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JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

July 10, 2008

Ken Duke

SILVIS, ILLINOIS

STEWART MOORE: We'd like to welcome Ken Duke to the interview room here at the John Deere Classic after a great round of 64 out there and finishing your day with a birdie on a 503-yard par-4 must be nice. Talk about the round.
KEN DUKE: It was good. I got off to a great start and birdied the first hole and made a great save on 12 and ran off a couple in there on 13 and 14 and hit some really good shots. Didn't drive it like I should today but hit some good shots and made a lot of great putts.
STEWART MOORE: You get out there, you're playing well early on; all of a sudden, a brief yet nine-minute halt to the round. Does that kind of slow the momentum down? What did that do for you out there.
KEN DUKE: It did. I had two guys, Frank Lickliter and Carlos (Franco), and those guys keep you loose all the time. It was good. We were right here by the clubhouse and almost came in but we didn't, we just sat there. It was fine. I played good all the way in, just drove it bad on 8. When you're on a roll like that, you kind of want to keep going. But sometimes it helps to slow you down because you don't want to get ahead of yourself.

Q. How do you keep from getting ahead of yourself in the big picture this week sitting on top of the leaderboard early Thursday?
KEN DUKE: I've played for 14 years, so you have to take the good with the bad. You take the good rounds with the bad rounds. You can't look ahead because we had our early day today; tomorrow we have an afternoon time. You have to just be patient. When you're out there playing, you usually walk a little bit slower and you don't rush to the ball as quick. Little things like that, it helps.
STEWART MOORE: Before we even get into further questions, would you go through your birdies starting with 10.
KEN DUKE: Yeah, birdied 10, hit it close in there.
Then made a 25-foot putt on 13, which was great.
Then hit it close on 14.
I hit it close on 17 again.
Then made 1 and 2, hit it about 12 feet, made both of them.
I hit a great shot on the par-3, 7, with a 3-iron probably with eight feet.
Then hit it probably a 12-footer on the last.
Just seemed like I just saw the line all day. I just read it great all day. Had a lot of good numbers, and golf is fun when you have good numbers and you make good swings.

Q. Has it been fun, as fun for you this year as it was last year?
KEN DUKE: Last year was great. Coming off the Nationwide and coming on the TOUR, I kind of pushed myself early and struggled, but after I kind of got into a little groove, it was really fun.
I came out this year, go out west again and just struggled. I struggle every year out west, just get off to bad starts and then just fight my swing. Nothing wrong with it, it's just not trusting what I know how to do like I did last year. This year I just have to trust it. I haven't made the putts I should have, either, like I did last year. That's what's crazy about it. Day in, day out or year in, year out that's what happens. You think, oh, he finished 37th on the Money List last year, he should finish 5th or something this year. Sometimes it just doesn't happen that way. You get up on the wrong side of the bed one morning, and it's a different day. You just have to be patient and take the good with the bad and go on with it.

Q. When you have a round like today, do you see this coming? I mean, do you feel like when you first out there, do you feel like this is a day you can turn things around?
KEN DUKE: I feel like I've been playing good the last few weeks in Connecticut; went over to Buick and finished really well. I kind of threw out the Congressional deal because I've never played well there. I think I finished last. Luckily there wasn't 156 players there, there was only 120.
I just kind of threw that week out and took some time off. Didn't touch a club until Tuesday and had a good practice this week and just felt good. Just felt rested. I think that's the key to any golf tournament. You need to feel rested coming in.

Q. Did you come in with any expectations then?
KEN DUKE: Not really. I just play the game to have fun, and next thing you know, you have eight birdies and a bogey or something. It's just fun. Sure, I want to win, and I think everyone wants to win if they've never won before out here. I just keep preparing every week and working hard, and hopefully I'm at the top someday.

Q. Are you getting more comfortable out here on this TOUR?
KEN DUKE: I am; it's fun. I got to know a lot of the guys; a lot of the guys got to know me. It's just fun to be a part of the TOUR. It's a fun organization here. Each tournament is great on its own. We have some of the bigger tournaments and some of the smaller tournaments, but to me each one of them has their own greatness to it, and it's fun to play every week if you could. I wish you could do it, but you can't. It's just a great part to be of the TOUR.

Q. Do you even think about a win today?
KEN DUKE: I don't, because I know I have three more days. I could think about it -- if I'm coming down the last hole and have a chance, I'll think about it, or the back nine on Sunday. But right now you can't really think about it. Just got to go and work on your game and practice a little bit and get some rest and be ready for tomorrow. That's what you've got to look for. You can't look into Sunday.

Q. What do you work on this afternoon?
KEN DUKE: Just going to work on a few drives. I didn't drive it as well as I should, and a few mid-irons because I know it will probably be a little more windy tomorrow so I know I'll probably have more 6- and 7-irons in tomorrow instead of 8- and 9-irons like today. So just try to work on that and keep my tempo good.

Q. At all surprised by the scores going up this morning?
KEN DUKE: No, it's out there. There wasn't much wind at all this morning, and the greens are soft and they're rolling good, they're rolling true. There's a lot of guys -- these guys out here are good. You give them good conditions, they're going to shoot good numbers. It doesn't matter who it is in the field. If you're in the field you have a chance to win the golf tournament, I think.
STEWART MOORE: Ken, thanks so much.

End of FastScripts

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