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U.S. BANK CHAMPIONSHIP IN MILWAUKEEJuly 19, 2009Bo Van PeltMILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN JOEL SCHUCHMANN: We would like to welcome the winner of the 2009 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, Bo Van Pelt, congratulations, first PGA TOUR win. I'm sure it feels great. A lot of other perks: You move into 40th place in the FedExCup standings, and invitations to several events next year, including the season-opening SBS Championship in Kapalua. So I'm sure you'll look forward to that. Maybe some opening comments about a great day for and you a great win. BO VAN PELT: Yeah, I felt like I played really well all week, even though I was only 7-under, felt like I was hitting the ball well. The putter was starting to feel better. I switched, I've been putting belly putter all year, to this week, I went back to old putter, conventional length, one that I had played pretty well with. I just felt like I needed to make a change. Told my wife last night, I was like, you know, I think if I shoot 7-under and get to 14, that was kind of what I had in mind when I went to bed and what I thought about getting up this morning. I hit the ball fantastic starting out. I had a lot of really good looks, and finally made a birdie there on the par 5. Then another one on 8, hit one close, and just kind of got going. I was happy how I played. I think that a couple of times when I had been in contention, I played well and had not got it done. And a couple of times I had not hit it as good and maybe the nerves got to me a little bit. But you know, my caddie and I, Mark Cheney, we went to the tee, we knew how good I had been hitting it, and just said keep hitting good quality shots all day, and that's what I did. I didn't really look at the boards. I just kept trying to get to 14. Q. You're probably one of a handful of guys that were mentioned a lot as kind of the next player that might win a golf tournament on the PGA TOUR and now you've done it. Maybe talk about the satisfaction you take from that. BO VAN PELT: Yeah, I think that -- I think it will just be an experience that I can pull back on now. You know, the shots that I hit in the playoff, stepping up and hitting good two drives and two great-looking 4-irons right at the flag, and a couple chips I made and a couple pars that I made; being able to go back on those experiences and know that you got it done when it counted, I think that will help me going forward, and not having every time I get near the lead on Saturday, answer, do you think, this is going to be your first win. It's going to be nice to not have to say when people ask you, have you ever won out on the PGA TOUR, you've been out there eight years or whatever, and have to say no. I'm glad I can say yes now. Q. Just as far as golf fans go, I think a lot of people might be surprised to know that you have not won on the TOUR. It seems like for the last five, six, seven years, you've been 40 to 80 on the Money List, pretty consistent. How do you explain that? BO VAN PELT: You know, I guess just I kept -- every time I would get in here and be in that position, I just kept saying, you know, one of these Sundays is going to be my day, and it was like that on the Nationwide Tour. There was probably five other tournaments I should have won that year on the Nationwide when I finally won in Omaha. In Omaha on Sunday, I shot 62. I made a couple long putts, and when I missed the green, I got it up-and-down. There's such a fine line. Last year at Flint, I played with Kenny Perry when he won, and if I putt the ball, at all, at all, I win that tournament. But I end up finishing about 15th or something. I was hitting the ball great. And so just one of these Sundays had not been my day, and I drove it great, and hit a bunch of good irons and I missed -- I really only miss-hit two shots today. There's a tee ball on 12 over in the left trees, and hit a good punch shot up near the green and made a good save. And then 17, I hit 1-over to the right, and I had a shot. You know, sometimes when you miss-hit those shots you end up making bogeys and today I was able to make pars. That was the difference between finishing sixth, like I've done a number of times, and winning the golf tournament. It's really that fine a line. Q. That had to be frustrating. BO VAN PELT: Absolutely. It got to the point where I don't even know if I wanted to play anymore, a couple years ago, because I felt like I kept putting myself in these positions, and it wasn't never happening. It was definitely frustrating. I think, you know, I had my worst year on TOUR in a while last year, and I lost in Puerto Rico by a shot and really had the lead the whole way and probably should won the golf tournament, the way I played. Taking nothing away from Greg Kraft, he played great on Sunday, but that bothered me for a long time. I think that bothered me for a long time last year because it just felt like I was playing so good and I was playing so good every time I went out, and I still wasn't getting it done. And there was just, you know, some things mentally I had to get over, and it's kind of like I told Billy Ray Brown: I guess there comes a point where you just say, enough is enough, I'm going to win today. I'm going to put a line in the sand and I'm not backing up. And that's how I felt going into today coming down the stretch. Q. On the last playoff hole, you had the two putts, and after the first one you were kind of laughing to yourself a little bit. What were you thinking at that moment? BO VAN PELT: I was laughing because you sit around with your buddies and you watch golf, and you