MCI HERITAGE

April 17, 2003

Craig Barlow

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you, Craig, for joining us for a few minutes. Kind of a strange round out there today, but an excellent front nine, which was your second nine today, a 28, and that would be a course record here at Harbour Town Golf Links.

Why don't you tell us about what was going on out there and then we'll take some questions.

CRAIG BARLOW: Started out on the back nine, shot 2-over and didn't play well. I've been fighting my swing all year. Kind of the same thing that I fought all year: Ball is going right and haven't felt very comfortable over the ball. There just came a point where I said, you know what, enough is enough, I'm tired of hitting right and so I thought to myself, what makes the ball go right? Ball position is probably too far back.

So I moved the ball as far as I could. It felt uncomfortable but I had nothing to lose. I started hitting good shots and I started rolling with it and I wasn't thinking about a score obviously. I was trying to get the feel back. As my feel started coming back, my ball flight improved and I just got -- I was able to be aggressive and I fired at pins and the ball went there. It was such a simple change, but with us, ball position and alignment is generally half the fight and I've been doing them both bad lately. It was nice to figure it out.

Q. You did that at the turn?

CRAIG BARLOW: I did it on my second shot, an 18. I fanned my 3-wood on 18 which was a miss-hit to the right. I had 5-iron in, isn't what I wanted in the back green and I just was tired of hitting right. I put the ball as far forward as I could and I hit it right at the pin. So I was like, that's a nice change.

Q. Is that about a radical a mid-round adjustment you've made in your swing?

CRAIG BARLOW: Yeah, but I had been feeling so uncomfortable over the ball it was really a no-lose situation. On the range I'm trying to figure it out. I've just been jumping back and forth. Golf is a silly game when it comes to feel. I really feel like I had to put it way more forward than I wanted to but it obviously wasn't. That tells you how bad the ball position has been.

Q. It sounds like those kind of adjustments, it sounds like something we would do if we were out there playing on Sunday. (Laughter.) How difficult is it for you as a professional who is taught, this is the way to do it, to make yourself do that kind of stuff?

CRAIG BARLOW: Again it would be hard to change if I was playing really well. Like I said, I think I missed my last three cuts and even the cuts I've made this year, I haven't played real well. I got off to a slow start last year, too, and played well at the end of the season. This isn't something -- this is something I've done before. It's a long year. I try to keep my head up. It's hard at times, but again, it was fun. It was fun to find the problem.

Now, whether it's going to work tomorrow, who knows. Obviously I know what I need to work on a little bit.

Q. So the 28, you're not going to get a swelled head?

CRAIG BARLOW: No, there's a lot of golf left. I shot 28 once before but not in a tournament though. I didn't even know -- I had a 5-footer on the last hole for 28, I was kind of counting -- I didn't know what I was putting for until I had it counted up. I got into a flow and I didn't even know what I was shooting until the last putt on the last hole.

Q. Could you go through your round for us?

CRAIG BARLOW: Yeah, I started on 10 and I bogeyed 12. Bogeyed 13. Birdied 14 the par 3. I hit a little 8-iron and actually I got a good break there. The ball ballooned on me a little bit and came up short of the pin and the pin was on the front of the green.

That's definitely nothing I was trying to do, be short of the pin on 14 with the water, but got away with it and made birdie.

Worst drive of the day on 15. Hit it in the woods and scrambled for bogey.

Played 16 and 17 sloppy but made pars.

18, I hit a sloppy drive and that's my 5-iron on 18 was where I did that. I hit a great shot, 15 feet, didn't make the putt.

And then went to No. 1 and hit a great drive, 9-iron about ten feet and made it for birdie.

Driver, 3-wood on 2 about 30 feet and made it for eagle.

Good par on 3. Hit 5-iron to about 15 feet on 4. Made birdie.

5, the par 5, I hit driver, 4-wood about eight feet and made it for eagle.

6 and 7, played two good holes, just pars.

8 is obviously a bonus to make a birdie there and I hit driver, 5-iron about eight feet and made it for birdie.

9, I hit wedge in there about five feet and made it for 28. Par.

Q. How far did you move it?

CRAIG BARLOW: I generally play from an open stance which is going to push your ball position back anyways. It felt like it was off my front toe but I guarantee you I was probably just ahead of the middle.

Q. So you moved it like an inch?

CRAIG BARLOW: I would say a couple inches. I would say it was probably a ball back of center, I moved it to a ball or two ahead of center.

Q. And do you feel that point where you say, why didn't I think of this a month ago?

CRAIG BARLOW: Yes and no. I did think of it a month ago but I didn't get the feeling or sensation that I wanted it from it.

Golf, I'm a feel player, I don't play on mechanics, I play on feel. If it doesn't give me a feel, I search for a different feel and I found the feel. There's no other explanation except it worked.

Q. So now do you go to the range and try to --

CRAIG BARLOW: I'm going to go to the range and maybe hit 20 balls just to say, okay, I'm happy with the position I found and now I want to get more -- get used to it a little more. Even as good as I played on the back nine, it still feels awkward to have the ball there because it has not been there in who knows how long.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Did you have some injuries that affected your game?

