WGC AMERICAN EXPRESS CHAMPIONSHIP

September 20, 2002

Jerry Kelly

TODD BUDNICK: We're with Jerry Kelly, a 7 under 65 today. You got off to a great start with birdies on the first four holes. Talk about your start today.

JERRY KELLY: First hole, I just did a good little half iron in there about four feet or so, and then the second hole, I had about a 30-footer and a cameraman took a shot right in the backswing of my putt, and I looked over to him. I looked over as the ball was going in the hole. I said, "You're lucky." That was kind of fun.

And then the 4th hole, the pin was in the back, so I hit it short of the pin, about 20 feet and made a good putt there.

Knocked it just over the green on the par 5 in two, chipped back to about three feet.

Par 3, I had too much club. I needed a 2-iron, and I didn't have one in my bag, so I tried to hit an easy 1-iron and that's not easy to do. I left it right of the bunker and that was a tough up and down, so I missed that one.

Knocked it on the green and 2-putt about 30 feet on ten.

15, 3-wood sand wedge to about 10 feet.

16, I hit a 6-iron to about three feet.

17, just off the front edge, hit a pretty poor chip to about 10 feet and made a good putt. That was it.

TODD BUDNICK: Tell us about the conditions out there today.

JERRY KELLY: They were beautiful again. Ireland is being good to this Irishman. It's great weather, great golf course. I would have loved to see an Irish golf course in Ireland, but this surely is a pretty great American-styled golf course. There's nothing bad you can say about this place.

Q. Can you talk about where your game was before you went to see Rick Smith last week, and what you guys worked on?

JERRY KELLY: My game. My health, my mental and my game were about as poor as I've been in a long time. I went from winning a golf tournament, getting sick and pushing my physical side and it got so bad and I had no clue what I was doing, absolutely no clue. I didn't even hit a few good shots. I hit all bad shots. I was lucky that the physical improved right before I went to see him. We worked for six hours or so. We really hit one of the main things it was, which was just a setup issue, if you can believe that. From a setup problem, it caused everything else in my swing, my path, my rotation, just everything. With it being a setup issue and not having to worry about my swing, then I'm able to come back that quick. He thought that it was just going to be something small and it was a lot smaller than I thought it could ever be, because of the way I was hitting. It was ugly.

Q. How long does it take you to go from being lost to feeling confidence standing over the ball?

JERRY KELLY: 67, 65 (laughter). I knew I was hitting it well in the practice rounds. I had some funky shots, but yesterday on the first hole, I was very nervous. I was playing much more conservative than I probably ever had. I carried that out throughout the day because I knew I was just building myself back mentally, and even if my swing was good, I didn't want to push any tough situations to put pressure on myself coming back. You know, I kind of broke through a little bit, I think, with yesterday's round. I played extremely conservative to some tough pins and made a whole bunch of birdies and no bogeys, and only missed one green, that was on the fringe. I kind of told myself, "Gee, that's the way you should be playing a major golf tournament." I never played well in the majors before, and I'm hoping I can use this to look back on. I played the same today. I played away from a whole bunch of pins, the pins I went over, I was confident, because I hit where I wanted to even when I shot away from the pin. It was very calm out there for me.

Q. Can I ask you about your Irish heritage or where your heritage comes from?

JERRY KELLY: County Cork. Really. I'm from a Kelly clan. I'm not 100 percent; there's no bad blood in me. I haven't traced it completely back. Nobody has claimed me yet.

Q. Could I ask you, have you come to Ireland before in preparation for the British Opens?

JERRY KELLY: I haven't. I haven't had the luxury of coming over and skipping weeks over there. Besides that. The Greater Milwaukee Open is right before the British and that's my home. I have to play a week before the British, which makes it difficult to come over early. I've always wanted to come over and spend extra time. It hasn't worked out, and I felt it was kind of sacrilegious, England and Scotland before Ireland, but I'll make it up for it somehow. It feels great. It feels like there's a lot of people behind me. It definitely feels like home.

Q. Are you looking forward to going head-to-head with Tiger tomorrow?

JERRY KELLY: It will be great. Last time I was in the last group also. So I've been on the stage with him before also. It's just playing my game and he's going to do what he's going to do, and I can't really fight him. I've got to play with my own and just play as well as I can and see what happens after that.

Q. When did you first come over here, to Ireland, ever?

JERRY KELLY: Ever?

Q. Have you been over quite a bit?

JERRY KELLY: Monday morning.

Q. This is your first trip?

JERRY KELLY: Yes.

Q. How do you feel -- having never won a tournament, I think it was the first time you've been in a final group on Sunday, do you feel you acquitted yourself that day at Sawgrass, and how different are you now, not so much with the recent stuff, but having won twice?

JERRY KELLY: I think TPC was the start of me getting to that next level. There's no question about it. I played solid with him. I wasn't intimidated by him. I played well that day. I had a lot more chances to make putts that I didn't make that day. And I finally got one on 15, and I think I was one or two, I'm not sure what it was. I caught a bad break being six inches in the rough on 16. He caught a great break being in the rough on 15. If those two would have been opposite, I could have been even with him through 16. So I hung with him that entire time. There's no question about it. You know, I have no reason to be intimidated now. I didn't feel that way then, just because that's kind of my demeanor anyway. It's just guys playing golf, same way. He's got great mental and physical talents but anybody can be beat.

Q. It was a two-day final?

JERRY KELLY: Yes, I won. Things were going pretty well for me that first day and I came back the next day and couldn't really make a thing until the 15th hole and then I finally made one.

That gave me some confidence to know -- I mean, I pushed a really bad situation on the 72nd hole because I had to. I had to make birdie out of an impossible spot. That gave me the confidence that I won 71 holes the way I wanted to play. The second hole I pushed myself out of it. That gave me some confidence in Reno. And really going back to Reno, I wouldn't get those shots any differently on 16. I went 2-under. That shows me a flaw that I had in my short game that I have corrected, but that's the way that I hit those shots. I sliced them a little more than I should have. Now I follow through towards the hole a little bit so I can't miss them. I played 72 holes exactly the way I wanted to play them there, and that gave me confidence the next year, I played my game and I can win.

Q. Would it be easier playing with Tiger here than in the States, do you think?

JERRY KELLY: I really think it will be the same to play with Tiger in the final group. It's a great stage. I mean, it's the ultimate to be playing with him and in the final group, it doesn't get any better than that. If you can't get up, you're dead. The question is, can you control yourself. I feel like I can now, so I'm looking forward to it.

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you, Jerry.

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