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FRYS.COM OPEN

October 23, 2008

Doug LaBelle

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you, Doug, for joining us for a few minutes here in the media center at the FRYS.com Open. Good start to the week and nice finish with a birdie at the end.
DOUG LaBELLE: It's always nice to finish with a birdie. I can't complain. I've had some really good putting sessions this week, and it's worked out pretty well for me so far.

Q. Mallinger was just in here talking about how important it is to putt well this week.
DOUG LaBELLE: Yeah, I mean, it's pretty important to putt well every week, but here, especially as we were just talking about coming in here, the wind was there this morning and when I was warming up; it really kind of died down for us this afternoon. The conditions were ideal, and with the overseed it was certainly a lot easier to get close to some of those flags.

Q. How far do you live from here?
DOUG LaBELLE: About 10, 15 minutes.

Q. Still in Scottsdale?
DOUG LaBELLE: Well, it's north Phoenix, Tatum and 101, right there at Desert Ridge.

Q. John was also saying that he expects this event and all of these events here in the Fall Series to be a real shootout. Do you think that that's going to be the case looking at what's ahead?
DOUG LaBELLE: Yeah, I think it is every week. Certainly I think these golf courses are a little bit more susceptible to some birdies, more so than like Wachovia and some of the more difficult golf courses. These courses might be slightly on the easier side. But it's fun to make a lot of birdies, and we know we're going to have to make some if we want to have a chance to win.

Q. So I think you've made, what, three in your last four holes; is that right?
DOUG LaBELLE: That sounds about right, yes.

Q. Do you remember how long the putts were on those three birdies?
DOUG LaBELLE: Well, on the last hole, No. 9 was probably about 15 feet, maybe 20 at the most. Maybe 15 to 18 feet.
No. 8, I made par.
7 was about a four-footer, but to make birdie on that hole was a huge bonus. I'm trying to make 4 and get out of there, and I ended up making 3, so that was kind of a nice surprise.
Then 6, I don't remember No. 6. Oh, 6, I made about an 18-footer there for birdie, as well. I mean, I putted really well all day, and my speed was really good except for one putt, and I had a lot of putts that looked like they were going in, and that's certainly going to make your round a lot easier.
I also made a lot of good five- to six-footers for par to keep my round going.

Q. Did you feel coming in here this week that your game was in pretty good shape, that you had a chance to do some good things?
DOUG LaBELLE: Not especially. It's been kind of a rough year. I got off to a good start early the first two and a half weeks of the year and I putted and chipped very well, and my long game wasn't quite there, and it still hasn't been there. But my chipping and putting when it shows up really keeps me afloat. I started to hit some really good shots today, and my putter was there to really make some putts for birdie.
But to say that I really felt this coming on, I knew that I was putting well, but my chipping and my long game, outside of my putting, hasn't been that strong. So to kind of come up with some good swings, I mean, it felt really, really nice out there.

Q. Is that kind of -- I know you had a really rough patch in the middle of the season. Was there any injuries or anything involved with that, or was that just your game not working?
DOUG LaBELLE: I did have a back injury, but I had some time off. There was probably a section of events there, about seven weeks in a row, that I wasn't going to get in based on my category, and it just happened to be my back was sore at that time, so I took some time off. But that hasn't been the issue. It's just my ball-striking hasn't been there, and unfortunately, my putting hasn't shown up that much, either. But when it does, the first two and a half weeks of the year, I mean, it's been great. So we just need to make that ball-striking a little bit more consistent.

Q. It must feel good that you're up here in a round leader position. When was the last time in any event?
DOUG LaBELLE: Well, probably FBR earlier in the year. After two days I was tied for the lead and in this situation, so certainly a good position to be in, no matter where we are. But to do it twice where I'm living now, that's certainly a nice feeling.
Most important thing, it's just nice to hit some good shots and make some putts and shoot a nice score. It's been a long time since I've done that, probably the second round of the FBR.
JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you.

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