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VALERO TEXAS OPEN

October 3, 2007

Steve Flesch

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Thank you. We'd like to thank Steve Flesch for joining us for a few minutes here in the Media Center at the Valero Texas Open.
It's been a great year for you, lot of fun.
STEVE FLESCH: Great last eight weeks, actually. The first part of the year was a struggle but it's amazing how two good weeks can change your whole year.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Yes, absolutely. Now, we were just talking a little bit about those get you into the Masters but I was explaining to them that you're in the Top-30 on the money list.
STEVE FLESCH: Which if I can stay there gets me in the Masters. But I am in the U.S. Open.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: You do -- the two wins within a calendar year.
STEVE FLESCH: Gets me in the U.S. Open. Ironically enough at Torrey Pines which is a tournament I skip every year, so it's like the slap in the face deal there but, whatever.
I'll be glad to play the U.S. Open there but I probably still will skip -- that's just where that falls in the schedule. I'll skip that event in the spring but, you know, eight weeks ago if you would have told me I would be sitting here with two wins, I'd be ecstatic. It's where I am. I'm glad to be here this week.

Q. What's happened with your game?
STEVE FLESCH: You know, just a lot of perseverance, lot of hard work early in the year that I think finally paid off and couple of equipment changes, mainly the golf ball.
I went to a "spinnier" golf ball than I've been playing the last couple of years which improved my iron game. My iron game was always the best part of my game. That's what was deficient the last two years.
You know, I just got my iron game back and lot a little streaky. I got streaky with the putter for a couple weeks but, you know, my iron game comes back, kind of the rest of my game seems to come back. That's kind of been it, really.
You know, I had two weeks off after I played the second FedExCup event because I went in those two and I was well rested for Turning Stone and, you know, that golf course really fit my eye and the greens are perfect.
I had a good week striking the ball. Got some good rest and I think I attribute a lot of that to my good play at Turning Stone.

Q. Your motivation on Kentucky football?
STEVE FLESCH: Yeah, but that's -- I love paying attention to that. I'm more of a basketball guy but --
Q. You have to be at Kentucky, usually.
STEVE FLESCH: Historically our football team has always just struggled so much because in the SEC Conference we're lucky to win two ball games.
It's definitely more fun watching them this year but the next three weeks is going to be a real wakeup call with South Carolina and LSU and Joan's Florida Gators there.
Even though we're at home against LSU and Florida they're going to have to play really good to beat them. We can either be the quickest horizon in the Top-10 or the quickest fall. We'll know in two weeks kind of where we are and we'll definitely know in three weeks.

Q. You beat Arkansas, right?
STEVE FLESCH: We did beat Arkansas.

Q. Hal Sutton lives around the corner.
STEVE FLESCH: In Arkansas?
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: From here.

Q. He lives over in Fredericksburg.
STEVE FLESCH: I'm not into giving people hard times, not with Kentucky football, you know, but, no, it's more fun. I went to the game this past week and it was Florida Atlantic.
I finally got to a game because I had an off week. I plan to go to the LSU game next week. It's just a whole different atmosphere now. We used to celebrate first downs at Kentucky when I was at school. The only time you stood up was to go to the bathroom.
Now they're standing up every third and fourth down play. It's a good atmosphere. I'm still more of a basketball guy there.

Q. Have you played here before?
STEVE FLESCH: Yeah, I think I've played five times maybe. I don't know what the ledger says.

Q. I know that obviously anybody can win but when you do come here, are you surprised by who you see winning this tournament?
STEVE FLESCH: No. I'll tell you, I played good last year but Eric played phenomenally.
Who was it that shot -- Tommy Armour shot a million under a few years ago?
The biggest difference for guys coming here I think is the bermuda grass because all the way up until about this time of year we were on bent or overseed, we go to Vegas, but, you know, now then the next couple of weeks in Florida it's back on the bermuda grass and it's a whole different animal.
We're just -- I just played the 10th hole 15 minutes ago and drove it in the rough. I didn't have a shot. The rough is only two inches long.
So, it's just a different animal. Around the greens it's so different. Obviously putting, so much more grain. It's just so different. You either have a feel for it or you don't.
Tommy Armour living in Dallas, I think plays on a lot of bermuda. I don't know about Eric. The guys who win here I think play in a lot of bermuda grass and, you know, it's just different.
The playing surface is fine but it's just a whole different animal out there so I think that maybe -- may be some reason why the guys you expect to play here maybe don't play well here or play well here, don't necessarily play well here because it's just a different surface but it's a good golf course. I love the layout.
I wish it was drier but I guess you had a lot of rain here but that's why I've always kind of come here. The ball kind of bounces a lot here. The greens are firm so it rewards good iron play but bermuda is a whole -- I'm actually making up a new different 60-degree wedge with a little more bounce on it right now in the equipment truck to see if that has any difference chipping it because the wedge I have doesn't have a whole lot of bounce.
I think maybe a little more bounce helps chipping it out of this. We'll see. Might not but, you know, it's a brainstorm I just had finishing up out there.

Q. They actually had record rainfall here, 70 inches this year. Just talking to Chad Campbell who played out here a few times, too. The rough, they're keeping it at 2 1/2 inches but it's thicker.
Have you noticed --
STEVE FLESCH: It's definitely denser and the ball goes right to the bottom of it. It's a nightmare. It's like dropping it in a bird's nest. You can't get any clubface on the ball to get it out of there.
So you'll see a lost guys trying hybrid fairway woods out of it, stuff like that, just trying to chase it up because irons out of it, unless you're inside 150, 60 yards aren't really -- they kind of come out really dead and without anything on them and, you know, the rough around the greens is really tough. You don't really bounce it on the greens here. Lot of forced carries. But I think going to be a sterner test.
If you drove the ball in the fairway here, you got a chance to play well. If you don't, it's going to be a struggle.

Q. I was going to ask you, probably from what you can see of the conditions, different than last year, too, it's been a little firmer. We won't see a Tommy Armour-type showing this year.
STEVE FLESCH: Hard to say. You can never count it out with these guys out here.

Q. Keep in it play, though.
STEVE FLESCH: Absolutely. You play with a guy like Jeff Maggert who is in the fairway all the time. As good as his iron game is, his putter gets hot -- anybody can shoot rounds like Tommy Armour did that year.
To put three, four of them together is tough but the fact that the fairways are a little softer than years past means the ball is going stay in them, not going to bounce out of them. Never know. Hot putter makes up for a lot of poor drives and irons.

Q. Steve, I know you don't have any control over it but how would you describe a good group pairing?
STEVE FLESCH: A good pairing for me is just, you know, guys that want to talk and kind of talk in between shots and real relaxing pairing, not one you got to worry about any little movement that's going to set a guy off.
Just personality of guys. Really quiet guys are usually generally easy to play with but it's the guys that any little thing bothers that are kind of, to me, a nightmare to play with.
There's a lot of guys out here that, you know, a pin drops, "Oh, my God." It's like the world ends.
Guys who really aren't bothered by much. Joey Sindelar is probably the ultimate pairing out here. You can pretty much say or do anything to the guy and he's still going to like you and, you know, just easy-going guys are the best.
I played with Bart Bryant this week but I played with him last week or two weeks ago at Turning Stone. Easy going. Quiet. If you talk to him, he'll talk.
There's only a handful of guys out here that I think are really hard to play with and I obviously won't name them but we have our unique guys out here that are bothered easily by any little thing.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Couple more questions. Thank you.
STEVE FLESCH: Thanks, Joan.

End of FastScripts

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