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BOB HOPE CLASSIC

January 25, 2010

Tim Clark

LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA

DOUG MILNE: Tim Clark, we'll go ahead and get started. Bogey-free 7-under 65 today. Not quite enough, but another solid performance. You really played well here as the record shows. Just a few comments on the round, and it wasn't worth a victory, but certainly have to feel good about how you played.
TIM CLARK: At the end of the day, the score was good, but a little disappointed how I felt out there. I didn't feel great with the putter. It was a bit of a struggle all day. A lot of the birdies I had were sort of tap-ins.
But just the front nine, I let a few 10-, 15-footers, get away from me. So sort of the left putts that I had on the last there, too. I just wish I had felt a little bit better on greens because I thought there was a low round out there for sure.

Q. Going into the last hole, you figure you need birdie to get into a playoff probably. Take us through your second shot.
TIM CLARK: Yeah, there's a chance I could have gotten there, but great shot still would have left me probably over the ridge with a tough 30-footer down the slope.
My wedge game is my strength, so I knew laying it up, I hopefully wouldn't have more than 10 feet. And I left myself a perfect 7-, 8-footer, not much to it.
So at the end of the day, I think I did what I needed to, to give myself a best look an at birdie there. I certainly didn't want to throw away the tournament. If I hit my 3-wood there, it's probably going to come up short in the water. A great shot is probably going to either leave me a long 2-putt or a chip from the back of the green, which I didn't want either.
So I tried to play it the way I played the whole round and the whole week. I don't want to get ahead of myself and try and do anything silly.

Q. Can you give us your distance to the green and pin on the second shot?
TIM CLARK: I think I had, it was like, 231 to the flag. Then again it's just a little bit of a downhill lie. And with an uphill lie, then it's probably a much easier shot with a 3-wood. But I don't hit the ball high enough to land it soft enough on that green to keep it on that bottom tear.

Q. 7-iron lay up?
TIM CLARK: I hit 7-iron, yeah.

Q. Talk about just kind of coming down the stretch and being so close and how was the tension out there? How do you feel?
TIM CLARK: There's always going to be an exciting day with so many guys bunched in there. And obviously, I started to make some birdies on the back nine to get back into it. It felt good. It was relaxing. When you know you have to make birdies, it makes things a little bit easier.
Like I say, I just never felt great with the putter. I just never stood over one thinking I'm going to make it. So it's tough to play like that all day pretty much. The good thing is I still drove the ball good, hit a lot of good chip shots, which enabled me to shoot 7-under.

Q. How was your putter the rest of the week, did you feel better about it than today?
TIM CLARK: Not really. I made a bunch of birdies, you would think I putted my eyeballs out, but I missed a lot of short ones. I had a 4-putt on the first day, first round on a par-5 for a double. So I certainly, if I look back to the week, I left a lot of shots out there. Particularly the round at La Quinta, I made a double and two bogeys out there with nine birdies. You just can't do that.
But then again I played the last two days without a bogey, which is pretty good. So a bit of a mixed bag, really.

Q. If you wouldn't mind just running us through your birdies and just giving us some quick club and distance.
TIM CLARK: Let's see, Number 5, obviously that's a tough par-3, and I sort of bailed out to the right, to the right of the green even. I was off the green there and made a very nice sort of 40-footer or whatever just trying to 2-putt that.
On 4, I missed about a 10-footer, and 6, I missed a 10-footer. So I make the one where I have the longest putt.
8, I think I had about 56, 70 yards to the hole there, and I hit it to a couple inches, I think it was.
10, I hit a 5-iron in there also to a couple inches.
11, was able to get to the green, which is nice. Most of these par-5s just a little out of my reach. The first couldn't get to today. I hit a bad sort of second there. But 2-putt birdie on 11.
I had a good look at eagle, actually had a nice pretty easy 30-footer there.
14, hit probably my worst wedge shot of the week to about 18 feet and made the putt.
15, I had hit a great shot on 15. 7-iron today with the pin in the back, and it's extremely narrow. Standing on that tee, that's probably the most nerve-wracking shot on the golf course. And I hit a 7-iron to probably five feet there.
Then 17, I hit a nice 9-iron. I thought it was going to be a lot closer to hole, but came up short probably 20 feet and made a good putt there.
But I guess looking at the round I did make a few long issue birdie putts but like I say, I never felt great over it.
DOUG MILNE: Okay.

Q. Do you know Bill much or at all?
TIM CLARK: I know Bill pretty well. Obviously we were never, he went to Wake Forest, I went to NC State, but we were never there at the same time. But I would say he's obviously a nice man. And obviously I played a bit out here with Jay. And obviously, they're a great family. So obviously very happy for Bill. He's a great player, obviously, and this is affirmation of that.
DOUG MILNE: Thank you for your time.
TIM CLARK: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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