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JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

July 13, 2007

Neal Lancaster

SILVIS, ILLINOIS

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Neal Lancaster, thanks for joining us. Following up a first round 64 with a 3-under 68, and just some opening comments about your day heading into the weekend. You are just one off the lead so you're in great position.
NEAL LANCASTER: Not excited today as I was yesterday, I guess. Actually I was happy with my score. I didn't play very well, especially the back nine. I think I shot even par, and just kept hitting the driver way to the right and couldn't stop it, couldn't stop it. I've been hitting the pull for a few years, and I started hitting to the right so now I'm definitely lost.
69 and I played horrible, and that's the kind of round you have to have when you play bad. I was never comfortable with it on the back nine. I was never comfortable, and then starting on 8 I just started hitting the driver terrible.
I still had a chance to make a few more birdies coming in. I just didn't get it done. Not much I can say. I'm really excited to be in position going into the weekend. It's been so long.

Q. When was the last time you put two rounds together that put you in position like this?
NEAL LANCASTER: It's been a while. My last time out was a Nationwide event in Knoxville, and I was two shots out, two weeks ago, two or three shots out going into the last day. I thought I might have a chance to win, and Chez Reavey on that Tour started out birdie, eagle, birdie, so after I played three holes I was pretty dejected about that.
But it's been a while. Like I said yesterday, just trying to get out of my own way. Actually I didn't even know what I was shooting out there at one time I was struggling so bad.

Q. Somebody told me once it's not just the 64s and 65s you do shoot, it's the 70s you don't shoot. Did you keep this round from getting out of control?
NEAL LANCASTER: Actually, I did. I made some good par saves and I made a great birdie on 10. I hit 7-iron in there for my third shot. I drove it in the rough there and made a great birdie there.
And then three-putted 11 and birdied 12 and then should have bogeyed 13, but I made a great par. And then I just never had it from tee to green until the last two holes, and I think it's because I said, just get this over with, get it to the clubhouse, patch it up.

Q. How do you patch it up for the weekend then?
NEAL LANCASTER: I don't know if you do. You go out -- I'll go out and try to hit some balls now. Being the kind of person I am, I'm kind of a jumpy guy, I kind of played like a jumpy guy today. My swing felt jumpy.
It's hard sitting on the lead. I'm actually glad I'm one back. The other guys are feeling a little more pressure than I will so I'll go out and be free with it. I think it's going to take 18-, 19-under with the conditions this way. The greens are soft and the fairways are starting to run. I'll go out and hit some balls and not sit around and think about it too much again.
Last night I didn't sit around and think about it, but when you play bad it's not always -- when you don't play well, it's not all that bad. I must have had 65 calls last night. You would have thought I won the U.S. Open in the first round. When you shoot 75 and that phone don't ring, that's not a bad thing sometimes (laughter). They were calling all night.

Q. What did you do last night?
NEAL LANCASTER: Much of nothing. Sat around -- went out on the river and sat there and fed the ducks. Actually I got in that Buick and rode around and rolled the top back. Boy, the sunsets are beautiful here.

Q. We were all dying to ask you yesterday, you said, no matter what, even if you were 10-under you might be trying something new. Did you try anything new today?
NEAL LANCASTER: Starting on No. -- well, I was trying something new on No. 2. Yeah, I hit a couple shots right, and then the back nine, I actually changed everything up. I tried to put my right arm in front of me and not let it get behind me and just swing straight up and straight down. That didn't work, either.
Then with about three holes left it was just knock the hell out of it and hope it went in the right place. Yeah, I was trying to find it out there. I couldn't find it. I hit some good shots, but you've got to be comfortable in the situation. My golf swing, I didn't feel comfortable in the situation.
Now, the last two holes, the last hole actually was the first time I felt comfortable all day with my swing. I just made an adjustment of turning through the shot, and when I turned through the shot, I actually hit it a little better. I have a tendency to get too far from the ball at address.

Q. Is that something to build on for tomorrow at the range?
NEAL LANCASTER: Nah. No, nothing to build on. We'll just come out tomorrow and -- I'm 10-under, I'm going to have to shoot -- I think the leader tomorrow -- depends on the weather. If the weather is like this -- I think somebody is going to get here to 12-under today. I think somebody like Nathan Green is out there playing really well, I think. I think it's going to be 16, 17 after tomorrow the way these guys are going.

Q. Why are the greens still as soft as they are?
NEAL LANCASTER: They just had a lot of rain here from what I understand. You know, I'm glad they're soft. Everybody would rather shoot good scores. What would guys be doing if they came here and said the greens were too hard? The course is in great shape. The fairways are unbelievable.
Just got to make putts. Today I didn't make them on the back nine. You're not going to make all of them. I wasn't very comfortable at all on the back nine with what I was doing.

