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AT&T CLASSIC

May 19, 2007

Troy Matteson

DULUTH, GEORGIA

JOE CHEMYCZ: We welcome Troy Matteson in, Troy with a 3-under par 69 sharing the lead with Ryuji heading into tomorrow's final round. You guys looked like you were having a little bit of fun out there.
TROY MATTESON: We were. We were having a lot of fun. It's fun to play with guys that you played with in college before, and Ryuji is a nice guy. That makes the day so much easier, when we're conversing, talking. Some guys get out there and they don't want to talk at all.
It was a little slow being the last group, but we talked about some good things. I think there was some exciting things for the fans to watch, and I ended up tying him at the end of the day. I don't think there's going to be any Bulldog/Yellow Jacket fights out there. I think we'll save that for tomorrow.

Q. That was my first question. Was there any kidding and banter about the whole Yellow Jacket/Bulldog thing or anything with the fans?
TROY MATTESON: No, I think everything was great. Seemed like there were an even number of fans that came out for him and for myself, and you know, it was fun to hear the "go Dogs" and the "go Yellow Jackets" all day. It's just great when you can involve people like that, and I think that's going to help make those crowds a little bigger tomorrow, being that there's still some Georgia and Georgia Tech players in the field.

Q. But it is better to play in that situation with somebody you know and get along with?
TROY MATTESON: I think so, and I think that should help us tomorrow. Just, you know, to be going through the same stuff we went through today and not getting re-paired, like I said, I like Ryuji and it's a fun day.

Q. You've played in the last group before. What's that like, and is it an advantage having gone through it before?
TROY MATTESON: I think for me, I'm still pretty young, and I don't have the experience level that a lot of guys do that have five, six, seven more wins, and for me it's just -- I'm going to have to get that experience. It's been interesting some of the groups I've been in, and I was extremely lucky last year to win in Vegas because it's really the first time I've put myself in that situation for that long. Hopefully I can draw on that a little bit for tomorrow.

Q. Who were you with back then?
TROY MATTESON: I was playing with Charley Hoffman, so that was definitely a pro-Charley crowd.

Q. You had that streak toward the end of last year where you started the last round of Disney in the lead and I was there, and you won Vegas. Is the way you played during that streak and the way you're playing right now similar, and what has been working for you this week? Is there a particular part of your game?
TROY MATTESON: I think when you hit it better and you're putting it just a little better, I think that makes you think a little better around the golf course. Let me clarify that. Usually when you're not making birdies, you're trying to force things. You're trying to go right at the hole, at least that's what I do. That's where I make my mistakes. When you start hitting it better and you start making a few putts and you start saying, well, I don't have to get it in there so close, what typically happens is you start it a little bit to one side of the hole and it starts drifting towards the hole and all of a sudden you've hit shots closer than you normally do.
That was definitely the case the last two days for me. I had some shots get away from me today. But putting it a little better, I didn't have to take so many chances. Today was a fairly easy 3-under, whereas the last bunch of months, I couldn't even spell 3-under.

Q. Was scoring more difficult today or not? Was the course different?
TROY MATTESON: I think for me it was a little tougher. There were some pins that were harder on my eyes. Obviously my teammate Matt Kuchar must have liked it pretty good. For me it was just a little bit tougher playing in the last group, obviously the greens are going to be as rough as they're going to be with all the foot traffic around the hole. But I'm pleased with 3-under.

Q. You've had the experience of sleeping on the lead, you've had the experience of winning. Neither one of those things -- Ryuji hasn't had either of those. Does that give you some kind of advantage going into tomorrow?
TROY MATTESON: I think the biggest advantage I've got is I'm staying at home. It's tough when you have to go back to the hotel, not much to do, so your brain starts racing, you start thinking about winning, thinking about the things you need to do, and your brain goes all night. I think I can get home and try to relax a little bit. It won't be the same as an off week, but I'll do my best to relax.
And anybody that tells you they go home and they sleep 100 percent perfect, they're lying, because there's going to be a little bit of nerves all night long no matter where you're at.

Q. You've done real well on the back nine. Do you like the way it sets up for your game?
TROY MATTESON: I think there are a lot of chances to make birdies on the back nine. Obviously you've got 10 and 18 are reachable if the conditions stay the same, and they should. Guys are going to take chances there.
Then if you play 13 smart, whether you knock it on the green or you lay up to your yardage, today I didn't lay up to a very good yardage, but that's definitely a birdie hole.
Then you've got a couple other par 4s in there that you can take advantage of. I think it's a little easier overall to score on than the front nine. The front nine you have to hit more quality golf shots to get around the front side.

Q. Three rounds into the tournament has your opinion solidified as far as how you like this course in May as opposed to late March, early April?
TROY MATTESON: Yeah, I prefer the course like this, and I think a lot of guys will agree with me. The warmer weather, for one thing, is great. But the conditioning of the course is just unbelievable. It's just a great conditioned course. I would say this is probably going to be one of my favorites all year as far as the condition goes, and we play a lot of great conditioned golf courses. They've just done a stupendous job this week.

Q. The follow-up to that would be people worrying about the strength of the field and so forth. Do you think word will percolate amongst the other TOUR professionals, perhaps some of the upper-echelon guys, about the quality of this course this time of year?
TROY MATTESON: I think it will. I think guys will hear about it. Like I said the other day, you don't know why they come or don't come sometimes. It could be personal reasons. Maybe they didn't play good here, I don't know. But I think that being a month later for the guys maybe that didn't play good when it was a little cooler, that might bring some of those guys back in, which would be fun to see.
One thing I liked on the golf course is today on 16, the crowd was really rowdy, and they were having a good time. It's kind of fun to go to golf courses where you've got the 16th hole at Scottsdale or you've got the 17th hole at TPC. It's kind of fun to have a hole here in Atlanta where people are getting around. Granted, the numbers aren't as high yet, but I think that's going to catch on, and that was fun today.

Q. Are you a scoreboard watcher? Are you going to keep an eye on them tomorrow or are you just going to play your game?
TROY MATTESON: Put it this way, I'll try not to look, but that never seems to work out. If I can get through most of the day not looking at the scoreboard, I'll be pretty happy with myself. If I get in a position where I need to know, Josh will let me know if I need to change or do something. My brother let me know that when I won in Vegas, let me know exactly where I stood.
Now, granted, I was playing with one of the guys up in the lead, Daniel Chopra, so I knew kind of who I had to beat. I don't think I knew at the time that Crane had posted his number. So my brother let me know that just at the right time.
JOE CHEMYCZ: Troy, thank you.

End of FastScripts

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