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WGC CA CHAMPIONSHIP

March 19, 2008

Brett Wetterich

MIAMI, FLORIDA

JOHN BUSH: We'd like to thank Brett Wetterich for coming in and spending a few minutes with us. Brett, obviously a lot of success here last year. Let's just get some comments as you look back on last year and also your preparations for this week.
BRETT WETTERICH: Not a lot of preparations for this week so far. You know, I just got down here today, been practicing up in Jupiter at Old Palm and trying to get myself healthy. I seem to be good, and it's nice to be back down here. As you said, I had success last year finishing second and not to be playing with Tiger and not shoot 80. It's nice to be back here.
JOHN BUSH: And you'll be commuting back and forth each day.
BRETT WETTERICH: Tonight I am, and then I'm going to stay here the rest of the week after that.

Q. How surprised are you to be here, and what are your expectations this week?
BRETT WETTERICH: Very surprised to be here. I didn't think I was going to get to play at all the rest of the year, and going through rehab everything seemed to get stronger, and it's not hurting me like it was at Torrey Pines.
Expectation-wise, I played good. I played in the Pro-Am the other day and shot 8-under, so I don't know what to expect. I don't know if I'm going to come out and play solid golf and come around and shoot under par maybe a few days or so, I don't know, it's kind of out there.

Q. What Pro-Am did you play?
BRETT WETTERICH: Lost Tree.

Q. Has your distance changed much?
BRETT WETTERICH: No, everything is the same. I've been really paying attention to that since I've been hitting balls the last five or six days. As I'm playing, also, everything seems to be the same, hitting the driver just as far and all my irons are right on.

Q. Do you feel like Tiger's hot streak since he -- with the confidence he got from beating you here at Doral, do you think that's the reason he's propelled to where he is now?
BRETT WETTERICH: I'm not real sure about that. I don't think he got much out of beating me (laughing). Who knows about Tiger. He is who he is. He's going to win a lot, whether it's every tournament or 10 out of 14 tournaments. It's kind of to be expected, really.

Q. What did your rehab consist of that you could turn around so quickly?
BRETT WETTERICH: For like the last three and a half weeks I've been doing a lot of dumbbell lifting, little small like five-pound weights and a lot of rubber band stuff, and then he would work on me, also, strengthening with a lot of resistance. Basically that's about it, really. Then warming it up and icing it down.

Q. So what is your pre-tournament, post-tournament like now versus what it used to be like?
BRETT WETTERICH: What do you mean?

Q. Well, do you have to do certain things before you play?
BRETT WETTERICH: You know, I haven't. I've been trying to get away from it just to see if it's going to be okay, but I'm still going to be doing stuff after this. I may not do it this week, but next week I'm taking off, regardless of whether I feel good or don't feel good. I'll go back to rehab and do it for the rest of the week next week, also. I'll do it off and on, and I'm sure I'll do it somewhere out here. If I'm playing three weeks in a row or so, I'll do it in the trailers out there.

Q. Do you feel it when you play?
BRETT WETTERICH: No, it's fine. I mean, I don't feel any pain. Sometimes it feels a little sore, but it's nowhere compared to what it was like at Torrey Pines.

Q. How tough is it to sit home and watch these other guys play and you're not able to?
BRETT WETTERICH: It wasn't easy. I mean, especially the whole Florida Swing. I've had a lot of success in the tournaments in Florida, and having to sit at home, it was tough, especially at PGA. I mean, that's one of my favorite golf courses. It wasn't fun, and I was trying to get used to the fact that that's what I'd be doing for the rest of the year. But still, it's not easy getting used to sitting there, when you're used to going on the road for three weeks, so it was tough for me.

Q. What have you been doing at home when you can't do your job?
BRETT WETTERICH: I don't know if I should really say what I've been doing. Having a little bit of fun, probably too much fun. I just made sure that I did my rehab and was there for that, and other than that, just kind of sitting around and having fun, really.

Q. Did you discover some TV shows you never knew existed because you were busy playing golf before?
BRETT WETTERICH: What time of day?

Q. You know the whole schedule now?
BRETT WETTERICH: I know it pretty good by now.

Q. How much does The Masters factor into your thinking here?
BRETT WETTERICH: You know, it really didn't have anything to do with it. Obviously I want to play in there really bad. But I mean, I wasn't going to go out there and be hurt and play. You know, if I miss it this year and never get back there again, hey, that's -- to me that's what was meant to be. But if I miss it this year and get healthy and play my way back into it, I think that's just as good for me.

Q. Did you hit shots in the rough this week?
BRETT WETTERICH: Yeah, out here today I hit -- just say out of the nine holes I played, I was in the rough four times or so, and it felt fine. I had a couple squirrelly ones, but they weren't too bad.

Q. Did you or your agent look into medical exemptions on this TOUR when you thought that you were going to lose a year?
BRETT WETTERICH: Oh, I did right away. I've had a medical before. In 2004 I had to get a medical for my wrist. Yeah, I know what I'm faced with. I take all that in stride as far as my next couple weeks as far as it feels good or doesn't feel good. If it feels good, I'm playing. If it hurts one little bit, then I'm going to do surgery if it's needed.

Q. Did the doctor or doctors, did they talk to you about the advantages, disadvantages of rehab versus surgery?
BRETT WETTERICH: I'm seeing Dr. Andrews up in Birmingham, and he kind of asked me my timetable, and I told him what it was, if I got back this year or didn't get back this year, and he's the one who suggested trying some rehab first. Regardless if it works or not, you're going to be stronger before you go into surgery than coming out of surgery. That was, I think, his biggest point of me doing the rehab. If it was up to me, I would have told him to do it right there. I don't know anything, but that's what I would have done, just get it fixed and take the year off and I know I'll be healthy coming back. But he suggested that, and I did it for three and a half weeks, and it feels fine now.
When I called him and I told him, you know, this is the deal, it's not hurting, he's like, you've got to be kidding me. He was really surprised when I called and told him that.

Q. When did you see him last?
BRETT WETTERICH: Like March 8th or so, let's say.
JOHN BUSH: Brett, play well this week.
BRETT WETTERICH: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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