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NAVISTAR LPGA CLASSIC

September 28, 2007

Virada Nirapathpongporn

PRATTVILLE, ALABAMA

ASHLEY CUSHMAN: You made a nice climb up the leaderboard today, 7-under for the tournament. Talk about your round and what's been going right for you on the golf course.
VIRADA NIRAPATHPONGPORN: Well, this week, like any other week, I think I've -- lately I've been playing well. Just, you know, didn't get the ball in the hole. So I think I learned -- over the weeks off I realized, Okay, well, I got to do something about that. It's about the short sticks and wedges and chip and putt.
So this week it's been going really well. I hit the ball good and find a way to get the ball in the hole.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: You've got two subpar rounds, so it sounds like it's all working for you out there. What's the game plan for the weekend?
VIRADA NIRAPATHPONGPORN: Same thing, I think. I've been very consistent: Fairways, barely missed the fairways. And then greens, I barely missed the greens. So I think that that's going really well for me, being very consistent. And the putting is great, so keep going. Two days like that I think I'll be in good shape.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Can we go over your scorecard, birdies and bogeys, starting with your first birdie on the 8th hole?
VIRADA NIRAPATHPONGPORN: Par 5, driver, and then what did I hit to the -- oh, I hit second shot. I actually hit it bad.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: What club?
VIRADA NIRAPATHPONGPORN: 5-iron. Kind of a bad lie off the second shot. Probably the only bad shot I hit. But then, you know, like before I probably would panic and think, Oh, now what? You know, but I learned to collect myself and know that, Hey, one bad shot is not going to kill you.
From there I got up and down. Hit a very nice high pitch and putt about four feet.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: 13, birdie there.
VIRADA NIRAPATHPONGPORN: 13, Par 3 I think, just 8-iron.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: How far out?
VIRADA NIRAPATHPONGPORN: Probably 25 feet above the hole. Very straightforward putt. Just down the hill a little right to left and just right in the middle.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: 8-iron?
VIRADA NIRAPATHPONGPORN: 8-iron to about 25 feet.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: And 16, Par 3.
VIRADA NIRAPATHPONGPORN: 16, Par 3. Solid 9-iron just about eight feet, but it was a pretty tricky putt down the hill, slider left to right. But I think my feel has been very good.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: And that lone bogey on 18, take us through that.
VIRADA NIRAPATHPONGPORN: Just a soft bogey. That's just a mistake that I was making, you know, this year. Just right around the green and I just --
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Was it a 2-putt?
VIRADA NIRAPATHPONGPORN: 3-putt off the green. Well, statistically it's a 2-putt. Any time if I don't hesitate to take that putter I call it a putt.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Okay.
VIRADA NIRAPATHPONGPORN: Below the hole four feet and I just didn't make it.
ASHLEY CUSHMAN: Questions?

Q. Did you ever have any thought of chipping up on 18 to get it close? Are you a much better putter than you are as far as chipping?
VIRADA NIRAPATHPONGPORN: It was just very simple and straightforward. I putted exceptionally off that lie this week, so I didn't really -- I didn't have any doubt, you know, but I just didn't execute it as well. Yeah.

Q. How would you describe the difficulty of this course? First time you've played it, right?
VIRADA NIRAPATHPONGPORN: Yeah. My practice round I thought it was playing more difficult than the last two rounds. The greens are huge and they undulating, so I thought that could cause a problem.
But so far I feel like, you know, the green is big but if you shoot to the right part of the green so you don't have to -- unless you have to putt all the way across the green. Then that's tough.
It feels like it's playing okay. You know, not as bad as I thought.

Q. You have to go back several years, but you've won a tournament on the Trail before.
VIRADA NIRAPATHPONGPORN: Yeah, in Mobile.

Q. Has being back here and being on a Trail course rekindled some good memories for you?
VIRADA NIRAPATHPONGPORN: Absolutely. When heard that we were going to a Robert Trent Jones Trail course I was like, Oh, I like that name. I had a great time when I was junior golfer down in Mobile. Stayed with a great family, and maybe they could come up and watch during the weekend. I'm not sure.
Yeah, I like Mobile, Alabama, so anything Alabama I like.

Q. You had a hole in one yesterday. Talk about what having a shot like that in your round does for you, and when you got to that hole today do you -- you made three today. Are you like, This shot is worse?
VIRADA NIRAPATHPONGPORN: No, I wasn't thinking that at all. It wasn't like I got up to the tee and, Oh, I better hold this one or otherwise it's a disappointment. Kind of it just flew right by me.
But yesterday was great. I've been saying to myself that my last hole in one -- I've had two before, and last one was when I was 16, so almost ten years ago. I probably played much more golf the last ten years than the first 16 years of my life and I'm like, God I got to be due.

Q. What was the distance and club yesterday?
VIRADA NIRAPATHPONGPORN: 176 and I hit my 5-iron. It goes about 165. Hoping to just roll over the hill there and it did just that. I couldn't see it because it was just over the hump. It landed about two yards kind of left of the flag.
I thought, As long as it's up there I think it's close, it's within 10, 15 feet. And the lady, the one lady by the green, she was like, she just put her hands up on her head. And I was like, maybe be it's close. Very close.
Like this, and she goes (indicating). Like this. So I figured it was in.

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