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CHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK CLASSIC PRESENTED BY WAL-MART

November 1, 2007

Scott Verplank

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA

STEWART MOORE: Scott Verplank, thanks for spending a few moments with us here in the interview room at the Children's Miracle Network Classic. Round of 66 out there. You make the turn at 34 and then get hot pretty quickly. Birdies on 10, 11, 12. You throw another birdie up there at 15. Obviously, played a great round today.
SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, very solid. The conditions are just very sloppy. It's fairly windy, so a little tougher, actually, a little tougher set-up than you're use d to around here, just because the wind was another 10 or 15 miles an hour stronger than it normally is.
STEWART MOORE: What is it that you like so much about this golf course and this tournament?
SCOTT VERPLANK: That's a great question. I don't know. I think you come here and I always have my kids with me. You know, they're having a big old time. Normally I get to play, for the last however long we've had this format, I've been paired with Bob Tway, one of my closest friends. So we have a good time playing together. And we enjoy watching each other and stuff.
Some golf courses, up until the last couple of years the golf courses were pretty good for me. So, you know, we'll see how it goes the rest of the way.
I didn't like it that much last year. Well, hey, I mean, I was in the Palms, still could barely get to 18 there. When the wind's blowing about 25 in your face, and the ball plugs, I really don't hit it that far.
STEWART MOORE: Take us through your six birdies and we'll turn it over to questions.
SCOTT VERPLANK: 3rd hole I hit a 7-iron four feet. The 7th hole, it was a great birdie. Drove in the right rough, tried to chip out, and chipped it into the bunker about 85 yards from the flag. And then hit that one just over the other bunker, and it chipped in. So it was a solid birdie there.
Then a great chip right in the middle, just like a putt. So it wasn't like, you know, total luck. It was a lot though.
10, I hit a nice drive with my 8-iron. Just short of the green, chipped in. That was a kind of pretty easy chip though.

Q. Lot better than yesterday?
SCOTT VERPLANK: Just like a putt. But I've been struggling hitting the greens with chips the last couple of months. And I chipped it in twice, and I was as shocked as anybody, so.
On 11, I hit a good drive, knocked it in 25 feet. Got it up there and dropped it in.
12, I hit one about 20 feet, made that. Then, let's see, I missed the course on 13 and 14. Then 15 I hit a 6-iron about 8 feet and made that.
STEWART MOORE: Questions for Scott.

Q. I was curious yesterday, when you went through Q-school which was about 90 --
SCOTT VERPLANK: '97.

Q. '97. What had you done the year before?
SCOTT VERPLANK: I had surgery in the middle of the year, '96, and I was playing pretty good. Hilton Head was the last tournament I played in '96. I had surgery. And then I had some sort of medical status. It was about 10 or 12 events. I actually played pretty good in '97. But I couldn't get any events at the end of the year.

Q. A problem for you?
SCOTT VERPLANK: Not as big of a problem. But the last six events I couldn't get in. I couldn't get a sponsors exemption, couldn't get in. And I finished just barely at the 125. I would have made it no problem if I would have been able to play a couple more times. At least that's the way I felt.
Then I went to TOUR School, and I said I'll just play normal. It's no big deal.

Q. I was just curious if someone in your position who rarely has to worry about that stuff could remember what it was like. We've had Dicky Pride come through and Cameron had a nice round today. These guys have spent this Fall Series basically fighting for their jobs. Can you appreciate that at all?
SCOTT VERPLANK: Oh, yeah. Hey, there's a lot more pressure on them, depending on how they look at it. I went to Q-school knowing I was going to make it, no problem. Really I didn't feel but a little bit of heat. I won by six, maybe. But I was leading by 8 or 10 after two rounds, something like that. I can't remember what it was.
But once we got to riding carts, I was solid (laughing). It's true, hey. That was a great story. I ended up with Casey riding the carts. I said well, we're going to have to fix that. And we did. It was pretty funny.
Well, I'll ride the first day, and I was leading after the first day. I said well, I guess I'll ride the second day. Then I shot like 62 on the course. I was leading by 8 or something. And I said, Oh, I don't know. I'll keep riding.
It was actually pretty funny. On the last hole, I can't remember who I'm playing with, but they're walking and I'm riding along in the cart. Sitting right there on the middle of the fairway.

Q. Did you have any beer in there?
SCOTT VERPLANK: No, but it was a huge advantage. I just thought I'd let them all hit. And I'd go sit in my cart, and let them walk to up to where our drives were. And then I'd floor the cart and run up there and hit.