CRAIG BARLOW: I had two surgeries in the end of 2001, but it's been a year and a half now since then.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Has that bothered you at all?

CRAIG BARLOW: No, it has not affected my game. I'm still not 100% but who is 100% out here with their body.

Q. What were the surgeries for?

CRAIG BARLOW: I had left shoulder surgery and right hip surgery all within eight weeks of each other.

Q. It didn't affect your game?

CRAIG BARLOW: Well, this was a year and a half ago. I missed the last three months of 2001 and the first three months of 2002. I didn't make a cut last year until Kemper so I didn't really get going until June. So you could say that it took me nine months from my surgery to start playing decent golf again. So, yes it did affect me, but it's been a year since then.

Q. And you're pain-free?

CRAIG BARLOW: Yeah, I feel good. I feel good.

Q. Looks like three years you've maintained a PGA TOUR card within three positions of not maintaining one; do you make late rallies in the year, or are you getting tired of trying to scramble to keep your card?

CRAIG BARLOW: I hate it. I'm just thankful there is 120 -- stop 120 keeps your card or I would have never kept it. Top-125, I've done that a few times and got my card at Q-School a few times. You know what I've been asked that question a lot and I hate being on the bubble. Nobody wants to be there. But, I mean, all I can do is play as hard as I can. If I'm a bubble guy, that's who I am. Obviously, I would love to graduate from that position.

Q. Maybe moving that ball will do it?

CRAIG BARLOW: Yeah, let's keep moving it forward and see what happens.

Q. You said that shot on 18 was where a lot of things clicked?

CRAIG BARLOW: Yeah.

Q. Was it as soon as you hit the shot you knew it?

CRAIG BARLOW: Absolutely. It made a difference noise. It flew different. It felt -- the club released. If the club is back in your stance, your club is stuck and you're not releasing and everything is going to go out to the right and it was the first shot in a while that I felt the club actually release. I looked up and it was like, wow, that's a change. I've done this before. Everybody that plays golf has found something that they like and you run with it. Now, obviously the key is to keep it there for a while.

Q. I know it's hard for you guys to relate to the 18-handicappers in the world, but is this something that an 18-handicapper can understand, that he can move the ball around and try different things to hit better?

CRAIG BARLOW: I think the key is understanding why the golf ball does what it does. I knew, okay, I've hit the ball right all day; what makes the ball go right. It can be a couple of things, but I was hitting everything kind of unsolid and right. If you're hitting solid and right, it might not be ball position, it could be alignment or a few things. But I was hitting unsolid, which means the club is stuck -- the club needs to pass and the club is back here when I'm hitting the ball.

I think alignment and ball position is 90 percent of golf. If you can have your alignment good and your ball position good, you're on the right track. Obviously there's certain things in your swing you need to be correctly also. But especially for us, that's generally what we fight out here. You're playing golf from 90-degree angle. You're not playing this way; you're playing this way. So it's something everybody works on.

Q. And you said you were not paying much attention to your score but you had to know you were burning it up.

CRAIG BARLOW: You know what, I was happy that I felt like a golfer again. It's been so long. I mean, you know, I haven't played well this year and it just felt good to feel like me. The ball was going where I was looking and it was flying the height I wanted, it was going the right distance. I was just more enjoying the fact that I was playing golf again.

Q. If someone had told you a couple of days ago that you would be at your first round the Heritage, a bad first round, and you made a change and would be the first-round leader at the end of the day; would you have thought that would be realistic?

CRAIG BARLOW: I would not have thought it was impossible but I definitely never would have guessed I would go from shooting 2-over to 8-under. I've never done it before and not many guys have ever done it before out here either.

I didn't think it was going to happen; let's put it that way. Am I surprised it happened? Ye. But do I know it's possible now? Absolutely.

Q. What is your experience leading the tournament? Do you play differently or feel differently?

CRAIG BARLOW: Well, I've led every round of a tournament except on Sunday. I've been the first round leader, second round leader and third round leader and I have one more accomplish.

I'm not going to change anything this week. Obviously, I'm happy to play a good round, but 72 holes is a lot of golf. I don't like at it as first round leader as much as I look at it as, I have 54 more holes to go.

But, you know what, I feel like if I give myself a chance on Sunday, that's why I'm out here. I just want to learn. I just want to continue to learn. I haven't won out here. I've had chances. I've been close. But I just want to continue to learn and I feel like I'll get my break if I continue to put myself in that position.

Q. In the past you've been successful at not playing any differently in the lead, do you feel?

CRAIG BARLOW: Well, you know, obviously I haven't played great with the lead or I would have won by now.

I don't really know that I'm going to change much. Obviously, I'm not a rookie out here anymore, so I know -- I know that I can't go out there and protect tomorrow or I'm going to get lapped. You have to keep your foot on the pedal and keep going.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you, Craig.

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