know, growing up or whatnot, and I felt like I probably jinxed myself because I used to sit around with your buddies and go: Man, if I just had 20 feet to 2-putt to win, I'd get that done, no problem, like that would be the easiest thing. And sure enough, that's what I had, and sure enough, I leave it three feet short. That's why I was laughing. I'm like, good job there, jinx yourself. But I steadied myself. I made two good putts coming in on 17 and 18, 17 a par putt. And 18 -- I'm trying to remember what year it was, it was '01, I lost in a playoff to Ben Crane on the Nationwide Tour. It was a four-hole playoff, and we kept playing 18 just like this. I had a one-shot lead going into 18, hit it on the back of the green, put it down there about 3 1/2 feet and I had an in-side right putt just like here on 18 in regulation, I missed, I hit a really bad putt. And that one bothered me for a while, too, because that was one I should have won. It's just another tournament, you think, gosh, I only get so many chances. I would like to take care of it. I laughed after we warming up and, I Cheney, I said, "I'm glad I got through that one." But I was excited about it because when I saw it was inside right, I flashed back to Arizona eight years ago and I said, you know what, you've got a chance to redeem yourself, step up there and make a good stroke, and I did. So I think making those two on 17 and 18 helped me on that little 3-footer and it was an easy putt. It was left center. After all of the ones you would ever want, it's like, just keep your head still and hit it. Q. What's it like 229 TOUR events to finally get that win? You were pretty emotional. BO VAN PELT: Yeah, there's just so much that goes into it. You know, like I said, your wives, your kids, your parents, your friends, they have to put up. They are all cheering for you. And like you said, I've had a lot of good chances, and to have Sundays where I didn't get it done, I mean, everybody feels that. And I felt that. I think that was one reason I was emotional. I had a good friend from Milwaukee, this guy Harold Anhold (ph), my brother-in-law used to do business with him. And I met him my rookie year, and he used to come to a lot of my tournaments. He was there: Actually on vacation, he and his wife stopped by Omaha and watched me play when I won. He passed away a couple years ago, cancer, but his kids come watch me play every year. So it was funny, I was talking to them before I came over here. I was like, I was going to mention your dad, but I knew I would start crying so I couldn't bring it up. He was with me today, 15th tee. We've been friends since my rookie year, and I tugged that ball a little left off the tee on 15. I got a good kick and I didn't hit a very good chip, and I made that big curler, I don't know if they showed it on TV. But I made a big curler. There's just a lot that goes into it. In this game, you lose more than you win, and it beats you up from time to time, so when you finally get it done, it means a lot. Q. The first playoff hole when you missed the 13-footer for eagle, looked like a bit of the nerves there. What happened? BO VAN PELT: Yeah, I made a bad stroke. It was probably a left-edge putt, and John's great around the greens. I played a bunch of golf with him in two years and he's a great player and he's really good around the greens. When I saw where he was at, I knew he was going to get that ball up. I had to repitch. I told Cheney: "Let's try to get this thing done on our own." That's what you live for, that you can make the putt that they can't answer. And you always want to take care of business when you have that chance. And I just think nerves got to me a little bit, I had a little right hand in the stroke and just didn't make a very good stroke. I was glad I got to redeem myself. Q. What was the wait like? You were obviously one of the earlier groups and you had to sit around and you didn't know for a while if there would be a playoff and you had another ten or 15 minutes when you knew. BO VAN PELT: It wasn't that I didn't want to come and do TV or anything. But I had a feeling I might get in a playoff, and I didn't want to come down off that and start talking about it. We just stood out there for a while and hit some chips and then went up and hit some putts. I knew that there were still two groups behind John, so once he putted out, I went over to the range and really focussed in and hit about eight or ten balls, hit a couple pitches that I thought, hey, if I miss a green -- miss a fairway. And I hit a couple 4- and 5-irons because I hit 5-iron in regulation and I hit a couple drivers and was ready to go. Q. Did that help? BO VAN PELT: Absolutely. It was good, I think that I kind of had got a little bit lackadaisical and because my mind was going, so it was good I had those last eight or ten balls and got back into the frame of mind I had in regulation. Q. With the leader at 11 going into the day, were you surprised that 13 wound up being the number, and did you think you would have to go to get to 14 or 15? BO VAN PELT: I thought 14 was the number. You know, I told my wife last night, I said, if I shoot 7-under and get to 14, and I knew that I was going to be in front of those guys, it's always harder when you post a number. I knew with the wind the way it was today, that 18 was going to be a birdie hole. I mean, it was playing downwind. You just had to hit a good tee ball. But I thought 14 was the number. That was the number in my head when I went to bed and when I woke up. I had a chance to get there. Missed one on 16. I hit a really good putt on 16 and just didn't quite break as much as we thought. But then when I got