Q. It seemed like the scoring kind of leveled out this afternoon; nobody really made a big move.
NEAL LANCASTER: Yeah, the greens are a little soft. Actually the greens were running a little slow today. Our whole group was having trouble just getting the pace of them. You know, being that they've had a lot of bad weather -- the greens, the surfaces are beautiful, but the softness is leaving a lot of spike marks around the hole and stuff like that, and you know, the ball can get bouncing a little bit in the afternoon.
We were first group off in the afternoon, and there was a lot of spike marks around the holes. This afternoon, as a matter of fact they said the cut was backing up to 1-under right now and the weather is perfect out there, so it's got to be the greens are getting a little bumpy.
The surfaces are great, it's just because they've had so much rain. You know, you figure the humidity would just dry them out, though. But I know how this TOUR works. I'll be in here Sunday hopefully telling you, man, those greens were too hard, the greens were rolling 20 feet. What they'll do on the weekend, they'll firm it up as much as they can.

Q. Is today a case of you scored better than you shot and yesterday you shot better than you scored?
NEAL LANCASTER: I definitely today scored better than I played, definitely. I don't even think I hit one fairway, the 18th, from No. 8 in. Well, I hit No. 11. That was about it. I just couldn't get the ball in the fairway. Like I said, if I don't hit it in the fairway, I stand no chance if I drive it like that, no chance.

Q. Do you allow yourself to get excited about being in the hunt on the weekend on the PGA TOUR as long as it's been?
NEAL LANCASTER: You're not supposed to. You're supposed to go out there and just play golf, but easier said than done; again, back to the same old thing as yesterday. You know, I hadn't seen any cameras in so long, I was having trouble wondering what everybody was running around for. I said, I didn't even though they had this many cameras.
I was comfortable with what I was doing, but my golf swing -- I was comfortable with the cameras and all that, but my golf swing was so uncomfortable, I couldn't get a feel for it. I just couldn't get a feel for it. But I'm going to go out and stand so close to the ball here in a minute on the driving range and probably shank a couple and go to the car (laughter). You know, you just don't know. You just never know.

Q. It was dead calm out there, wasn't it?
NEAL LANCASTER: Absolutely perfect. The weather is perfect. And it's supposed to be like that this weekend. But these officials, they can hide the pins and firm these greens up. I wouldn't be really -- if the conditions stay like this tomorrow, if the pins are just not ridiculous, it wouldn't surprise me if somebody broke the course record.

Q. And here they've lengthened the golf course, supposedly made it tougher?
NEAL LANCASTER: The fairways are firming up. They're running pretty good now. The fairway on the 15th hole, you can't get it in the fairway. It will kick left and go in the left rough so quick. You can make them 8,000 yards now.
I was talking to Fazio last year in Charlotte, and he said he's starting to build some 8,000 yards, starting to design some. That's what it's coming to. Won't be long, you can just point a gun out there and push a button. You won't even have to make a swing.

Q. You said yesterday you've been working a lot on your game. You said, I might even get to 10-under par tomorrow and I'll be out there on the course changing things. Did you find yourself doing that today?
NEAL LANCASTER: Yeah, I was experimenting on the second hole and third hole. I hit it so far right on 2, I said I have to try something. And then 3 I experimented with my setup and I hit it about six feet and made birdie. All of a sudden, next hole I hit a couple good shots and -- my swing is so -- a lot of it is, like I said, I'm a jumpy guy, and if I get jumpy, I'm in trouble. I was a little jumpy on the back nine today, which by that I mean I was just so quick from the top. I felt like I was in a Pro-Am and I was the amateur (laughter).
JOEL SCHUCHMANN: If you could touch on your scorecard and we'll take one last question. You started on the front side and birdied No. 3. You said you hit it to six feet. What did you hit there?
NEAL LANCASTER: I hit a 5-iron. I think it was like 194.
And then the 5th hole, I birdied it. I hit a 9-iron from 148, and it should have gone in the hole. It stopped right on the back lip, made birdie there.
Then the short par 4, I hit a 3-iron off the tee. It was downwind and I hit a wedge from 143 about 12 feet, made it for birdie.
Got it to 11-under par at No. 10, hit a terrible drive, way right in the right rough, couldn't even get a club on it. There is some rough on that golf course. And I hacked it down the fairway and had 175 yards, and I'm going, just don't put it in the water here. And I hit it ten feet, made it for birdie.

Q. What did you hit there?
NEAL LANCASTER: 7-iron.
First bogey of the day on No. 11. What's crazy is the greens here are so big, and I had like 147 yards on that hole, and it looks like -- it just looks like you can hit a wedge, and I should have hit a little 9-iron, I just didn't want to get past the pin because the pin was kind of a sucker pin in the back, and I hit it 35, 40 feet short and left it five feet short going up the hill and three-putted it.
Then the next hole hit a 6-iron from 201, about 25, 28 feet behind the hole and kind of quick-hit it and made it.
15, bogey, I hit it so far right off the tee, and actually got a good break over there and had a shot at the green and just pushed it a little bit, hit a 9-iron up over the trees from 180 yards or something, and it went in the bunker and I blasted out to about four feet and just hit a terrible putt. It almost fell in, hung on the lip. It was a bad putt.
JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Neal, thanks.

End of FastScripts

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