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BANK OF AMERICA COLONIAL

May 21, 2004

Jeff Maggert

FORT WORTH, TEXAS

TODD BUDNICK: Welcome, Jeff Maggert, after a 1-under 69 today, following up your 66 yesterday. You're 5-under for the tournament. Jeff, it seemed like it would be a little bit more difficult out there today. It was supposed to be windier, but I see some lower scores out there. How did it play?

JEFF MAGGERT: I think overall it played pretty difficult this morning. The gusty winds started pretty early. I wasn't expecting that. It was a tough golf course. I didn't hit the ball as well as I did yesterday. It seemed I played the easy holes not very well and the difficult holes very well. It balanced out, and it was a good solid round.

The short game saved me a few times, and I just tried to hang in there. I don't feel like I was hitting it quite -- I wasn't hitting the ball close enough to the hole to give myself opportunities to make birdies today, and when I did hit it close, I made a couple.

TODD BUDNICK: You've been in this position before in the hunt through 36 in the Colonial in '93 and '95 and finished well here. Is it a course you're happy with?

JEFF MAGGERT: I've played some good tournaments here, I always feel comfortable on the golf course. I feel it really suits my style of play. I feel like I need to work on a couple of things this afternoon. If I can get my ball-striking just a fraction sharper than it was today, I should be in good shape on the weekend.

Q. (Inaudible) ...it always seems to be key here. Is it more so this year? What's the key in that?

JEFF MAGGERT: Definitely with the windy conditions, it's tough to hit the ball close to the hole and I probably missed a few more greens than normal. The Bermuda rough here, even though it's not that long, it can be challenging to chip out of. The greens are firm and fast and you have to have pretty good touch and you have to be putting well.

I don't know how many greens I hit today, but certainly missed a few and I was able to get the ball up and down. I think I made one bogey and it was a 3-putt. I hit the ball well, and the short game was also good.

Q. Jeff, you got up and down three times in a row like right at the start of your round. You had another up and down in your round. What was your best save?

JEFF MAGGERT: Well, I hit two good shots on 10, and then 11 I drove it in the bunker and had kind of a tough lie there. I got it up and down for par on 11, and normally you're thinking birdie hole there and I was struggling to make par.

And then the next hole I drove it in the bunker again. It was probably the up-and-down on 12 that was kind of the turning point. It was a tough little chip over the bunker and I made about an 8- or 9-footer for par there and that kind of settled me down a little bit. I hit the ball pretty good the rest of the way in.

I 3-putted I think 14 for a bogey, but then just the rest of the day I played pretty steady. I hit one close on 16, made birdie there. And then on the front nine. Again, I played the easy holes, 1 and 2, not so well, but then I played 3, 4, and 5 real well and made a birdie on 5. I just kind of kept it together through those first five holes on the front nine and was able to shoot a fairly good score.

Q. You had a couple of really good tournaments here in '93, '95, and you haven't had the same success level, does it surprise you that you haven't had more success here, based on the reasons why people think this course would suit your game?

JEFF MAGGERT: The last three or four years I probably haven't played as well overall, and I didn't play here last year. I had a stretch there in '93, '94, '95, '96, where I felt that was kind of my best ball-striking, when I was really hitting the ball well, always finishing close to the Top 10, having a chance to win a few tournaments.

When you get on a run like that, it just seems like all you have to do is show up and you'll play well, and I haven't had that feeling in my golf game in a while. And that's what I'm talking about this week, kind of getting that consistency back where I feel I can compete seven or eight times in a season, as opposed to just playing good one week and then you never hear from me for another six months. I'm trying to look for a little more consistency in my game and I feel this year it's coming back a little bit. There's still peaks and valleys, but overall, everything is kind of coming into place where I've allowed myself to shoot some good scores four days in a row and give myself an opportunity to lead on Sunday.

Q. Jeff, since you're wind tested in the state, having played here quite away, do you have an advantage over other players who come from other States who haven't battled these winds?

