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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY MORGAN STANLEY

May 30, 2008

Nick O'Hern

DUBLIN, OHIO

Q. Nice playing.
NICK O'HERN: Yeah, it's one of my favorite courses. You really got to work the ball around the golf course. The fairways are generous, which kind of suits my game, and the greens are kind of like what we had back in Australia. So it's not surprising to see three of the Aussies up there.

Q. How are conditions today compared to yesterday?
NICK O'HERN: Similar. We got lucky yesterday afternoon. There wasn't much breeze. Front nine this morning, there wasn't any. So I took advantage with 4-under that nine.
But breeze picked up on the back nine and then I had a bit and they're going to have a bit of fun out there this afternoon.

Q. I know you had a little bit more fun than you wanted to on 17. What happened on that second shot? That lie looked awfully tough.
NICK O'HERN: I went a little bit brain-dead. I should have laid up and took my medicine. But I hit a nice tee shot, got a bad bounce, and I just couldn't help myself. The caddie was trying to talk me out of it. And I ended up making bogey which is probably what I would have ended up making anyway. So a pretty good up-and-down.

Q. You made some hay on the front there while you could.
NICK O'HERN: Yeah, absolutely. I didn't miss a fairway, didn't miss a green the front nine. And I had nine good chances. So I think I shot 4-under and missed a couple. But any time you get 4-under for nine holes here it's good. On the back nine I got a little sloppy with the long game, and in the end 70 was a good score.

Q. Do you get the feeling guys will be hanging on on the back?
NICK O'HERN: Yeah, it's windy and the greens are firm and fast. But they're going to have a lot of fun with some of those pin positions.

Q. What is it about the Aussies here at this event? Last year strong showing, again out of the gate here.
NICK O'HERN: The greens are very similar to what we had back home. Speed-wise this is kind of like putting on Royal Melbourne. Slopes are very similar and you need to position the ball in the fairway. It's not just about hitting fairways here. You still need to hit the right side of it to get the right angle.

Q. How fast is too fast? These are still okay?
NICK O'HERN: Yeah, these are still okay. As long as they keep the pin positions reasonable I think that -- probably the dodgiest one today was on 14. I think they put the pin on a little knoll there and I actually made birdie so I didn't mind it. But I hit it right in the perfect spot.
So the greens are a good speed. They could get them a little quicker, but I don't think they need to.

Q. When did the wind start blowing?
NICK O'HERN: Probably around 11 or 12 today. And it makes things a little tricky because you can't quite tell which direction it's coming a lot of the time. So when the greens are like this you're hanging on for a lot of the time.

Q. Which direction was it coming out of?
NICK O'HERN: Sometimes west, sometimes it was -- sometimes it was down.

Q. A pretty good round?
NICK O'HERN: Yeah, 4-under is pretty solid. We'll see. I'm in a good spot for the week and I've always played well here. So it's one of my favorite courses on TOUR and a couple of rounds in the 60s and I might get close.

Q. It looks like all the early leaders have given a stroke back on 10. Is there something especially challenging with that hole today?
NICK O'HERN: Well, I missed the fairway so that kind of doesn't help. But they got the pin hard up against the bunker and unless you bomb one down there you're really having about a 30-, 40-footer for birdie. So it's into the easy 2-putt from there. So that might be the best they can do.

Q. A lot of folks aren't really familiar with Matthew Goggin. What kind of guy and player is he?
NICK O'HERN: Mathew is -- from what I know of him when I played with him, he's one of the most talented guys out here. He's an incredible ball-striker. Comes from a very good golfing family. And possibly his head's sort of been in the way throughout the years. But when he gets it going he can get very low. So if he keeps his head in shape, hopefully he'll do well.

Q. Is he a little streaky?
NICK O'HERN: Very much so. Yeah. He has a lot of talent. Hits the ball as good as anyone, putts as good. So a lot of the time that's not what it's all about out here. A lot of it is upstairs.

Q. Is it more important than ever to be below the hole on the greens?
NICK O'HERN: Yeah. As I say, very much like in Australia. You're better off being 30 feet below the hole than 10 feet above the hole on a lot of them. Because you can't be too aggressive because then you're going to knock it five, six feet past. So below the hole is very much a priority.

End of FastScripts

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