THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY DYNEGY

November 3, 2001

Scott Verplank

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, No. 2, I hit a pretty nice iron shot in there about 10 feet and left of the hole, so I had an uphill into the green putt. I made that one. Those are the ones you kind of try to get yourself. Fourth hole I made a really nice kind of probably 30 foot curler and had about four feet of break on it, and it was kind of a nice surprise, to be honest with you. You just don't lag it down there as fast as it was past that hole and it went in, so that was good. The fifth hole, I hit it just short of the right bunker in two and I thought I was in the trap. I was in the grass there. Not a great lie. And I hit a really nice flop shot and it ended up six inches from the hole. So that was nice. I can handle those most of the time. The next hole I just flamed a 3-wood over into the right trash. Really didn't have much. I tried to hit it over the tree and hoping to catch a flier, and I got it over the tree but it didn't jump, so I came up about 50 yards short. And then I just didn't hit a very good shot from there. Actually, left it short of the green, and then just chipped up a couple feet and made bogey. Next hole I hit it about four feet and missed it. That was sad. I made a nice -- I didn't hit a very good iron shot on 8 and it caught up in the wind and came up short of the green. And I hit what I thought was a decent chip, but the green took it to the right and I was short. So I made about an 8 or 10-foot par putt there. After missing the almost kick-in birdie on 7 and then making that, I think that is kind of some of the glue you need to hold a round together. Ninth hole I hit a good drive around the corner. I hit a 5-wood just onto the back fringe about 20 feet from the hole, and hit it in the middle. I thought I left it just an inch short when I hit the putt and it just kept rolling, and rolled right in the middle of the hole. So obviously, that was a great way to play that hole. I bogeyed 11. I drove it in the fairway bunker. Hit it on the right fringe and then almost putted it off the green from there. I had no idea how that one was so much faster than the other ones, but it was. I didn't think I hit a very bad putt on the first one, and it went 15 feet past the hole. It just surprised the -- it scared the shit out of me, really. It really did. Because I got up on the next hole and had about a 30-footer, 35-footer up the hill and left it about six feet short. So I did make that on the next hole. I made it. And I told my caddy, I said, "Man, that 11th hole just blew me away." So I settled down after that, hit it in the front or second left bunker on 13 in two, bunker shot six inches from the hole. Then 18 I just hit a decent drive finally. I didn't hit very many of them today. And I just kind of flamed the 7-iron just enough to get it on the green, and I had to putt through the fringe on the right, and it was a very difficult shot because of the fringe. And the fringe just rolled through a lot faster than I thought it was going to and it just went 8, 10 feet past the hole. And then I hit a nice putt on my par putt. But it broke off a little bit more than I thought and I made a bogey.

SCOTT VERPLANK: They're all tough for me. I

didn't -- I scored well. I didn't do everything that I -- I made some mistakes, missing the kick-in birdie and 3-putting 18 and, basically, 3-putting 11, but I was close, but I wasn't quite there. So I didn't hit it as good today as I was really counting on or hoping to.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Man, unbelievable. Yeah, it is. I feel like if I go out tomorrow and play a little bit more like I normally do and continue to putt like I am, then my chances should be very good. But I haven't hit the ball that great. I hit it okay. For me, I said yesterday in here, if I don't hit it good most of the time, I still keep it in play, and I generally leave it in spots where I can manage it. And that's, basically, what I did today.

SCOTT VERPLANK: II never heard of any of them. (Laughter.) I don't even know who is right there. I know there's probably a bunch of guys, and I don't think I can go out and par every hole tomorrow and win, so I'm not going to be too worried about that. I'm going to go out and, really, I'm going to try to play a little bit better than I have been playing. I don't know that I'll score any better, but I'm really hoping that I'll hit some more solid shots and make a little less stressful and a little more enjoyable. It's a lot more fun when you hit the ball at the hole than if you're trying to see whether it goes close or not versus flaming it off somewhere and keeping it out of the bunker somehow.

SCOTT VERPLANK: If you say so. No. (Laughter.) Oh, I -- hey, if that's what you see, all right. (Laughter.) No, I just, I know that if I play well tomorrow, I'm going to have a chance. Like I said, I am -- it's a nice feeling. I know that's one of the things like a Tiger does, he knows when he tees it up, if he plays well, he's going to be right there, and he probably thinks he's going to win. I'm kind of getting closer to that, when what I used to have in amateur golf, I knew when the tournament started if I was playing well, I was winning. So as hard as that is to do out here, that's the attitude you want to try to get. So I'm trying. I do have the confidence that if I play like I know I can tomorrow, then I'll have a great chance to win.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, what kept me going and what kept me from walking away are the same, and that was also the same thing that got me in so much trouble, is I never quit at anything. And I don't know how close I was to -- I wasn't close to walking away, but I was pretty close to not being able to play again. And fortunately for me, I have recovered well enough and healed up good enough where I can play. So I have never really quit at anything that meant anything to me. So I was -- I would have been shocked if I wouldn't have been able to come back and play. I figured I was going to do it.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Who shot 62?

SCOTT VERPLANK: Wow. See, I didn't see it. I don't know.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, basically. I don't really know what's going on. I was oblivious out there. I had no clue where I was at about half the time. No, I didn't know. I knew the scores were good, but I didn't -- listen, I had enough stuff on my plate to worry about versus worrying about everybody else. I mean, I was -- like I said, I wasn't feeling like I was swinging and hitting on all cylinders. So I wasn't that concerned with what everybody else was doing. I was just trying to get my little ball into that little hole.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Used to be. Not anymore.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, just I got this insulin pump, I don't have to be on a schedule anymore.

SCOTT VERPLANK: I can actually be like you guys, not that I really want to. (Laughter.) You probably don't want to be like me, though, either. So it's a double-edged sword. Yeah, I just don't have to be on a rigid schedule like I used to. So it doesn't matter, any tee time is a good tee time now. They're fine.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, I can just play my schedule around the way I'm playing. That's been one of the biggest things that -- I've been liberated. Now, I always was a little -- I was always a little bit behind the 8-ball before the tournament started before. Now I feel like I'm on top of the 8-ball now. I got it under control. I feel like I'm on a little more level playing field now.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well I just would have to take my medicine, eat at the proper times and just have to have a more rigid routine, before the round, during the round, and after the round basically. Now I can be like you guys. Yeah.

SCOTT VERPLANK: I don't know. How much do you make? (Laughter.)

SCOTT VERPLANK: Oh, okay. Well, money doesn't make you happy. (Laughter.) It does? Well, okay. That's the difference between you and me, I guess.