MERCEDES CHAMPIONSHIPS

January 5, 2002

Scott Verplank

TODD BUDNICK: Scott Verplank.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Bogey on 1. I kind of hit my 3-wood too low. Didn't get in, chipped on, 2-putted.

3-putted No. 2 from the front.

I birdied 4. Hit an 8-iron in there about ten feet. Made it.

Drove it over the green on 6. Chipped up about six feet.

No. 9, I was just on the front fringe and chipped up a couple, two feet.

TODD BUDNICK: Ended up with an eagle. Fantastic way of finishing the day.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, obviously that's a great way to finish, make it three on the last hole. They were thinking about me; they moved the tees way up that even I could get there (smiling). I don't know what was going on there. Moved the tee so far up, I hit a 7-iron to the green. That was my kind of par 5 there.

Q. Do you know why the rules official made such an elementary mistake with the ruling on 14?

SCOTT VERPLANK: No. I argued with him. I kept telling him, "I've already hit a provisional." I don't know. I mean, I got him on the radio. I knew I had already hit a provisional. I told them what happened. "I hit a provisional. I have to hit that ball."

"No, no, you have to go back to the tee."

"I've already hit one."

"No, you've got to go back to the tee." They're making the final decision.

"Fine, you're not going to call me tonight and tell me you screwed up and I have other shot that starts counting now."

Basically, you could talk to John, who was out there with me. You know, the difference probably is nothing, you know, in what I did on the hole and all that. I tried -- whatever. I was trying to do what I thought was right. They kind of overruled me or whatever, said, "Go back and hit another one." I did.

Q. It was John that made the ruling?

SCOTT VERPLANK: He was on the radio with the other guys, Mike and Ben Nelson. I don't know. People make mistakes.

Q. Did they say why you couldn't hit the provisional?

SCOTT VERPLANK: No. They told me that -- they said, "No. If that was provisional for unplayable, this is a lost ball, now you have to go back and hit a provisional for a lost ball." I don't know. I don't know. I hadn't really thought about it much because I just basically said, "Okay, let's go back and hit another one." I went on from there.

As tough as the conditions were, the wind blowing, all that, I didn't have enough time. I wasn't that worried about it. I didn't have enough time to ponder all that any more than I already did. We were already there for ten minutes.

Q. You hit the fairway finally?

SCOTT VERPLANK: I did finally hit the fairway.

Q. You were in the rough?

SCOTT VERPLANK: I might have holed it from where I was before. How do you know?

Q. What does it (inaudible) on a provisional?

SCOTT VERPLANK: I don't know that. You're going to have to ask someone else. I felt like I had done the right thing. They told me I didn't; I needed to go back and hit another one, so I did.

If that's a breach of the rule, you know, I don't know if it is or not. I guess it's not because they told me what to do. They're the ones who basically have the ultimate say in how you apply the rules of golf, at least for our tournaments they do.

Q. Where did you hit the second one?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Second one was in the right bunker.

Q. Third one?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Third one was in the fairway. I missed the green out of the fairway, too (laughter). I probably would have done better out of the bunker because I probably would have taken an extra club and got it up -- made sure I got it up there. I only had 90 yards on my next one. Hit a pitching wedge short of the green.

Q. First one you hooked?

SCOTT VERPLANK: No. I just hit it right. Obviously, the wind was blowing. I got up there, was pretty sure -- I actually said, "I could probably hit driver here and not get to the far bunker." I said -- I put through my head, said, " I'll probably make some gimpy swing on it, that's no good. I'll hit a 3-wood." I got up there and hit a gimpy shot with the 3-wood.

You know, the wind is blowing hard. I know on my backswing the wind is blowing a couple times today. Fortunately, none went so crooked. It's hard to hold them still, not only on putting, but on full shots. Kind of hit a bad shot, hung out there. I can't believe the wind didn't blow it into the bunker, but it didn't.

Q. Everybody seems to have a tale from today that illustrated how difficult it was out there. Do you have a moment that stuck out for you?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, yeah, when I topped my second shot on the 1st hole, I was going, "Wow, this is going to be rough." I had it out there, had a 3-wood to the green, like most guys, I would imagine. Really trying to burn it in there low, get it to roll up past onto the green. Just caught one groove too low on the club head. It just buried right into the top of that hill. It got in the air, but it was just too much. I was trying to hit it down. I grew up doing that.

Like I said, I just caught one groove not enough on the club head. If it would just been ten feet higher, it would have been up next to the hole.

Q. How high off the ground did it get? A couple feet?

SCOTT VERPLANK: As tall as you are (laughter). It didn't have a lot. It didn't have a lot of backspin on it because it wasn't rising, okay? It was going down. It was a bullet. I mean, it was a definite bullet. But it did get in the air. Maybe only because I was on a downslope going downhill.

Q. Were you in the fairway?

SCOTT VERPLANK: I was in the fairway, yeah. On the third shot, I wasn't. I just chipped it up 10 or 20 feet.

Q. Is this the kind of wind you grew up in or is it much worse than that?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, you grow up in it, but you usually sit inside. People will say, "It's terribly windy in Oklahoma." When it's like this, you don't play golf. I mean, this is about -- this is kind of British Open type, not conditions, but at least as far as the strength of the wind. I'm hitting 8-iron from 112 yards or whatever I did, I mean, I hadn't done that since I was 14 or 13 or 12 maybe. Blowing pretty hard.

TODD BUDNICK: Let's finish up that score card. Left off at 9.

SCOTT VERPLANK: 9, I was on the front fringe in two, chipped up like two feet.

12, I hit a nice drive. Actually left it about 30 feet short, and made it, which was pretty nice.

13, I hit a driver and a sand wedge about ten feet, made that.

Then I skanked it into the bushes on 14. Finally got it down there after all the stuff, short of the green, chipped up about six inches, made an easy double.

Then parred -- 18, driver, 7-iron, about 15 feet. Just snuck it in the right side.

Q. How much did the wind change direction out there? When you were playing 18, it was going across.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, it didn't really change that much today. It may have varied just a few degrees. It was hard from the left on 1, which is what it was when we finished. I mean, the difference was it was blowing probably at least ten and gusting probably 15 more than it was yesterday. If it was blowing 15 to 20 yesterday, it was blowing 25 to 30 today.

Q. Gusting 40.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Is that what it was? I kept thinking my ball was going to roll on the green. I mean, you're standing over a putt, the ball is shaking. I kept thinking the ball is going to roll off, I'll get a penalty. It was pretty close. It was real close to the ball, you know, not staying where it should.

End of FastScripts....