CHRYSLER CHAMPIONSHIP

October 30, 2003

Jerry Kelly

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Jerry, good round today, 3-under-par, 68, co-leader with Robert Gamez; a lot of players still yet to play but it looks like it might get windier than this morning. Start with some opening comments. Tough golf course.

JERRY KELLY: Yes, it is a tough goal course. I missed the 1st green, par-5 with a wedge. I had one in the my ball on the 2nd, knocked it 40 yards left of the pin; I didn't get up-and-down. Then the next hole, I hit a perfect drive but hit the wrong club and had it on the downslope of the rough and the water.

You just got to pay attention on every single hole. Even on your layup shots, there is trouble everywhere. So you really have to be precise on every single shot. There is really not many gimmes out there at all.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Let's talk about your goals in the last two events of the season. You probably accomplished a lot of what you want to do, probably one of them would be a win.

JERRY KELLY: Yes, a win is paramount. Those are my goals pretty much. Win tournaments, win majors, get on the Presidents Cup, Ryder Cup teams. The one thing I would like to do is be in the Top-10 again this year. I mean I got up to No. 6 last year. You know, I still think about the beginning of this year where, you know, that Sports Illustrated article where I was overrated, if I get Top-10 two years in a row; I don't know who is going to be calling me overrated.

Q. Where are you on the money list; are you like 19?

JERRY KELLY: 22, I think.

Q. There is a lot on the line for a lot of guys this week; are you just playing because you want to, to get ready for the final swing of TOUR Championship, Presidents Cup? I'm glad your here by the way.

JERRY KELLY: Yes, there is a lot of want-to in there. Like I said, I really want to get back to the Top-10. I'd like to win, you know. I just don't feel like I have done as much as I could this year. I would really like to finish on a strong note.

Q. Some of that wasn't your own doing in terms of health?

JERRY KELLY: Yes, it's a weird year. Yes, I have had some hip troubles and some leg troubles. You know, it stopped me from working out. I started working out again on Tuesday. So hopefully it's a start of coming back strong, being healthy and being strong. I just switched clubs this week so I wanted to play a couple of extra times before the President's Cup. I kind of had a mixed bag.

Q. What did you switch to?

JERRY KELLY: Still the TA-1s. A new model FF that they wanted me to put in the bag. I put a couple of them in. I had my old ones in. I actually switched halfway through the year and put the beginning of last year's clubs in because the ones I was playing with didn't feel that good. So I made three switches this year. Hopefully this is the last one until the grooves start dying next year.

Q. You started switching in the middle of the year; a piecemeal kind of thing?

JERRY KELLY: Yes, I switched back to -- none of the ones that they sent me I liked, so I switched back to the one where I won twice with. They were too weak. I don't know if the shafts were exhausted but the grooves were going too. So I knew I had to get some new clubs in. These feel really good. I'm excited to start swinging well and start hitting it hard again. I have really been hitting a lot of punching, easy shots, kind of not my game. I just want to kind of free swing and see how low I can go this week.

Q. Would you rather play a course like this where 68 is leading or might be leading or 63, let's say, could be leading after the first round?

JERRY KELLY: Well, looking at my track record in the majors and some of other tougher courses, it's hard to say. I think if I'm striking it well, I can play any golf course. But I know I put a lot of pressure on myself in some of the harder events and I haven't performed all that well.

But you know, I think I'm ready. I think I'm ready to play. I have played well on some tough courses. There is no question about it. But you know, it's just time for me to step up and play my game again.

Q. Did you play Greensboro?

JERRY KELLY: I did. No comment.

Q. I didn't know how much time you had taken off coming into this week and whether you had any idea a good score like this was coming?

JERRY KELLY: No, I didn't. I have been working hard with my brother-in-law at home and just saw Rick yesterday and I think they got me swinging pretty well. I think the clubs are working with the swing that I got. You know, I'm just excited to get a good one under my belt and get some confidence going and swing at it.

Q. Do you feel any pressure for the President's Cup the first time?

JERRY KELLY: The only pressure I feel right now is making sure that I got the right equipment in the bag. It was a big thing for me to get the clubs in. I think that was huge. And getting a good round, I hit some really good shots out there. So I was pretty happy, especially being 2-over early to come back with a good one.

