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MISSISSIPPI GULF RESORT CLASSIC

May 1, 2010

Gary Hallberg

BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Gary Hallberg with a very fine 6-under 66 today. Gary, we counted them up. You had 8 threes on the card and 25 putts. In this wind, that's a heck of a score.
You tie the course record. A kid named Kyle Ramey I guess who played college golf at Souther Miss had shot 66 here in some event.
Just talk about your round today. You moved up on the leaderboard quite a bit.
GARY HALLBERG: Well, I was happy the wind was blowing this morning, because yesterday I played very nicely. I think I hit 14 greens, 11 fairways, I was striking the ball, 35 putts, and it was disappointing. I left the course kind of with that confused kind of, I've really been playing well. I can't believe I shot 74.
So I got out there today and the wind was blowing. I thought, you know what, even if I putt poorly I should be around par and that should make up a lot of ground.
Fortunately I hit a lot of close irons and I putted great. I made the ones that I was supposed to make. I had one bad swing and it was on the wrong hole. I made double bogey on No. 3.
But I just hung in there. I played -- you know, I've been talking to different players, and they say, Gary, just go out there and play. Just hit it. Don't think so much. I have a tendency to think too much.
So I went out there, and I think the golf course does tell you, when you look out there, you kind of know what shot you have to hit. So I just was able to visualize and go out there and have a lot of fun and play some golf.
It was a great day. Great to have a good score on a tough day. You pick up tremendous ground, don't you?
PHIL STAMBAUGH: I looked this up. This is your low score of the Champion's Tour since round two of the Dick's Sporting Goods Open when you had 66.
Obviously this is much tougher golf course.
GARY HALLBERG: Much tougher. The beauty of this round was that I feel that I'm just playing golf. Back then I'm working on different swing theories and this and that and trying to fix my swing all the time.
It's good to work on things, but I got a couple good feels and I'm just going to play golf now. I'm really happy. It's been real relaxing. Supposed to be that way. I guess that's what the top players are doing.
It's one round is all it is. Hopefully I plan on having more rounds like this. It wasn't that it was a crazy round as far as I made everything, but did I make the four-, five-, six-footers.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Can you just take us through you card.
GARY HALLBERG: Yeah, No. 1, a three-footer on No. 1 with a pitching wedge.
A four-footer on No. 2 with an 8-iron in there.
Hit it in the water on No. 3 with a 5-iron, and then knocked it on there and 2-putted for double bogey.
Sand wedge to about six feet on the next hole.
A 7-iron on number, where am I, on No. 5 to about 20 feet. That was my biggest putt.
Then driver 6-iron on No. 6 about -- 2-putted from about 80 feet.
No. 10, driver, sand wedge about eight feet.
11, hybrid 9-iron about ten feet.
Then on 13, I hit a driver hybrid to the right of the green, chipped up three feet, and made that.
Then I had a couple good scrambles coming in.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Tell us where they were.
GARY HALLBERG: Yeah, I was in the bunker on 14. Blasted to about 12 feet and made that.
Drove it int eh fairway bunker up against the lip on 15, and then wedged out, hybrid on, and 2-putted from about 80 feet. That was 15.
Let's see, 16 I almost birdied.
17, hit it left of the green and pitched it into the bank and rolled up there about seven feet and made that.
And then 18 I hit it to the right of the green just laying up out of the bad lie, and then 2-putted from off the green.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Questions.

Q. Just looking at the rounds, two birdies to start off and then the double bogey. Were you discouraged or were you kind of feeling like, Well, that's just this hole?
GARY HALLBERG: You know, the beauty of -- I just feel like I'm hitting the ball solidly, so it was kind of like that really was a freak. Doesn't matter. It's not gonna have anything to do with my round. I'm still gonna make a bunch of birdies and hit the ball solid down the middle. I use that new Callaway driver, and I'm hitting the ball really solid and as straight as I have in a long time.
You know, little things like that: Hitting it straight and pretty far. I have a friendly relationship with my swing going right now. (Laughing.)

Q. (No microphone.)
GARY HALLBERG: Very emotional. Oh, yeah, you know, some of the old-timers they say in all sports, you know, you just got to show up. Just show up. Don't think about it. Just get there.
Today just between shots I tried to not think about it. Just get to the next shot and get over the ball and then just show up and then go do the best I can and let go of it and move on.
I have a tendency to think about the whole thing, what's happening behind, ahead. You know, I was able to just kind of let go of it today and go play some golf. It was kind of nice.

Q. You mentioned that attitude, it's funny, Clampett is here, you're here in the field this week. Once upon a time you guys were the hottest things going. Both of you had some valleys along the way. You ever think about what's been and what might still be in terms of getting some kind of sustained success out here, what that would be like?
GARY HALLBERG: You know, it's nice of you to bring that up. Bobby and I are good buddies. To play with him his first Champions Tour event was awesome. We were both so happy. I was just thrilled.
We played a lot golf. We competed a lot: junior golf, amateur golf. And, yeah, we didn't have the careers that we thought we would. Our lives, you know, we had lots of great things. We had families and we've done a lot of things.
The golf, it was a struggle. I think we both were overly technical and thought too much about it. At one point we didn't, and then we started to go down those roads.
For whatever reason, things go the way they go. To answer your question, yeah, we talked about it yesterday. This could make up for a lot of lost time. You know, come out here and just kind of get it back like you used to.
You know, start getting back up there and have guys go, Hey, nice round today, instead of walking past you like you're not even there. So it feeds on itself, guys.
You have a good round and you get interviewed. People are talking. Hey, great going. It's confidence. You know, when your confidence starts coming back, you know, it can spur on some good things.

Q. How simple did it seem once upon a time when you and Clampett both were at the top of amateur game?
GARY HALLBERG: I ask a lot other players, I say, what was I like back then? John Cook, O'Meara. Hey, JC, what was I like? Can you give me a nugget maybe I can grasp onto and run with?
He said, You used to get up there and just hit it and you go hit it again. Mark Wiebe always tells me, Come on, man, you didn't even really aim it. You don't even really know where you're going. You stick it in the ground and you looked out there. Your feet could be left, right. Almost didn't matter. You just ripped it down there.
Now you're over the ball, Okay, and...
It's like you got the protractor out and the rulers. You know, everything has got to be just right. You play and shoot 73, you know.
And the beauty of the last couple days, this week was the first week I said, I'm gonna go out there and just play golf, swing. I'm not gonna care what's out there, traps, bunkers. Just wind up and let her rip.
I really wasn't really aiming. I knew where I wanted to go, but I didn't really look at my feet and all these things. So I'm trying to let it go and be free. It's hard to. You know, it's really hard to. I hope I can try and keep doing that.

Q. When the veterans see the youngsters come out, they often have no fear of missing. We learn fear as we get older. Maybe you played earlier on like, I have no fear...
GARY HALLBERG: Well, you know, I got to say the shot that Phil Mickelson hit on 13 at Masters was just so awesome. Buddies of mine that play out here, they go, There it is. That's it. Phil just got up there and he wasn't aiming at the left edge of the tower or whatever. He knew where the hole was. He aimed it, he got up there, and just made solid contact and full, free swing.
I think that was big for me to see that. And I made full, free swings today, and I had a good round.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Keep it going.
GARY HALLBERG: All right.

End of FastScripts

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