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BOB HOPE CLASSIC

January 20, 2010

Alex Prugh

LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA

DAVE SENKO: Alex, got to be happy, 64, looks like 10 birdies and two bogeys. Maybe just a quick recap of your round and we'll get some questions.
ALEX PRUGH: That's pretty much it. It seemed like there's definitely a couple holes where I had a couple stretches of birdies. I think the front side I had a stretch of three birdies in a row. Back side I had birdied four in a row or something like that.
Yeah, I had a couple bogeys in there, unfortunately, hit it in the water on the par-5. But beyond that it kind of helps that the grass is so soft and we can pretty much throw darts in there with 7-irons and a bunch of wedges.
DAVE SENKO: We had a couple guys in here that talked about the conditions changing in a kind of dramatic way on the back nine. Maybe just, what were your conditions that you had?
ALEX PRUGH: Very definitely did change. I remember actually I was walking off 9, we had a little wind on 9. Kind of coming off the right. And then all of a sudden I walk up on 10 and there's a wait. And I see Vaughn Taylor sitting there and I thought, great, he's waiting. And it starts blowing and it's right into the wind and I'm like, this 238 carry is going to be a little more difficult than I was expecting.
(Laughter.)
I made it by about six inches. Those first couple holes on that back side when you're charging into the wind is a little difficult.
Fortunately the last, however many, four or five holes on the back side were all downwind and one being a par-5 which I was able to have 7-iron in, so that worked out to my benefit, actually.

Q. So this PGA TOUR thing is really easy. You go out and shoot 64 every day, right?
ALEX PRUGH: It's still golf. I mean I'm going to give credit to the Nationwide Tour. We don't have as big a fan base and whatnot, but the level of competition, I think, is just as good.

Q. If you look at the board today there's a lot of guys out there that have been Nationwide Tour guys. You, Flores, guys like that. Does it doesn't seem like there's any change in intensity or you're not intimidated by being here as opposed to being in New Zealand, let's say.
ALEX PRUGH: I would fully agree. I think the Nationwide Tour is a great learning grounds. It's a great place to start. I feel it was a great place for me to start my career for a couple years.
When it comes down to it, you're still playing a golf course, there's 18 holes, the cup's cut the same size. You might get a couple more big names and more fans, but if you can block that out it's still a game that we all love and we play every day.

Q. What's the biggest thing -- you alluded to the Nationwide Tour -- what was the biggest thing that you can take away from that as far as development as a player and things like that?
ALEX PRUGH: I would just say it's getting out there and you get to a level of competition. And I've heard from everybody that the level of competition on the Nationwide Tour and PGA TOUR are very similar. That alone I think helps build confidence.
When you win, you start competing out there, that's huge. And then just learning to travel. Learning how to deal with being on the road for 25 week as year that definitely helps.

Q. Is today your best round on the TOUR so far?
ALEX PRUGH: This year, yeah.

Q. This tournament is different than most PGA TOUR events because you play with three amateurs and you get the four golf courses. Did you get a chance to see all four golf courses before you came here or did you only play nine hole and maybe drive around?
ALEX PRUGH: I got in 18 holes at SilverRock. Fortunately we were able to have carts. And I didn't get in until Monday afternoon and so I quickly grabbed a cart and literally ran around just to get an eye of the golf course. That's about it. Unfortunately it was a quick turn around.
But I think that the yardage books out here are so perfect, they're charted unbelievably well. And as long as you get that little look at it, I mean 165 yards is still 165 yards.

Q. So you really haven't seen the Nicklaus Course before today?
ALEX PRUGH: I saw it from about 3 o'clock to about 3:30 or to about 4 o'clock on Monday afternoon.

Q. What about the Palmer Course for tomorrow?
ALEX PRUGH: I saw that from about 1:30 to about 3.
(Laughter.)

Q. Clearly that's not a big issue either, otherwise you wouldn't shoot 64.
ALEX PRUGH: Like I said, fortunately the courses are straightforward. The yardage books are very well done. You know you have to carry it 275 over X bunker and can't hit it 305 or you're in the water. Fortunately the courses are pretty much straightforward and right in front of you and I think just getting an eye on it helps.
If I were to go out there blind it would be a little different. There would definitely be a couple holes where I would be a little more cautious on the lines I would take and stuff like that. But fortunately running around in the cart I was able to at least get an eye on it and kind of get a feel for where to hit a shot into a green or where not to.

Q. Obviously beginning of a new year, do you play kind of conservatively, make cuts, make cuts, or do you think to yourself, let's go win right away?
ALEX PRUGH: Try not to. I would admit last week at Sony I was coming down, I bogeyed my second hole on Friday and there were thoughts, oh, I wonder if there's flights going out early.
But fortunately I birdied 8, 9, and 10 and I'm like, all right, maybe I can make the cut.
Then I made a bogey on 16 and I'm like, oh, man. And unfortunately I did get in that thought of just trying to make the cut.
But you get your feet wet a little bit, it's just golf, I mean, why not try to win? I think if you get the mindset of trying to win, I think you're not even going to have to worry about cuts.

Q. Did you go for the left fairway or the right fairway on 10?
ALEX PRUGH: I was trying to go for the left.
(Laughter.)
Actually right when I hit it, I thought I hit it perfect because generally I hit a little choke driver and when I hit that I turn it over a couple yards.
The wind was kind of coming into and blowing a little right. I hit it solid and unfortunately that wind was drifting it right. And so it got my heart pumping a little faster, but it barely carried, I was actually in the intermediate rough. I cleared it by about six inches. Didn't even get to the fairway.

Q. The Nicklaus Course is kind of, you say the courses are right in front of you, but it's kind of a quirky little golf course in some ways. You got a big rock in the second hole.
ALEX PRUGH: There are a couple. I was able to see that. On the second hole I couldn't see the pin for the life of me and my caddie's just like, all right, you know the pin's roughly around there, it's kind of off that tree there, but you got 108 yards, it's just a standard gap wedge. Just try to imagine that that rock is not there. You know you have about six yards right of where you're aiming, just trust it.
DAVE SENKO: Okay, Alex, thank you.
ALEX PRUGH: All right.

End of FastScripts

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