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BOB HOPE CLASSIC

January 24, 2010

Alex Prugh

LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA

DAVE SENKO: Well, Alex, thanks for joining us. Maybe just give us a quick run down, 70 today. It looks like 23-under heading into tomorrow.
ALEX PRUGH: Yeah, that is correct. Today it wasn't a whole lot of excitement in my round. I birdied on the par-5 early. Made a good up-and-down on my fifth or sixth hole for par.
But beyond that, made a bogey on my 10th hole, and then made a bogey on the last hole. Fortunately, I made a couple birdies in between there to finish at 2-under par.
A little disappointing. I missed about a 3-, 4-footer on the last hole for par. But I made a great 3-, 4-footer coming back to make that for bogey. So it could have been worse.
In a nutshell, it was not too exciting a day, but kind of kept it together.

Q. Any difference in the round today than yesterday, ball striking, putting?
ALEX PRUGH: A little bit just in the fact that it seemed like that SilverRock's a longer course, you don't have as short of irons coming into a lot of those greens. And I just wasn't as close to the hole.
And being that said, it didn't feel like I putted as well. The two bogeys I made I missed a couple. I mean, really should have made the putts, and it was a simple right-edge putt that one I hit too hard and pushed, and one I hit too soft, and it broke off. So you make those two putts, don't have any bogeys, a little different story, I'm probably feeling a little better.

Q. Just talk about the opportunity now to win now that we're just one day away, and how you feel about it, and are you surprised at all about how you're dealing with it from the inside, or is it the way you expected it to feel?
ALEX PRUGH: It's definitely what I expected to feel. I feel like I've been in this situation before. I guess I was one shot behind going into the last day of last year in the Nationwide Tour, and, honestly, I think that tournament out of all the Nationwide Tour tournaments, it's probably going to be the closest as you get to something out here in the fact that I think there was over 8,000 people in the crowd on Sunday, which you don't see that on the Nationwide Tour.
But fortunately, I was able to compete and play well on that last day. And I feel like SilverRock, the golf course was the hardest one to go low on. And I feel like I'm coming back to the Palmer Course, and that I have a great opportunity to make some birdies. And I'll capitalize on the par-5s that I can actually reach. I think I only went for one par-5 in two today and still I hit my drive like 320 just to get myself that opportunity.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow a lot.

Q. So deep down inside are you feeling like, I can pretend this is the Nationwide Tour, it doesn't matter where I'm at, I just got to play a good round, right?
ALEX PRUGH: Definitely. I think if I just keep my game plan that I was playing the last four days, and keep on plugging along, making birdies here and there, and minimizing the mistake, I think I'll have a great chance.

Q. Obviously, we still have a round to go, but would you have thought that 70 would have kept you at the top of the leaderboard today?
ALEX PRUGH: No.
(Laughter.) Definitely not. I felt like I was on the harder course of them all, just because it is longer and you don't have as many wedge shots coming in, can't reach the par-5s. And the way things are going the first three days, look where the scores were going, and I definitely didn't think 2-under would keep me in it. I thought I would be maybe Top-5 still, but definitely didn't think I would be leading.

Q. Obviously you played with amateurs for four straight days, one day in the middle where you didn't do anything, tomorrow is pros only. Maybe taking on a little different feel do you think?
ALEX PRUGH: I think it will be a little different feel. The competition level's going to be up there high a little bit more, but at the same time we're going to see more quality golf shots, which will help me visualize some of my golf shots as well better. And hopefully I can use that to capitalize and make more birdies.

Q. You said you only went for one par-5 in two today, do you remember which one that is?
ALEX PRUGH: It was No. 2.

Q. With a lake down there?
ALEX PRUGH: The one with the lake up front. Fortunately we had a little helping wind. I smashed my drive and was parallel to or, yeah, got right up to the front lip of that fairway bunker, which is about 325 there. And knowing that my drive went that far, obviously, ball in hand, you can pick a good lie. Maybe I was a little heated in the fact that I just bogeyed the hole before, but I knew I had, it was fairly confident that I had, I think I had about 250 carry on the water, just was fairly confident I could get my 3-wood over there. I hit in the bunker, but it was a pretty simple bunker shot.

Q. Were the only ones just a matter of not feeling that you were confident getting to the green?
ALEX PRUGH: I don't think I physically could have. The only other one that I thought about was on 18 before I was making the turn. But I had a one where the ball seemed like it was about 6 inches below my feet, into a little wind, all over water, and I'm like, I'm talking to my caddie, and we're just like, I think if I hit the perfect shot, I could have gotten there. But not a perfect shot, which is about 95 percent of the time.
(Laughter.)
I'm dropping about 50 yards in front of me and/or having a long bunker shot of some sort. So I just decided to lay up and take my chances with the wedge.

Q. You won once in college, you were runner-up a lot, that kind of thing. Now you're looking at your second pro title in two years. Is there something different or something you've learned as you've gone along?
ALEX PRUGH: I think I just have grown up as a golfer. Kind of acknowledged my weaknesses and actually taken them on and practiced them. I think my course management's a lot better and just my mind in general is just feeling just getting ready to compete and whatnot.
DAVE SENKO: Thanks, Alex.
ALEX PRUGH: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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