Q. I'm curious, did you get any resistance from the Tour? And what was the medical reasoning? Did your foot hurt?
SCOTT VERPLANK: Oh, yeah. The medical reason I used was that you can't let one guy ride and not a day off.

Q. That's what you told them. And the resistance was?
SCOTT VERPLANK: Tremendous. It took them all day to figure out that I was serious. I told them well, the tournament will be over tomorrow. This tournament if you don't let everybody have a chance to ride. You can't have different rules. That was part of the mess.
You know, that resolved, eventually. But I didn't think that was fair. And actually, that was the first year they let people ride in carts, too. Because before that guys weren't riding in cars.

Q. Because of the number of people you had?
SCOTT VERPLANK: I guess, I don't know. I think they wanted to make it more professional, no riding. That was even better. I actually had a pretty good time.

Q. Outside of your own personal desire to win, what does wining this week do for you?
SCOTT VERPLANK: This week? It would do a lot for me. A Tour win, it would be two wins in one year.

Q. Have you done that?
SCOTT VERPLANK: No. I would probably only drop a couple of spots in the world ranking. Because if this was a European Tour event, I'd move up to the Top 10. Yeah, I don't know. It's just, you know you know what (laughing). God, y'all are slow.
It would mean a lot of stuff. A good check, too. I just moved into a big old new house, and I'd sure like to pay off that, so. It would be satisfaction, to be honest with you. Just playing well. Because since I've been all over the map, I appreciate playing well quite a bit.

Q. Got to savor every moment?
SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, well, when you're at the bottom of the barrel if you get to the top and stick your head out, the air's a lot cleaner up there. You appreciate it a lot more.

Q. What was working for you today on the course?
SCOTT VERPLANK: My chipping, I guess. I putted better. I didn't putt great, but I made some adjustments in my putting. I've been struggling with that most of the year to be quite honest.
I had a lot of good putts today. I missed a couple of 6-footers there on the back nine. But I was good. I basically hit it straight off the tee. I got in the first cut a couple times. But you hit it on the fairway and you corner it off and put it on a relatively good lie, it makes it a little bit easier.

Q. When you look back at this year of having so many tournaments bunched together at the end starting with the U.S. Open, have you looked back at this year and how you scheduled yourself? Will you make any changes based on that?
SCOTT VERPLANK: You know, I play -- I'm probably going to get in the tournament Doral next year, maybe. That was the only tournament in the world I couldn't get in. It was one on our Tour. I was really happy with that. Very pleased with that set-up, anyway. I'll play that, but I'm probably not going to play a couple that I did play this year.
I don't know. I'll play two or three less. I played two less this year than I play normally. And next year I'll probably play three or four less than last. Probably around 25. Actually I kind of like that.

Q. Why do you end up playing two or three less? Just because you're getting older or pace yourself?
SCOTT VERPLANK: Just pace myself, take more time off. Some of it will have to do with the Ryder Cup, too, just where I am on that.
But I'd rather, you know, if you look at the best players, they only play when they want to play and when they're ready to play. There's a good lesson to be learned in that.

Q. Is that a goal for any golfer at this point?
SCOTT VERPLANK. I think it is. It should be. The goal should be ready to play every single time you tee up. You have one guy who's got that figured out pretty good.

Q. I was just thinking about that. He played I think 15 or 16 times this year and did okay. There's another side to it that will criticize him for not playing more and spreading himself out to more of these tournaments and loosening up and that obligation to do that. How do you square with that?
SCOTT VERPLANK: Most of the tournaments that I don't play don't really miss me that much, personally. Well, some of them do, maybe. I don't know, you know.
That's a great question because I think you have to understand, at least I think I have an inkling, but you have to understand he's only interested in a certain number of tournaments. I mean, if you want to be considered the greatest ever and you want to be in the record book, the others are basically tune-ups.
But that's the way Jack did it, too. And that's the way Tom Watson will do it and whoever, all those guys. They always understood that those tournaments meant more.
If you're good enough to win those, I think you would be making a mistake if you didn't prepare for those and use the other tournaments as getting ready.
Wouldn't you agree? That those are the four most important tournaments in the world, every year. If you win one of those, it's way better than winning a regular tour event.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, I'm fairly certain on that.

Q. Do you think the number of tournaments guys play per year might decrease even more? Like 10 or 12?
SCOTT VERPLANK: I don't know about that. I think every person's different. I don't think the top guys are going to play that many more. They want to be ready and rested and ready to go when they go to tournaments so that's why it's a great idea.
STEWART MOORE: Scott Verplank, thanks so much.

End of FastScripts

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