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QUAIL HOLLOW CHAMPIONSHIP

April 30, 2009

Jeff Maggert

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

JOHN BUSH: We'd like to welcome Jeff Maggert into the interview room here at the Quail Hollow Championship. Jeff, 4-under par 68 today. Just one bogey on the card, so a tremendous start to the tournament. If we can just get some opening comments from you.
JEFF MAGGERT: I just played pretty steady most of the day. I didn't drive the ball particularly well on the front nine, which was the back nine for me. I started on 10. But just kind of hung in there and hit a lot of good iron shots and gave myself some opportunities to make some birdies on the greens. So it was pretty steady most of the day. I didn't play the par-5s particularly well. I felt like I needed to make a few birdies there. But made up for it the way I played the rest of the holes.
JOHN BUSH: Your seventh start here at the tournament. You had a T5 back in 2004, so you've had some success here. What were your goals coming into the week?
JEFF MAGGERT: I had no idea this year. I feel like I'm going to win every week, but I miss the cut every week (laughter). So it's been kind of a strange year. I feel like I'm playing pretty well, but I just -- I don't know what's going on. I've missed a lot of cuts this year, and when I have made the made the I've played pretty well. So we'll see what happens this week.
My wife is from Greensboro and got family in the area, so looking forward to spending some time with them, and hopefully this will be a good week.

Q. Have your struggles been going on more so than this year?
JEFF MAGGERT: It's hard to say. You know, I don't like to make excuses about getting old out here, but after 20 years of playing out here, it's probably more of a motivational thing and keeping yourself motivated, just a lot of stuff at home that's just kind of taking a bigger priority, I guess, in my life than playing golf sometimes. I've got a stepson and a daughter that's graduating high school this year, so I'm going to have three in college next year, and I've got twins that are five. So I've got them spread out all over the map.
It's a lot of fun being at home and probably just haven't worked as hard as I needed to to stay competitive out here.

Q. Do you feel like you have it balanced the way you want?
JEFF MAGGERT: Well, just being competitive, you want to play better than I have been. But it's more of a challenge than a balance. You know, you talk to all the players probably in my age category, they all go through the same thing of trying to stay competitive and spend time at home with your kids and family. It's just part of what we do because this sport we can play for so long, and other sports we'd be retired, and I don't know what we'd be doing. But I just feel lucky that I've had a 20-year career out here and played well and still have opportunities to win tournaments at 45 years old. You can't beat that.

Q. Can you talk about your putt on No. 8?
JEFF MAGGERT: Well, I was surprised it went in because it wasn't a very good putt. I hit it a little too aggressive, and I was fairly certain that putt would have rolled by six or seven feet because of the slope on the other side of the hole. As soon as I hit it, I knew I hit it too hard, so I was a little bit disgusted with my effort there. I look up and it's just catching the edge of the hole and just kind of does a little 360 right in the hole. There you go. I hit some really good putts that I didn't make and then hit a bad putt that went in, so I guess it evened out.

Q. Have there been any commonalities with the weeks you've played well and the weeks you haven't played well?
JEFF MAGGERT: If there's one thing, I'd say it's been poor putting. The putter can just kill you on this TOUR if you're not making putts. You can strike the ball well week after week after week, but you've got to put the ball in the hole with the putter, and that's probably been the biggest struggle most of the year.
This week it feels pretty good, but certainly just inconsistency from week to week. But I haven't put a lot of -- sometimes you can drive yourself crazy and try to change things or switch putters or feel like you've got to change your stroke, so I've just kind of tried to stay to my basic game plan and spend some extra time reading the putts, making sure I'm getting a good read on the putts and try to stroke the ball where I see it, and hopefully some of them will start to go in.

Q. How about course conditions and the short rough this week?
JEFF MAGGERT: It did take me a little bit by surprise in my practice round. I didn't read the scouting report, so I didn't really -- I just assumed we were going to have some pretty tall rough like we had in the past. I probably prefer the longer rough, just because typically driving is one of the stronger parts of my game, so it probably suits my game better if the rough is a little bit longer.
But certainly the way I drove it today, I took advantage of the short rough. Probably wouldn't have been able to shoot 4-under par missing -- I don't know how many fairways I missed today. I think I only hit six fairways, so I missed eight fairways today and still shot 4-under. I don't know if that would have been the case with the longer rough.

Q. I think I saw you walking the other day with what I assume were your twins.
JEFF MAGGERT: Yeah.

Q. You mentioned trying to find a balance between the family and playing. Is it common for you to have them on the road with you?
JEFF MAGGERT: Not lately, just because you can't leave a teenager out of your sight for more than about a half hour. So my wife is at home quite a bit with the older kids, and certainly when they get to college next fall it's going to free her schedule up a little bit. She's looking forward to traveling a little bit more often out here with the little guys.
I do want to mention her stepfather, my father-in-law, is in the hospital in Greensboro. He's been in for a couple weeks now struggling with some cancer, and just want to wish him the best, and hopefully things will work out good for him over the next couple weeks. Just keep him in our prayers.

Q. Does it change your routine when the family is with you, and has that been anything that's made you play well?
JEFF MAGGERT: You know, I guess probably if my father-in-law wouldn't have been in the hospital this week, they probably wouldn't have made the trip for the whole week. But certainly with him not feeling well and this tournament being so close to Greensboro, it just worked out well that we could spend a whole week up here and spend some time with them. You know, it just kind of worked out that way.
JOHN BUSH: Let's go through the card real quick. The bogey on No. 12.
JEFF MAGGERT: Yeah, drove it in the right rough there kind of underneath the tree and just had to chip it out in the fairway, not too far from the green. I had about an 80-yard pitch shot and missed about a ten-foot putt for par.
14, played aggressive with the driver, just hit a good shot. It wasn't in the fairway, just missed the fairway by a yard or two and had about a 60-yard wedge shot and got it in there about ten feet and made that putt.
17, hit a good 7-iron just right of the flag, kind of right where I was aiming. It was pin high, about 15, 18 feet, had a good read. Tommy Armour was putting just outside from where I was on my same line, so I had a good read watching his putt roll up to the hole, so I hit a good putt there and made that one.
2, just hit it close on the second hole, 8-iron, eight feet just below the hole.
4 was another 8-iron, tough pin there but I hit a pretty good shot, and it kind of rolled off the slope behind the hole about ten feet.
8, I mentioned earlier I drove it well, hit kind of a poor approach shot from I think we had 67 yards to the flag and not a very easy putt to make. Certainly I was just trying to two-putt it and just kind of hit one of those putts that go in sometimes.
JOHN BUSH: Jeff, thanks for coming by.

End of FastScripts

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