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BELL CANADIAN OPEN

September 8, 2005

Scott Dunlap

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you, Scott, for joining us for a few minutes. You were a Monday qualifier and you've had a great first round here in Vancouver. Why don't you just talk about your round today, and then we'll go into questions.

SCOTT DUNLAP: Sure. As I mentioned outside, just to get the ball in that fairway on the first hole, not be nervous enough to hit a suspect shot that will find that fairway and yield a bogey was a nice start. And knocked it on the green and actually birdied the next hole.

Usually the starts of the rounds are the nervous times and today I felt kind of relaxed. I didn't get over par early, which is really easy to do out here. Just kind of got set in and got the ball in the fairways most of the time and never really it was pretty stress free, other than an iffy shot at the last and a 3 putt and I can't really look back much.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Talk about your status this year, the Nationwide and where you've been playing.

SCOTT DUNLAP: I've been playing the Nationwide Tour, exempt from winning one of those last year, actually defending next week at Rancho Cucamonga. That's pretty much it. [] Atlanta, got /TH T Top 10 and got to play Huston. Those are the other two events I'm playing this year, other than this one.

Q. The Monday qualifying experience, the fact that, just playing well out there, did that kind of set you up for what happened today?

SCOTT DUNLAP: Yeah, the one I made in Atlanta, I may be tried only a dozen in my career over the years and I was 0 for that dozen. That was the first one I ever made. I'm two for two this year and where that came from I have no idea. You're right, it's such a hard thing to do, just rolling the dice, one round of golf, you've just got to go out and play even good usually doesn't get it done. You've got to play almost perfectly. This was a little different because it's such a small field, but still 3 under on a good golf course you still have to play well. Coming through Monday qualifying, you have to feel pretty good about where your game is, but obviously it's a whole different ball of wax when you start Thursday on a PGA TOUR event. I'm fortunate to be out here and I'm under no illusions about what's going to happen.

Q. You had some good success at Glen Abbey, do you have a good feeling for playing in Canada; you've done it a lot.

SCOTT DUNLAP: I had a couple of summers up here in the mid 90s, which I credit playing up here and South Africa as developing me and my golf game to get to where I was even good enough to play on the PGA TOUR. Yeah, the Abbey has been my best and favorite spot on the PGA TOUR. I've got a pretty good affinity for this country. I can't explain it. I know I like it but I don't know why this one is so special over the one others, but it's been good to me.

Q. Talk about knocking it in the fairway on the first hole, did you drive it well all day, if so, you've got to chip out at any point or was the rough playable?

SCOTT DUNLAP: Yeah, the rough is ferocious, but it is typical of bad rough. It's not as bad come Thursday as it is early in the week, people have walked through it, especially if you get one wide enough or get it where the gallery has been it's not bad at all. Even off the fairway it's starting to get matted down. I was in there a couple three times and was something I could deal with. You don't want to be there if you can help it for sure. Yeah, I don't think there's that many chip out lies right now. Steven and Ted hit a couple, so maybe I was pretty lucky.

Q. If you see this round as a learning curve, what do you do to prepare for tomorrow?

SCOTT DUNLAP: I got one round under my belt on a really good, hard golf course, and don't look back on any holes where my game plan was wrong or I think I'll do anything different. There's some neat tee shot opportunity out there. It's not just blindly a driver or you have to lay up. You can think and do this things out there. That might change if there's more wind but I think my game plan is all right.

Q. Do you expect the course to play drier considering you're in the afternoon?

SCOTT DUNLAP: I would suspect. The weather is good, so they can let it bake out as much as they want to but they are probably pretty worried about it. The place is pretty green right now and the greens are receptive. They are not real soft but they are also not getting away from them either. They can probably get them a little bit more roasty.

Q. Do you recall much specific about your time on the Canadian Tour and what playing playing Canadian Tour events anyway and how different the life was there?

SCOTT DUNLAP: Well, the similarities is how I describe why I eventually got a little bit better because I played mini tour golf, two day golf down in Florida when I first turned pro and didn't think I was getting anywhere. I went to South Africa, it's like, whoa, you have a caddie, you're inside gallery ropes and TV. You come up to Canada, no TV, but the same thing, there's four days, there's walking, there's a cut. It's real, professional golf. I think you need to do that. Obviously some guys come straight off the mini tours, if you're about enough you're good enough but I think those experiences for me, and learning how to travel, week to week and moving across the country, planning, getting a hotel room. It's what you need to do to get ready. It's a great place to do it.

Q. Who were some of your contemporaries?

SCOTT DUNLAP: Weirsy, first time I won was at Winnipeg. He and I battled out there at the end. Roger Vessels from South Africa, Ian Hutchings from South Africa, Trevor Dodd was doing well on the Canadian Tour then. I think DiMarco had already been up here and gone. But, I mean, it's a great thing and it's a disappointing thing why that tour doesn't take off anymore than it does, because boy, you think you could use it as a selling point of what and who have come through there and it's been a great stepping stone, and it has, any number of players I don't know what the statistics are but a lot of guys have been through there. Steve Stricker, I played with him today; he did well up here. It's a great place to play.

Q. A lot was made earlier in the week about Kim carrying your bag, is he here all week?

SCOTT DUNLAP: Yeah, if he's not on the bag in Canada, then he must have something really important to do.

Q. Where else did you qualify?

SCOTT DUNLAP: The BellSouth in Atlanta.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: And he finished Top 10 there.

Why don't we go through your birdies and bogeys, starting with No. 2.

SCOTT DUNLAP: That was one of those good lies from the rough just off the right there. Hit an 8 iron to about five feet.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Bogey on 6.

SCOTT DUNLAP: Really ugly 9 iron in between yardage. Hit it short right, bad lie, two putts from 20 feet.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Birdie on 7.

SCOTT DUNLAP: 2 wood in the right bunker, got it out to five feet and made that one.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: 10, birdie.

SCOTT DUNLAP: Chipped in from just right of the green from about 20 feet off the green and then chipped it in again on 11, and I guarantee that's the only time that's ever happened. (Laughter).

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Jesper just came in and said the same thing. He chipped in on 5 and 6.

SCOTT DUNLAP: Well, he's probably lying, but I guarantee I'm telling the truth. (Laughter).

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: And he said and nobody else will do that all day.

SCOTT DUNLAP: In my career, I know I've not chipped in holed it from off the green twice in a row? No, no chance.

15, I hit driver, driver through the green and chipped it to about four feet.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Bogey on 18.

SCOTT DUNLAP: Pulled a 7 iron over the left side of the green probably 70 feet from the hole, putting up the hill and probably left it six, seven feet short. Curled around the edge but didn't quite fall in.

Q. How far were the chip ins?

SCOTT DUNLAP: The one on 10 was about 20 feet from the hole, and the one on 11 was probably 35 feet.

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you for joining us.

End of FastScripts.

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