Q. So just to clarify this is the first round you played with the full set?

JERRY KELLY: Yes. Got everything changed yesterday afternoon, after I played, so I was hoping the good stuff came out.

Q. Big change, little change?

JERRY KELLY: She is shaking her head.

Q. Have you played the Copperhead Course before today?

JERRY KELLY: I played the J.C. Penney and I played 2000 here. So I knew how tough the course was. I didn't come in here thinking it was going to be, "KJ shot 17, let's go low." This is a tough golf course, I know it is. The greens are fast. It's tough.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Let's talk about your bogey on No. 2. You bogeyed 3 and after that it was clear sailing; what happened on 3.

JERRY KELLY: 3, it was 252 to the water. I figured I could pop a 4-wood up there, hit it solid, the wind carried it and it took a huge bounce where I got more backspin off drivers than I got roll all day and that one took a huge bounce, you know, ended up through the fairway and (inaudible) almost down to the water. I knocked it up there five feet on my chip. It was a tough putt. It was straight downside grain. I had to play it about eight inches out and just barely touch it and kind of try to ram it in. I made a good 4-footer coming back for bogey.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: You birdied No. 5, par-5.

JERRY KELLY: Driver, sand wedge to about 18 feet and that was a good putt. I needed to get that one in to get something going.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: 9.

JERRY KELLY: 9 was just a good drive and a 7-iron about let's say it was 10, 12 feet.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: 10, par-4.

JERRY KELLY: Driver, 6-iron left of the green, chipped it in. That was big.

Q. In the fluffy stuff?

JERRY KELLY: In the fluffy stuff, it was deep, hit a good chip.

JERRY KELLY: Driver right rough, 5-iron left rough, wedge about four feet.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: 16.

JERRY KELLY: Good question. It was a good driver, good 5-iron, about four, five feet.

Q. On 10, where did you miss the green?

JERRY KELLY: Left.

Q. Short side?

JERRY KELLY: Yes, but it was into the green uphill.

Q. I'm trying to make you look like a star and you are trying to make it sound ordinary; which was it?

JERRY KELLY: It was deep. It was tough. But it just came out perfect and rolled right in.

Q. What is your appraisal of the finish in the last four holes, how it compares to anywhere else, difficulty?

JERRY KELLY: I mean 16 is a damn good par-3. 15 is a good par-3. 16 is a great driving hole, great second shot hole. 17 is a tough par-3 and 18 is a really tough driving hole and a tough second shot. You can't really miss any shots, otherwise you are looking at bogey. I mean it's pretty stout. But going through it during the round, when I got to 2-over I'm like I can't get to any of the par-5s; there are no clearcut birdie holes. I just have to strike it good. When I made the longer putt for birdie that made me feel a little bit better, that I could make some putts and not have to knock it close to get birdies, but I could use the putter.

Q. Did you ever talk to anyone at the magazine why they thought you were overrated?

JERRY KELLY: It was a voting thing.

Q. A player vote?

JERRY KELLY: To tell you the truth I thought it was a player vote.

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: It was.

JERRY KELLY: I was coming into the Match Play so that was a big motivating factor for me in the Match Play.

Q. Did you ever start looking sideways at your peers wondering who said it, who voted?

JERRY KELLY: No; I just want to go out and play. I want to win every single week. Just give me that much motivation to do what I want to do. I don't know who said it. I don't know who voted. I just need to go out there and prove myself. I have been trying to prove myself ever since the start. You know I haven't had the prettiest swing. I just kind of got the job done. But I've done it by working extremely hard.

Any of the guys who watch me work out there, you know, they should know it's not from just having natural talent. I have good hand/eye coordination but I work to get the ball in the hole.

Q. How long did it take you for your hand to get okey-dokey after the British?

JERRY KELLY: I think it was fine. I did it again -- we went somewhere with a tough rough not long after the British. It might have been Atlanta -- that I felt like I did it again. But it didn't go up my arm that time. And, you know, it was one of those -- it was fine, so I don't think that was a factor after that.

You know, like I had told people, I could have played but it wasn't going to do me any good to play. It could only get worse. So giving it the rest, I think that was key. Looking at my record I'm not one to pull out so --

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Jerry thanks.

End of FastScripts.