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BUICK OPEN

June 27, 2008

Bo Van Pelt

GRAND BLANC, MICHIGAN

STEWART MOORE: We would like to welcome our current leader, Bo Van Pelt, to the interview room at the Buick Open after following up a round of 64 with a 66 today, and no bogeys so far in your first two rounds. This is one of these tournaments where it's like congratulations on your first round of 64, but you can't let up; you start the second round and you birdied two of your first three, and you just have to keep stepping on the gas, don't you.
BO VAN PELT: Yeah, that was kind of my mind-set today. I wanted to try to forget about yesterday. I knew the scores were going to be low again, and if I wanted to stay near the top, I needed to keep going forward. That's just kind of what I kept telling myself all day, even after I got off to a good start was just trying to keep staying aggressive and making birdies.
STEWART MOORE: We spoke in scoring, as it stands right now, you're taking the lead going into tomorrow, it could change, but reflect on having the lead in the Puerto Rico Open and finishing runner-up to Greg Kraft; what do you take from that experience to the weekend here?
BO VAN PELT: I think it was good to have the lead for that long. I think I had the lead from the first few holes the first day and I had never done that as a pro.
I think I just learned to be comfortable with it, and I think the biggest thing I took from it was I was playing really well the first three days, and I probably should have had a bigger lead and kind of let a few get away. And I think a lot a little complacent, and so probably learned to just stay on the gas when it's going good.

Q. You started with four birdies on the front nine and then went through a cold period of just pars; what happened?
BO VAN PELT: You know, I birdied 1, and then let's see, 2, 3, 4, just didn't hit it very close. Didn't hit it as close, and missed a couple greens where I had to get the ball up-and-down. I think the front side can play a little tougher.
There's a couple tough driving holes, and, you know, hit a really good drive on the par 5.
7, was able to make birdie there, and just didn't hit it quite as close there on the front as I did on the back.

Q. Commissioner Finchem yesterday was talking about how with Tiger not on the TOUR, there's going to be opportunities for other people to be storied. Now people are starting to know a little bit about your golf game. What's something about you away from the course or your upbringing that somebody might find interesting as they get to know you as an athlete on this TOUR?
BO VAN PELT: I was lucky, my dad was an athlete, played college football and played in the NFL for a little while. I guess that's something a little different.
I've got three kids, went to Oklahoma State and pretty much just a normal, Midwestern guy, I guess.

Q. Yesterday you talked about taking advantage of the par 5s; what was the difference today, and do you feel you left some shots out there?
BO VAN PELT: On 13, the par 5, that tee shot, that really set up very well for me. I hit a good one yesterday, and didn't hit a very good one today. With that pin it was going to tough to get close with a wedge and hit a pretty good shot but didn't make the putt.
I felt like I left one out there on the next hole, 14. I drove it right in front of the bunker, easy chip and didn't get up-and-down.
But 16, I hit a really good drive and I missed my 3-wood left, and I was hoping to catch the bunker, the grandstand and went across the path and just hit it in a bad spot really.
Then 1, I didn't drive very good either. That's the thing about the par 5s is if you drive it well on the birdie holes -- if you don't, you're struggling to make par. I was happy to get the first two, the last two that I played. But just got to drive it better on 13.
And then 16, I just missed it in a it bad spot.

Q. With your dad playing football, how did you end up in golf and not football, and was football a sport you tried growing up?
BO VAN PELT: Yeah, I played a little bit, but I was small for my age growing up. I kind of grew late. Played a lot of hoops growing up in Indiana, and you know, just one of those things I just kept getting better at it and kind of looked around and thought, well, I might as well try this golf thing.
I think one of the biggest things is I like golf as an individual sport, and the golf ball didn't know who you were or where you came from; and if you shot a low score, there was not room for interpretation on who was better.
If you and I played ten days in a row and I beat you nine times, I'm better than you are; you can't say, well, Johnny's better than Bo; no, he's not. From the time I was a little kid, I kind of picked up on that, and always liked that about golf.

Q. Being 5-under through ten holes, were you beginning to think about running away a little bit?
BO VAN PELT: I just tried to hit good shots. This golf course can jump up and get you. I was just trying to stay aggressive and not make any bogeys. I didn't want to go backwards. I just kept trying to tell myself to keep going forward, to keep going forward, and that was pretty much my motto all day.

