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VALERO TEXAS OPEN

October 4, 2007

Jesper Parnevik

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Thank you, Jesper, for joining us in the Media Center here at the Valero Texas Open.
Great round today, career best, 61 here on the PGA Tour and I know you come here a lot because I know your wife loves this place.
JESPER PARNEVIK: I love this place.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: What went well for you out there today?
JESPER PARNEVIK: I always enjoy coming here, first of all. Didn't play here I think the first probably ten years on Tour and then I've been coming here every year.
It's a great setup with the resort right here and the Six Flags next door. I always bring the kids and the family. We have a great time.
I haven't really done great. It's been more of a family week but I'm happy. I have been playing very well lately. I played well in Syracuse where I actually missed the cut. I putted very poorly and then I made a big decision last week. I had the same putter now for over two years I think which is very, very rare for me. I used to have three, four putters a week and I've been putting well with the putter. I didn't hole anything. I did not even bring it last week.
So during the Pro-Am I started panicking big time because I putted really bad. So after 9 holes I went in and the Yes guy was the only putter rep left. Everybody else went home.
All he had was a belly putter so I started the first two rounds last week with a belly putter which bellied up fairly fast and I putted with a "Bernatelli" putter on the weekend which worked alright but not something special.
I played very with well on Sunday, probably as good as I can play, and I came into this week feeling like the game was there.
Then I picked up a putter on -- yesterday, was a new putter I've never seen on Tour and as soon as I set it, placed it on the ground, I said, "This is it, this feels great" and putted okay with it in Pro-Am and putted great with it today.
That's how easy it is sometimes.

Q. What was it?
JESPER PARNEVIK: I think it's ESP. I think it's a brand new -- I've never seen the rep before. Never seen the putter before. I have no idea where it's coming from.

Q. Why?
JESPER PARNEVIK: Lot of times it's just when you set it down it just swings nicely and you see the line perfectly. It's kind of the way you set up to it and the way you feel where you're aiming and that's enough.
All of a sudden you can start getting aggressive with the putts. You feel you can hole some. When a few go in, that's pretty easy.

Q. The first one was a 25-footer, I think, on your 9th hole; is that right?
JESPER PARNEVIK: Let's see. First long putt? I had a few short ones. That was the first longer putt.

Q. Tell me about the putt, the break and the speed.
JESPER PARNEVIK: It was -- you're right, probably about 20, 25 feet left of the hole. It was about foot and a half of break left to right and went in perfect pace, everything. So I holed about 11-footer on 1, another 15-footer on 3.

Q. Uphill putt coming back up the hill?
JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah. I putted well all day. I hit two great shots into 10. Came up short. Didn't get it up and down. Started with a bogey.
But normally that's when the panic sets in a little bit and you think you're going to have a really shitty day. Like I said if felt good about the game, good about the putter. I made birdie on the next hole. That was it.

Q. Why in the past -- I guess you said almost a vacation week for you to come here with the kids and everything.
Was it simply just the putter or something else that really worked today, the course fit your eye better?
JESPER PARNEVIK: I mean once you start feeling good over the putts, I think you start reading them better. More confident with the stroke. Everything is easier.
And it was fun. Probably one of the better rounds I've played all year. I mean I played half the year with a broken finger and played about two months with a broken toe.
So I'm about healed up now and so it's nice to actually play a round where you don't have to work around injuries and so on. So, like I said, golf can be fun sometimes, too.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Didn't you hurt the finger at the Bob Hope after you fired a 62 like the day before?
JESPER PARNEVIK: That was last year I shot 62. This year I started with a 66 or 68 and I broke the finger right there.

Q. How did you break it?
JESPER PARNEVIK: Stupid thing. I was in the hotel room. About 2 in the morning one of my kids had a nightmare. We had connecting rooms. I ran to check on her, tripped over suitcase and fell on the floor and then I iced it the rest of the night and tried to play after that but I missed the cut and actually had -- it's not a hundred percent healed. I don't know that it ever will. I can at least grip the club now.

Q. Which one?
A The middle one.

Q. The toe is separate?
JESPER PARNEVIK: Toe was even dumber. We were out on the boat. I was docking the boat and I had to rundown -- we have a fly bridge up there. I was up on the fly bridge and ran in and ran into a case of beer and broke the toe. So, how is that?

Q. On your boat?
JESPER PARNEVIK: On my boat, yeah.

Q. Were you drinking?
JESPER PARNEVIK: I was not drunk but that was the problem, the case was full.

Q. Well, before you got the putter you said you played well Sunday last week so something was going on Sunday.
JESPER PARNEVIK: I actually played well the whole last week ball-strikingwise. I think I was I don't know, Top-5 in greens in regulation. I didn't really put any scores together.
I shot a 68 the first round and putted really poorly the second round, shot 1-over and on Sunday I played pretty much -- hit every fairway and every green and shot 3-under. Even though I holed a few putts it was nothing special.
You know, the good thing about the game, you can start going for pins. You don't have to protect from a bad shot all the time. That's just a big difference.

Q. Something obviously is clicking that maybe wasn't clicking beforehand.
JESPER PARNEVIK: Really, I mean, the swing swingwise was another stupid thing. Scandinavian Masters I didn't have time to practice much. It was a little bit cold and I felt weak so I strengthened my grip to get some power back, I thought, and started flushing it after a couple days.
So, like I said, this could be very stupid again. Sometimes where small things just click and you have no idea why or was no intention before, it just happens.

Q. Confidence there, putting and hitting the ball seems like it's there so, you know, you've got to be excited obviously about the rest of the week.
JESPER PARNEVIK: Oh, yeah, definitely. Of course, I've got to keep on being aggressive. I know this is a course where everybody pretty much can shoot a low round at anytime so it's not a course where you can start going on the defense and protect your score.
I mean, if I don't remember wrong, I think this is where Tommy Armour broke the all-time record.
When it's not too windy -- lot of years here it can be very windy. So far it's been very calm all week so it's set up for good scoring.
JOAN vt ALEXANDER: Everybody all set? Thank you.
JESPER PARNEVIK: Okay

End of FastScripts

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