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FORD CHAMPIONSHIP AT DORAL

March 4, 2004

Scott Verplank

DORAL, FLORIDA

JOHN BUSH: Scott, thanks for joining us. 5 under par 67 and one of our leaders in the clubhouse. Can you comment on your round today, please?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, I played very well. I did the things you're supposed to do around this golf course to have a nice round, which is birdie the par fives. I didn't birdie No. 8, but I birdied the other ones. I hit a couple of nice shots, iron shots on the par 4s and made a couple.

Other than 18, that was a little bit of a struggle. I made a pretty good bogey there. But other than that, I played very well. I hit the ball in most of the fairways and most of the greens.

JOHN BUSH: If we can, let's go through your card, starting on No. 1.

SCOTT VERPLANK: 1, I hit a 6 iron on the green and 2 putted from about 30 feet.

3, I missed the green left, not a very good spot. Chipped it by about 12 feet and made bogey.

The next, the par 3 fourth hole, I hit a 4 iron about three feet.

The fifth hole, I hit a pitching wedge two feet.

The next hole, I hit a 3 iron about ten feet. Made that.

And I 2 putted No. 10 for birdie. Made it

Hit a sand wedge about ten feet, eight feet on 12.

I hit a 7 iron about eight feet on 15, the par 3.

And then 18, I hit a horrible drive in the water and then hit it short of the green and got up and down for bogey. So it was actually a pretty good 5.

JOHN BUSH: Any questions?

Q. Phil said almost the identical thing on 18. I guess they have made that hole a lot tougher?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, they have. And the wind doesn't always blow this direction this hard this early in the week. You know, if they knew last year, it's kind of the way things on TOUR are now. Last year the wind blew out of the northwest every day and 18 played downwind almost every day, coming down from the right and everybody is hitting way up there and hitting short clubs into the green.

Well, now, so they overreact, they built the tee back another 30 yards. Well, now we have the normal wind again, back in your face. I don't know what clubs some guys are hitting. If I would not have hit in the water, I still would have been hitting a wood to the green. It's okay, I guess, but it's quite a bit different than it's played in the past here.

Q. Is that up to the field staff, though, about where to set that tee?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yes.

Q. Is that where the problem really lies?

SCOTT VERPLANK: I'm not really saying it's a problem. It's just a hell of a lot different than it was the last few years. (Laughter.)

Yeah, I just hit a bad shot. Normally I'm not going to carry it because I usually drive the ball in the fairway and whatever, just take what comes. But it's a lot more challenging hole today than it has been in several years.

Q. I know you've been out here a while so you deal with these things, but when you have a great round going and you see the tee ball disappear, what goes through your mindset there; you don't want to lose your round on that hole?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Really, I say, "Dumbass!" Sorry. That's basically what goes through my mind. (Laughter.)

You try not to think about it that way. Really, there's nothing that you can do about it. Now just try to figure out how to get the ball in the hole.

Q. Make your 5.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, make a 5 and that's all I was trying to do from there. That's the nature of the hole now. It's playing so long that if you don't hit a good tee shot, you're just going to make a 5.

Q. What club did you hit for your third shot?

SCOTT VERPLANK: My third shot I hit 3 wood.

Q. From how far?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Oh, gosh, I had 238 or something into the wind and just hit it just to the front right of the green.

It didn't go very far. I hit it good, too. It didn't go very far into the wind. It's really a heavy wind, I guess. The ball, it's playing 20 to 30 yards further back into the wind.

Q. Was there ever a thought about not hitting driver off the tee and playing it like a par 5 because of the wind?

SCOTT VERPLANK: No. No. I normally drive it pretty straight. I just hit a bad shot. I guess if you had a three shot lead, you might do that and just lay up. And it may turn I don't think it will, but it may turn around and play downwind tomorrow and some of these guys will be hitting shorter clubs in. Just have to wait and see what the conditions dictate.

Q. Are you surprised with all of the wind that there's a lot of 5 unders and 4 unders today?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, no, because there's a lot of guys that can really play out here. But those scores are generally not that low for here. From what I remember in the past, the scores were a heck of a lot lower on Thursday mornings, and I think it mainly has to do with the wind is blowing so hard.

End of FastScripts.

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