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AT&T PEBBLE BEACH NATIONAL PRO-AM

February 14, 2009

Bob Estes

PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA

MARK STEVENS: We'd like to welcome Bob Estes to the interview room. If you'd start off telling us a little bit about your round today and how things played out on Spyglass today.
BOB ESTES: It was very wet, so we definitely don't need any more rain. We were first off No. 10 at 8:00 o'clock, so you always like to get one of those tee times at this tournament if you can. I hit a really good drive on the first hole and came up short with my second shot and three-putted from the very front of the green, so not the way I wanted to start my round, especially knowing how tough Spyglass can play.
But I managed to make four more birdies on that back side to get it turned around. I guess I came right back with a birdie on No. 11, which is what you want to do after bogeying the first hole. It was nice to in a sense eliminate that early bogey. And then I guess I just kind of took off from there.

Q. Are you surprised to be here, or have you been playing this well all along do you think?
BOB ESTES: I started out the first week in Hawai'i playing pretty well. I was feeling better, too. I wasn't having any of the sinus or allergy issues that I had last week and this week. But yeah, normally the mud and the slop is not my thing. I like it hot and dry. I don't mind the wind at all, but I like it typically firmer and faster.
I've got me a new -- I've been trying the new Taylor Made driver, the R9, but the R7 is a little bit better for me right now, so I got a new R7 driver on Wednesday that I can hit higher and carry the ball further. I'm hitting it probably -- I'm probably getting another 10 to 15 yards off the tee just because I went with a driver. I new it was going to be all carry, so that was one of the keys was getting a driver that I could carry the ball further, so there's no roll at all. That helped a lot.
Yeah, I've hit a lot of greens, and I've still been -- I've got a putter I'm really happy with, but I'm kind of trying to settle on a length. I was gripping down a little bit today. I got more putts on-line today. I might have made my putter just a little bit long, but yeah, got a lot of putts on-line today and made some good ones.

Q. I know we're supposed to be more prepared coming in here, but what is your priority status?
BOB ESTES: I'm playing this year off the Top 50 Career Money List. I could have gone to Tour school, but getting married in August and all the preparation for that and the honeymoon and playing the last six weeks of the year, trying to finish in the Top 125 at least, I knew I didn't really want to mess with Q-school this time, and I knew I had the Top 50. I pretty much knew all along that I was going to do that if I didn't finish inside the Top 125.

Q. Does it change your attitude at all?
BOB ESTES: Now? Well, now I'm just trying to make sure I get up there high enough to get that Top 25 career money exemption, just in case I slip again. But no, I'm still just working on the game and trying to get better. No, I'm not too worried about it.
I guess there's not really much -- it's not like I'm panicked or anything. I feel like I'm a better player now and things are making more sense, so I'm hoping to finish much higher than 125 on the Money List this year.

Q. Just to clarify, you didn't take your honeymoon playing those six weeks, did you?
BOB ESTES: No, we had a nice honeymoon in Mexico before the six weeks.

Q. I'd like the details on the birdies you made if you don't mind.
BOB ESTES: Okay. No. 11 was just a pitch up the hill out of the right rough with a 56-degree sand wedge and made about a 10- or 12-footer for birdie there.
13 was a really good birdie. I hit 5-iron about five or six feet on 13. I think I birdied most of the toughest holes out there today. I wasn't really thinking about it, but that's what Tom Dreesen was kind of talking about was I got some of the hardest holes out there.
14, the par-5 coming back, I just laid it up short of the hazard, spun a wedge back to the hole about four or five feet, made that one for birdie.
16 is where I made the long putt, the dogleg right par-4. It was probably about 40 feet. That's the only really long putt that I think I've made in the three days. That was nice to see go down.
Then over to the front, No. 3 -- like I was saying, once we got out there and was more exposed making the turn -- the first nine holes was pretty nice; it was warmer and not as windy. And then on the back nine it was colder and windier and rained a little bit. I hit an 8-iron down the hill, drew it a little bit. The wind was pretty much straight left to right. I hit that one in there about five, six feet, made that one for birdie.
No. 4, actually I didn't hit the tee shot the way I wanted to. I was hitting a 3-iron because it was windy and I was trying to keep it down out of the wind. I hit 3-iron, 7-iron about 50 feet past the hole, made that one coming back up the hill. That's the long, skinny one, but I was past the hole, I guess, on the angle I hit it on.
And then No. 6, hit a real good drive down the left side, and the pin is up on the top right. I knew a 3-iron wasn't going to get me up top. Anyway, did the calculations, 5-wood was the right club. I hit a 5-wood about 12 to 15 feet below the hole and made that one. That was a driver, 5-wood, birdie.
Also hit 5-wood into No. 9. That was just a two-putt par. Yeah, two of the last par-4s I hit driver, 5-wood.

Q. Was Dreesen your partner?
BOB ESTES: No, Kenny G was my partner, but they were both fun to play with. I just told Tom how much I enjoyed his "best friend" joke from the show. I got to go -- Kenny got us tickets, so my wife and I were able to go to the show on Wednesday night, the volunteer party. That was awesome. I won't sit here and try to retell his joke, but anyway, it was really funny.
Tyrone is not traveling yet, but maybe some of the Texas tournaments we'll figure it out and get him there.

Q. You said you weren't a fan of the soggy weather today. We're expecting like 30 mile-an-hour winds tomorrow, more rain. Are you going to make any adjustments to your game tomorrow if we get that weather?
BOB ESTES: Well, there won't be really any adjustment to make. It's so wet out there already that if it rains that much more -- there's already so much casual water in the fairways that if it rains too much more it could end up being kind of a replay in a sense of one of those tournaments way back where we couldn't even -- well, this time we're going to get in three rounds. I guess that time we only played two. We had to finish the third round. Yeah, it could get so wet with the storm the way they're talking that I don't know how long it'll take for the fairways to dry out. I'll just be prepared to play, and we'll see what happens.
MARK STEVENS: Thanks a lot. Appreciate you coming in.

End of FastScripts

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