VERIZON BYRON NELSON CLASSIC

May 10, 2001

Scott Verplank

SCOTT VERPLANK: All right. Is this the big crowd we got here?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Okay. Well, that's okay. About my round. Is that what you said? Well, obviously I played very well. You know, I hit the ball on the fairway other than one and I hit a lot of pretty solid iron shots and then I got lucky a couple times, made a couple long putts. You know, the conditions kind of got a little tougher as the day went on because the wind was picking up, but the golf course is -- the greens are pretty soft and not very fast, so you can take advantage of it.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, I think it's -- you know, I like it. I mean having most of my family out here and a few extra friends and lots of people from high school days and all that that I don't recognize, but you know, at least they're there. So I enjoy it. I mean you really don't have a lot of time to stop and talk either way. You know, even if myself or Justin wanted to, you know, you just gotta keep playing and keep your head in the game and pay attention to what you're doing the best you can.

SCOTT VERPLANK: No. I'm staying out here. Too much traffic. My mom and dad don't live that far from here, but it sure is a long way at 5:00 in the afternoon.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, I would have to say on the seventh hole I was a little concerned if I could get it up-and-down or not out of the bunker and I made it. So I had made a couple of -- I made a nice birdie on three and I hit it close on six about four feet and then I hit a sand -- hit kind of a bad shot, one of the few bad shots I hit today, hit a sand wedge in the right bunker and in a tough spot and I was a little concerned whether or not I could even get it up and down and I hit a nice shot and got lucky and it went in. Then I made a 25-footer on nine, shot 4-under on nine, so when you're doing that, then obviously things are going pretty well.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, you know, it's normal for Dallas. The wind's blowing and it's warm, but the golf course is soft and the greens aren't very fast, so you know, there should be some good scores. It's definitely softer and the greens are definitely slower than they have been here in the past, at least on that golf course.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah. I've never played a casual round over there. No, I've played there a few times, but you know, back when I was playing here 20 years ago, the golf courses were a lot different than they are now. You know, they had generally the same layout and everything, but they were quite a bit different style. But yeah, I think that's probably the best shot I've had in this tournament. I'm sure it is. I think 62 is the lowest I've shot in any tournament.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah. When it was at Preston Trail, I used to carry a little sign deal. My mom would score in the group and I'd be the sign boy, but I didn't know it was so cool back then like it is now. Yeah, I walked all around Preston Trail when I was a kid. I was out here every year.

SCOTT VERPLANK: I don't remember if I did. I'm sure I got some, but I don't -- you know, it wasn't like it is now, autograph stuff. It was cool to get autographs and I still have one that I got when I was 16 from Jack Nicklaus, but it's not like now where it's just hoards of kids and people out there run you over if you let them.

SCOTT VERPLANK: I had to be in my probably 12, 13, 14 type deal. I don't remember -- I guess they moved here in '82. Is that right?

SCOTT VERPLANK: So '82 is when I graduated from high school, so it had to be in the late 70s. But yeah, I remember going out and watching some guys, you know, when young guys came out and walking around Preston Trail. I'm a member there now, so that's kind of interesting, too, because the golf course is a lot different now than it was then over there, too.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, I can hardly remember what I did yesterday. Okay. I mean that was 20 some -- oh, every kid that's out here that plays golf, you know, I mean I was a pretty decent junior player around Dallas, so I'm sure if I was out there carrying the sign, I was probably dumb enough to think I was going to be on the other side of that sign sometime.

SCOTT VERPLANK: I would imagine it was probably every ne of them.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Oh, yeah. Well, I went to the golf tournament every year as a kid. I mean I -- you know, I remember walking around there watching a lot of players, and I really enjoyed going to the Nelson when I was a kid growing up here, so it was pretty neat. And Byron has been a great friend to me. He helped when I was a kid, he helped me. He would give me lessons when I was late in high school and he's just been great to me, so I mean I love him.

SCOTT VERPLANK: I don't know. No, I really don't think I did. I think I met him when I was about 16. I remember because he called me and asked me if I'd like him to help -- him to help me a little bit. "Well, yeah. Sure." And he said, "Fine. Well, meet me out at Preston Trail," you know, tomorrow or whenever. I said, "okay." So I go out there and go out on the range and he's standing there and a pro walks up and says, "How old are you?" You know, I was 16 or whatever. He goes, "You can't be out here." You know, you have to be 21 to be a member there or even play the golf course. And Byron kind of had this, you know, dumbfounded look on his face, you know, and I'm like -- I'm kind of going, you're telling Byron Nelson that we gotta leave. So we did and we couldn't stay, so we went over to Northwood and played, and I probably got to play with him a dozen times when I was in high school and college. It was great.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah. He knew I think he had met my mom through like working at the tournament and stuff and I was a pretty good junior player around Dallas, and he pays attention, you know, he's such a great guy and kind person. He pays attention to everybody else, and so that was pretty neat. That's stuff that I will always remember.

SCOTT VERPLANK: No. There's no pulling rank out there, apparently. But yes, I thought that was kind of interesting.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah. Let me see. I think I carried the sign for Larry Ziegler. And let's see. Mike Brannen. Mike Brannen. Remember that guy. He played. Yeah. Those are two I can remember. But I remember watching the guy, I remember when Jody Mudd, when he came out of college early and I went and watched him play and I'd skip school and go out and watch the guys I wanted to watch. So it was pretty neat.

SCOTT VERPLANK: No. That's kind of my normal deal. I like to hit a few chips of every kind. That's kind of been the weakest part of my game here lately and my chipping hasn't been very good. So just trying to get good what needs to be good.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah. I was not real happy being in that trap after I was hitting sand wedge to the green anyway and it was a bad spot to be, and yeah, so that definitely kind of turned it around. Or at least kind of not turned it around, but kept the momentum going pretty good.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah. I putted nice. You know, a few short irons I didn't hit as close as I thought I should have, but yeah, I couldn't ask for any more than that. Like I said, I made a couple decent long putts, 25-foot putts and I made that bunker shot and I birdied both par 5s, so I did about as good as I could do today.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, I do know that when you go over there, you sure like to shoot a low score because it's not that the golf course is that much easier to shoot a low score there, but it's not nearly as penalizing as the TPC golf course. The TPC golf course is more severe around the greens. It's got more severity off some of the tees, you know, the bunkers and stuff. So it's just you can get away with more over there. That's kind of the reason why the scores are better or you'd like to go ahead and shoot a low score over there.