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BUICK OPEN

July 28, 2009

Jamie Lovemark

GRAND BLANC, MICHIGAN

JOHN BUSH: Jamie Lovemark, thanks for joining us in the interview room at the Buick Open. Obviously first week as a professional. Last week I think you finished Top 40 at the Buick Invitational. 6-under par last week. Just talk about your experiences last week and this week and what you're looking forward to here this week.
JAMIE LOVEMARK: Oh, it was a blast last week. You know, I didn't get to play Thursday my original tee time. Played 27 holes Friday and 27 Saturday and almost skipped Sunday. So it was a weird tournament, but it was fun.
It was a good experience, and I think the state of my game is decent. Coming off two months, it's my first week back and I'm very happy with the way I'm playing.
JOHN BUSH: I'm thinking you haven't seen this golf course yet. Probably just drove down last night.
JAMIE LOVEMARK: Yeah. Last night. I understand that.
JOHN BUSH: Have you read the report? What are you expecting?
JAMIE LOVEMARK: I heard it's tight. I heard the par-5s are reachable. I heard the rough's kind of long.
It's a really good course, and players are going to shoot 20-under playing in the wind. So I think there's birdies out there.
JOHN BUSH: Questions?

Q. When started the year as an amateur, what does that do for your confidence knowing you still got the college season to go finish and come back later on and actually start the professional career as opposed to having a pro debut?
JAMIE LOVEMARK: It's great. I played quite a while, so I'm more experienced. But I feel comfortable out here now. You know, I know a ton of these players, and I know that I can compete with them, so I feel very comfortable out here.

Q. The 20-under, is that your style of game? Do you like to go low or do you prefer more of a U.S. Open type, 2, 3-under?
JAMIE LOVEMARK: The quality of playing college is not near as good as this, so in college at this kind of course you'd probably shoot 10, 11-under and be in the lead, so it's kind of a new experience.
But you know, I played tournaments where I shot almost 20-under, so it's something I need to work on. I need to feel more comfortable shooting low and keep going lower and stuff like that. So that's something I've learned.
Some of the tournaments I've played I've been at Torrey Pines and Congressional, most of those courses where single digits have been winning.
Last week 18-under won. I had a few good rounds, and my first round was hard, and I was kind of a little rusty. And hopefully I'll get off to a better start and get under par quick and keep going.

Q. You've been dealing with an injury. Can you talk about how your health is and how you felt last week at Canadian?
JAMIE LOVEMARK: I'm feeling better. It was pretty stable last week. And I think it's not really going to improve until I start playing a little bit. It'll be at this level probably this week and last week and I'll take a week off and try and see if I can get better.
I have no problem hitting balls and playing. It's just I can't hit balls for an extended period of time. So no worries really. It's good enough.

Q. Do you have to make any adjustments with your golf swing?
JAMIE LOVEMARK: No. Just two months not hitting balls, and when I came back last week, it felt good. I just got sore and kind of tired after a couple hours.

Q. What do you have lined up for a schedule?
JAMIE LOVEMARK: I'm not sure. If I can Top 10 here this week, then I'll play Reno next week. And all of September there's not really any tournaments, so I'll take that off, and play some Nationwide events and hopefully get into a few fall events in October.

Q. Have you put anything new in the bag?
JAMIE LOVEMARK: No. I've been on the Nike Tour for a few years, and kind of the same stuff I have now since I think December of last year and January. So nothing new.

Q. You've teed it up before on the PGA TOUR. But was there a difference last year or until last week being professional?
JAMIE LOVEMARK: It was more fun. Playing with these guys and earning the paycheck for the first time. So it was cool.
I felt like in college after I made the cut, I liked my first goal after that to be in contention. I was kind of more positive playing.
And then last week I was, you know, trying really hard to get under par, get better finishes, get more money and kind of things. So it was a different experience, but the goal is the same, to win and Top 10.

Q. Do the golfers treat you differently once you're actually sharing a paycheck as opposed to being an amateur that finishes in the Top 40 and doesn't take away from --
JAMIE LOVEMARK: No. They've been cool since I've been out here. They're all very nice and very professional, so we have a good time. So they're cool with me amateur, professional, whatever.

Q. What's kind of the best advice you've gotten from a Tour pro from what to expect out here or anything to do with being on Tour?
JAMIE LOVEMARK: I haven't really talked to them too much about that. I know you have to treat this like a business. You can't mess around. You can't have too much fun. You gotta be a really hard worker.
You gotta take it very seriously, but not too seriously. Otherwise you'll struggle. So I'm still trying to figure it out. I haven't talked to too many guys about what I should work on, what I need to improve or expect. So I'll be looking for that in a few weeks or something like that.

Q. I know you've signed with IMG and they're a global company. Do you have aspirations to be a global golfer?
JAMIE LOVEMARK: Yeah. That would be great.

Q. What about the schedule? Do you have an opportunity to play internationally?
JAMIE LOVEMARK: I'm hoping I'm going to get to go play in Europe this year. I'm not sure. Maybe Asia once or twice.
I would love to explore. I've been to Australia once and been to Ireland. Other than that, I've been always America. So it's kind of fun to go out and experience other golf courses in the world.

Q. Are there some guys that you're looking forward to maybe playing practice rounds with or picking their brain?
JAMIE LOVEMARK: Well, anybody who's, you know -- anybody that's out here obviously have experiences, and they can all tell you something that you can hopefully learn.
And it would be fun to play with Tiger, all those guys. I'm sure they have something to say. So if I can get a chance, kind of get out here, this week, last week was a long week. So try to see if I can play with someone that'll help me out this week.

Q. What is it like having to wait that extra day to make your debut?
JAMIE LOVEMARK: It was tough. I think I had a 2:00 tee time. I showed up around 12 and hung out till 4 and then got rain delayed and canceled.
It was an up-and-down experience, but it didn't matter. I was able to tee off eventually, so it was just different.

Q. Can you remember a situation like that in college?
JAMIE LOVEMARK: No. We probably had to play through the lightning and storms and all. So I don't think it matters.
But no, in college we also have rain delays and stuff like that, and especially amateur golf in the summer in the South, there's always thunderstorms. You can't avoid it.
Summertime golf is so hot and humid, summertime storms pop up, no matter where you are. So you expect that stuff.
JOHN BUSH: Jamie. We appreciate you coming in. Good luck this week.
JAMIE LOVEMARK: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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