BUICK CLASSIC

June 6, 2002

Retief Goosen

TODD BUDNICK: 4-under 67 today. Retief, we'll start with the card first.

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, 2, I hit 3-wood and a wedge to about five feet.

TODD BUDNICK: Bogey on 3.

RETIEF GOOSEN: 3-wood, 9-iron to about 20 feet and 3-putted.

TODD BUDNICK: 5.

RETIEF GOOSEN: Driver, 3-wood just short. Chipped down to about eight feet.

7, I hit 2-iron and then hit a sand wedge to 25 feet past and 3-putted.

8, I hit 3-wood, 5-iron to about 20 feet.

9, I hit driver and 2-iron in the bunker, out to about 15 feet.

12, I hit driver, 9-iron to about 25 feet.

14, 8-iron to about eight feet.

16, hit 4-iron left of the green. Chipped to about 25 feet and 2-putt.

18, I hit driver, 6-iron into the bunker, out to about eight feet.

TODD BUDNICK: Kind of an interesting round out there. It looks like a number of birdies, but a couple of 3-putts there.

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, the third hole was a bad 3-putt, straight up the hill and just hit it too hard and didn't get the one coming back.

Tricky putt on 7.

Overall, pretty happy, yeah. First sort of tournament back in a few weeks, so it was nice to get out there and have a good round in. Started off a little bit shaky, but then started playing quite nicely on the back nine.

Q. What were the conditions like out there, were they pretty conducive to a low score?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Yeah, the weather was perfect, really. There was hardly any wind out there, especially for the first ten holes. It started picking up a little bit on the back nine, the wind. Got a little bit of a shower here on No. 17, but otherwise, great scoring conditions.

Q. Is this the kind of round that you had in mind when you came back, rather than, get off to say even par or 1- or 2-over where you were into the quite sure what was happening there, especially in light of what's coming up next week?

RETIEF GOOSEN: I'm not really thinking about next week yet. This week is the tournament I try and do well in. I feel like I'm hitting the ball quite nicely. It's just a question of getting some feel going and just getting into a good rhythm on the course. Today, I did that, and played quite nicely. I'm looking forward to the rest of the week.

Q. Are you a traditionally quick starter? At Southern Hills, you got off to a fast start during the week. Is that something that's been kind of an aspect of your game?

RETIEF GOOSEN: I would say most of my tournament wins, I was off to a pretty good start. I like the course here. It sets up nicely for me. It reminds me a little bit of Tulsa, actually, last year. Yeah, I'm looking forward to the week.

Q. How does it remind you of Tulsa?

RETIEF GOOSEN: Quite a lot of up-and-down holes, a few blind shots here and there. Similar sort of feel, although it's not the same grass on the greens. This grass is quite tricky to putt on sometimes. It's just the way the greens are up-and-down and a few blind shots.

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