SHELL HOUSTON OPEN

April 25, 2003

Hank Kuehne

JOAN V.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you, Hank, for joining us. Great round today. It was a big birdie on the last hole for the course record of 64. Talk about your round today.

HANK KUEHNE: I was started on the back, and it was kind of a long wait trying to get ready teeing off at 3 o'clock, but I got off to a good start. I birdied 10 and then parred 11. Birdied 12. Then made a good par on 13. 14, I missed a pretty short birdie putt, then I made a great birdie on 15. Then I made par on 16 and made good birdie on 17 and then 18, just missed the green and chipped in. So that was kind of nice to keep it going. Then birdied 1, 4, those were both -- they were pretty close. Then had a couple of good other opportunities. On 6, I missed a pretty short one. Started to get pretty dark on 8. I was -- actually was very pleased to 2-putt from however long that was. Then birdied the last. So it was a lot of fun. It was nice. Pretty easy.

Q. Best time to set a course record right about dark here, have you ever finished this dark before?

HANK KUEHNE: Yeah, I finished -- I think only time I have ever played when it was quite this dark was in a Monday qualifier. We had a Playoff, and we had to get lights on the green to putt, so in Arizona, but this was -- it was getting pretty dark, but I really didn't want to come back. If I was still out there right now, I'd probably still try to figure out a way to finish because when you are playing well and things are going your way, you really -- you want to stay out there at least finish it off.

Q. How surprised are you just where you are now?

HANK KUEHNE: Not very. I have been playing really well, and I am pleased with my game. I would have liked to have played the week after I finished tied for third there at BellSouth, but I had two weeks off and so you kind of -- it was kind of like, really wished I wouldn't have had the two weeks off, but I continued to practice well and things went well. I was playing really well coming into the week, and I am, I think -- I think I played pretty well to get where I am. I think my golf game is pretty good right now.

Q. Coming out of the gate, I think you missed your first 7 fairways but only missed one green, how did you keep --

HANK KUEHNE: I don't think the fairway statistic is overly important here to be honest, but I am not trying to hit it in a few of the fairways because of things that are -- on the front nine, I was trying to hit it in some of the fairways, but on a few of the other ones, I am trying to hit it -- you can't hit it left. The rough is long in the left. The pin is back left so you try to hit it up in the right rough because the rough isn't very deep. So I really don't think that the fairway statistic is overly important this week. I just figure out where the pin is, where is my best angle to come in from. If it's the right rough, it's the right rough. If it's a fairway, it's the fairway. So just try to hit the ball to the best chance -- to the best place where I feel like I give myself the best opportunity to make birdies.

Q. Playing tomorrow with Fred Couples, intimidation factor there?

HANK KUEHNE: No. I mean, I actually -- Freddie is the man. He's the best. He has been somebody that I have looked up to my whole life. We actually have a good relationship. We're friends and things are great. I don't think I am playing with those -- I think we're playing two-somes, I think similar playing with Jay Haas. I have actually -- I spent some time with him, too, a fantastic guy, so I am really looking forward to playing with him just going out there and playing my game.

Q. How were you able to play so well in the afternoon when some of the other players struggled with some of the conditions in the afternoon?

HANK KUEHNE: I don't know. If you look at it every week, I mean, the guys -- guys here are playing good, they are going to play good if they tee off at 6 in the morning or at night. That really doesn't make that big a difference. The greens started to get a little bit firmer on the back nine, but with the rain and whatnot that we have had, the golf course, the greens really weren't all that firm. So I don't think an afternoon tee time was all that bad. To be honest with you, it was -- basically played two afternoons, yesterday was the delay and then today we had you know, everybody pretty much played in the afternoon. I really don't think that had a major effect on anything.

Q. Talk a little bit about the chip-in, kind of kept you going?

HANK KUEHNE: It was very similar to the one I had on the last hole. I had maybe 35 feet. I missed the green by a yard and just in the first cut of rough off the fringe and it was just one of those ones where you kind of see the line, you see where you want to go, you just get it going over -- when I hit the chip, as soon as it hit the ground, when it hit the green I saw it rolling straight on my line, I thought it was going to go in, you know, off the face, so just kind of -- it's just the way it goes sometimes. When they go, they go; when they don't, they don't.

Q. How does it strike you to be in the top -- not only the top of the leaderboard but one of the names that you are up there with is a guy you looked up?

HANK KUEHNE: It's Friday. I am just trying to basically get myself in a position where I can do something good on the weekend. Sunday afternoon if we're at the top of the leaderboard and those guys are right there, I don't know what I will tell you, but right now I am just trying to get myself in a position where I can have an opportunity to make 137,000 I do -- to be able to have status out here. So just going to go out and play the game the way I play the game and play the golf course the way that I have set up to play it. I am pleased that I have given myself an opportunity. I am in a position where you know, I am right in the middle of the golf tournament.

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