GTE BYRON NELSON GOLF CLASSIC

May 13, 2000

Jesper Parnevik

JESPER PARNEVIK: It was a tough day, obviously. Looking at the scoring, nobody did pretty much anything except for a few guys in the morning. I think this wind we had today was much tougher than we had the first few days. It was absolute opposite wind, and I think this course plays a lot tougher this way. You know, the first nine holes are playing real tough, I think. Terrible bogey on 1. Perfect drive, wedge in. I don't know what I did. I kind of quit on a wedge a little bit, ended up right; hit a good chip and missed a 4-footer for par. So it was not the ideal start, but I just played solid after that. Tried to grind -- I looked at the scoreboard, saw that nobody did anything. So I kind of realized that everybody had a tough time out there, and I just, you know tried to give myself chances to maybe get to maybe 7- , 8- , 9-under. I had a few chances in the end, but I just misread a few of the putts. I'm still pleased with where I am. I haven't played for a few weeks, and was 3-over after six holes the first day. So it's nice to only have two guys in front of you. When it's that way, it seems like anyone can win. It's different when you have ten guys, you know, three or four shots ahead of you. Then you know you've got to shoot a really low score. Tomorrow, if they just play decent, a few under might win it.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I usually always play fairly aggressively, so I'm going to keep doing that. I'm not going to take stupid risks. I think in the beginning, just see what everybody is doing. If it's playing like today, it seems like nobody is going to do anything on the front nine, really, because it's playing very hard. I mean, yesterday we hit wedges in to No. 2; today I hit 5-wood. So it's a big difference. Of course, a lot of things can happen the last five holes downwind, especially 16. Yesterday, we couldn't reach 16, and today I had 7-iron into 16. So, you know, if the same wind, a lot of things could happen coming down the stretch tomorrow.

JESPER PARNEVIK: 2nd hole, yeah -- no, 3rd hole, yeah. 3rd hole, I had a wedge in there yesterday and I had a 5-wood in there today.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Definitely. If you're up there, of course, you're more, how should I say, pumped up, to tee it off. I'd much rather be where I am now than back of the pack trying to make a decent check. Of course, they have a great field this week. Probably one of the best fields all year. You know, you don't really think about who is up there and who is doing what. It's more where you are in the tournament. If you have a chance to win, I think you're pretty excited, whoever is playing.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Oh, I'd say if it's playing like today and you go out and shoot like Hank Kuehne did today, you can definitely win. So anyone who is 3- , 4-, 5-under has a chance to win it. You know, it's going to take a very, very good round if the wind stays the same to shoot those scores, because the greens were getting very firm in the end.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah, I think it got up more and more. I don't know why, but it felt that way. It seemed like the wind affected the ball much more the longer the round went. Like I said, I had 195 pin on 15 and I hit an 8-iron, you know, just past, pin-high. But it was not blowing nearly as much as the first day, but it still seemed like this direction of the wind makes it more tricky.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Oh, I love it when it blows, yeah. (Laughs). I would say that's one of my strong suits, to be able to keep the ball down, shape it both ways. You know. If it blows left-to-right I can hook it in there. If it's the other way, I can hold it pretty much in, anyway, which you have to do when the wind blows hard. Because when the greens are starting to get firm, if you start hitting wind-to-wind the ball is going to go 30 feet, 40 feet sideways as soon as it hits the green, anyway.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I hit a little bit like that on No. 12, the long one, dogleg-right. Hit a little 6-iron that way. The wind was blowing pretty long left-to-right into it, and the pin was on the right-hand side, and you just didn't want anything to get up in the air and shoot to the right. Aim a little right of the pin and hit a low, slinging hook.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah, I didn't want to be where I was, of course. I had 170 pin behind that tree, and I was just worried that I couldn't get it up fast enough to get it over the tree. So, you know, I took a 9-iron and hit it fairly hard, I'd have to say, but just tried to get it up as quick as I could, and when it cleared the tree I was happy. When it pitched two feet from the hole, that was a great bonus.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I hit driver, 7-iron. Just tried to bounce it in the upslope short of the pin, and it stayed just on the fringe short of the green, and I 2-putted from there. 5, I had a good 7-iron in there about 12 feet.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I like my time off. I had some friends in from Sweden. It was five of us, we went to the Bahamas for five days, boating over there, which was a lot of fun. And then we just played golf, fished, relaxed the other week. So I had a great time. I usually try to do that once or twice a year, bring my friends from Sweden over, just to keep the ties close. Because now I'm going to spend so much time over here, I don't see them very often.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah. High school-type.

JESPER PARNEVIK: No, it just worked out great with my schedule. I played like four or five in a row up until Greensboro there; so it was just perfect to take two weeks off and come here. And then I go to Germany next week; so I thought three weeks before I went to Germany was a little too much. So great field this week. I wanted to come here. I always enjoyed playing here. I don't know when my last -- I think Michael Pernfors caddied for me last time I was here, and it was extremely hot, I remember.

JESPER PARNEVIK: No. They are fairly normal guys.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah, I do. Especially now, around the summertime when I know how much fun it would be to be in Stockholm. I mean, Stockholm is a great city in the summertime, because all the Swedes just go crazy because the sun is out, finally. (Laughter.) It's a lot of fun. Stockholm is on the water. Summer is a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to going there. I thought about actually going there for one day tomorrow, but it looks like I won't be able to catch a flight. Usually, I spend the summer -- well, between U.S. Open and PGA in Sweden.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah. Of course, I play a few events on the European Tour at the same time. It's always nice to come back. My parents, you know, still live in Sweden and all my friends, like I said.

JESPER PARNEVIK: I'm looking forward to Pebble. I think it's going to suit my game more than any other U.S.-Open-type golf course, because usually it's been just a straight-hitter's tournament. If you hit it in the rough, you just have to chop out and make bogey. They set up Pinehurst really nicely last year, I thought, where you could actually advance it out of the rough. And Pebble, Beach the way I hear, it's going to be more length than when we played in February, which is usually wet. You're going to see a little bit of running-type conditions, and that's the type of golf I like.

JESPER PARNEVIK: No.

JESPER PARNEVIK: Yeah, like I said, I mean, I look forward to that one more than other U.S. Opens where -- you know, driving hasn't always been my strong suit. So, you know, I have to play very defensively in the U.S. Opens, just to get around.

End of FastScripts….