THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY DYNEGY

November 1, 2001

Scott Verplank

SCOTT VERPLANK: I made a nice about 12-foot putt there. I hit kind of a squirrely drive just into the first cut of rough and I hit a 6-iron, nice shot, kind of controlling the distance on that. So that was a nice birdie. The 5th hole I was just short of the green in two. Chipped up about eight feet and coaxed that one in there. No. 9 I drove it perfect, then I kind of overcooked my second shot and hit that big Pecan tree, or whatever, on the right, and if it would have gone through the tree it would have been great unless I would have just had a horrible lie, but it didn't, so it kind of hit it and came back underneath it into a horrible lie. Then I hit it again because I had to try to sneak under the last branch and it just hit the -- caught the last little branch and kicked it over to the front left so I had about 100-footer, 120-footer, 3-putted. I left it about eight feet short, missed that. 12, I hit a 5-iron about six feet. Pretty nice shot, I was happy with that. The next hole I was in the front bunker in two. I hit a sand shot about eight feet, six or eight feet short, made that. 15, I hit drive and pitching wedge about a foot and a half. Then made a nice save on the last hole, kind of flared a 5-iron out there just short right into a horrible lie and chipped it about 10 or twelve feet and made that. So that was a lot better than missing. That was a good way to finish.

SCOTT VERPLANK: The golf course is great. The greens are fast. You have to really pay attention on, you know, the little subtle slopes that they have because if you get going the wrong way, it could be going downhill, downgrain, and it could -- I think you probably saw some guys struggling with stopping around the hole. Everybody did, I would imagine. I was pretty good with that today about getting the right speed. But this golf course is kind of the way I read it before today, started was -- you have got to drive the ball in the fairway. Even though the greens are huge, it doesn't do you any good to be on the wrong quadrant. You just have too long a putt and too difficult a time to get it to stop around the hole. Like I said, I kind of read it as you need to drive the ball in the fairway and putt good. Obviously, that works most places, but it's kind of the fairways -- the rough is just bad enough where it takes a little bit of the bombing out of it and a little more of the accuracy into it and that's what I like.

SCOTT VERPLANK: I don't know that that really has anything to do with it. Since the Ryder Cup has been postponed I am -- I have been more focused on some of my other goals that I was hoping to achieve and some of the other things that I was -- some of the other levels that I felt like I could play at. Everybody, I am sure, was disappointed the Ryder Cup was cancelled, but in light of what is going on, it's just not that big a deal. I mean, if you look at it in the big picture, hopefully by next year the world will be a little safer and people will be able to resume more normal activities without being scared about everything, and if that's the way it is, then hopefully we'll get to play. I know I will be very excited when it rolls around next year. I was this year. I felt like I was doing the right stuff to prepare and so I am going to try to use that same kind of blueprint for next year.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Well, this is a big tournament obviously. Other than a major, you know, it's best field in golf. There's probably a couple of players in the world that aren't here, but in general, this is everybody who can really play. If you don't look forward to that, then you probably should be doing something else.

SCOTT VERPLANK: Yeah, you got 30 guys, obviously some of them aren't going to be playing their best this week, but at the same time, you can say it might be an easier chance to get a win, but at the same time you have got the best players in the world. One could argue that it would be easier to win the opposite event this week. Maybe not. The level of the winner this week and in Mississippi will be probably pretty similar, but the level right below that might be a little bit -- might be, you never know. I'd like to have a chance to win this tournament every year. I'd like to be in it every year and this is where you want to be.

SCOTT VERPLANK: I putted pretty well. Other than my 3-putt on 9 where I was just so far from the hole, I putted pretty well. I missed a few, what I felt like were makeable putts, but, in general, I made the putts that I needed to shoot a good score.

SCOTT VERPLANK: My iron-play was mediocre today. I hit some very nice shots and I hit some that I just, you know, I was kind of: "Where did that come from?" But it wasn't a whole lot different than what I normally do. Normally I keep the ball kind of in front of me and you know, if I do hit a sorry iron shot, I am generally pretty good at least missing it in the spot where I have a chance from there. So it doesn't always work out that way, but you just kind of play the percentages.