CANON GREATER HARTFORD OPEN

June 22, 2002

Scott Verplank

JOHN BUSH: Scott, we'd like to thank you for coming by, 7-under 63. For those of us who do not know, how does it feel to get in a rhythm like you had there on the back 9?

SCOTT VERPLANK: You're saying these guys here don't know? Wow.

Well, obviously, when you kind of get rolling like that, you just basically try to get out of your own way. I mean, I was hitting some nice solid shots and leaving myself with putts. You didn't have to be careful with other than the 16th hole, so, really you just kind of -- you just kind of lay back and enjoy it.

JOHN BUSH: Can you go through your round, starting on No. 2?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yes. Number 2, I hit an L-wedge let's see, about 70 yards. I hit it about an inch, almost went in, so that was a good one.

The next one, I hit it in the fairway bunker off the tee and had it on the green about 40 feet and I made it, which was a nice surprise.

The next hole, completely screwed it up. Hit a perfect drive, missed the green to the right, chipped 10 feet short and missed it.

8, I hit a 5-iron about 20 feet, made a real nice putt there.

10, drove it perfect, left my iron short of the green, chipped up about four feet and missed it. At that point in time, I didn't know that I was going to make 6 birdies in a row. I sure wasn't feeling that way.

Let's see, 12. 12, I played into the wind and I hit a 7-iron to about, gosh, 3 feet, made that.

And then I teed off on 13 into the wind and then this front or whatever came through, so I was able to hit it up pin-high in 2 on 13. If it would have stayed into the wind, I don't know if I would have gone for it or not. So I hit a pretty nice chip to about 8 feet, made that.

The next hole, hit a nice drive, hit an L-wedge to about four feet.

15, I drove it just about to the green, chipped it up to 6 feet, made that.

16, I hit a 9-iron to about 10 feet.

And 17, I hit a nice drive in the fairway and I hit a 6-iron to about 3 feet.

And then 18, I drove it in the bunker and I hit it just a little heavy coming out. I was, kind of in between clubs, and I hit extra club and chipped it up and actually made about a 6 or 7-footer for par there, so that was much better than missing that one.

JOHN BUSH: Questions?

Q. When you make a run like that, I mean, not only the shots are close, the actual execution of the approach shot has to be great too. Do you get in a zone where you don't even feel it, everything just passes nice and smooth and you can't even feel the ball?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Have you done that?

Q. Yeah, couple times.

SCOTT VERPLANK: You know, you just -- you just try to -- obviously, you have some decent rhythm going and you just try to stay relaxed and not force anything, and I did a nice job of that. I kind of just kept hitting my normal, usually straight ball off the tee and I kind of got it -- must have got lined up good on a few holes in a row and fired right at the flag. You just kind of like to let that happen.

Q. Is that your record, 6 in a row?

SCOTT VERPLANK: No. I think I made 7 in a row one time. Sorry.

Q. Were you aware what Phil was doing out ahead of you? Did you feel you were kind of falling out of it because he was --

SCOTT VERPLANK: No. I mean, yeah, you'd like to lead the tournament from the 1st hole, but lots of things can happen, and they usually do. You know, I knew guys were playing okay, but guys play okay everyday, you know, so I kind of knew what some of those scores were, but I certainly wasn't focused on it.

Q. So you don't get here and think you have to put a good number up because, you know, today is moving day?

SCOTT VERPLANK: That makes it quite a bit harder if you think that. I do better if I'm not paying much attention to my score. And, you know, that's how you kind of get in the flow and make 6 birdies in a row because if you start thinking about it, chances are, at least me, I'm going to screw it up. So, it just kind of -- it doesn't help to pay attention to the score much.

Q. Scott, it appears you'll probably be in the final pairing going into tomorrow. When was the last time you were in this situation going into the last round?

SCOTT VERPLANK: At the Mercedes this year I was leading after 3 rounds, which was the first tournament of the year. What else? Tour Championship last year, the last tournament of last year. I don't know. I've been in the last group quite a few times in the last couple years.

Q. What do you anticipate you're going to have to shoot tomorrow, 63, 65?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, if the golf course stays, similar, yeah. You're still going to have to make birdies. I think the scores were pretty good today, I would imagine. You know, it's a golf course that -- it's a good risk-reward golf course. You can make a lot of birdies if you do the right stuff, but you can also have a lot of hiccups. When guys loosen up and get after it, you know -- I can't remember too many tournaments on the Tour, other than a major, where you don't have to go ahead and keep making birdies to have a chance.

Q. Maybe not 63, but 64, 65, 66?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Hey, I would be very happy with that. I have no idea, and I'm not going to worry because it because that's what I was just saying. If you worry about it, it makes it harder. I'm just going to keep hitting fairways, greens, and do kind of like I normally do when I play well.

Q. Was there any mid-round adjustment that you made to hit all of these good iron shots or was it just going along?

SCOTT VERPLANK: No, just going along. 14 was an L-wedge and 15 was a chip shot, 13 was a chip shot, 16 was a 9-iron so, you know, not that you hit them stiff all the time, but those are clubs if you hit a pretty good shot, you can get into a somewhat makable range.

Q. Easy for you to say. (Laughter.)

JOHN BUSH: Any more questions?

Q. After last week it's got to be, I mean, a considerable change?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Oh, yeah. I can get to the fairways here this week. I like that a lot better. And you can see most of them here too so, yeah, it's quite a bit different.

Q. Despite the setup from last week, were you okay with the way you were playing? I mean, were you happy with the way you were playing coming into this week?

SCOTT VERPLANK: I didn't play very well last week at the Open, and it was a combination of things but, no, I didn't end up feeling very good about how I played.

Q. Scott, you mentioned earlier in the week you had a thumb injury. Did that time off help you in a sense?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Oh, yeah. It's continually getting a little bit better, so it's not affecting me as much.

Q. Wow expect to hear something from Captain Curtis after this round?

SCOTT VERPLANK: I don't know. Not unless I owe him money or something. (Laughter.) No.

Q. How much contact has there been, anything at all relative to the Ryder Cup?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Very little. None really. I mean, I'm not thinking about it. I'm not too worried about it, to be honest with you. That's a long way off.

JOHN BUSH: Anything else? Okay. Thanks a lot, Scott. Good luck.

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