FBR OPEN

January 30, 2004

Scott Verplank

TODD BUDNICK: Scott, one back of the lead through 36 holes, but probably a disappointing finish for you there today.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, certainly, yes. Certainly I didn't want to finish with a couple bogeys. I was more thinking of a couple birdies. They're long days out here in this deal when they have delays and the grounds are slow and all that, and maybe I just lost kind of concentration a little bit there and just made a couple of -- just barely sloppy swings and hit it in two places that weren't very good.

TODD BUDNICK: It seemed like that was kind of the whole round, so you'd get a birdie and a bogey would follow and just couldn't get any consistency today.

SCOTT VERPLANK: I would say that's close. Yesterday was pretty consistent and pretty pain-free, and today was kind of up-and-down and just hit a good shot, hit a bad shot, that kind of deal, and it just wasn't as rhythmic today and just didn't hit the ball quite as good.

TODD BUDNICK: Take the negative out and you're still only one stroke back with 36 to go.

SCOTT VERPLANK: That's great. Today I made four or five bogeys, and to only be one back -- obviously I'm going to have to play more like I did yesterday than today, but if I play like that over the weekend I'll be happy with how it ends up.

Q. Why was today necessarily a bad day out on the course? Was it the crowd or was it the groups that were particularly slow?

>SCOTT VERPLANK: No, it just takes a long time to play around here. There's a struggle at the finish every day and every year here with the number of people on the golf course and it gets backed up and it takes a while. It's certainly not an excuse, I just didn't play as good. That's kind of the nature of the beast on this golf course.

It used to be par 5s on the back nine and then you have a drivable par 4 and it just gets backed up. Obviously I'm used to that; everybody that's played here a while is.

Q. Was the course more difficult?

SCOTT VERPLANK: It was for me. The greens were beat up pretty good. I was second off yesterday, so the greens were perfect. That's one of the good things about going early. But today the greens were beat up and the whole golf course was kind of soft. I know they had some rain, but it was a week ago, and I don't know if it's an overreaction to last year where it was 85 degrees and the golf course was dry and everybody was hitting it a quarter mile, but the golf course is the softest I've seen it since I've been playing here. The fairways are thick. I was playing at 12:30 today and I had mud on my ball in a couple of the fairways. I know it hasn't rained here in a week and it isn't very humid. Maybe they're just trying to add to the length a little bit.

Q. Do you think it's going to take the usual number, like 20-under, to win this still?

SCOTT VERPLANK: I don't know. It could. It doesn't look like the scores are quite as low as they have been the last few years. I guess maybe with the golf course playing longer, it's playing -- maybe it's playing a little tougher. I really don't know. I think the scores are a little higher, aren't they?

Q. Yeah. The cut was 4-under last year and even par this year.

SCOTT VERPLANK: And last year, like I said, it was 85 degrees, and even I was hitting it over 300 yards. Everybody was because the ball was going forever and it was dry. That's not the case this year.

Q. Does drier make it play easier or harder?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Some holes easier and some holes harder. The greens are soft, too. I had a couple shots that I've been hitting for 12 or 14 years around here, and you land it here and it takes one bounce and then it'll slow down or stop, and it just plugs where it hits, which is very unusual for here. Usually the greens are pretty firm.

Q. You've played two rounds with Hank and tomorrow you get Mickelson in your group. Is that an inspiration or a goad or a challenge, as far as playing with another long hitter?

SCOTT VERPLANK: I don't care about that. They don't get any longer than Hank Kuehne, so I like watching it. No, I don't really care. I like playing with the guys who are playing the best. That should be the goal every week, [] on the weekend especially?

Q. Did Hank do anything that surprised you regarding length? You've been around him and are not easily surprised, but --

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yesterday the one he hit on 18 was pretty much a bomb. I mean, I know they extended the bunker on the left over the water presumably to make it harder to hit over that, and he just air mailed everything over there. I don't know how far he hit it, but it was pretty damn far. That's all I can tell you (laughter). I hit a good one and I hit it 300 according to the yardage book, and he was at least 50 by me.

Q. How much longer was his ball today?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yesterday it was another 10 or 15 yards.

Q. Today wasn't bad.

SCOTT VERPLANK: No, today was a nice one, too. He was hitting a sand wedge, I guess, but he's the exception. There's not that many guys that hit it that far. Maybe they'll extend the water further down. Hopefully one day they'll make everybody hit it on the same line.

TODD BUDNICK: Just go through the round, Scott. The birdie on 10.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Okay. I hit a pitching wedge three feet on 10.

12, I missed the green to the right and had a bad lie and just chipped it by like 12 feet, missed it.

13, I was just short of the green, chipped up about six feet, made that.

14, I drove it in the fairway, had mud on my ball so it curved way over to the left and into the bunker. Hit it out, didn't make the putt, had probably a 15-footer.

Birdied 18, hit a 9-iron about five feet.

1, I hit it about eight feet with a 7-iron.

2, I hit 8-iron about four feet.

5, didn't hit a very good drive, but I hit a beautiful second shot right at it, came up about five yards short, rolled back down. Hit a great chip shot, looked perfect, released instead of checked, went five, six feet past and I hit a great-looking putt that somehow didn't go in and made bogey. That was the difference between yesterday and today.

Then 6, I hit 8-iron about ten feet, made it.

Then 8, I missed the green long left, which was totally dead. I chipped it 15 feet, and 10 feet would have been a heck of a shot. I missed the putt.

Then 9, I did the same thing. I flew it about eight or ten yards further than I was planning on and it went over the green, semi-tough chip, not as tough as 8, chipped it about six feet short, hit a nice putt and hit three or four spike marks and heel prints and found its way left of the hole.

End of FastScripts.