Q. You've been close; what is it that you feel you need to do to break through to get that first win?
BO VAN PELT: I need to keep giving myself chances. I've had a couple weird years where I think two or three years ago, I had a bunch of good tournaments where I played good the first day, didn't play very well on Saturday and then played good on Sunday.
I've had stretches where I played well the first two days and not played great on Sunday.
So, you know, I think the more I put myself up there, like when I was on the Nationwide, when I finally won on the Nationwide Tour, that tournament, I probably had four other tournaments that year where I played better than that week. But I just kept putting my up there, and that one Sunday I got hot and shot 62.
That's the thing; you play four days, it's hard to play four good all four days; and that day you're off, what do you shoot? And somebody usually gets hot on a Sunday. I felt like in Puerto Rico, I had stretches where I put the ball in position to go lower than I was, and to where Sunday would have been a little bit easier. And I was going good early, and something -- the more I put myself in that position, you know, one of these Sundays is going to be my day.

Q. What did you do after Puerto Rico, and to be that close to breaking through and getting that win, how hard is it to live that down and to get over that, and how did you do it?
BO VAN PELT: You know, it was difficult. It was funny, two weeks before that, I had to withdraw for the first time in my life, like while I was playing. I had an elbow injury, and I didn't know when I was going to play again. I mean, literally, I couldn't hit it 200 yards with a driver.
So for two weeks later, to go out and have the lead all week that, was kind of what I tried to take from that.
Sure, I was disappointed and knew I let one get away, but for where I was mentally, not two weeks before then where I was like, man, I might be done for the year, all of a sudden, man, I played really good. I tried to look at the positives, because I literally had no expectations going down there.
But I definitely learned some things from it and hopefully take that to my advantage this weekend.

Q. In 2006 you finished at 11-under after two rounds and then you fell off going into the third and the fourth. What from that experience will you take going into the final two rounds here to make sure that didn't happen again?
BO VAN PELT: I guess I've been out here seven years now. I guess just kind of learn a little bit, and then the more times you're in a good position going into the weekend, all of a sudden, it's not that big of a deal. You realize there's a lot of golf left and the process that you have to go through and the focus to get narrowed in.
Two years ago, when I came in here, I had missed the two cuts previous, and then played British Open, was kind of tired a little bit and all of a sudden, bam, I played really well the first two days. I think I just got a little bit tired on the weekend and just started pushing a little bit. That's pretty much -- I didn't learn much about that other than I was pissed off after the weekend that I didn't finish that tournament off very well.

Q. The way you started on 10, that help you erase the memories of yesterday's round and get focused?
BO VAN PELT: It did. It was good to step up there and hit a good tee ball. Felt like I was in San Diego; the fog was rolling in this morning, and hit a good tee ball, started off with a birdie and kind of -- 7:18, I was still waking up a little bit. It was nice to, like you said, get off on right foot and hit two good shots on 12 and made a nice birdie there.

Q. And you didn't have to putt.
BO VAN PELT: Correct. I was happy about that, too, because I stayed aggressive and hit a pitching wedge in and it was a good number and I took it right at it and just hopped through the fringe. I've been working on my chipping a lot, and especially with a lot shot like that, just little simple shots that sometimes I would kind of let get away from me, and I had two of those that I chipped it in twice on just two little easy shots that were good lie, close to the pin, and so it was nice to take advantage of those.
15, I hit it in the left rough and hit a good shot that cleared the bunker and just rolled through the green. It was kind of like 10, I hit my 56-degree wedge. I had just kind of rolled through in the first cut, and I was probably only 20 feet from the hole and pitched that one in, just kind of like I did on 10.
18, I hit a really good drive and I had 100 yards in and hit a wedge down there and hit a 56 behind the hole and snuck back a little bit inside I think 12 feet behind the hole and hit a good putt.
1, hit it in the right rough. Laid it out to 120. I hit my 52 in there about ten feet below the hole; made that one.
And then 7, hit a good drive. Hit my hybrid, just came out a little bit and it rolled through the right side of the green and I had to pitch it over the bunker. I hit a pretty nice little flop shot to, oh, eight feet and made that one.
STEWART MOORE: Bo, thanks so much and good luck this weekend.

End of FastScripts

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