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JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

July 14, 2007

Tim Clark

SILVIS, ILLINOIS

STEWART MOORE: Tim Clark, thanks for spending a couple minutes with us here in the interview room at the John Deere Classic. I know you want to get out there and practice a little bit. Fantastic third round 66 out there. You're on the leaderboard all day but trailing a little bit, and all of a sudden birdie, birdie, birdie to finish. You find yourself in the final group tomorrow. You must have some pretty good feelings right now.
TIM CLARK: Yeah, I didn't really look at the leaderboards too much, I just wanted to stay with what I was doing. I've found in the past I looked at leaderboards and probably let it get away from me a little bit.
So I tried to play in, and I knew I needed to finish with a few birdies on the last few to get a little bit close to the lead. I saw he was playing really well. Yeah, great way to finish that back nine. It's pretty tough with that wind out there.

Q. This is your first tournament back since Colonial. How is your neck?
TIM CLARK: It's doing pretty good this week. I had some cortisone shots two weeks ago and really only picked up a club again last Friday for the first time. It felt a lot better, and it's still obviously not 100 percent, but at least now I'm swinging freely and not -- it's sort of not in the back of my mind whether my neck is going to hurt on every swing.

Q. Can you tell us what the situation was with your neck, and did it come with the swing?
TIM CLARK: Yeah, it was probably through golf itself. I just got some inflammation in my cervical joints, and I couldn't get rid of it really with therapy. I had the injections, and obviously with that -- I have had a lot of therapy to relax the muscles all around it because everything was just kind of constricted. With those injections and therapy back in Scottsdale, I've been able to come here feeling at least 80 percent (laughing).

Q. You've been in the States since the Open?
TIM CLARK: I live over here, yeah. Scottsdale.

Q. You decided kind of at the last minute to play this tournament. What made you decide to --
TIM CLARK: Well, like I said, I had those shots two weeks ago, and I started to feel a little bit better. Still, it's the British Open next week, and I wanted to at least have a chance to play. As I said right now, even if I do qualify, I'm still not 100 percent sure whether I'll go over. It's a long trip on the plane, and I've found that's one of the worst things for my neck is to be sitting on a plane. I'll just have to wait and see.
But yeah, it's just the time of year I want to play, and I've got the PGA coming up, too. With the injury I'd resigned to the fact at the start of the year that I'd probably only be able to play the majors and a few other events around it, so I'm sort of sticking to that.

Q. What about this tournament? What attracted you to it?
TIM CLARK: Well, obviously --

Q. Just the timing?
TIM CLARK: Yeah, you know, and in the past I've played the Scottish Open, but I've heard a lot of good things about this golf course, and also next week's golf course. I thought if I wasn't going to go over there, I may as well play two tournaments over here, and I haven't had a chance to play here or in Milwaukee, so I thought it was a great opportunity. Like I said, I've heard lots of great things about both golf courses and how they'd probably suit my game from other players. I'm obviously very pleased that I've come.

Q. Obviously you've found it to your liking?
TIM CLARK: Yeah, I mean, I think it's a great course. And with this wind swirling around, it's made it pretty tough to -- there's certainly an emphasis on driving the ball and good iron play, which -- I'm always going to enjoy.

Q. The approach you hit into 18 today, it appeared that maybe you were practicing for next week. Those are the kind of shots you would play at the British. Can you talk about that shot and why you played it that way?
TIM CLARK: Just with how the ball was sitting in the first cut I didn't feel I could get enough spin on the ball to cut it against the wind, and I had to start it over the water to be able to throw it up high. Yeah, the low shot looked like the one. It wasn't the easiest shot. I mean, I was borderline just chipping it out. But I saw an avenue and I played it, and it was only a little 6-iron, so I thought it was worth a chance.

Q. Are you comfortable playing those type of shots?
TIM CLARK: Yeah, yeah. Growing up in South Africa, I played in a lot of wind and stuff. Those type of shots sort of come naturally.
STEWART MOORE: Real quick let's go through your birdies and bogeys. Obviously there was one at 18. Do you remember what you did?
TIM CLARK: Yeah, the par 5, I got it up-and-down from the front bunker. Actually was a pretty tough shot and kind of fortunate to get out with a birdie there.
And then 3, got it on the green, made about a 20-, 25-footer. I've made a bunch of twos this week. I've made five twos in the last two rounds, so that's pretty impressive on these par 3s because I don't find them that easy.
The bogey, yeah, just a poor second shot on the 4th from the middle of the fairway. Only had 9-iron and missed in the one spot I couldn't miss it, right of the green.
The other bogey on 13 was the same thing, middle of the fairway with an 8-iron and just lost it right. Those were the two bad shots of the day and it cost me bogeys.
11, again, made another good putt, made another 15- to 20-footer on 11.
12, again, another 10-, 15-footer, and I think that's probably what I've done well the last two days, is that range of putts, 10 to 15 feet. I've missed a few five- to eight-footers but I've made a lot of 10- to 15-footers.
Then 16, hit a great iron shot in there. Bobby hit a great shot in there, so it was good to see his first, and then I hit a 7-iron to probably ten feet just above the hole and made the putt.
17 was just 80 yards and was left with a tap-in for birdie there.
18, the 6-iron that I punched sort of under the trees.

Q. What did you hit at 17?
TIM CLARK: 17, just a lob wedge, actually.

Q. And the shot at 18, you went right and did you just --
TIM CLARK: From there I couldn't -- going low I could afford to go a little right and eliminate the water. If anything, even if the right bunker, I wanted to point it towards the right side of the green rather than take the water on.

Q. Were you surprised how well that turned out, or is that what you expected of that shot?
TIM CLARK: I could see it going on the green, but obviously it was pretty nice to get a little kick left but not for it to go too far left. I left myself really the perfect putt on 18, straight uphill. It's a pretty tough putt from right of the hole coming down towards the water there.

Q. Do you feel like your success in majors gives you an advantage in events like this?
TIM CLARK: You know, I've probably had a problem in other events, not getting geared up, and I think that's what I've done well this week. I've come in here with the same frame of mind that I do going into the majors. I go into majors looking to enjoy myself and have fun even though the courses are fun.
Sometimes a course where the scores are a little bit lower I sort of get ahead of myself and don't stay with what I'm doing, staying in the moment. I've come into this week with the proverbial one shot at a time. I normally don't do that very well, but I have this week. That just sort of is reflected in the scores. I've continued to shoot good scores.

Q. What do you have to do to keep that going tomorrow?
TIM CLARK: Just, like we say, one shot at a time. Don't think ahead. Don't think about winning the tournament or anything. You're still going to have to go out and shoot a good score. Obviously the way I'm playing, if I keep doing what I've done the first three days, it should turn out to be a good round.

Q. By looking at the leaderboard and the players that are up there, there are a lot of guys looking for that first win. Is it to your advantage to have that experience against these guys tomorrow?
TIM CLARK: Well, like I said earlier, I'm looking for my first win out here, too. You can throw me in that same boat. You know, everyone out here on the leaderboard is a great player, so it's certainly going to take a low round tomorrow for someone to win. Like I said, it's probably going to turn out to be a bit of a shootout tomorrow.
STEWART MOORE: Tim, great playing. Good luck tomorrow.

End of FastScripts

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