in, I saw that the leaders had kind of faltered somewhere in the middle of the round, because they were going pretty good. There were guys at 11, 12, and looked like they kind of came back, which can happen on this golf course. I mean, you start driving it in the rough, and those pins tucked were tucked a little bit. I thought 13 might be one short actually. But you know, luckily for me it wasn't. Q. As the winner of the event this year, with all of the talk about the future of it, what's your assessment of the event this week and how it was and the golf course itself? BO VAN PELT: Golf course is fantastic. Tim and his staff did a great job. The greens were firm, which is what we like. The rough was a good height. It was penalizing but it wasn't chip-out rough like they have had in some years. You know for a public golf course, and that's what I said in the ceremony, that you know, I hope the people of Milwaukee and this area understand how good of a golf course that they have right here. And a couple years ago I played with some buddies at another parks course and it was really good, too. As far as the future goes, I hope that a sponsor presents itself if U.S. Bank doesn't want to go forward. I hope that the community continues to get behind it. I think this tournament, you know, the PGA TOUR was built on tournaments like Milwaukee. It was built on tournaments that are in these towns that are in the same town year after year, where you go in and you see the old pictures of Lee Trevino and all of these people come, and that's what we need to keep. These local charities need us to come back here, and the community, the hotel rooms, the restaurants. What the TOUR brings to an event is huge for a community. It's still pretty affordable. I think we give a good product. We try to give a lot back to charity, to junior clinics, get kids involved with the game. I played every sport growing up. The great thing about golf, even if you're not playing as a profession, you can play it till the day you die, and so I think we need to keep trying to grow the game. We don't need to shrink the PGA TOUR. We need it to get bigger. We need to keep growing the game so that the future is intact. Q. After all of these years, do you have a space for that somewhere? BO VAN PELT: We'll find it. We've moved in a new house about a year ago, and you know, my first win on the Nationwide Tour, I gave to my dad. He had been with me from the start. We'll find somewhere for that. You know, we don't have a lot of crystal in the house, but I have a feeling at some point there's going to be some Miller Lite or Coor's Light or Budweiser drank out of that at some point. Q. What was the exchange? BO VAN PELT: Yeah, it was funny, he started walking away and I started walking and next thing I know, it was one of those deals, I was so focused on what I was thinking about, because I had to make this par putt, and it was one of those deals where I didn't think I was going to step on his putter, but I did it. Then it was funny, because I said, hey -- after we putted out, I said, "You know, I didn't break that putter. Did I?" He goes, "No. It's not like it was going to use it next week, anyways." I said. I'd think that green was big enough for both of us to walk around without us walking into each other, but we just got crossed up there. I was so into what I was doing, I wasn't even paying attention. Q. Off-track, in the media guide, it says your dad played or the Eagles; is that true? BO VAN PELT: Yeah, he got drafted in '67, like in the fifth round. He was a center. Played a couple years in the NFL before I was born. I've got two older sisters, so he was done playing by the time I was there. He was great. Unlike most guys, their dads who are around the game, he didn't play much golf, just a little bit. The main thing was he gave me the opportunity to play. You know, he owned his own business. He owned a restaurant. So he worked for himself so he could kind of drag me around and drop me off at the golf course. I think it helped me growing up that my dad had played sports. He wasn't one of those dads that pushes you. He would take my clubs away from me, tell me to go be a kid for the day. He wasn't trying to live his dreams through me. He had been there. He worked his butt off and got to the highest level of football. But it helped me because when I decided I wanted to get serious about golf, I could come to him and we could talk about, you know, hey I want to try to make this happen, what do you think I need to do. He gave me a lot of good advice and has been there every step of the way. Q. Curious, it seems like you are a fairly big guy, at one point you must have played football, when did you decide to give it up, why, and why golf? BO VAN PELT: Luckily, the good Lord, I grew late. I was pretty small for my age growing up, and I loved football and I loved basketball, but when you're 5-9 your freshman year of high school, you don't see a whole lot of future in it. But by the time I got to my junior year, I was 6-3 and so then I really wanted to play again. But luckily just someone told me, and I was like, you know what, our teams were already really good, Richmond High School where I went, was really good. We won the state high school in basketball my junior year and lost one game in football our last two years, so there wasn't a whole lot of room for me on the bus by that point. And so I just said, you know what, I think I better just stick to this golf thing, and so that was it. But I loved playing all sports growing up. JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Bo Van Pelt, congratulations. 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