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SHELL HOUSTON OPEN


April 21, 2005


Jeff Maggert


HOUSTON, TEXAS

TODD BUDNICK: We thank Jeff Maggert for coming in after a 5-under 67. Your 17th appearance in the Shell Houston Open, four Top 10s and three runner-ups in your history. Bogey-free round today, good start.

JEFF MAGGERT: Yes, it was a very nice round. I've been playing a lot better the last couple months and it was nice just to get off to a good start here and just play a nice steady round.

The golf course was playing maybe a little bit easier than it has the past couple of years. It's softened up a little bit. The greens were very receptive to some good shots, and if you hit the ball well, you could make a lot of birdies out there.

TODD BUDNICK: You played the course the last three years. Talk about the progression of it.

JEFF MAGGERT: The first year the course played very firm and fast and didn't play to its true length. Last year we had some weather problems, and all the rain, and I didn't play well. I think I missed the cut. This year the golf course is in fantastic shape. The greens are nice. There's really no excuse if you're hitting the ball well not to make four, five, six birdies out there.

Q. All the fairways and greens you're hitting, it had to be a pretty comfortable round. Is 67 about as high as you could have shot?

JEFF MAGGERT: I feel like it was, yeah. The fairways here are very generous, 30, 35 yards on most of the fairways. I've been hitting the ball well and felt really confident with the driver in my practice round, and I hit the ball well yesterday. I just felt like I could come out this morning, and if I could hit my irons well and put the ball close, I could make a lot of birdies.

Q. You've had a lot of solid weeks out here this season but haven't really put that tournament together. Any thoughts on what's been missing?

JEFF MAGGERT: I've just played a lot more consistent golf the last three months. I've just been playing very steady and feel like my game is really close to being back into kind of top form or what I consider top form.

I'm looking forward to some good tournaments here coming up hopefully, and I'm just staying consistent and I feel like I have a chance to win some tournaments.

Q. What are some of the fine line things that you think are keeping you from --

JEFF MAGGERT: Putting is always the big part out here. You've got to putt well all four days and you've got to -- I'm not a 300-yard driver, so all parts of my game need to be pretty sharp, my short game, and really it just comes down to putting. If I could just make a few putts here and there. I'm starting to strike the ball a little bit better with the irons. That's been a weak point the last couple of years. I feel like I'm starting to hit the ball a lot closer to the pins and give myself shorter putts for birdies. As a result I think I've only missed one cut this year and just been playing really steady golf.

Q. On a 1 to 10, how well do you feel --

JEFF MAGGERT: I feel like I'm about an eight and a half, so there's still room for improvement. I'd like to put together some tournaments where I'm shooting three or four really competitive rounds each week and giving myself opportunities on Sunday.

I haven't really put myself in contention, but maybe it seems like only once or twice a year the last four or five years, and I need to kind of get back into that mode and on a weekly basis have a chance to finish up there near the top and get in the last group or second-to-last group on the weekend and just kind of get myself back into a little more competitive mode.

Q. Do you almost feel like this tournament owes you a little bit? You've been so close.

JEFF MAGGERT: Not really. This course is a lot different than the TPC Woodlands. I had some close calls up there. It doesn't matter where you're at on this Tour, it's tough to win whether you're at home or where you're at. I just try to take each week individually. It is probably a little bit more relaxing being at home, and maybe that helps me play a little bit better here. It's still tough to finish on the top on Sunday, and I'm just trying to play better and give myself that opportunity.

Q. What would it mean for you to win here?

JEFF MAGGERT: Well, the HGA has been very good to me over the years. I started playing in their junior program back when I was about 12 years old, so they've done a lot of good things for me. It would be nice to play well here at home and help them in their event and help them succeed in all things that they're trying to do.

Q. Can you describe your state of shock at seeing Vijay up on the leaderboard today?

JEFF MAGGERT: The way Vijay has played the last two years, you expect him to play well. He normally has a way of kind of sneaking in there on Sunday afternoon before anyone notices him, but obviously he's playing well today. He's definitely probably one of the favorites this week. Expect him to be one of the three or four guys there near the end on Sunday.

Q. Is this a week where you have to fight maybe more than other weeks, maybe getting too excited if you're playing well because you've got the whole hometown thing going?

JEFF MAGGERT: It's actually a lot easier on me playing here just because the Woodlands are so close to home and a lot more things going on.

You know, everybody had a little get-together during the week when I was at the Woodlands, and now that it's out here it's more like a tournament for me, commuting back and forth. It's been a little bit probably easier on me from all the social activities that were going on at the Woodlands.

With the twins keeping us busy at home, there's not a lot of free time. It's just fun being at home, and hopefully I can play some good golf the next three days.

TODD BUDNICK: We'll go through your five birdies starting with that string of three.

JEFF MAGGERT: Birdied the 4th hole, just a pitching wedge in there about ten feet.

5th hole was a par 5, 6-iron about four, five feet.

Sand wedge on the next hole about ten feet.

Then the other birdie was on 11, about a 12-footer from the fringe.

12 is a par 5, just chipped it up there close, about three feet.

I had a lot of other opportunities obviously, like I mentioned earlier, just making a few more putts here and there and I could have turned it into 6, 7, 8-under pretty easily. There's a lot of golf to be played, and I feel very confident with the way I'm hitting the ball and I feel like I'm going to make a lot of birdies over the next three days.

TODD BUDNICK: Good luck, Jeff.

End of FastScripts.
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