expect a number like 7 to stand up?
KEVIN SUTHERLAND: I don't know. The weather is great, and the course is perfect. I wouldn't be surprised at all if someone shoots 8- or 9-under par today. It wouldn't surprise me at all. All the par 5s are reachable and then you've got the short par 4, No. 13, which there's some guys that are going to be able to knock it on the green.
So I wouldn't be surprised if someone shot a better score than that because the course is in great shape. It's just a lot of fun to play.

Q. You've been a consistent supporter of this tournament over the year but the field is not what they would like here. Is there anything other than the fact that it's sandwiched in between a bunch of other strong events that's keeping the field kind of weak here do you think?
KEVIN SUTHERLAND: I think that's part of it. I think that the fact that the Wachovia and THE PLAYERS are the two weeks before has a lot to do with it. One thing about it is the courses is such better shape, the weather is so much better this time of year that if word can get out that this is a better date for the tournament, they might get some guys to come back. But I don't know that for sure. It's just such a better date for the golf course than it is in March. But obviously the field is not as good as it was before.

Q. I know a lot of people have talked about Phil and Tiger not being here and that's a big deal, but do players look at it differently, that when Phil and Tiger aren't here that improves our chances to make more money?
KEVIN SUTHERLAND: Not really. Well, I shouldn't speak for everybody. I don't. I don't come to a tournament -- depending on the field. I don't think about who's playing and who's not playing. The main reason is that it doesn't matter because I need to play well, regardless of who's there. I can't think when Tiger or Phil or whoever else is not there, this is my week. It doesn't work that way.

Q. Some of your other tournaments you'll have a real good first round, but it's been kind of hard to follow up the second round. Is that just kind of golf?
KEVIN SUTHERLAND: You know, I don't know. Sometimes it's just golf. Sometimes it's just streaks. There will be times where -- I go back to AT & T, I think I shot 63 at Spyglass, and then I shot a 67 the next day at Poppy Hills on a very windy, rainy day. There are examples of where I haven't followed up good rounds with another good round, and there's examples where I have, so I don't dwell on that too much.
JOE CHEMYCZ: You made birdie at 10. What did you do there?
KEVIN SUTHERLAND: I hit a -- well, I went for the green in two, hit just left of the green, probably wasn't quite enough to get there, and chipped it up to -- hit probably actually a pretty poor chip to a little over 20 feet probably, 25 feet maybe, and I made it. So that was a nice little bonus to get the day started.
Got a bunch of pars, and then we kind of went through 16, 17 and 18 already.
Then 4, I hit my drive right over by those groups of bunkers but I wasn't in a bunker. Hit a hybrid out of the rough to about 65 yards, hit to about eight feet, made it.
Bogeyed the next hole, hit a pitching wedge maybe a little over 20 feet and ran the first putt by the hole five feet, just hit it too hard. Greens in spots are sneaky quick. You've got to be careful on some of the putts out there, and that one got away from me.
The next hole I hit a good drive, and I had 3-iron into the green and knocked it onto the back edge of the green, so it was a long ways from the hole but I had a two two-putt, knocked it down there to about three feet.
Had a pitching wedge on 7 and I made about a six-footer.
8, I hit a 5-iron about 25 feet, and I made that.
So I had some holes where I had some easy birdie putts and then made a couple of them. That's kind of like 65s usually go sometimes.
On the last hole I hit a 3-wood off the tee and hooked it. It was probably fortunate to get where I was because of that pine straw, and I had a decent lie. I ran it over the green from there and hit a nice pitch back, made about a three- or four-footer.

Q. If the wind doesn't pick up, these could be some really ideal scoring conditions as the weekend goes on?
KEVIN SUTHERLAND: If the wind doesn't pick up the scores are going to be good. But if the wind does pick up, these greens are firm and fast enough where you'll have to be paying attention to what you're doing. But we'll have to see what the weather holds.

Q. It's supposed to be nice.
KEVIN SUTHERLAND: If it's like that, then I think the scores are going to be pretty good. I mean, the weather is fabulous, so it's kind of nice.
JOE CHEMYCZ: Kevin, thank you. Play well the rest of the week.

End of FastScripts

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