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VALERO TEXAS OPEN

September 22, 2005

Jeff Maggert

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Okay, Jeff, 63 with a bogey is your best round, I guess, in a while. We looked it up; you had one 62 and this is your third 63 in your career. Very nice playing today.

JEFF MAGGERT: Thank you. Par 70, 7 under, I'll take it. It's probably the best round I've played in about two years.

It was just nice, I got my wife and kids out of Houston this morning. They flew up on a charter, so I went out to the airport early and got them and just kind of, I guess, put my mind at ease a little more. We were going back and forth yesterday quite a bit to try to figure out if I was coming home or if she was coming here, so late last night we decided it was best for them to come over here, so it was good to have them here.

It's unfortunate that the hurricane is out there, but we'll probably be safe, and I'm just excited about having a job like this. It's pretty fortunate to be able to do what I do and I just count my blessings to have a chance to do this. A lot of people aren't so fortunate this weekend.

Q. With all the stuff you had going on yesterday, the back and forth and everything, in a way, kind of a backward way, is that almost an advantage, so when you finally get on the course you haven't been laboring over the round so much and just kind of tee it up?

JEFF MAGGERT: Probably. Part of the problem I've had playing the last year or so is just trying too hard and just taxing myself mentally on my golf game, really working hard. There's that old saying you can overthink it, and I've probably been doing that a lot the last year and a half, and today my mind was probably a little bit more relaxed, and I just wanted to come out and have some fun. My family is going to be here for the weekend, and hopefully everybody will be safe at home. We'll just try to have a good weekend and enjoy San Antonio.

Q. I guess we could say it was almost an inspired performance on your part with all that's going on?

JEFF MAGGERT: I don't know if I'd call it that. I've been playing better. It seems like every time I go out and make five or six birdies in a round, I throw in five or six bogeys to go with it. This is the first time I've managed my game well, my short game was good, got up and down when I needed to. I made some nice comebackers to save par on some holes and I hit the ball close a few times and everything worked well together and I turned out a good round.

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Do you just want to run through your birdies and any good saves you might have had?

JEFF MAGGERT: Yeah, I started on 10, hit it pretty close, ten feet, and made the putt. I hit a 9 iron.

I three putted 11. That's been kind of my nemesis lately is the poor short game, so I was a little anxious after that, but I came back with hit the ball close on 13, about two feet away from the hole, so a tap in birdie there.

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Did you hit 8 iron?

JEFF MAGGERT: It was my gap wedge. 13 is the short par 3, so sand wedge, gap wedge.

14, didn't hit a very good drive but was able to get it up near the green and chipped it up pretty close, made about a four or five footer.

18, hit it close again, two or three feet, tap in.

No. 2, same, hit it close, three feet.

No. 4, chipped in on 4, which was good. I'm struggling with my short game so it was nice to get one back there.

Made a nice 15 footer for birdie on 7, and then I hit it close again on 9, about three feet, sand wedge again.

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Your chip in at 4, how far were you from the hole?

JEFF MAGGERT: I was probably 30 feet from the hole, a little bit of a difficult chip coming over a little mound in the green and downhill. It was one of those shots that I hit well.

Q. Would it be fair to say, I'm thinking about the Houston Open when you were in contention the last day and I know there's a couple of other tournaments, of course everybody talks about the sand shot that got you in it, but is it fair to say you've had a hard time closing at some of those tournaments?

JEFF MAGGERT: Well, I haven't been in contention in so long, just to have an opportunity to close would be nice.

When I played my best golf, probably in the mid to late 90s, I had a lot of chances to win. I probably didn't win as many as I wanted to, but again, there's some learning process of going through some stuff, and then the last five or six years my kids are getting older and just spending more time at home. Probably my dedication is not nearly what it was 15 years ago obviously. Not to say that's a bad thing. I'm enjoying my life at home with my family and kids.

Last fall I had twins, last August, so I didn't play hardly at all last fall, and really this year I've played more of a normal schedule but certainly haven't worked as hard at my game at home and just enjoying kind of some family life. But I'm anxious to kind of work a little bit harder this fall and try and get my game on track for next year.

Q. This course, I mean, you're able to really go at most pins with wedges, gives you ideally some good putts.

JEFF MAGGERT: Yeah, the greens have been receptive this year. Normally the greens are a little bit firmer here. I don't know why. I mean, the greens haven't had a lot of rain here and the greens are pretty quick. They have kind of a nice sandy base to them, so if you hit a good shot from the fairway, it's going to hold pretty well.

Q. This course or this tournament has been kind of a reclamation tournament for a lot of players. Bart had a great tournament last year, Tommy a couple years ago. Do you think a lot of players come in here with the idea that this is a course that can be had?

JEFF MAGGERT: In the beginning a lot of players criticized this course, but I always thought it was a pretty nice course. I think when they don't like is walking up and down the hills, but the golf course itself is fine. It's a good test. You've got to hit the ball pretty well, and if you hit the ball off line you're not going to get around as well, but if you hit the ball in the fairway you have a chance to shoot 5 , 6 , 7 under.

Q. Does it have that kind of reputation, as being a tournament where players can make some hay?

JEFF MAGGERT: Well, it seems like it's been up against The Presidents Cup or the Ryder Cup so many times, you don't get a lot of the top players, and even the top players that maybe aren't in the Ryder Cup are looking to take a week off here and there. Unfortunately for this tournament, it kind of falls victim to that.

There's a lot of good players on this Tour, and I think people don't realize that. You take the Top 10 or 15 money winners and they're all off at the Presidents Cup or whatever, but there's a lot of guys out here that can still play. Certainly it's a good chance for an older player like myself that's working hard this fall to try to put his game together, and maybe that's why we've had some old timers win here.

Q. With all that's been going on Houston and having your family here, would that mean a lot for you to do well this week and have a chance to make a statement for people in Houston or have a little bit more limelight on you being from Houston, maybe like you want to dedicate this to the people who are suffering?

JEFF MAGGERT: Certainly, and my family doesn't get to travel as much obviously with the babies, and it's just nice to have them out. They're going to be out next week in Greensboro because my wife is from Greensboro, so now I've got them two weeks in a row, and it'll be nice to have them here so they can actually see it happen.

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Okay, continued good luck, and good luck with everything at home.

JEFF MAGGERT: Appreciate it.

End of FastScripts.

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