JEFF MAGGERT: I think there are a lot players who are good wind players. I think the guys who will do well here are guys that like to shape the ball a little bit, curve it left and right. Jesper is playing well, and I think he mentioned yesterday that he likes the windy conditions. I think when it gets windy, it's the ball-striker's tournament. You have to hit the ball solid and crisp in order to manage the wind, and if you have a short game to go with it, you're going to have pretty good luck this week.

Q. As far as touching on the wind, any holes today that were a little bit more affected with the wind blowing -- I guess it was the same direction as yesterday but a little faster?

JEFF MAGGERT: The wind seemed a slight different direction, but overall kind of the same, coming out of the south. The holes are just tough. The second shots into the greens, just getting the right club, it seems you're never really straight into the wind or straight downwind. The wind is always quartering one way or another and it's just difficult -- the wind is probably moving the ball, you know, seven to eight yards on the crosswind shots, so it's kind of tough to pick a good line. If you've got a right-to-left wind and you hit the slightest bit of a draw, all of a sudden the ball hooks 15, 20 yards off line, so you have to shape some of those shots. And when you have got a right-to-left wind, trying to hit a little cut to try to counteract the wind. That's kind of the golf I like to play. It also makes it difficult to hit the ball in the fairway with the crosswinds. The fairways are fast and firm and you get the ball running a little sideways into the rough.

Q. Jeff, when you've made the cuts basically this year, 3 to 5 times you've made the cuts you've finished in the Top 10. I'm wondering, you've also missed several cuts. Do the missed cuts sort of undermined the confidence as much --

JEFF MAGGERT: I haven't hardly made any cuts. When I make one I have to make something of it because I've missed quite a few cuts. The inconsistency in my game the last three years and missing basically half the cuts every year, it kind of wears on you. I went for seven or eight years there where I only missed 2 or 3 cuts in a year out of 25 or 30 events. I wasn't used to not playing on a weekend. And when you're trying to get some consistency back in your game and you're only playing two days and missing the cut and going home, it's hard to get kind of that good feel week in and week out. And certainly when I have been able to make the cut, I've been able to make something of it.

Q. Does a missed cut erode your confidence as much as a big week builds you up?

JEFF MAGGERT: Last week, the first 11 holes, I played absolutely beautifully, I think I was 5-under after 11 holes and just hitting the ball great. I started missing a few fairways late on Thursday and it kind of carried over to Friday's morning round, and I had some tough cold windy conditions last week on Friday morning and I started missing fairways and before you knew it I had missed the cut.

Those are the kind of things I've been trying to avoid, just getting that little inconsistency where you can't get over the hump. You always say when you play bad and you can turn a 2 or 3-over into an even par, that's really the test of where your game is at. And if you're playing bad and keep shooting those 2, 3, 4-overs you're not going to be long on this Tour, so you have to be able to take the bad days and turn something good out of them. That's what I'm starting to do a little bit better.

TODD BUDNICK: Let's go through your birdies and bogeys.

JEFF MAGGERT: 14 was a 3-putt from 20 or 30 feet.

16, I hit it close, it was a tap-in birdie maybe four or five inches. I hit a 7-iron.

Birdied 5, hit 3-wood off the tee there, and a 5-iron about 10 feet.

TODD BUDNICK: Thank you, Jeff.

Q. Do you feel cheated that one didn't go in on 16?

JEFF MAGGERT: It was close. I told my caddie, I just had a feeling when that ball hit the green it was going to go in the hole because it had a good line on it and the way the green sloped there, it was breaking right toward the cup. I just didn't hit it hard enough.

Q. (Inaudible)

JEFF MAGGERT: It played really strong off the tee. I hit a pretty good 3-wood and I was pretty far back. I got up to my ball and the wind had kind of died and I kind of played that shot a little faster than I normally would have and I didn't hit the greatest shot there, but I got it up and down. I kind of rushed that second shot because the wind did kind of lay down there. Right after I hit, there was a big gust that came up and Brent Geiberger, who I was playing with, came up short in the water. That was a tough pin today with that south wind.

End of FastScripts.

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