WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

February 27, 2004

Jerry Kelly

JERRY KELLY: It would have been absolutely numb by the second hole this morning, but just standing up, if I ever stood like this, especially on my right leg, it would have been numb for the rest of the day, so this has been -- that's why I keep on bringing it up, what kind of shape I'm in. I haven't felt this good health-wise -- I've always had so many injuries, so many nagging injuries, and I kept on playing sports that gave me injuries, too.

. You talked a little bit this morning about the tingling in your leg. When exactly did that start? Do you know the reason for it?

JERRY KELLY: Absolutely not. Trying to figure out if -- the weakness in my hip seems like it's been happening for a few years, the muscles and the tendons kind of clamp down and the hip was deteriorating to try to protect it. And last year it really came to light, but I think the hip was what caused it. And like I said, Vijay's trainer, Joey, really hooked me up. It's good stuff.

Q. Did he work with you as much as Vijay?

JERRY KELLY: No. I've been trying to -- it's almost like I'm dodging him. I've been working so hard on my golf swing, I have not been off the golf course in daylight hours, period. Paulie was Vijay's caddie, and it's like he's working for Vijay again. I've been hitting the ball so darn bad, I had to be out there, I had to be on the rock pile. I wasn't looking on the right bank so I was pushing it backwards and finally hooked up with Rick and things worked out this week, finally started working on the right things.

Q. Who are you working with?

JERRY KELLY: Rick Smith.

Q. How long?

JERRY KELLY: Six, seven years, a long time. I don't know what's taken him so long.

Q. The thing with your leg, this is something you've seen people about?

JERRY KELLY: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I've seen back doctors, I've seen three different doctors.

Q. There's no real diagnosis?

JERRY KELLY: Neuralgia paresthetica. Which one comes first, the tendons tightening on the nerves and the nerves go dead and then you start getting some atrophy in the leg, or is it because the hip was so bad that everything started to clamp down? Who knows which happened first, but I don't care, it's over.

Q. Why does match play suit your temperament so well (laughter)? I know you pretty well, don't I? You were getting ready to check one or both of us into the boards.

JERRY KELLY: That's pretty much why. Same kind of idea. If I lose a hole and I'm teeing off second and a guy starts walking out on the fairway, you just paint a big bulls eye in his back and you walk after him. It's like taking a number after a guy hits you in hockey. You've got to find his number again. It's very similar. You're going at one guy. Normally, I'm getting so mad at myself, I normally could care less what they're -- absolutely, it's all against me. But we're playing against someone. It doesn't matter what we shoot, as we showed today, but you've got to kill or be killed, that's it.

Q. 14 was a pretty short putt that you did not concede.

JERRY KELLY: 14?

Q. I think it was 14.

JERRY KELLY: He hasn't been putting that great and he's got to make a three-footer to win a hole? He's going to make me do it, absolutely.

Q. You thought this was a potential pitfall, playing the man too much, paying too much attention to what he's doing.

JERRY KELLY: The guy you're playing starts playing really bad, you don't want to play him, you just want to shoot under par. You know, if you're both doing the same type of thing, which we were this afternoon, then hey, may the best man win. Fight it out, gut it out.

Q. Does being able to focus on the other guy help your temperament with yourself?

JERRY KELLY: Yeah, because you don't get so pissed off at yourself because you kind of focus on him.

No, there's no question that I want to get the other guy so bad that it fires me up. My wife always tells me I feel sorry for myself out there when I make bogeys. I just want to go get the guy that just beat me instead of feeling sorry for myself, so it's definitely a different mindset. It definitely fits right into my wheelhouse there.

It was a long day.

End of FastScripts.