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BUICK OPEN

June 26, 2007

Scott Verplank

GRAND BLANC, MICHIGAN

THE MODERATOR: I would like to welcome the 1988 Buick Open champion Scott Verplank here to the interview room. Scott, you're having a great year so far. You had an emotional win at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship, five Top 10s, three in a row coming into this week. You played great at the U.S. Open. Obviously pleased with your game. Talk about your year so far.
SCOTT VERPLANK: Well you just did it. I actually didn't start off that good the first couple of months. I didn't play that well. I've been kind of struggling with some shoulder problems and stuff. I changed up my routine to get out of that and everything has gotten a little bit better since right before Dallas. Consequently I've been able to play more like I kind of expect to.

Q. As it sits right now, you're 7th in Presidents Cup point standings. Is this the time of year you really start thinking about that?
SCOTT VERPLANK: Yes, but it's not like it's in the forefront of my mind. Yes, it's very important, and I got to play in the last one with Jack as the captain, and that's a pretty neat experience, just as an individual to be around him. And then I also enjoy representing the United States, and I enjoy the team competitions that we play in. We did win the last Presidents Cup, so I'm hoping that we'll give it a good shot again.

Q. You've been a regular here since the first time you came. How has this tournament changed? We know the golf course hasn't changed that much. Has anything changed about this tournament?
SCOTT VERPLANK: It's a better tournament because Buick has put more and more into it and has continued to be a long-time sponsor. But you're right, the golf course hasn't changed significantly. It has gotten better. The conditions are better than they were say 20 years ago or 19 years ago when I first won this tournament.
The golf course is always in great shape. The greens are always really good. Fairways are always really good. I think it's a fun week if you play well because you can definitely make some birdies, shoot good scores. And the crowds here, particularly on Saturday and Sunday, are pretty fun coming down the stretch, the last two or three holes, particularly 17, I always enjoy that.

Q. (No microphone).
SCOTT VERPLANK: You know, I guess sometimes they've been bigger. But when I won, this was a long time ago, in '88, when I won, they just had those bleachers back there and had a beer stand right next to it and they were on the back fringe. Now they have big tarps and air conditioning and all that stuff. It's not quite as tight as it was back then, but I remember playing that hole on Sunday in '88 and the people were right on the back edge of the green. And I think there was one guy that didn't have a beer in his hand out of about, you know, 10,000 or whatever, and they were loud. They're still like that, but it's a little different setup.

Q. Given how difficult it is to win on the PGA Tour these days, not that it wasn't difficult back then, but can an amateur ever win again?
SCOTT VERPLANK: Yes. I would be making a mistake if I said no. Some of these young guys, actually a guy that went to Oklahoma State won in Europe, one of their bigger tournaments, and that's pretty good. And there was a kid that won the NCAA lost in a playoff in a Nationwide Tour event, so it's different, it's a different level, but it's not near the step from college to here that it is from Nationwide Tour to here or winning kind of a medium event on the European tour. Somebody will win again, it's just hard to tell. It's a very unique deal. It's not a common occurrence. There's no question about that.

Q. Do you find yourself looking forward to coming back to a tournament like this where you've played so well in the past, given the way you're playing right now?
SCOTT VERPLANK: I always enjoy coming to this tournament. It's always been one of my favorites. I know the golf course. This is almost what I consider my home golf course, I've played it so many times. I've played it in every weather condition when it was playing fast, when it was real soggy and wet, when the greens were soft, when they were hard.
I'm very comfortable around this golf course, and I've hit most of the shots, good and bad, around this place, so there's not a whole lot of surprises for me.

Q. What would it mean to you if you could win this tournament 18 years apart? That's a pretty good stretch.
SCOTT VERPLANK: That would be pretty amazing. It would just mean I've hung around a long time, and I hadn't given up yet.

Q. You're going to be 43 in a couple weeks and you're having maybe the best year of your year. How do you explain that?
SCOTT VERPLANK: In the last two or three months, my health has been better where I haven't had as many little nagging things. I continue to work out and I think I'm a better player now just because of experience. I should be overall a smarter player because I've made all those stupid mistakes at least once. After you make them two or three times you think maybe I shouldn't do that again. That's kind of the strength of my game, doing what I do best and getting the most out of it that way.
That 130-mile-an-hour swing and hitting it 350 in the air passed me by a long time ago. I just have to hit it straight, hit it solid, and make putts, and obviously I can hang in there with most people.

Q. Will MacKenzie seems to be a bit of a free spirit, is a guy like him good for this Tour?
SCOTT VERPLANK: Oh, sure. I don't know his background. I know a little bit of his background, but I don't know any details of it. He's a very nice guy. He is definitely a little more of a free spirit. I'm probably in normal societal rules, I'm probably more grounded than he is, being married with kids and being out here a long time, but I like Will and I think he's obviously shown some spurts of being a pretty talented player. He is a good guy, and he is a good player.

Q. Scott, you switched from graphite to steel for the Nelson, and are you still playing steel, and is that what you attribute your success this season to?
SCOTT VERPLANK: I think it's helped, yes. I'm still playing the steel shafts in my irons. It's been more consistent. Over this last two or three months, my ball flight and ball-striking with irons have been more consistent, and if you hit a few more greens and you hit it a little closer when you do hit greens, and you hit more shots that look right to you when you hit them, then usually if you're at a certain level, it translates into a little more comfort, which turns out to be a little more confidence.

Q. Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh have dominated this tournament the last few years. How does that change the complexion of this tournament without either of them being here?
SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, I'm sure I would assume that obviously Buick is disappointed or the local community is disappointed that Tiger is not here, and Vijay, for that matter. I don't know, you're still going to have to shoot the same kind of stores to have a chance to win. The winning scores are always low. You always have to make birdies on Saturday and Sunday.
Last year, I mean, I wish that those guys were here because I enjoy playing in the tournaments that they play in. Last year, I actually had a great chance, if I could have made any kind of putts on Sunday, I would have been right there in the last couple of holes. I think I ended up finishing fourth or something. Last year I was hitting it really good coming around on Saturday and Sunday, and I was pretty disappointed when the tournament was over that I couldn't kick it in from five feet, because I could have had a lot better chance of playing with Tiger.
THE MODERATOR: Scott, thanks for joining us. Best of luck this week.

End of FastScripts

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