BUICK OPEN

August 8, 2000

Tom Pernice, Jr.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: Obviously it was very special. Since that time I think I have just tried to continue to keep working hard like I had been and keep trying to improve and try to get another one. I played okay at the beginning of the year; haven't played very well (inaudible) nice to come back and play where you have got some great memories.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: It has been good. I have seen some progress that I was looking for working on my backswing a little bit; it is coming around; looking good on the video. Now it is a matter of being able to be comfortable with it; being able to hit some good shots. I missed the cut at The INTERNATIONAL by a shot and Quad Cities by a shot last two weeks, but it has been okay. It is starting to come around; still hitting a few wavered shots, but I feel like it is getting closer as I continue to work hard. We will see how it goes this week.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: Not any different it is from any other week. You have got to shoot the lowest score. I don't think there -- I am not trying to approach it any differently than I do any other week - preparing as well as I could here Tuesday; go out with a positive feel to my golf swing and be ready to go. I don't think there is any different strategy than there is any other time.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: Doesn't make anymore difference at all; just going to add more excitement to the event. It is not going to change how I play, that is for sure. Tiger has got to the go out and play his own game. He doesn't worry about anybody else. I do not think any of the players worry about what Tiger is doing in terms of what we have to do. He just brings a lot of people to the gate; brings a lot of attention to the media, a lot of attention to the PGA TOUR. I think it is great that he is here. I know the people here at Buick are excited about him being here and the community itself. Personally no, I don't. I think it is great when he does come out and play though.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: I think it helps, sure. I mean, I played good here a couple of years ago; played good obviously last year, so, you have some great memories in terms of what has happened here and feel very comfortable around this golf course. I think it is one of our better golf courses in terms of no tricks. If you play well, you have the opportunity to shoot good scores. But I have good feelings about it. It does help to have the confidence that you know how to play the course and you feel comfortable. Some people feel comfortable on other courses and don't feel comfortable on others, but this one, to me, is very comfortable.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: Not at all. Deservedly so. Look at what he has done. Nobody has done what he has done over the last year in any time in golf basically. Nicklaus, Snead, Hogan, I mean, what he has done and accomplished, what I determine in better competition than what they played in, I think, is remarkable. The attention that he gets and stuff, I think he truly deserves.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: I wasn't thinking about anything. I was just out there playing and all of a sudden putts started going in, you know, I made a nice putt on the par 5, 13th for eagle, and then hit a good drive on 13 right there in front, chipped it up two or three feet, made it. Made a good par on the next hole which was playing difficult that day, back into the wind. Then made the one at 16 and made another tough putt at 17. So out of nowhere putts started flying in, and lo and behold, all of a sudden I was in the lead didn't know much about it. It just worked out.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: This course can play either very long if you have a little bit of rain, it becomes -- the par 5s -- just a handful of people can reach one and 16 and some of the longer par 5s and the par 4s will play long if you don't get much rain and the fairways dry out, ball can run out there. More people can reach them because they have the approaches to run them up and stuff. I think it just depends on the weather, it can play very long, but in this day and age, I don't think a long course really matters much in terms of the scoring on the PGA TOUR if it is soft. Long irons into the greens, they are receptive; scores are still going to be low even in its long and soft. If it would be playing long and the greens would be firm and fast, I think it would be a different story. What usually happens is when the courses are playing long these days, it is firm and it is dry and the ball's running out there quite a bit. When it is playing long and soft, I don't think that it matters, I really don't, because the greens hold the shots and players are going to shoot good scores if the greens hold and the wind doesn't blow. If it dries out and the winds start blowing around here, don't get any rain, I think it plays more difficult even though it is shorter.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: No, not really. Because when you start here, the weather is going to be good. It's going to take 15- to 18-under. I mean, you know from the start, whether Tiger is playing or Ernie Els is playing or Davis Love is playing, or it really doesn't matter. With the caliber out here, it doesn't matter who is playing. You know if the weather is good because the course is going to be in great condition that scoring is going to be pretty good right off the bat. You know if you shoot par everyday, you are not going anywhere. So I don't think Tiger has an effect on how people play until possibly the last nine holes or something Tiger has some effect on people coming down the stretch when they have been in the hunt and stuff. What he did at Pebble Beach coming in comes to mind, first and foremost. And him and Ernie battling it out at Kapalua earlier in the year. But I don't think the players, as a rule, really look at Tiger and how they are going to play and what the scoring is going to be like. I think it definitely, coming down the stretch, is when Tiger is there, I think it's had some effect on some players coming down the stretch.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: Oh, I just think the satisfaction of being out here forever and practicing and working hard to know that you finally did what you were trying to accomplish and that the opportunity is there and to continue to work hard and hopefully there are some more down the road, I think, more than anything. That is more important to me than the two-year exemption and the money, all that. But I think just the satisfaction and the gratitude of working so hard and finally getting over that first step.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: I really haven't thought about it that much really. My two daughters said: Why are you playing so much all the time; you are exempt for two years? But I think I tried to have it motivate me a little bit more. I have tried to work harder, tried to, you know, just try to continue with my progress based on that and try to keep going.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: Not really. Obviously you are little bit well known. The people that watch golf and follow it and saw that you had won and they recognize you a little bit. But other than that, not really, no.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: Just to continue on and getting yourself in competition and the opportunity to win. I think everybody is out here to win golf tournaments. Whether it be the Buick Open or whether it be the PGA next week, I think you try to prepare yourself each week to go out there to win golf tournaments. In the back of your mind to know that you can do it is very satisfying and I think that will help when the time comes, you get down the stretch where it is there again, I think you can draw upon that and know that it can happen. I think that is what Tiger does so well. I mean, he is in competition so often, it is so easily to draw upon his success and confidence. He builds more and more based upon that and that is what makes him so tough, I think, to able to draw on his past experiences. And his -- he does it so well. I mean, he knows if he has a clutch putt at a certain time, he can recall that he has done it before and he knows that he can do it. He believes that he can do it he continues to do it.

TOM PERNICE, JR.: I think so and I think Tiger is playing at an exceptional level right now. You look at what happened, I mean, at the Western Open, I felt like he played pretty good, putted poorly, and finish 20th or so. I think no matter who you are, out here you have to putt well to be able to compete to win. I don't think you can hit the ball good enough and putt poorly and win out here the competition is too high. So, I don't think Tiger is going to win the PGA by 10 or 12 unless he putts extremely well again. I think Tiger would admit that both in the British Open and in the U.S. Open he putted the ball very nicely and I think Pebble he had less than 100 putts which is phenomenal on those greens that are so slopey and tricky. So I think when he won at The Masters he won by a large margin and is putting was phenomenal. His ball-striking obviously puts him there week after week. When he putts well that is when he distances himself from the field. Tiger would admit. Tough to win a golf tournament if he had a bad week of putting. His golf striking and mechanics is on tops of everybody, no question. You still have to putt well to be able to compete.