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VOLVO PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 27, 2004

Stephen Dodd

SURREY, ENGLAND

SCOTT CROCKETT: Stephen, thanks for coming in. Congratulations on a fine opening round of 65. You were saying on TV that you have not been the best of form recently, so this must be a nice return to for you.

STEPHEN DODD: Yeah, it was a pleasant surprise today. I don't really know why it happened, but golf changes from day to day, and today I played well.

SCOTT CROCKETT: What were the keys for you today?

STEPHEN DODD: I drove it straight. And if you're coming off the fairway, then it's much easier, and I hit lots of good iron shots as well. So that was the key, just to hit it in the fairways, giving yourself chances.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Were you in any trouble? It looks fairly solid.

STEPHEN DODD: Not that I can remember.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Why don't you give us the details of birdies.

STEPHEN DODD: Third I holed a 25 footer, I suppose.

4 to a foot.

6 was about five feet again.

11, I just hit a little wedge in there, probably 15, 18 feet, something like that.

The par 5, I was just off the right side. Chipped to about a foot again.

15, I hit about a 5 iron to about six feet.

17, I just 2 putted from the back edge.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Looking at the scoreboard, if you birdied the last that would have tied you with Ernie Els. Was that coming into your mind.

STEPHEN DODD: No. I was trying to make birdie obviously. I hit it in the sand and it was quite tough but quite pleased with what I had.

Q. Was the form getting you down a bit or how have you been handling it?

STEPHEN DODD: Not really. I just played poorly last week in Germany. I played poorly for three weeks, really, although I made the cut in Barcelona, I didn't finish very well. That's what this game is all about.

Q. Do anything different this week?

STEPHEN DODD: I started doing some work on the weekend with my coach, which, for some reason, must have worked.

Q. What sort of work was it?

STEPHEN DODD: Just a bit of my address position, really, getting some loft on my club, because I had been hitting lots of bad shots.

Q. What's your previous record around here?

STEPHEN DODD: I can't remember what I finished last year. I think it was high 20s, something like that, roundabout there. That's the best finish I've had last year.

Q. This is only your third PGA, isn't it?

STEPHEN DODD: Third time I've played, yeah. Enjoyed it today.

As I say, it was nice to go and play well today. It was unexpected, and who knows what tomorrow will bring. We'll just go out and play and add them up.

Q. Do you still hate flying?

STEPHEN DODD: No, I don't mind it so much. (Laughs).

Q. You don't look forward to the weeks where you don't have to?

STEPHEN DODD: It's nice to be in a car for a change and just drive up.

Q. Whereabouts were you on the course when Ernie moved to 8?

STEPHEN DODD: I can't remember. I can't remember. I didn't really take a lot of notice, to be honest with you, the score board. That wasn't important. It was just important to get around as well as I could.

Q. When you've been in a poor round of form and suddenly a round like this starts to develop, is it just let's try and hold on?

STEPHEN DODD: When you say a poor run of form, it's only been a couple of weeks, which if it stretched four or five months or something, then it's different. But I had been playing quite well till the last few events. At no time was I trying to defend what I had. I was just trying to make birdies.

It's the best thing for me to do is to try and be aggressive.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Stephen, very well played. Thanks very much.

End of FastScripts.

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